Cyber was down.

Hey I'm so so sorry! We just finally got connection at the cyber! I've just watched Mormon messages for like almost two hours. The problem is we have to go! I prayed and somehow got connection enough to tell you guys all is well and I'm still alive!! Things are all going great! Sorry again but next week hopefully I'll have connection because there have been some really cool experiences!! Sorry again!! I love and miss you all a ton!! 
Elder Oliverson

Bonjour!                                                                                                

 Yeah this past week went pretty well. I really like the secteur here too.  Its one of the most difficult ones, but the branch we get to go to is awesome!  Went from Gbegamey where it was so new we were the authority figures, to here where there are two returned missionaries in the branch, which is awesome! The branch is really well run, and there are some amazing members as well! The only problem is they live so far away that it’s hard to get their help! As the secteur is new and there aren’t members, its mainly finding Amis, which since they opened the secteur has been really difficult, and I’m really not sure why. But yeah its been a lot of searching really this past week, so not too much new that way! We had a really cool lesson the other day, just a first encounter with someone, we got talking about religion and such and about the ladies concerns, and she was explaining how she has been searching for the real pure doctrine, already I could see either that was just a really weird statement, or she was no doubt prepared, we got into a really cool lesson about the restoration and the Book of Mormon, and she loved all of it!! We haven’t had too many lessons with her since, but I’m hoping to see her start to progress more. 

We had a pretty crazy and scary experience as well this past week, as we were on our way back to the house one night, we were taking just a random road toward our house, as this is a new secteur we still don’t know a lot of the area, and have never really been into it, so it is all new for us, we were walking back that night, and in Togo there isn’t any light at all like there is in Benin at nights, and out of no where this little kid starts following us, at first he was kind of creepy, but then he started telling us that we needed to hurry up and get out of there, he followed us for about five more minutes telling us to hurry, and to get away from that area, so we finally got out, and our little friend left, we were kind of confused and on the way back stopped at a members place and started asking what was up with the kid back there, and he was completely stunned and mad we walked through there, he told us to never walk near that block again, as its one of the most dangerous gang spots that he knows of, and he’s never seen anyone walk down that way.. Afterwards I was no doubt saying my prayers thanking Heavenly Father for the protection! It was also really comforting to see how we did have the protection, and that random little kid hurried us out, and with that I really doubt it was by chance that he was there! That was a pretty crazy experience this past week. Also another weird one as we were walking, we were on a little trail walking through high brush and such. And at first it seemed like just the usual, then I started to notice something was strange, I slowly began to realize finally that all these plants around us had 5 leaves on each stem, ha-ha and finally realized that we were walking through a little marijuana forest Ha-ha, so we discovered that this week which as well!

 But the work has been good! We have the dedication of the new building this Saturday so I’m really looking forward to that! They’re hoping many people will be there as well so that will be awesome for sure! We were able to get one member to work with us this week and I was seriously amazed, usually, its not always easy to take members teaching, as it can kind of be a little crazy, but this past week we took out one of the new elders in the branch getting ready for his mission Frere Elolo, and I was stunned, he was an awesome missionary already, and even better he had a love for the Book of Mormon as well, and was even teaching me things from it, that guy is awesome no doubt! So I feel really blessed to be in this branch as we have some amazing members and people like that who will give us so much time to teach with us. But yeah the work is going really well here!   Today the zone had a soccer activity, but like usual it’s usually the Ivorian that get super into it and the Americans end up falling out. So instead me Elder Lemaire and Mejean decided to go see the big voodoo marche in Be kpota!! And we were not let down to say the least!! there is a French guy who served a mission in Cote Divoire, and moved back here to Togo to get married, and he is really close with the missionaries and ended up being our tour guide. But honestly I’m not sure really how to describe the voodoo marche. It was basically just like a million dead monkeys, hyenas, leopards, antelope; elephants, hippos, turtles, and every other animal you could think of and some are taken apart and some are left together for voodoo purposes, but we had free reign to touch everything and take as many pictures as we wanted. So I’m hoping I'll be able to send those, they had a bunch of turtles and chameleons too so we got to hang out with those, we realized the turtles bit as well so we had a good time with that too ha-ha, it was awesome though!! Definitely worth the time as well. But yeah things are going great here! I love the teaching even though we don’t have many Amis, but it just makes it better when we do get to teach. Its still super hot here, like none other ha-ha, but its good! I like where we are with how quiet it is and it’s pretty peaceful, it’s full of red dust though that is impossible to get out of clothes so everything has a tint to it. 

