Faith can do a lot of things

This last week was alright. The highlight of this week was zone conference. We went down to Lomé on Wednesday evening, and stayed with the Tokoin elders in their apartment. We talked a lot in Zone Conference about faith, and how we need to work on growing our own faith. We took a lot of examples from the scriptures of faith, and what different people were able to do with their faith. More on that down below.

We also talked a lot about weekly planning, and how we can improve that. We put that into practice, and it was very helpful. 

Lastly, since it was my last zone conference, I had the opportunity to share my testimony. I remember watching other missionaries give their testimonies, and thinking that that was never going to be me! Well, it was me. I had no idea what I was going to say, but I let the spirit guide, and he did his job. I'm gonna miss going to zone conference, and seeing all the other missionaries. Crazy to think that's the last time that I'll see almost all of them.

When we talked about faith in zone conference, everyone was assigned a scripture to read, and talk about. My scripture was Alma 5:12, which reads:

12 And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true.

I really like this scripture, and I can testify of its truthfulness. I know that at the beginning of my mission, I had a lot of changing to do. I know that I couldn't have continued my mission, if I didn't have faith to do so. I know that through the faith I have, I've been able to witness this mighty change of heart within myself. I know that this can be true for all of us, even the biggest of sinners. God loves each and every one of his children, and he wants what is best for us. 

I love the mission, and here soon I'm gonna miss Togo, and all the things I've learned here.

Until next week,

Elder Orchard

--Here's a ton of new photos this week to make of for the lack of new photos last week

Il est malade

Hey Everyone!

This week was pretty good, not too much crazy happened. The weeks are going by super fast, which is bad and good. It's crazy to think I only have 4 weeks, it's flying!

We had a good week. We set a baptismal date for Grace, a friend that's progressing really well. She has a good friend in the ward, so she already has a good relationship with the branch, and a bunch of friends.

We had a pretty neat experience with a very intoxicated man this last week. We were walking home for lunch, and he starts running after us, just shouting a bunch of nonsense. He gets in front of us, and blocks us from advancing, and shouts at us. Anytime we tried to pass, he wouldn't let us. He was even grabbing at my companions bag, and pushing him. He was crazy haha. He eventually let us pass, after 10 minutes or so. After we passed, my companion said "il est malade" haha, and we were both laughing. Togo is crazy.

I've been reading a lot in the 3rd volume of the Saints books. I read the first two volumes when I was in Attiegou. I never got to touch the phone with my first companion, so I read them 4 times or so, they're awesome. The 3rd volume is really good, and it's interesting to see the changes in church policy and things like that over the years. There's a part where Joseph F. Smith was being interrogated by the United States government about a bunch of different things, and he was so calm about his responses and it was just very impressive. I know the church is true, and that we have a living prophet in these days.

That's it for this week. I'll try to think of some more interesting things to write for next week.

Have a great week, 

Elder Orchard

Finishing my Mission in Kpalime

Hello!

So, we got transfer news this past week for my last transfer ever! I will actually be staying in Kpalime and finishing my mission here. My companion, Elder Mazunzu, is going to Tsevié, another village. I'm getting Elder Kikwati, another Congolese. I'm excited.

I definitely didn't think I'd finish my mission in Kpalime. For whatever reason, I thought that I would be going to Benin, but I will be going there eventually to fly home.

I cannot believe that I'm on my last transfer now. Like, I cannot believe it. The time has gone by so fast, and it doesn't feel like it's already been 2 years. I'm so grateful for the mission, and everything I've learned. I've still got a lot of learning to do though! 

The area is doing well, not too bad, not too good. I definitely preparing this last week to leave, which did not happen haha. We have some progressing friends, and even got 11 to church yesterday. We talked a lot with our branch yesterday about setting goals, and working towards those, instead of just working towards nothing. We'll see how it goes, but I'm looking forward to it.

Also, today is the 4th of July. I am incredibly grateful to be an American. Despite anything that's going on right now, I'm grateful to be an American. We are truly blessed to live in the country of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

That's about it for this week, I hope everyone is doing well! 

Happy 4th of July!

Elder Orchard

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

African Cuts

Hello Everyone!

Today I got a haircut. It's pretty bad, especially on top, but that's alright. The top is really short, so hopefully I can go the rest of my time without cutting the top.

Everything else is going good. The work is starting to progress, and the members are actually starting to help us a lot. We are still finding a lot of people on our own, although not a lot progress, we sometimes find a diamond in the rough.

Like this last week, when we found Fr Stan. We actually found him a couple of weeks ago, and he stopped us in the road to ask what we did. We set up an appointment with him, but he didn't keep it. In fact, we would try to call him, but the call would never go through. We almost let him go, but last week we tried again, and he finally set up an actual appointment with him. He was super receptive, and was basically teaching us the Restoration, from what he learned in the pamphlet. It was a great lesson, and he even came to church yesterday. He is super cool, and I'm excited to see his progression. 

We got a new missionary in our apartment, Elder Kasongo. He is from the Congo, and super cool. He is being trained by Elder Rogers. We have been cracking jokes, and having a good week.

I love the scripture found in Mormon 9:28

"Be wise in the days of your probation; strip yourselves of all uncleanness; ask not, that ye may consume it on your lusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken, that ye will yield to no temptation, but that ye will serve the true and living God"

I love this reminder, as one of the last words of the Book of Mormon prophet, Mormon. We need to remember where our priorities are, and never let our guard down. We are put on this earth to serve our Heavenly Father, as our biggest goal should be to return in his presence. 

I love all of you, and hope you have a great week.

Elder Orchard