Some Bad Fish!

Hello Everyone,

This week was pretty normal as well. On P-Day, we didn't really do much, and by that I mean we literally did nothing. That's alright, it was nice to just relax, especially since we've been working really hard.

On Tuesday, we started off the day by going to Sr. Mariame's store, and doing some service for her. She own's a little washing/dry cleaning place, and she also sells some clothes as well. We washed her display windows, as well as just talked with her. She has a really awesome story! Also, she speaks a little bit of English, which was nice because she was able to help me out with my French, which I needed. After that, we had a normal day of proselyting. In the evening, we went to buy some sauce for FouFou, which had fish in it. They tell us to always be cautious when buying food here, but for the most part we've been ok. Well, I went to bed on Tuesday night feeling a little bad, and needless to say....I got sick. I was only sick for a day, but it was pretty awful. We didn't go out at all on Wednesday, and it made for a really long day. But, we were able to get back out on Thursday!

Friday, and Saturday were pretty normal days of proselyting. We had a ton of lessons on Saturday, and we have some people that are really close to baptism! On Sunday, we went to church, and that was normal. I still have no idea what was said in sacrament meeting. Then, after church, we went out with the Elder Ndasi and Elder Oler, who are in our district, because that night we had a devotional to watch at the stake center. The devotional was by Elder Neil L. Anderson, and his topic was about believing in Christ, and preparing for his second coming. The whole thing was in French, except for one video they showed in English, which was awesome. I understood that part. Haha, but I actually understood for the most part what the devotional was about! Obviously, I didn't pick up every word, but I got the general meaning. I think I'm progressing with French, which is good.

Welp, I don't have many pictures this week, and by that I mean I don't have any haha. Sorry, I know I'll regret not taking many pictures in the future, so I'll try to be better!

I hope that everyone has a great week!

Elder Orchard 

Frère Djo and Sœur Bernadette

Hello Everyone,

Welp, it was another hard but rewarding week!

To start off, last week on our P-Day, we went to the beach. It was super cool, and a great experience. At the edge of the water, the breeze was coming in, and it was kind of overcast, so for once it wasn't super hot, and it actually felt really nice. We went there with our district, so it was also fun to hang out with some other missionaries as well.

This week, it rained a couple of times, so everything was just flooded for a couple of days. After the first day it rained, I put on the sandals, and now I can say I have that classic foreign missionary story of tracting in the water, haha just kidding. I'll attach some pictures below of what it looks like when it rains. 

This week was the preparation week for our friends Djo and Bernadette to get baptized, and yesterday they did get baptized! I was super excited for them. On Saturday night, Elder Kazadi asked me "Hey, do you want to do the baptisms?" and I said "sure." I was a little scared, mostly because I had to do it in French, but it wasn't too bad! Other than having to redo Sr Bernadette's baptism once, and only baptizing in a foot of water, everything went well. 

Also, we got transfer news this week, and I'll be staying in Attiegou for at least another 6 weeks, with Elder Kazadi. I am excited about that, because Elder Kazadi is a great missionary, and also I'm not so sure that I'm ready to run the area haha, but I'll have another 6 weeks here to get everything down, and hopefully improve my French a little bit.

Well, that is pretty much it for this week! Talk to you all next week!

Elder Orchard

 

 

 Djo and Bernadette

 

 The beach

 

 After the rain

 

French is Hard

Hello Everyone!

Another week down in Togo. This week went by a lot faster, and we got some great things accomplished!

First of all, we have two people on date for baptism this Saturday! The first one, Djo, we have been teaching for not very long. My first day here we had the second lesson with him, and this past week we challenged him to baptism. The second one, Bernadette, I think has been taught for a while. I just met her last week, and she is already getting baptized on Saturday, so that's super cool!

This past week was another hot one, but I think I'll be saying that a lot. Hopefully I'll get adjusted to the heat after a while, or its gonna be a long two years haha. It also rained in the middle of the night, and it was raining so hard, and it was so loud, that it woke me up. After I went back to bed, and woke up again, I looked outside and the streets were just flooded. Most of the roads here are dirt, so it was just a muddy mess.

We had our first district council this past week, and its safe to say that I had no idea what was going on. Actually, its safe to say that I never know what's going on,  because of French. I'll get the hang of it eventually, but right now I don't know what anyone says. I think I'm improving though. I've started to be able to say more and more things in the lessons, and I think it's getting better.

Well, if you'd believe it, this was actually a pretty uneventful week here in Togo. I'm sure I'll have many more things to write in the weeks to come though.

