Leaving Be Kpota for Anfame!

Bonjour! 04/28/2014

Things have been really well this past week. Monday night we had a little party with the ward as kind of a goodbye FHE, and that was really fun! There was a ton to eat, and over all we had a really cool lesson from our Bishop, I’ll surely miss that Ward a lot. The lesson was on testimony, and afterwards he had everyone bare just a short testimony, and that was the best to have. One thing that hit me in particular that I liked a lot, was in the testimony meeting a common thing that a lot of the people said, was about how when they received the gospel, it was like they found that piece that was missing in their life. It reminded me of something I’ve heard our converts talk about before, but it made me think a lot about how that is with the gospel. I remember one of the times that Elder Vinson came, talking about how we all have already learned the gospel, but because of the veil, we have need to be reminded of these things, and of Gods love for us. It reminded me as well that really what we are doing is just reminding these people of these things they’ve known before. Another testimony that hit me a lot, and really made me think a lot more, was from a member named Joel. He’s an incredible member, and has brought many others into the church, but he’s actually been a member for about 8 years now, which is one of the longest I know. But he bore a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon, and explained that every year since his baptism he has read the Book of Mormon, all the way through. And one of the years read it twice, so up to this day he has already read the Book of Mormon 9 times. It really made me realize how much more work I have to do, and how much of a help that book can be in our lives if we make the efforts to read it constantly. So if someone from Togo, that doesn’t have very much education has read the Book of Mormon through 9 times, it made me realize I have a lot more work to do. It was awesome though that night hearing all their testimonies, but also sad saying goodbye. The next few days we had some more dinners, which was nice as well, but towards the end I started getting a little sick of it. Ha-ha, but then on Thursday they took me over to Anfame for the transfer. And oh I love my companion! Elder Gnenenon is the best! He’s just a little shorter than me, but is only about 165 pounds so he’s seriously like a stick when you see him. It makes me feel pretty huge as well, even though that is no longer the case. On the bright-side of that, in Africa, you don’t put on fat, and you lose it all as well, so if you put in the efforts you can actually get pretty ripped. Not huge, but cut. Ha-ha, and it's a big self esteem booster now hearing from members that I look like a mannequin with how skinny I’m getting, so hey this isn’t too bad!

But yeah the transfer went well, and I’ve loved the new secteur! There are so many families in the ward, and they’re the best to work with as well. When people have a family in the gospel, it seems to help them be more stable in the church. Along with that we have a lot of great Amis as well that are getting ready soon for baptism. We had a really cool lesson as well this last week with one of them named Frido. It was actually just the second lesson with him as well. He was a contact from a member, so that has been a lot of help. But when we started talking about baptism with him, we asked him if he believed that the Book of Mormon was true, and if what we have taught him was true. He bore a very strong testimony as well about how good he has felt after praying about these things. And in particular he explained that he had a dream before he ever met with us that led him to meet with us. He said in the dream he was walking in the forest, and fell into a dark hole. When things were getting bad in that hole, he looked up and there was that member that he was friends with, and he put his hand out and lifted him back up into the light. He figured that was a sign he needed to talk to this friend, and ask him about his church. It was one of the coolest stories ever, and was awesome to see how he came into contact with the gospel. This next week we have Zone leader council, and then Zone conference as well, so things will be pretty busy. Along with that I am giving the lesson in Zone conference so I'll be even more busy getting that ready as well, but it will be fun for sure! Things are going really well here though, not much new with the Ebola, but hopefully it doesn’t get too bad. But other than that, life is much more busier now, but I’m loving it for sure, and it's the best with my companion. He’s seriously one of the nicest people ever, and we get along perfect! Like I said as well the Ward is great, and the members bring their friends to us asking for us to teach them, so the work is going awesome as well.

I love and miss you all a ton, and I hope things are going great there!

Elder Oliverson