Lots of Rain!

Hey Everyone!

Well thank you all so much for the emails! I loved everyone of them! I wish i had the time to write to each one of you but i will make the effort to do it by hand this week. Know that i love you all and am praying for you!
Well another week is down! We had a great week as normal! Last Tuesday we had a mission conference (which i wrote more about in the letter i sent you all last week). Also Tuesday i got my two packages!! Thank you!! Thank you so much! I cant believe how fast its gotten here. I love everything in it. I loved the pictures! Its so fun to see how each one of ya all have changed even since the last time i got pictures. I haven't started my debit card yet, but i will try to do that today(its just raining super hard and i don't know if the bank will open up). I will probably pull just a little bit out to sent some pictures i put together for ya'll :) I think you'll like em! ;)
Well like i said this week has just been nuts with rain! Every day we get caught out in it. Here are a few pictures of one day. I wish i could take pictures when its REALLY raining to show ya all a little what its like. But i love the rain. I can actually sleep at night without my fan! Its been so nice! Its even gotten a little chilly a few times!! But the rain does hurt the work a lot. People go in their homes and close the door, and when we knock on it to come in they look at us all wet and think we're crazy. But it does give us a lot of service opportunities, so we're just going to try to use it for the best :)
You all look great! I love getting those pictures that mom sent! Thank you Mom! I cant believe how my love for my family has just grown so much. Don't get me wrong, i loved you all before, but nothing like i do now. I really cant wait till the day when we can play cards and tell stories! I cant wait to whoop Quinn in swimming! Or to see my new niece and nephews for the first time! And see how much Aubrie and Derek have grown! I love you all!
Well the relationships with the church leaders have been improving tons. We actually sat down with the Stake President and his counselors and talked about what we can do for them. They gave us a lot of tasks and so we'll be working hard on them. We (me and Elder Doué) were talking to the assistants yesterday about Cocody and they told us how grateful President is for us being patient. Hes heard some of the things that were going through.
Within the next two weeks ill send ya all some pictures of some baptisms. Weve got some big ones comin up.
I love you all! I wanted to answer dad with my thought and testimony on "peace".
After being a prisoner for several months in Liberty Jail, Joseph cried unto the Lord for relief and the prophet was answered with a piercing yet hope giving response: "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment"(D&C 121:7) the Lord continues by saying even if "you should be cast into the pit, placed in the hands of murderers, sentenced to death, cast into the sea, if the billowing surge conspire against thee, if the fierce winds become thine adversary, if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way, and even if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all, art thou greater than He?"(D&C 122:7-8) What a peace that young prophet must have felt to have his Savior tell him He knows exactly where he is and even if worst comes in the future, its okay. The Savior was teaching Joseph the same lesson He taught to His 12 apostles in John 16:33: "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." I testify that as a result of placing our faith in Christ all fear and worries will be cast out. Whether they be obstacles from a school exam to financial difficulties, a peace can fill our hearts. I love the story of the people of Ammon. Even while being slaughtered, they were at peace because "they never did look upon death with any degree of terror, because of their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it...And thus they were a zealous and beloved people, a highly favored people of the Lord" (Alma 27:28-30). The word 'peace' can be instituted in many different degrees. Whether it is spoken of as a peace in a home, or a peace as opposing war, it all comes from the Savior and His teachings, because He is the founder of peace (Mosiah 15:18). We see that the Savior's teachings can even have a more powerful potency than weapons of war (Alma 31:5).
I am grateful for this opportunity to be a full time witness of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the opportunity to 'invite all to come unto Christ through faith, repentance, and baptism...'(Missionary Objective). I have seen a true peace come into the hearts of people who have nothing, because of their faith in Christ. The Christ commanded the seas to be still, why can't he calm a troubled heart?
I bear witness that He lives, 'and what joy this sweet sentence gives!' As you know, I haven't had the smoothest ride on my mission. Last October as i was in Agoueto, i began to have a headache that felt like my head was splitting in two. It was followed by a fever with shakes and chills. Every joint (from my hands to my jaw) was stiff and ached. I then began to go unconscious. Going in and out of it, i woke up in the hospital to my mission president trying to take my white shirt and tie off while the nurse was placing an IV in my arm. I then spent the next 4 days laying in the hospital being diagnosed with malaria/typhoid (the hospital couldn't figure exactly what was wrong. I was positive for malaria with symptoms of typhoid fever.) Those 4 days were the most loneliest days of my life. I literally did not think I would live through it. Dr. Stubbs (the church doctor for all of West Africa), President Golden (in the Presidency of the West Africa Area Authority), and President Ayekoué came to see and talk with me, explaining my options if i was wanting to continue my mission. That night as I was laying on the hospital bed i had many mixed emotions going through me, not including medications. My heart was hardened. I did not accept the Saviors precious healing love. I was released from the hospital, placed on Larium giving me extreme depression, which did not help with the situation. But after a few days I had a prompting to read my patriarchal blessing. I was guided to a part that meant nothing to me before, but after reading it it changed my mission and life. The phrase was 'Cameron, the Savior is a dear friend and loves you. He knows where you are at this very moment'. As i layed on my bed every ounce of depression was gone, and I opened my heart to allow the Savior to heal me. I was filled with a indescribable peace and joy. I witness He knows all that we've been through and He knows how to treat it. I may not understand the loneliness that Joseph felt in Liberty, but I know how he must have felt to know his Savior knows where he is and loves him. I know the Savior has descended below all things, and i am not greater than He. May each one of you exercise faith and open your hearts and just allow Him to heal you and fill your hearts with His eternal peace is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Elder Cameron Legere