It really is like a new mission like you said, as things are so separated and far, but its fun! It’s nice out here! I like my comp and we get along pretty well!   I can see that its a promising secteur and no doubt a lot can be done in it, but I’m just hoping to be able to get to work that way!  It’s had the least amount of baptisms as any in the mission so I’m hoping to be able to help change that! But like I said the branch is really good here and we have a lot of good members! I miss Elder Desvergez a ton!! Ha-ha those were the best times. And yeah we worked great together as well, and that was a tough secteur over there as well so I see that its possible, I learned a ton from over there no doubt! I love the French though and luckily I have Lemaire and Mejean not too far ha-ha I’m hoping to be able to send pictures as I have a ton from ganvie and from the voodoo marche, and from Togo and our area, its really pretty here! A lot of missionaries don’t like it because it’s so bad here, but I like it a lot more! The time is different here in Togo than Benin, so it gets dark at six, and there is a super pretty sunset every night so that’s cool!  Being out the farthest up north from the city, I was bound to not get the nicest apartment, but its nice, just a little couple room house with the sweet outdoor bathroom and shower, which I like actually because its cool at night, also we have a big water tank, so if the water does go out, we always have back up so that’s good! But yeah the African language here is évé, and it sounds a lot cooler than font, I’m hoping to pick some up!

 I found something in my studies this past week from Harold B Lee, on improving ourselves, and he said to each day write something to improve upon, a weakness, and the next day work to leave it behind, and in the night talk with the Lord about how you did, and that has been something that I have loved doing and can see that it really works. The best thing I learned from Desvergez is the love for the Book of Mormon, he honestly had it memorized, so that’s been what I’ve been doing is just working to the point where I can be like he was, its an incredible book and seriously something to read throughout a life, just studying stuff the general authorities have found in the Book of Mormon shows me that we really have to look a lot deeper, and see its application. It’s seriously the best though!! Another cool thing is we will be dedicating the first stake in Benin and Togo in the next couple months, so for sure they will be sending out an apostle for the dedication, so I’m really excited for that as well!! Things are great here though! I love and miss you all a ton, and I hope all goes great this next week!

Elder Oliverson

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

Bonjour

Bonjour.

Sorry I’m really short on time as a result of the trip today. We got to go to Ganvie as my last p-day here in Benin for now! Ganvie is the city out in the middle of the huge lake that the Beninese built to hide from slave traders, so it’s a lot of the old Beninese and more voodoo than the rest of the country, it was pretty crazy though for sure! We took our whole zone on a little canoe all the way out to it, which was about an hour ride, it was really fun though! Also I’m kind of mad because the computer isn’t uploading pictures, I have a lot of pictures of our meals with all the converts this past week, and the trip to Ganvie which are pretty awesome! Hopefully next week.

 I was sad to miss General Conference though. It's incredibly important as you said to hear the words of the inspired modern day prophets no doubt. And no there is no way we could get it live, we have to wait till the DVD gets here, which isn’t till end of November, or till the conference edition Liahona gets here to read them. It’s good though.

This past week has gone by great though, as we already had an idea that I was leaving, word got around fast, so this past week has been a lot of meals and dinners! So it’s been really fun! I got the call Saturday that I’m leaving for Togo, in the secteur of Hedzronhoe and I'll be with Elder Soa, an Ivorian! So I’m really excited for that! Its crazy too, because he is 30 years old... he somehow was able to come on the mission, then they found out and he confessed to it, but they let him stay out. I’ve been looking forward for Togo, as a lot of missionaries prefer it, even though it’s a lot poorer and less civilized! I’m leaving with the assistants tomorrow morning, and actually Elder Ringle will be with me as well as he’s transferred there too. I’m really excited for it! 