I hope everyone has a great week, and stay warm Nebraska!

Elder Orchard

Some ties that Elder Kazadi and I are making from a fabric that some members gave us

Some streets in Togo

Some streets in Togo

10 Years, I Mean Days, in Africa

Hello everyone!

Well, as I'm sure you all know, I made it to Africa! After many flights, security checks, and customs, I finally made it to Benin...just to find out I'd be going to Togo, on another flight, with more security checks and customs. 

We got into Benin late on Friday night, and some of us got taken to stay at the mission home, while others went to different places with different elders. Little did we know, the Elders that got taken to the mission home would be assigned to Togo, I being one of them. We stayed the night there, and the next morning we got breakfast, and some training. After training, the Elders that were assigned to Benin went to their assignments right away, while the Elders going to Togo had to wait. See, when we got into Benin, we had to get tested for Covid, and they took our passports until our test results came back, and we weren't able to go to Togo until Monday. So for Saturday and Sunday, we would get to stay in the mission home, which had AC, and hot water, and they made us three meals a day. Also, we went out proselyting on Saturday and Sunday, with the AP's and Office Elders, because there are no restrictions in this mission! We can go out proselyting, knocking doors, and inside peoples homes, because for these countries, Covid hasn't been an issue. 

On Monday, we flew out to Togo, which was pretty hectic. After finally making it, on a very long 24 minute flight, we went to the Stake center, and met our companions, and went to our new areas. I am with Elder Kazadi, who is from the Congo, and our area is called Attiegou. We are in Lome, the capitol of Togo, which is where most of the missionaries are in Togo. Elder Kazadi speaks pretty good English, which has been such a blessing. My French is not as good as I thought it was haha.

After we got settled it, we started proselyting right away. We spent all of last week out in the city teaching lessons, and getting to know people. Everyone here is so nice, and receptive to our message. In fact, we found like 6 new people in two hours, which was pretty awesome. I can't really understand what they say to me, but I kind of just smile and say ''Bonjour'' or ''Bonsoir'' depending on the time of day. Also, all the little kids here love me. Whenever I walk by, they sing ''Yovo, Yovo, Bonsoir'' which, Yovo is what they call white people, and bonsoir for good evening. I just smile, and wave, and say bonsoir, and they love it. 

Other than that, things are pretty normal. It's taken a while to adjust to the different culture, and everything else they do differently here. It's also so hot here, all the time too. I'll get up at 6:30, and it's already hot outside. It probably doesn't help that I came over here in January, where it was a lot colder in North Carolina. But yeah, things are going pretty well.

I hope everyone has an awesome day, and an amazing week!

Elder Orchard

We were walking home one night, Elder Kazadi felt a raindrop and looked at me and said ''Run'' and this is what I looked like when we got home!

Elder Kazadi and I doing service.

Elder Kazadi and I at Zone Conference.

Getting Prepared for Benin

Hello Everyone!

It has been a crazy couple of weeks. So, I'm not sure who knows this and who doesn't, but I am headed out to Benin on January 21. Yep, that's this Thursday! I am super excited, and it's way earlier than I thought that I'd be going out, that's for sure! 

Transfers happened this past week, and because I am headed out to Benin soon, I got transferred up to Raleigh. I'm super sad to leave Leland. The members there were so awesome, and the missionary work was starting to take off. I'm sure that Elder Alexander and his new companion will do great though! It's super cool up here in Raleigh. The only downside is that I'll only be here for about a week, which stinks because the members here are so awesome! We got to meet a bunch of them yesterday at church, and over the past week, as some of them have been signing up to feed us. I wish I could stay longer, but I am also super excited and ready to get out to Benin!

I'll only end up spending about three months in North Carolina, but it has been a blast so far. I've met so many wonderful people, and had some weather that I can't complain about. But in all seriousness, it has been an awesome couple of months, but I am ready to head to Benin, and serve the people there. I have some tough challenges ahead of me, but I know that as I rely on the Lord, that I can get through those challenges, and I am so ready for them.

I'll try to keep y'all posted as much as possible from Benin. 

Au Revoir

Elder Orchard

 

 I finally got to see the ocean before I left the Wilmington area!

 

This is where I'll be going in Africa

 

Christmas and Covid

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and is preparing to start the new year. 2021! That's insane! 2020 has been an insane year, to say the least, and I'm sure that we are all ready to start 2021. It's crazy to think that a year ago, I was only halfway done with my senior year in high school, and now, after this week, I will have been on my mission for 4 months already! Time really does go by too fast. 

