Welcome to Attiegou!

Hello Everyone,

How has everything been? I hope all is well with everyone. Things have been pretty amazing this past week, so I'll fill you in on that.

First of all, transfers were this past week and I got a new companion! My new companion is Elder Osime. He is originally from Nigeria, but has grown up in the United States most of his life. He has about a year and a half on the mission, and he is an awesome missionary. Also, he's like 6'9''. I'm super excited to spend this transfer with him, working here in Attiegou.

So, I do have a pretty awesome missionary story from this past week. On Tuesday night, Elder Osime's first night here, we met with one of our friends. I was just introducing my new companion to some of our friends, and also asking them if they needed any kind of service. Usually they say no, and this friend in particular always says no, but Elder Osime convinced her to say yes. She eventually did say that she needed some help, so we came back the next day. When we came back, we weren't completely sure what we were going to be helping with, but we were ready to do anything. However, we were a little surprised when she said that she needed help to move some logs that were at her other house. We were guided there by her son, to a house not too far, but probably like 200 meters away. Also, we were in our proselyting clothes, so white shirts and ties. I started with a pretty big log, and it was easy at first, but the house was a lot farther than I thought. We continued doing this service for about an hour, and then helped their neighbors with some tree branches. It was really awesome to see how joyful they were after we offered our service. After this, our white shirts were just wrecked. The logs were pretty dirty, and they had tree sap all over them. However, it was awesome to offer our service, even if the stains won't come out of my shirt. It will make for an awesome souvenir.

Last night, we were at a members house, and we helped cook dinner. Elder Osime and I made a sauce, and pate. I tried helping, but every time I tried to do something, I did it wrong haha, and the member did it for us. I'm sure that I'll learn one day. Other than that, we are continuing to work hard in the sector, and inviting people to listen to our message. We had an awesome week this last week, and it has been awesome to work with Elder Osime. I can't wait for what happens this transfer.

I hope everyone has an awesome week, and I'll be sure to attach pictures down below!

Elder Orchard

Pictures:

- My shirt after Service 

- After service

- Elder Osime and I

- Some pictures of the sector

Baptisms!!

Hello Everyone!

It's been an awesome week! So many things have happened, so I'll try to fill you in. 

So, I'll start off with a little bit of a funny story. So, a couple of weeks ago we had Zone Conference. Well, before Zone Conference, I knew that I needed to get a haircut. I have clippers and some scissors, but I'm still too scared to do it myself. However, I was talking to the same guy that gives my companion his haircuts, and he said he could cut my hair. I asked if he knew how, about 100 times. He assured me that he did, and then I asked him if he had cut hair like mine before, and he said yes 3 times. Plus, it was only gonna be 1000 cfa, which is a little less than $2. So, I figured I'd try it. I get there, and I'm asking again, just making sure. I even pick up the scissors, and asked if he knew how to cut the top with them. Anyways, he starts on the sides and back, and is doing a really good job. Then, I see him change the guard on the clippers, and to my horror, he just goes right off the top. I didn't even say anything, it was too late. I just accepted it at that point haha. In the end, the only thing he used the scissors for was to cut some stray hairs. Overall, I don't think it looks too bad.

Anyways, I don't know how many of you saw this, but we had a collective baptism session this last Saturday! Elder Kazadi and I had four of our friends get baptized! Overall, between us, our district, and a couple other sets of missionaries, I'd say we baptized around 30 people in one day, which is insane. In fact, two Elders from our district had 12 people get baptized in one day. It wasn't all easy getting there though. The meeting was supposed to start at 2 PM, but because of some communication errors, and other things, we didn't even get there until about 2:30 PM. Also, when we got there, already late, only 2 of our friends were there. Thankfully, the other 2 showed up shortly after, and we were able to start the meeting. It was so awesome to see so many people get baptized!

Other than that, I have no real big news. We are in the last week of the transfer, and I wouldn't be surprised if Elder Kazadi gets transferred. He's been here for 4 transfers, about 6 months, and I've been here for about 2.5. I'm excited to see what happens.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Orchard 

- pictures from the baptisms

- some pictures of our area