This past week has gone well, we have a marriage and 5 baptisms this next week, so I’m sad I won't be there to see all of those! But I’m really happy at the same time to see them making that step!! And also as I’m going over there so early in the mission, its most likely that I will return back to Benin before the end, so that would be the best to be able to come back and see everyone here! I love it here, and I love everyone in the branch here in Gbegamey, so it will be sad to go! But Togo will be great! I learned a lot here, and have made some great relationships, so this past week with all the meals and stuff was nice to see all our Amis and such! I'll miss them all a lot though.

Thanks for sending the summaries of the Conference talks though. Hopefully I'll have some time in the cyber to go through a couple! And no there isn’t a printer anywhere here that I know of. It’s weird to here that it is getting cold there, as its just getting hotter over here!

I love you all and thank you so much for all of the support!! You are all the best!

                                                              Love Elder Oliverson

This week has went well

     This week has went well, we had our interviews we do every three months with President, so that went really well! Its also really good to talk with President Weed, he’s the best! He went home actually this past week, to get some skin cancer removed but hopefully he'll be back soon! The sun is hot here! But yeah, interviews are always the best! Then afterwards me and Desvergez got reminded about the give money rule if we get jumped... still hasn’t happened yet and I know for a fact that he isn’t giving any money ha-ha. Not a ton is new with our Amis though, were finding some new good ones though! The Nigerians are progressing well, and probably the best part of this past week was seeing all of our recent converts get the Priesthood, this past month has been awesome for the branch, there is a whole new load of members which will help a ton! But yeah, one of the best parts was when we went to see Daniel the Saturday before he got the Priesthood. We came in and he had some food for us and we asked him if he’d eat too, only to find out that he was fasting, finally he told us as well that he was fasting so he could be spiritually ready for the next day. Man he’s the best!! I’m excited as well for the next step to see them all receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, there is always a small worry about retention here, but honestly this big group we’ve had of baptisms this past month have been incredibly strong, so I’m really excited to see that move forward... A big thing like I said before that I’ve noticed is those who are the strongest converted have the strongest desire to share the gospel, and that’s been huge with these recent converts is how strong of missionaries they already are! They’re awesome. Before I leave as well next week, we have one last baptism in Gbegamey, which is Antoine, he is one that called us off the street one day, (which are usually the crazy people) and we got talking to him. He’s progressed awesome and now I see him doing really great as well!! Things are all great with Desvergez I love him!! He made me a certificate giving me the authority to leave now, saying that I’m ready to be a stellar missionary ha-ha, his trainer did for him as well, but I passed the final test he gave me by teaching the second hour at church, he’s the best! 

      I don’t know if I told you about the crazy Nigerian last week but he’s back! We had an activity at the church this past week, so me and Desvergez were there early getting ready, and here comes walking in the crazy Nigerian, he went and hid, so after we found him, it took a little while getting him out of the church, but we some how managed, and sure enough he showed up for church this Sunday as well, we had to give a warning to all of the members to not give him money. Ha-ha man, that guy.  Also we had zone meeting this past week which is always good, and found out were going to the city on the water next p-day before I leave! So I’m really excited for that! That’ll be really fun the next week. But yeah, the past week has gone really well, we’ve been working so hard it’s been the best!! Not a ton new though, but its been really good! The mission has taught me how to cook as well! I should have been prepared that way! The branch is doing much better though so it’s been awesome! Desvergez has taught me a lot that way!! And it’s definitely remade the connection with the missionaries and the branch! I’m really excited for General Conference! We get the telecast, but not till about 5 weeks afterwards, and even then we don’t get all the sessions, so we wait till we get the Liahona to read the talks, and even then they don’t come in till two months after, so its kind of tough. Thanks for everything! I love and miss you all a ton! Thanks again!

Elder Oliverson

Bonjour!

