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

Bonjour!

Bonjour!

 Things went pretty well this past week! Just been teaching a ton of lessons! We had a solid baptism day on this past Saturday and that went awesome!! I was especially excited for Daniel, who’s been stellar no doubt! It was the best to see how happy he was, it was insane! He’s progressed insanely fast since we found him just a few weeks ago, and was able to get baptized this past Saturday with all those others! He’ll be getting the priesthood in the next couple weeks as well, so it will be awesome to see how well he progresses in the church, he has an incredibly strong testimony in all the things we’ve talked about, and was surely converted by the Book of Mormon, so that was a special baptism no doubt! We have 5 more coming up this next Saturday so that will be really fun for sure! Me and Desvergez both stayed here through this last big transfer, so that was good for sure! I love him a ton and we have the best time no doubt, and its great for both of us to see a lot of the fruit of our labors these next weeks with the baptisms! I’m pretty sure one of us will be leaving this next transfer though when we get 21 new missionaries. So the work is going really well. We have a lot of finding to do though, so we’ve been up to a lot of tracking, and looking. We had a really cool lesson with a Muslim couple this past week. We read Alma 42 with the two of them, which is in depth on the atonement, and the importance of Jesus Christ, the spirit was incredibly strong no doubt, and afterwards all Desvergez said was, man. Dieu est fort.. We were lucky to even talk with the people, as they are Muslim, let alone read the Book of Mormon with them, and as they did you could see the spirit working in them. We have fixed a date for baptism with them the 21st  of this month, I’m really hoping, but well have to see if that works out! Either way, they for sure have a better understanding of Christ thanks to the Book of Mormon, so that was awesome for sure! Things are good in the branch as well, this past week was the temple trip for the youth, so this past Sunday was the testimony meeting for those who went on the trip, and that was awesome as well! It was great to see how blown away and happy they were talking about it!  It’s really cool to see these people getting the chance to go to the temple, and the sacrifices financially they made to do it. They only get the trip two times each year, but you could definitely see they made the most of it!  

It’s been really hot this past week, and its now hitting that time of year where it just gets hotter. Its good though being acclimated by now! Me and Desvergez had a solid basketball session today as well, doing our usual... either the people here are getting faster though, or I’m just getting more out of shape.  With those cleaning checks.... its too competitive... we seriously went all out, we cleaned, went and picked flowers, made a fruit bowl, and hung up Benin flags. Yet we still didn’t win.... That was terrible Ha-ha. Things are good though!  things are so much more fun when you can speak the language, studies as well!! It’s really fun teaching the atonement with these people because really it’s something complex but there are many ways to make it easy to understand. I’ve always heard the way with us being in debt, and Jesus Christ paying that for us, so now we have to pay him back. This one is good, but really we cant pay the debt back, and that’s not what Christ wants from us... but this past week I found something that makes a lot more sense, and that’s piano lessons. For example, a mom pays for piano lessons for her child, so she gives him a great opportunity, and something that can be a big blessing, she doesn’t ask for the child to pay her back, that isn’t what she wants, but all she asks for him to practice, and that is what makes her happy, that’s also the way the child can show his thanks for her, for what she gave him, by this as well he grows and becomes better, as he grows, that’s what makes the mom happy, its not that he repays her for the lessons, he doesn’t pay the teacher for the lessons, but just practices.. With this the child grows and can become really good at piano, which is what the mom is wanting. This analogy is a lot like what Christ did for us, as he paid for all the sins and all he asks is obedience and repentance. In doing so we become better and more like him, which is the goal in life... along with that, I know from my experiences, we don’t like practicing the piano, because we don’t see the use of it. Just because we don’t see through the mom’s eyes, and we go and do our own thing. Which again is a lot like with Christ, where we don’t see reason for repentance or obedience in some things. If we only saw through Christ’s eyes and saw why he has us do all we do, its just so we can become more like him, be happier, and live with him again. The atonement is something special for sure!! I love you all though, and I hope all is great there!! Have a great next week!

Baptisms Saturday!

Daniel

Bonjour!!                                                                                    

Another good past week and a tiring one for sure!! Things

have been going really well the past week work wise. Elder Barton just

got in, so the last American to come from the Provo MTC, because the

rest will be going to the Ghana now! But yeah the past week has been

really great!! Things are finally coming together now in the branch

really well, and we actually got two of the young men called as branch

missionaries so that’ll be way fun to work with them and help them get

ready for their own missions as well! This past week we made a lot of

progress with one of our ami's named Hughe. He is a student here from

Cote D'ivoire.. and we’ve had trouble getting to talk to him because of

his uncle, who is strongly against the church and such, and thinks we,

are racist and that whole thing. Finally though we have been able to

get working with him and its been awesome for sure! He loves our

message and has been soaking it all up, especially with the Joseph

Smith story and such, he’s been reading the Book of Mormon as well, and

we can already see a lot of progress with him that way. He is getting

baptized the 17 of the next month as well so that will be great! We

have had a great time with the new Font families that we’ve found, and

they as well are actually getting baptized the 17th as well so that

should be really fun as well! It was the best seeing them come in

church this past Sunday. All 7 of the kids took up about half of our

chapel, but hey its a good thing! As of right now we have 14

baptismal dates set for August with many more that should be coming!

