Kpalime is pretty cool!

Ok, Kpalime is actually really cool. I love it here!!

This last week was pretty wild. So, I got to stay in Doumassesse for a couple more days with Elder Allison and Elder Barker, while I waited for my new companion. We worked the sector, it was pretty fun. Then, my companion, Elder Mazunzu came on Wednesday afternoon. We stayed overnight in Doumassesse, as we had a training the next day. 

We went to the training, and then finally to the good part, when we got to take the taxi to Kpalime. The taxi driver was crazy, and definitely gave me a headache. So, I fell asleep for a little while, and then when I woke up, I saw down the road, a giant silhouette of a mountain. Yes, a mountain!! We arrived in Kpalime, and I'm still taking in how gorgeous it is over here. We are surrounded by mountains, and everything is so green. It's also rained 3 of the 5 days that I've been here. I love it here.

Last Saturday, we had a missionary activity that lasted the whole day. It stared out in the morning with soccer. As always, I played terrible. Fortunately, the other American here, Elder Rogers, played even worse, so I had that going for me. My team only won once, but it was still super fun. It was also a lot of fun meeting a ton of members and their friends! In the afternoon, we had, I guess you could call it, a "talent show." A lot of people danced and lip synced. It was fun though, and we got a ton of non members involved. We even got to eat akoumé and sauce d'arachide.

The only downside so far has been being new to the sector. Also, my companion is brand new, so he doesn't really know anything yet, so that's been tough too. We don't know the sector at all, and so it's been a lot of just walking around, and trying to talk to people. Next week, we have a member lined up to work with us everyday, so I'm guessing this next week will be much better.

That's about it for me. I'll attach some photos!

Have a great day,

Elder Orchard

Welp, I'm training for a 3rd time on my mission! We got transfer calls this last week, and I am leaving Doumassesse after 3 transfers here. Although I am sad to leave Doumassesse, I am also ready to move on. I will be working in Kpalime and I'm so excited!! It's the sector everyone wants to go to in Togo, because it's a village about 60-70 miles north of Lome, and it has mountains, a ton of fresh fruit, and it gets cool! I'm insanely hyped to go work in Kpalime.

I am training for a third time however, which kinda baffled me, especially since I'll be training for 4 consecutive transfers, about 6 months or so. It'll be a good experience though, and this time it's another African. His name is Elder Mazunza, and I'm not sure what country he comes from, but I'm hoping Cote D'Ivoire. We'll be up in Kpalime with Elder Koaudio, and Elder Rogers. It should be fun.

This last week was just kinda waiting for transfer news, knowing that I would most likely be leaving. We had some baptisms planned, but we pushed those back, to better prepare the candidates. Other than that, this week was kind of terrible, we didn't have much success, but that's alright. We all have our off weeks. 

It's crazy, I'll train my new companion, and then I'll only have 6 weeks left on my mission. If these next two transfers go by as fast as the last two, then I'll be home in no time. But, I still have plenty of time. 

I love the mission. It had its ups and downs for sure, but it's all worth it, and for my good. I love that serving a full time mission was emphasized so much in the last conference, because I can testify that it's true. It really is worth it.

I love you all, and I'll write to you next week, From KPALIME.

Au revoir,

Elder Orchard

General Conference!!

Bonjour!

A lot of things happened this past week, and so I'll get right into it. 

First of all, I got to go on an exchange with the Zone Leaders. I went to Agoe and worked with Elder Deafon. I don't know who remembers, but I worked in the Agoe and so it was a weird feeling going back there. It's the first time I've been back to a sector after I've already left. It was awesome though, I got to see some of my converts, and it was a good exchange too. Elder Deafon is from Cote D'Ivoire and a really good missionary. 

We had interviews with President on Thursday, and those went well. It's weird, because Sister Proudfoot was just talking to me about going home stuff, and I was thinking, that's so far off, but it's actually coming up. It's weird to think about.

I do have one cool story from this past week. We were planning on meeting a friend, Patrick, to meet with some of his family. Well, he wasn't there, but his sister was. We talked to her for a while, and then she invited us to come in, and we met with their father, who I would say is almost 80 or so. We started talking with him, and when he found out we were American, he was ecstatic. When I said I've been here for over a year, they started clapping and saying Bravo haha. Then, after talking for a while, he started praying for us out loud, saying some interesting things. They also gave us some soda, so that was pretty cool. We just sat, and talked, and he basically told us his whole story. I love meeting with people, and just talking with them. It's amazing hearing other people's stories.

The big highlight of the week was general conference yesterday and Saturday. For the first time in a while, I actually got to watch all the sessions. It was an amazing conference. I especially loved Elder Holland's talk, as is the case every year. I love how he declared that each of us is a child of a Heavenly Father, and that each one of us is precious to him. Through Jesus Christ, we can overcome these trials that we may feel overtake us. His message of love and peace is something I think, or I hope, we all search for. I know that Christ lives, and that through him, we can overcome all that comes our way. There isn't something we suffer that he hasn't suffered already. He's the only person that knows us perfectly, and so we need to turn to him when we feel as if there is no one else to turn to. 

Well, this is the last week of the transfer, and the last week of training for my companion, Elder Allison. It has been a pleasure training him, and the time has gone by way too quick. It'll be interesting to see where I'll be going, and who'll be my companion this next transfer. 

That's about if for me. I hope you were all able to watch General Conference, and if not, I would invite you to do so. 

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2022/04?lang=eng

I love you all, and I know our Heavenly Father loves you with a perfect love.