Bonjour!                                                                                                         

This past week has gone really well too! Not a ton new though! We’ve been able to do much more work as well as it has been just us two, so that’s been good! A lot of it has been in getting all of our recent converts ready to get the priesthood, which they’ll be getting next week so that will be really exciting for sure! They’re all doing awesome! The work is still going really well too, we don’t have a ton of investigators right now, so wave been doing a ton of searching. We have an ami named Carlos.  he’s been awesome to teach and has come along really well, along with that he wants for his girlfriend to hear our message as well, she lives a ways away though so we’ve been teaching him and having the other missionaries in Fidjrossey teach her, they aren’t married yet which is a problem, and also means they won't probably be getting baptized any time soon, but I definitely see the two of them getting baptized together in the next month or two! So I’m excited about that, we have two other Amis as well, who are two sisters of a member in the branch, who have received almost all of the lessons, have loved it, and are getting baptized in two weeks! The problem is the summer vacation is over, so they are both moving back to Togo, so we’ll pass them over to the missionaries in Lome to baptize them... that will make three baptisms that we’ve sent over there, they must be doing something right in Togo, to just get those people moving in like that. It’s been good though!! We do have a baptism in two weeks though with an ami named Antoine, he’s an older guy and his wife has left him, we’ve only been able to see him once a week, yet he’s still progressed really well and loves church! With him coming in, we have a lot of older single men in the branch, which is good, but it would be somewhat better if we had more whole families, but we for sure have a solid single adults program now! Another big thing in the branch this past week happened with a member. There is a partially active member I don’t know too well, and apparently about five days ago he became really sick. The other companionship here in Gbegamey went over to visit and see how he was doing; they ended up giving him a blessing, then left afterwards. The next morning at church, we found out that late the night before he started coughing up blood, and after a couple of hours he passed away. Obviously the family and the branch were all pretty sad and down about this, but the problem was is there is a rumor that someone killed him, with a voodoo spell or something, so overall people are all being really skeptical with the whole thing, and there are many rumors going around with that, and some members in the family are wondering about the blessing that the missionaries gave; and if there is anything with that, luckily most of the members understand to stay away from voodoo, and understand the gospel well, yet there are still some that are worried in a way.. It was really sad though; as he was a pretty young guy as well, but really no one has a clue why he died, so we’ll have to see what happens there. I’m hoping all will turn out well in that situation. We have a Nigerian ami we found a couple weeks ago that I’ve been teaching in English, who is coming along great, something I’ve seen is a way to see that someone is really interested in the message is when they invite everyone they know to hear it as well, and that is what she has done, she’s really nice, and I see things going well with her. Her name is Blessing, which is kind of ironic, but yeah she’s been great, and she’s already married which is nice as well! Its been tough though, as with their English they don’t understand any of my English, and I can barely understand any of there’s. It works though!! This past week we went to our rendezvous with Wesley, the American ambassador guy, but his two friends weren’t able to end up coming, so we had dinner with him and invited a member over as well, it was the best once again! Also it turns out that it is Bryant’s friend! He’s awesome though, it’s so crazy eating food like that and talking to an American. His house is gorgeous as well. We barely knew what to do with ourselves!! Other than all of that the work is going really well!! It was Elder Desvergez birthday this past Sunday, and that was fun because everyone made us food once again! Also I made him breakfast, as it was his birthday as that is what Sister Weed suggested we do. And man I’ll be honest I’m a good cook. If anyone doubts that go ahead and ask him!! It was a good day though for sure!! I love him though, its great being able to work so hard and well together, also to see the French continue to improve as I’m with a French elder! But yeah, we don’t have many dinner appointments but when we do they’re always really nice, they are really giving in that way. They’re awesome! But yeah with the branch, me and Desvergez have been doing a lot more that way and have actually organized a kind of mutual night for the youth, to help the branch improve more. Also we’ve rearranged the branch cleaning, as it wasn’t working by family, so we moved it to getting done by the auxiliaries, so were hoping that improves as well, as there aren’t many service projects here to do, that was one that we figured we could for sure get everyone involved in. Also we organized a talent show thing each month, in hope that that will help us get more people interested and involved, and help them bring friends and new contacts in! So things are going pretty well with the branch and such! This month has gone by so fast, and then as I was thinking about it, it is probably because we’ve had baptisms each week. It’s nice having the work up and going like that!! And yeah we had the cleanest apartment, so we got the prize, which was nice!! I’m still in the same place as I was before! And either way there isn’t a single area in the mission where we can clean clothes. Its all hand washing. I’m a pro at it now so it’s not a big deal!! We haven’t had a ton of power this past week as well, so all of our food has gotten rotten. Then we haven’t had water either. But I found it better that way, because instead of cold shower, I fill a bucket with boiling water, and then normal water, and its a nice bucket shower! So that’s been good!  When all the food in the fridge went bad though, all we had left were noodles, but we didn’t have water, so me and Desvergez went out and collected all of the water we could to cook the noodles, then we had no water to make sauce, so we put margarine on the noodles and have been able to enjoy that ha-ha, we have one of the bigger apartments, but there is rarely water or power so its not the best. We loved the pineapple season so much, that we’ve been living off pineapple juice since then, but now the papayas are coming on so we’ve moved to those. But yeah things are all great here! I love and miss you all a ton! Thanks for everything again!!

