Yaoundé Church Buildings and Site

Currently, we have three buildings where we hold church services here in Yaoundé.  Recently, Marius von Mollendorff from South Africa came to inspect our buildings and see the property the church owns.  Here are some photos we took at each of the buildings.

Bastos:
This is the building closest to our apartment.  It's been in use for several years and is currently home to two branches, Bastos 1 and Bastos 2.  It's right across the street from a huge high school, so people usually know how to find it.  Bastos 1 has 71 members who speak English (although not many come because services are almost totally in French.)  There are plans to create an Anglophone branch very soon!  Bastos 2 is ready to be divided.  We hope to have a different building for them to move to soon--one that would be closer to their members.

Bastos building exterior within the outer walls....

Bastos chapel.

Bastos classroom (young women)

Bastos hallway leadng to district president's office

Bastos kitchen area

District President and first counselor--Pres. Bala and Pres. Tchanda

Bastos Primary room

Bastos Relief Society Room

The following pictures show our building for the Anguissa and Mimboman branches.  It's amazing how many members you'll find at the church, just about any time of day.

Ekounou building exterior--Relief Society and Primary are on the top floor.  The chapel is on the lower level.

Baptismal font (outside the upper level)

Branch president's office

Stairs leading down to the chapel rear entrance and additional classrooms.

Seating in the chapel.  (Not very comfortable.)

Piano in the chapel.

Primary classroom (where we give piano lessons on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.)

Primary room.  Notice the colorful chairs!

Relief Society room (upper level)

Kitchen (no propane hooked up to the stove......)

Sister Dimond next to the unplugged fridge (not much cooking/heating of food goes on here.)

These next photos are of our newest building--Ekounou.  The remodeled house didn't have a room large enough for a chapel, so a pad was poured behind the building, and metal walls and a roof were added.  It gets really HOT there in the afternoon. 

Ekounou chapel

Classroom

Relief Society room

Upstairs hallway with supply closet

Ekounou kitchen

Ekounou primary room 

Narrow stairway leading to upstairs classrooms (one person at a time, please!)

Wiring in the kitchen

Upstairs classroom

Here are a few photos of the land the church owns.  It's in a beautiful spot--a nice view across the land below....it's just quite a ways from the current members.  Hopefully we'll be able to find many new members right around the location--it's been purchased with the plan of building a district center on it.

Dirt Road in front of property

It's a large parcel, but lots of slope.

Quite a view!

Right now a man and his family live on the property as security.  Here's their corn patch outside the "house".

April 2015 Transfers

It's been ages since we've posted anything......life has been very full here!  This past transfer, two elders transferred to the Congo.  Elder Wright went to Brazzaville for his last six weeks before he returns home.  Elder Waite was transferred to Pointe Noire.  Elder Tucker left us for Douala, which is still here in Cameroon, so we hope we'll run into him from time to time.  We miss them already!  We received three new elders--Elder Bybee from Enoch, Utah, and Elder Museku and Elder Bulendolo, both from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

When we distribute transfer letters, we have each companionship stand near a sign with their current "secteur".  Then, we have them move to a different sign if they think they'll be transferred.  (One that says, "Ailleurs"--elsewhere.)  We have either dinner or breakfast with them, depending on the events of the day.  Here's what happened this time:

E. Tucker, as always, helping out in the kitchen.

E. Waite, E. Wright and E. Bacera

Clockwise from bottom:  E. Rakotondrabeharison, E. Bakajika, E. Rakotonindriana, E. Mpongo, E. Kabenga, E. Tshibanda

With the addition of a 6' folding table (thanks, Jeff Gibb!!!), dinners with the elders usually happen on two tables now.

The beginning of the transfer letter distribution:  Elders go to their "Secteurs".  E. Wright and E. Rakotonindriana

E. Kabenga and E. Mpongo

E. Rakotondrabeharison and E. Tucker

E. Tshibanda and E. Bakajika

E. Waite and E. Bacera

All three elders figured out they were moving--E. Tucker and E. Wright had been in Yaoundé even before we arrived!  E. Wright was in the same secteur for 9 months!!!

Elders studying the "Transfer Board"--a file sent out by the mission home each transfer with the locations and calls of each of the missionaries.

Notice the large bags to the left of the elders--those are our 300 hazmat suits for energency medical workers who might be facing ebola, cholera, or a host of other possible diseases in a tropical country with numerous refugee camps near the north and eastern borders.  (Thankfully, many miles from Yaoundé!!) 

We all enjoyed delicious rootbeer home-made ice cream!