A. first came to know the Church in Cameroon in 2013 through member friends. He went to church several times and received missionary lessons but was not that interested. In 2015, he stopped going to church when Sister Fleur Eyamo, one of the friends who had introduced him to the gospel, left on her mission. A few years later, A. moved to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
In 2019, I went to the MTC in Ghana which is where I met Sister Eyamo. She was my teacher there. I then served in the Benin Cotonou Mission for 10 months but returned to France in March 2020 because of COVID-19. I reconnected with Sister Eyamo and explained to her our new way of doing online missionary work. She told me about her friend A. and that she could introduce us so that I could teach him. We were able to start the lessons with A. while I was still with my brother at home in France. A. was very happy because he was discovering the truth.
This past May, I was reassigned to the France Lyon Mission in the Annecy area with Elder Roberts. We were able to set another lesson with A. to continue speaking with him about the gospel. We proposed a baptismal date and he accepted, but what we did not know yet was that the Church had not yet opened again in Dubai and that baptisms were not possible because of COVID-19.
Elder Roberts got in touch with a missionary, who knew a recently returned sister, who had served in the France Lyon Mission. She did not live far from Dubai. We contacted her, which greatly helped us because her father is the bishop of the ward in Dubai. This made it possible to introduce A. to the local ward. We continued to teach him lessons using technology twice a week for almost 4 months and while praying we would ask that his baptism could happen soon. He was really looking forward to joining the Church and we were afraid his enthusiasm might wane because his baptism wasn't possible and we didn't know when it would be. Our fears were in vain however because A. already had an unshakeable testimony.
One day we received a call from the United Arab Emirates. It was the bishop in Dubai. He wanted to know if A. was really ready for baptism and we assured him that he was. He then told us that A. was going to be able to have his baptismal interview and then he would have to meet with the stake president. Afterwards, the stake president would need to seek permission from the Area Presidency for A. to be baptized. That's apparently how baptisms work in the UAE. When we heard this news we were so happy. A. went on to have two amazing interviews with the bishop and the stake president. Then after his interviews, we anxiously awaited the response from the Area Presidency. A few days later, we heard that they had granted permission and that A. would finally be baptized on September 25th.
All in all, I know that if COVID-19 would not have happened, I would have probably never met A. My companion and I wouldn't have ever worked with him and brought him the Gospel. It's not that I rejoice in this pandemic because I wouldn't want to disrespect people who have lost their jobs as well as loved ones, but I can see that no matter the situation miracles are always possible if we have faith. God is in charge of missionary work and we can see His hands and Spirit throughout our friend A.'s story.
Elder Demuynck
France Lyon Mission