Man Togo is the best!

Bonjour!!! 

       Man Togo is the best! It’s much different from Benin! It's a lot poorer, things are cheaper and people are nicer    This past week went pretty good! Monday night  we just packed and said goodbye to everyone there and such. I already miss Desvergez a ton honestly, it sounds really weird but man I miss him! Then Tuesday morning the AP's took me to the bureau, I waited there, ate some food, and said bye to all the zone leaders there as they had they're monthly meeting. Then me the AP's, and Ringle all took off for Togo, it's a long drive and not the most comfortable as there really isn’t a good road going between the two countries, it was the most beautiful drive ever though!! Seriously once you get outside of Cotonou its gorgeous here and just jungle, so we drove for a couple hours, crossed the border, and after about 4 hours we arrived in Togo.Then we headed off for my area. Lome is a ton prettier than Cotonou though that’s for sure, even though the country is a lot poorer, it's a lot more green and pretty here. Also I found out quick everything is a ton cheaper here!! Some things even half the price; so now I can eat all I want! It’s the best. I didn’t find out till I got here though that my secteur, Kelegougan, or Kegue, is the farthest north of Lome... When we dropped off Ringle I made fun of him a bit for how run down his apartment was, but oh man. After about thirty minutes of driving north, I realized my secteur is all the way out in the boonies, the farthest out in the outskirts of all the areas. We continued on the dirt road till got to the little house we have, and man... I thought I had it roughish in Cotonou, I would do anything to have that apartment back, Ha-ha  but it’ll do!! We have an outdoor bathroom and shower, but that’s always nice!  The dirt is really red, and there aren’t any roads here in comparison to Benin, and were out farther, so things get dirtier, the shirts turn reddish, and it's insanely hard to get out, and like everything is just covered in red dust! Its much different here, its nice though! Its almost like going into a new mission, as there is a whole other group of missionaries here I didn’t know, they’re all really cool though!   Companion is really cool too! Super quiet though. Its Elder Sow, from Cote Divoire.  All we talk about is the civil war they had over there and all his war stories. I have mostly just been getting into place the past week. I also found out when I arrived that this is a new secteur they opened up, and since opening it they have had only one baptism, so it's the most dead in the Togo. I’m excited though!! I can see there is a lot of people here and how it’s very possible! The big bonus is that our church building is a gorgeous new building the church built here! It’s honestly the prettiest building I’ve seen since I’ve been here! Definitely a big help for the church here! The only problem is it’s about an hour away; so it’s harder to get people to come to church, but it’ll work out! We don’t have a ton of Amis right now, but that will grow for sure. One of the biggest things I’ve noticed here though is the people are a lot nicer here than in Benin!! We’ve already had like two welcome meals, which has been the best! And all I do is show the people my sick dancing skills I picked up in Benin and they love me!  But seriously the people are incredibly nice here, more don’t speak French, but it’ll work out!! I’ve heard also that the native language here is much easier to learn than Font, so I’m hoping to pick that up a little! There have been missionaries that have been able to do full lessons in it, so I’m hoping to get it down a bit! But I love my secteur! It's a big change, being out in the outskirts its much more peaceful and quiet, and everyone likes us for the most part so that’s nice! It's really cool to if you look down the road from our house it just turns into jungle, and according to members if you just keep walking about five minutes you’ll run into all the wild monkeys and crocodiles and stuff, pretty neat! So far Togo has been awesome and I’m hoping we’ll be able to get quick to work!! I can see already how being with Elder Desvergez I’m much better prepared and have learned a ton more so it’ll be fun! Sunday was fun meeting the branch, we have an amazing branch here already.  One of the members is actually the one who brought the church here to Togo, so we have some really strong families and members here so I’m excited for that!! Also I’ve got Elder Mejean and Lemaire close by so I still have my French fix... they’re all the funniest people ever. Thanks to Desvergez most people here think I’m French because of the accent I have now! So that’s fun too!  I can see that there is a ton to be done but it’s definitely possible! Another thing I noticed here is because I’m so far north I don’t have the ocean breeze anymore, so it’s much hotter than before!  I’m super happy to be here though! It's a ton poorer and rundown, than even Benin, but I like it a ton! It should be really good! I love and miss you all a ton! I hope this next week goes great for you all!

Elder Oliverson