À la prochaine fois,

Elder Orchard 

- a box we left at the office elders apartment 

- how we watched conference at the church

- me and my "genealogy" the two missionaries I've trained, and the missionary being trained by one of those missionaries

Not a Soccer Player

Hey everyone,

I'll make this one quick, I'm pretty tired this week. So, here's a couple highlights from this past week:

Last P-Day, I got a haircut and also went to the couple missionaries apartment to do some stuff on their computers. They were too nice, and gave us ice cream, and a whole lot of other things, all while chilling in air conditioning. 

We did an exchange this week, and I worked with Elder Obeya. We got along, and just got to work really. He is an awesome missionary, and a great example of Christ. 

We met a French guy the other day in sector, and got to speak with him. He said I speak very good French, so I give myself a pat on the back for that one.

Today was a zone activity, with a large zone vs. zone soccer match. It ultimately ended in a tie, and a whole lot of white guys getting sunburned. It was a lot of fun though, especially hanging out with the guys from the other zone.

That's about it. We are preparing some people for a baptismal service the weekend of the 9th, so I'm looking forward to that.

I hope everyone is doing great. I'll attach some pictures below.

À bientôt, 

Elder Orchard

English Class

Bonjour!

This past week hasn't been anything too crazy, but it was still a fun and challenging week.

A big event this week was Zone Conference, which was on Wednesday. It was a really good zone conference, and I can tell that the messages given to us are always inspired. The assistants gave a training on how to better contact and keep in contact with those we are teaching. We also, of course, had a great lunch of atcheké, and Ivorian dish, and a classic hamburger. Also, I got sung to, and got to pick out a present, which i picked a tie. I'll attach a photo down below, it's probably the coolest tie have.

Also this week, we taught an English class. Unfortunately, we didn't have that many people attend. However, we are trying to find ways to get more people involved. It was a good class though, and we went over just some basic stuff, like introductions, giving your phone number, address, and stuff like that. We also got some cool photos afterwards.

This next transfer, we will be getting upwards of 20 new missionaries, just here in Togo. That means that every area that was closed will be open, and some areas will be opened for the first time. I talked to the zone leaders about how here in Doumassesse, our sector is huge, and we don't have the means to take care of this whole sector ourselves. Therefore, we need another companionship here. They seemed super cool with that, and I think it'll happen. 

Other than that, not much else is going on. We have stake conference next weekend, and then general conference the weekend after that, and I'm looking forward to both. Having an American companion, I may get to watch general conference in English for the first time in my mission, but we'll see. 

I hope you are all doing well, and don't be afraid to reach out!

au revoir,

Elder Orchard

It's getting HOT over here

Bonjour!!

I hope everyone is doing well, and that the week is treating you well. There's not much this week, but I'll get into it anyways. 

So, this past week we worked a lot with Tako, a recent convert, to find people to teach this past week. He has been in the same area since he was a kid, so he knows a lot of people. Honestly, a lot of people he gives us don't seem very interested in our message, but I love that he takes an interest in spreading the gospel, and that is what counts.

We had a baptism this past week, for two children who are in a part member family. We honestly didn't do much, other than teach them the lessons. Either way, it was great to see them enter the baptismal waters.

We found this guy that is really interested, and his name is Deni. He bought a triple combo, and is flying through it. He feels that every other religion he's been a part of is wrong, but he says that he has a good feeling with us. Let's hope that things stay good.

In other news, it's getting super hot out here. It rained a couple of days ago, and now, not only is it super hot, its also super humid. I think it'll be like this for a while, because the rainy season is coming up soon. It's very hot out haha

Other than that, not much else is going on. But, like I said, there wasn't much this week. I'm trying to be better at updating this more often, as in weekly.

I'll attach some pictures down below. I hope everyone is doing good!

Until next time,

Elder Orchard

No Longer a Teenager

Bonjour!!

Well, this week has been pretty good! I'll jump right into it.

So, today I get to celebrate my 20th birthday, and my second time celebrating a birthday in Africa. I still feel like I'm 18 haha. It's crazy to think that my entire 19th year was spent as a missionary, just a cool thought. I'll probably just get a nice burger, and make some no-bake cookies to celebrate.

This last week was pretty normal, nothing too crazy. I do have a couple cool stories though. So, on Tuesday, we went to teach a new convert, Fr Tako. Afterwords, we played foosball just outside his house. The machine took 25 cfa, so we got some change, and played around 30 rounds or so. It was fun playing with Fr Tako, and we had the whole neighborhood watching and cheering us on. I got a pretty cool picture that I'll put down below.

A couple of days later, we were walking down a sketchy road, and this guy stopped us, and asked us to teach him. He was normal, not drunk, but then a very drunk guy came up to me and asked me to drink Gin with him. I told him no, and that I don't drink. He didn't like that, so he kept insisting. I actually got him to calm down a little, until this other guy came over and yelled at us to leave, and go back where we came from, and that they don't want us here. I politely told him that I would like to stay, and that these people did in fact want to talk to us. Then he left, only to come back 5 minutes later with his buddy, who proceeded to tell us the same thing, and I told him the same thing. They both got really mad, and one started pushing me, but I kinda just stepped back a little, and they ended up leaving. Pretty crazy, and probably won't take that route for a while.

This last week we also prepared some of our candidates for an upcoming baptism this Saturday. It looked like we were gonna have to postpone the baptism, but we didn't have to. I've seen in my mission that when I'm obedient, doing what I need to do, I'm more receptive to the Holy Ghost, and to seeing miracles in my life. It's crazy the difference that it makes, and it not only applies to missionary work, but to our lives in general. Be obedient, and then you'll receive blessings. It's mind blowing how simple it is, but it can still be hard to do. We just need to try our best, and the Lord will bless us for our efforts.

I hope you all have a great day!!

Elder Orchard

- sorry for the bad quality photos, our camera is cracked haha