So it’s really fun to see the work start picking up! The members have

been a huge help though, and were seeing a lot of improvement that

way, for example we had a rendezvouz with an ami after church, who

wasn’t able to go to church because she got some malaria, while we were

in the lesson she got a call from the relief society president in our

branch asking what was up and if she needed anything. So the branch

is doing awesome here! English class has been a pretty good time as

well, and that is for sure starting to help the missionary efforts a

lot because everyone here wants to learn English. Everyone. We’ve had

some problems with church cleaning so my comp and me have started

going each week to get that going, which also has helped a ton because

the members love it when we come! While cleaning the church we went

into the garage, only to find one of the missions extra trucks... this

whole time the brand new truck has been there, but apparently is only

for emergencies and such! I was kind of bummed Ill be honest! But hey

maybe one day! We’ve been able to start teaching more Muslims again,

even though their month isn’t over yet, which is interesting, but some

of them are actually progressing really well! Its interesting teaching

the word of wisdom and chastity with them because a lot of teachings

in the Koran are similar to an extent, so they don’t have too much of a

problem with those areas. But yeah the work is going awesome! One of

my favorite lessons this last week was our first lesson with the wife

of Ambroise, the one business man who hasn’t been able to be baptized

yet because they’re still waiting on the papers for their marriage. She

has been coming to church with him and the family each week, yet we

just finally had our first lesson with her because she lives way far

away. But yeah we had our first lesson, it went awesome, she

understood really well, and then she started talking about Ambroise..

She was talking about how before he wasn’t the best guy, he would be at

the bar each week with the guys, or was traveling for work. He never

saw the family, and she said that she hasn’t seen him, or her, happy in

years.. She said though she started to notice an enormous change in

him, and he started talking about how he was meeting with the

missionaries and how happy he was.. She said he left part of his job,

and has been home every night since then.. The part that about made me

die was when she said that now, every morning, and night he insists on

family study of the Book of Mormon, and prayer, and they’ve even

started up Family home evening.. She said no doubt they are the

happiest they have ever been, and they finally have their family

together again, and every day its the best when he gets back from

work. She explained that she though absolutely nothing could change

her husband, but if there was something that could, it would have to

be an absolute miracle. Man how great that was to see how much the

gospel really does bless individuals, but especially families!! That

was probably the happiest part of the week hearing that! Since then we

have been able to start teaching their five daughters as well, and

were hoping to be able to see them all be baptized together in the

next couple weeks! No doubt that will be a beautiful family in the

church!! The gospel no doubt is the only thing that could possibly

change someone’s life, and family like that. It surely strengthened my

testimony as well on how important the gospel is in the family, and

those things like prayer and scripture study! Another great part of

the week was at church.. Were so used to having about 3 or 4 amis at

church each Sunday, and that is the usual, maybe a couple more but not

often..  That’s one of the biggest problems we have is with getting

people to church.. We’ve found some awesome ami's lately, but still I

was blown away when we had 17 amis at church this past week!! It was

awesome to see the church filled completely, no doubt it could be a

huge blessing for the branch as well, and I wouldn’t be surprised to

see not far off the branch getting split into two really. But yeah the

ami's are all doing great and the work is awesome right now!! Its the

best still hearing people that sometimes have a hard time

understanding explaining how they just know things are true, and how

the spirit feels, and explain how things just feel right.. it no doubt

shows the power of the spirit in conversion and has been amazing to

watch! Also how the Lord helps us find those honest in heart and ready

to hear the gospel.. so often we find people, begin teaching and they

don’t progress, but we find they have friends or family who have just

soaked in our message. But yeah Africa is still great! Not a ton new!

It rained this week, like usual.. so we’ve been finding a lot more

lizards in our place, I hope they’re doing good work with the bugs, so

that’s nice! Desvergez is still the best ever!! He loves missionary

work and is no doubt the most zealous, fun loving missionary I’ve known

yet, so its been the absolute best! You definitely have to be fun

loving with these people, and they love you! We have a new p-day

activity, and that is finding different random basketball courts

around Gbegamey and asking people to play us in pick up games.. they

love it, (because its two yovo's).. till we start to play.. I will be

honest right now when I say that we one 32 straight games this

morning, 2 on 5.. On top of that though we got 5 new contacts from it,

so its definitely a good activity for the work as well! ha-ha but no

doubt its been 8 months since Desvergez has played but hes still got

it in him! Ha-ha, so things are going great here in Gbegamey! I hope

all is great back in the U.S.A! I love and miss you all!

Elder Oliverson

Kids here are the best!!