Au Revoir

The theme for this trip to Pointe Noire and Cameroon is “Au Revoir” ! We came to say goodbye to 2 of our senior couples who have served so diligently for the past 18 months. We crossed the river to Brazzaville on Sunday morning and then went immediately to the airport where we got a flight to Pointe Noire. We were able to get to sacrament meeting in time to hear the Baxters give their farewell talks. They returned with mixed emotions…happy to see family and friends and sad to leave many dear Congolese friends behind.  Elder and Sister Baxter worked with both branches in Pointe Noire helping the leadership, teaching English, teaching hygiene classes and assisting the young missionary elders. They did all of this without speaking French!  We will surely miss them.

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We left the next day for Douala, Cameroon. Here we received two new American missionaries, Elder Buck and Elder Nash. The next day we had a zone conference and delivered Elder and Sister Willis and Elder Wigginton to the airport as they also finished their missions. The Willis’ worked in the two Douala branches to assist in many church activities, teaching with the elders and helping many of the members. They were very close to the American elders and will be missed by all!

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We had the delight of spending some time with our new Yaounde Couple…the Thompsons from Alberta, Canada. They have been here just 2 weeks. Now they  will be stewards over both Yaounde and Douala which will keep them very busy.

[caption id="attachment_345" align="aligncenter" width="694" caption="Our newest couple, the Thompsons"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_347" align="aligncenter" width="791" caption="Yaounde Elders welcome new couple, the Thompsons"][/caption]

While in Douala we visited the newly-renovated Bonaberi apartment of the elders. It is big enough to hold branch sacrament meeting in…until they exceed 80 members or so. The elders here worked really hard cleaning and painting and fixing and the result was spectacular!

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Unfortunately it is a two-day trip home for us… one leg to Brazzaville and then first thing Tuesday morning we will cross back over the river to Kinshasa. We are often at the mercy of plane, boat and bus schedules.

Elaine Dalton Visit

We were delighted to have a special visitor from Salt Lake...Elaine Dalton, the church YW general president. She and her husband came with the Renlunds for a weekend visit. They did Stake training, focus groups, visited some YW homes and a Young Adult fireside. The first day she arrived we had a dinner for all the stake YW presidents and their husbands. (23 in all).

[caption id="attachment_368" align="aligncenter" width="879" caption="Kinshasa Stake YW leaders with Elaine Dalton"][/caption]