Elder Oliverson

Ambroise with the whole family! Thats a stellar family!

                                                                                                     

Bonjour!
Things are going good! And yeah I’m glad I’m still here in this area, I think I'll be going in October though. And yeah the baptisms went great! After the baptisms there is always a time President Weed gives for the new converts to bear testimony, this past week was the best! Every single one stressed the importance of repentance, and of the changes that they have made to follow Christ, which is really what repentance is. And how committed they were with their change of heart; even the young ones expressed this as well, so that was the best. It really made me realize again the importance of repentance, and really how it is there so we can become more like Jesus Christ, and it is all about change of heart, which I could really see with our Amis! So that was good!  This week was much more laid back though, in that Elder Owusu was leaving, so me and Desvergez were on a split with him, so a lot of the time was in eating with members and visiting and packing! We’ve been doing a lot of finding as well mostly as we’ve had a lot of baptizing, so we have less Amis, which I guess is a good thing!  The best part was all of those baptized were contacts, or distant family members of members in the branch! That was awesome because we saw how much the branch has helped us, and also there were a ton of people at the baptism. The baptism was awesome for sure, frightening as well... the branch president who was over the baptism came up to me at the start, and was a little uneasy, and began to explain to me that there was a candidate that the other missionaries couldn’t baptize. Elder Allred and Elder Lala, I didn’t really understand what he meant until he explained that really, they couldn’t baptize her. Then I saw her come in and realized why, she was easily well over 300 pounds... Not only was that a problem, but also the water in the font is always very low because the font is so small. I felt a little honored that he asked me to do the baptism, but at the same time I was terrified, there were a ton of people there and I legitimately thought there was no way I could do this one. I'll be honest I prayed multiple times in advance. When the baptism came though, I wasn’t too nervous at all, and honestly it went perfectly fine!  I can say that my prayers was answered there, because otherwise I really don’t think I could have done that baptism! It went great though! So Saturday was a good day for sure! As we have so many new converts now, we’ve been teaching the priesthood a lot lately, and in turn I have been studying that mostly as of late. It’s been a good reminder for sure of how great a blessing that really is to have the priesthood on the earth today. And it is all thanks to the Restoration of the Church, and its something that really sets our church apart, but seriously what a blessing that is we have that power to do ordinances on the earth and have those accepted in the heavens! Like I said this past week we haven’t been able to do much teaching because of Owusu, but it’s been good! We have had a lot of dinners with Ghanaian families as he is Ghanaian, but man they are awesome! Its incredible how strong the church is over there and the members. I'll miss Owusu a lot though he was an awesome missionary! It was crazy to see him go home as well though... sheesh ha-ha.  It was our apartment that won the clean check!!!!!!! SO we got to go eat hamburgers on Tuesday it was incredible!!! Ha-ha too worth it. Also the American with the embassy talked to me yesterday, and invited me and Desvergez over for dinner again, and he is inviting a couple of his friends from the embassy a French and an American, that wanted to talk with us, so that will be awesome again for sure!!   Elder McConkie is coming by here in the next couple months. I’m guessing the son of Bruce R McConkie or something? That will be cool though! Things are going really well, thank you for all of your love and support! I love and miss you all a ton! 

Elder Oliverson

Baptisms!

Some of the baptisms from Saturday! Parents coming next week! Because of marriage.

Our dinner with one of the Ghanian families!