Waterfall pt. 2

Hello Everyone!

This week wasn't too crazy, so this'll be a shorter email.

We had a baptismal service for Sr Victoire! It was super cool, and her mom even made it, which was a huge blessing.

We had interviews with President this past week, and it was super cool. Kinda weird to think that i only have 1 interview left. We also got to eat with President afterwards, which was a neat experience.

Elder Rogers got super sick this last week. I think he's doing better now.

We're going back to the waterfall today, hopefully, and I'm super excited. It's overcast, so let's hope it doesn't rain.

We're coming up on the last week of the transfer, and we'll get the calls by this Saturday. I'm not sure if I'll leave or stay, but I'm good with whatever.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Until next time,

Elder Orchard

Teaching a 3 Time Village Chief

This week we taught the chief of 3 villages, although he didn't look the part. He was wearing a red and yellow puma jumpsuit. He invited us to teach him last Wednesday, but the rain kept us from going. More on that later. When we called him to reschedule the appointment, he was ecstatic. We went back and he again told us how he was the chief of 3 villages, and the names of them. We started our lesson, but he dominated with bizarre questions, and his scriptural knowledge. He was super nice and respectful though. The appointment didn't really go anywhere, and we didn't share what we had planned on sharing. After we had been there for an hour or so, we had to wrap things up and go to our next lesson. He offered us some "sodabi" which was his homemade alcohol. We had to politely refuse, to which he politely refused to which we politely refused again. It was a good experience, and now I can say I've taught a 3x village chief. 

So now on the rain. I guess we're in the rainy season now, considering that it rained every single day this last week. It has it's benefits, like the weather being cooler now, but also it's kind of annoying. It's harder to get missionary work done in the rain. I don't mind going out in the rain, but nobody here wants to speak to us when it's raining. We showed up to a friends house yesterday, a little wet from the rain, and they were almost like mad at us for coming in the rain. It's a little frustrating, but it's alright. We're going back to the waterfall next week, and it's gonna be HUGE from all the rain.

We are getting our friend, Victoire, ready for baptism this next Saturday. She is ready, and I'm excited to see her continue to grow and progress in the church. We found her my first week in Kpalime, so it's been nice to be here the whole time and see her entire progression. 

The only other big thing that happened this week was an exchange done on Thursday. I worked with Elder Rogers in his sector. It was a good exchange, despite the rain. We biked out to a super far area in our sector, that we wouldn't be able to walk there. I don't know if it's because I haven't biked in a while, or I'm just out of shape, but I was struggling on the bike haha. It was pretty tiring. The highlight of the exchange was when we ate a big pile of pate at 4, and then biked to another appointment and ate a big pile of foufou at 6. I was pretty proud of myself. 

That's about it for this week. Have a great week!

Elder Orchard

Sleeping on a broken couch (late post - from 6/13/2022)

This last week was a good one. We started off the week with Zone Conference. We went down to Lome on Monday afternoon, and we stayed in the Agoe apartment. Agoe's apartment only has 2 beds, and so we were going to bring down 2 more beds for the 4 of us, but it was raining, and so we couldn't transport the beds on the roof of the taxi. So, Elder Rogers and I let our companions use the beds, and we slept on the floor/couch. He took cushions off the chairs and used those as a bed, and I slept on the broken couch. Probably the worst night of sleep ever.

This last week, we found a ton a new people to teach, and a ton of potential families. We're gonna do our best to help them progress, and help them onto the covenant path.

At zone conference, we had a great discussion on the Doctrine of Jesus Christ, and what that really is. We also talked about how doctrine is accepted as doctrine, and so forth. The main points of the doctrine of Jesus Christ are faith in him, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endurance to the end. It was amazing to see that in just the last two years, our prophet Russell M. Nelson, has talked and taught about all these points. I know that he is truly a prophet called of God, and that he leads his children on this earth today.

Not too long of an email this week, not too much crazy happened. 

I hope everyone has a great week.

Elder Orchard

Close Encounter with a Bat

Hello Everyone!

This week was pretty normal, but some cool stuff happened, pretty much like every other week.

On Tuesday, I bought a ton of super cool pagne, African material. I gave some to the the tailor today to make some scriptures covers, and I'll use the others to make ties, shirts and other stuff. Super excited for that. 

Also on Tuesday, I got super sick. Again. I don't know what it is, but lately I've been getting more sick, and more often, and it's super frustrating. Its also tough being with Elder Mazunzu, a new missionary, and getting sick, because when I'm sick, we both have to stay in. I hate staying in more because it keeps him from going out to sector. So, we came back early on Tuesday, to find the power out. While the power was out, a bat flew into our house, and started getting a little to close. My companion chased it into the kitchen, where he hit it with a pack of spaghetti. It wasn't dead, but also not moving, so we got some dope pictures with it. Don't worry, I didn't eat it, and we washed our hands really well after.

We fixed the baptism date this week for Sr Victoire for the 25th of June. I'm super excited, and she is super ready. We're hoping to get some more candidates, but we'll see. Today we're heading down to Lomé for Zone Conference tomorrow. All 4 of us are staying at Agoe's Appartment, so that'll make 8 for one night. Should be pretty fun.

This last week, we were looking for a scripture to share with a friend that wasn't progressing at all. I'll be honest, I was frustrated, and I was looking for a good chastisement. I was searching in Alma 5, and if you know that chapter, you know what I was looking for haha. Anyways, I decided that wasn't the best, and so I searched the chapter for one that would work, and came across a scripture I really like, found in Alma 5:33:

33 Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you.

What a wonderful promise! We read this a lot, but it is so true. Our Prophet has invited us numerous times to partake in daily repentance, and to be clean. Sin makes us dirty, and pulls us away from our Heavenly Father. We all make mistakes, that's what makes us human. That doesn't mean we have to rest in the guilt of these errors, but we can have these burdens lifted from us. Repentance is a joyful process. It can be hard, and we can feel shame for the things we've done, but the moment we get on our knees, and open our mouths, the words will flow out, I promise. And the promise that follows, "I will receive you." His arms of mercy are extended towards us, we just have to repent, and be cleansed, and we will receive his embrace.

I know these things are true, I've come to love daily repentance. I make tons of mistakes, but I know that God will always forgive me, and he will forgive you as well.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Know that God loves you.

Elder Orchard