As I'm sure you all knew, this past week was Christmas! I got to call my family on Christmas morning, and we even got to open presents together! I got to see Amara open the presents I got for her, a toy Baby Yoda, and a Dr. Seuss book. She cuddled the Baby Yoda gift, and it made me so happy to see that! Isn't it so awesome to give gifts and see the reaction of those you give the gift to??? It made me think of the gifts that our Savior gives to us, and how happy he is when we appreciate those gifts. I had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our savior, and really pondering the gifts that He has given us. Jesus Christ has been a great light in my life, and I can never thank him enough for the gifts that he has given us. 

A couple of weeks ago, the Assistants in our mission gave us a challenge: Teach 15 lessons, whether that be member or non-member, in a week. My companion, Elder Alexander, and I thought about what kind of message would be best during this time, and obviously we decided to find a Christmas lesson. We could have gone with the Christmas story from Luke 2, or the prophetic message of Samuel the Lamanite in Helaman 14, but we decided to go for something different. We decided to share the prophesy given by Alma in Alma 7, verses 10-13. As we studied these verses, I gained a greater appreciation for our Savior, and all the things he truly suffered for us. We decided to share this message because it not only prophesies about Christ's birth, but his life, and all the things he would do for us, to fulfill the atonement. If you haven't read those verses, I highly recommend that you read them.

About a week before Christmas, my companion and I were exposed to Covid. In order to take a precaution, we quarantined until we got our test results back. Neither one of us really got sick, and our results came back negative the day before Christmas, however, we still had to quarantine during Christmas. As much as it sucked being in quarantine, I learned a couple things. First of all, the people of Leland, NC are seriously the nicest people in the world!! When we got quarantined, we reached out for some help with groceries, supplies, etc. and we got such a great response!! We definitely had a ton of food, cookies, and other things! Secondly, I learned how to better manage my time. This has always been something that I struggled with, but I guess it took being stuck inside to learn that haha. Lastly, I gained a better appreciation and knowledge for our scriptures! It's truly amazing that we have these books, and that we can read them so conveniently. It's also amazing how these scriptures were written thousands of years ago, but they can guide us through today's challenges! Also, I learned how to solve a Rubik's cube haha. 

I can't wait to start 2021 as a missionary!! It's so crazy to think that 2021 will be the only year that I dedicate fully to missionary work, so I better make it a good one!

Happy New Year!

Elder Orchard

My companion and I with our awesome Christmas tree the Weaver's gave us

My Christmas decorations

The cube

Another thing I did in quarantine was buckle down on my French and make a thousand note cards haha

First Transfers!

Hello Everyone!

These past few weeks have been pretty crazy. For anyone wondering, the weather is still holding up here. It is almost December, and it is currently 75 out, so I can't complain about that. Transfers are this week, which means that a lot of missionaries will be coming in and out of this area. Fortunately, I am still in the Leland ward. I am still in training, so I will be here for this next transfer, but who knows after that! I could be in a completely different area in six weeks!

These past couple of weeks, we have been able to get a lot of service done! Our friend, Buddy Watkins, and his family are moving, so we got to help out with that over the past couple of weeks. We got to load up the truck a couple of times, and then one time we went over there to rake leaves to get his house ready to sell. It was so awesome to see how grateful he was, and it made us feel so good for helping him. His family is so awesome, and they will be missed.

We also helped another family move this past week. It fell on the same day as our district council, so we were able to get all 8 missionaries in our district in on the move that day. Other members of our ward were there as well, and the move only took a couple of hours. It was awesome. Afterwords, one of the members of the family wrote about it on Facebook, and she was very appreciative of what we did, and it made us feel so good. Other than that, we have had other service opportunities, but that's been our main one over the past couple of weeks.

For those of you that don't know, missionary work has changed a lot since the pandemic has started. Before Covid, we were able to knock on doors, and street contact to find new people, but now, we obviously can't do that. Now, a lot of our finding is done through our Facebook page, Following Jesus Christ in Wilmington and Jacksonville. On this page, we make videos about different topics to try to invite others to come unto Christ. It's super cool, because people will reach out to us. It's like they are knocking on our door, how cool is that!

Things are moving along here in Leland. There's a lot of potential, and it's only a matter of time before missionary work really starts rolling, and we can't wait!

Elder Orchard

 

In front of the USS North Carolina

 

Here is a little bee that wanted to hang out on my hand

 

The dumpster is a walk, so we had to use our big brains to find a solution haha