18 Months, Wow

Bonjour a tous!

Hello! I hope that everyone is doing well. I am doing pretty well myself. These past few weeks have been alright, nothing too crazy, but I'll jump right into it. 

These past few weeks, we've been preparing some people for their baptisms. We had a service for one young man, Gedeon, but not for anyone else this past weekend. They're not ready yet, but they will be soon. We also got transfer news, and to no surprise, Elder Allison and I are staying together, to finish his training.

I had an exchange this past week with Elder Hansen, a zone leader. He is really awesome, and probably the nicest guy I've ever met in my life. He taught me a lot, and we had a great day, and worked really hard. 

This week I will officially 18 months on my mission, a big milestone. I remember getting here to Togo, at about 5 months, wondering if I'd ever get to the end of my mission haha. I saw the guys that had 18+ months and thought, ''I'll never be there'' but here I am! It's crazy how the mission can change your perspective on something. I remember at the beginning, just wanting to be done already, to now, not knowing if I'll have enough time to finish everything I need to do.

I love all of you, just as our Heavenly Father loves us. I was reading a talk this last week, written by Richard G. Scott, that talks a lot about the Atonement. He says, ''The Redeemer will safely lead you over the most difficult obstacles of life. His laws are absolutely secure anchors of protection that dispel fear and assure success in an otherwise dangerous world. Such a life will certainly provide you peace and happiness.''

I think a lot of times we think of commandments, or rules, as laws, only there to tell us not to do, and we may even think of them as restricting. Here, we can realize that His laws ensure success, and protection that can lead to everlasting joy in our lives. I know that as we follow His example, we will have this happiness and joy, without end.

I know our Savior lives and is there to lead, and guide us today.

I hope you all have a great day, and week ahead of you,

Elder Orchard

Two Americans

Bonjour!

How is everything going? I am doing pretty well! I'm loving the mission right now, so I'll get right into that.

Well, having two white guys walking around has been quite the experience. Other than just some exchanges, I've never had a white companion, so this is a different experience. It's just a lot of people calling us out, and stuff like that. A lot of people think that we are students from some international school, and we've even increased the amount of marriage proposals we've had. If that was only a key indicator haha. 

Anyways, these past few weeks have been good. A lot of crazy things have happened in sector, but I won't get into all of that, or this email would be too long. We had this investigator, named Marc, that was progressing super well. He loved our message, he was reading the Book of Mormon, and he even came to church. Well, I thought things were going really well with him, until he told us he had some sad news. He told us he was moving to Attiegou in one week. That honestly made me super sad, and now he is gone. It was a really great experience to teach him, and I loved answering his questions. However, where he moved to has missionaries, and I know he will continue to work with them, and I was lucky to even meet him.

This last week I studied a talk from President Thomas S Monson, from October 2003, titled ''The Bridge Builder.'' In this talk, he compares Jesus Christ to someone who has built us bridges. Not bridges over rivers or valleys, but over death. President Monson stated ''He did for us what we cannot do for ourselves; hence, mankind can cross the bridges he built - into life eternal.'' I love reading the words of modern prophets, because they put these large, complex ideas into these simple analogies, making it possible for anyone to understand. I testify that Jesus Christ really has built the ultimate bridge, and that through crossing this bridge, we will have eternal life.

I love reading the words of our modern prophets, and I invite each of you to read their words as well. 

I hope you all have a great week, and I'll attach some pics down below.

Ayzonday!

Elder Orchard

Koame, a Man of Faith

Bonjour!

How is everyone doing? I am doing great, let me get right into it!

I am having a great time training my new companion, Elder Allison. He just wants to work hard, and get out, which is awesome! I'm not going to lie, his French is terrible haha. However, it poses a challenge for me to help him learn this language, which I like. 

This last week, we've turned our efforts towards finding. We don't have a ton of people to teach, at least not many that want to progress. Hence, we gotta find some more. We found a lot of solid people to teach, and things were going well. On Saturday night, we called all of them, plus those we are already teaching, to invite them to church. Well, none of them came. That was so frustrating, but I can't let it affect me too much, and we just have to move on, and try again next week.

Yesterday evening, we went to teach Patience, who is a friend of a member, Koame. He was born in Togo, but for the last couple of years has lived in Italy, and he speaks really good English. He is back to get his papers in order, and then take off to Switzerland, where he will permanently reside. Yesterday, we asked Koame to share his story with us, while we ate FouFou, and this guy's story is insane. 

So, basically, he left Togo in 2014 to live in Libya. He told us he took the 3 day car ride through the Sahara. This road is full of bandits and thieves, and you have to be very careful. He told us he saw multiple people get robbed, and stranded, on his way there. He said ''I just prayed to God he would protect me.'' He resided in Libya for a while, but when things got rough, he knew he had to get out, but he didn't have the means. His boss gave him $2000, and he hid that in his house, but then a couple of days later, he was arrested. The Government was trying to sort out who was trying to leave, and lined them all up along the wall with machine guns pointed at them. He said again, ''I just prayed, and I knew that God would protect me.'' They let him go, after he said that he wasn't going to Italy. After they let him go, he said he ran home as fast as he could, quickly collected his items, and left for Italy. He eventually made it to Italy safely, but there were many who didn't. He said that it was his faith in God that drove him forward the whole time.

I was really touched by his story, and the faith that he has. After he made it to Italy, he found the church, and was baptized. I think we can all grow our faith in God, and let him prevail in our lives. Know that he has a plan for you, and that he will protect you.

I love you all, and I hope that you have a great day.

Elder Orchard

Pictures: Eeating foufou with Koame; some rice and sauce that I made

Pizza, Burgers, and FuFu

Bonjour!

This past week has been absolutely bananas, so I'll get right into it.

OK, so I found out that I was training, but that my companion wouldn't get here until Friday, so I got to stay with Elder Oler for a few days, and that was awesome. He's a great missionary, and loves to work, but also we have a lot in common, so just hanging out was super fun.

This last week was full of good food. So, our first day with Elder Oler, we went to Elite Burger, and both got the Double Cheeseburger, which was delicious. Then, that same night, we made no-bake cookies. The next day, we made fufu, with the stuff that Elder Oler bought. The next day, we went to this super nice restaurant and both got pizzas. At the end of the week, we ate super well, but spent a lot of money haha. Pictures attached below.

On Friday, we got our trainees, and had a meeting at the stake center, so we got back to the apartment at about 5 pm. I let my comp, Elder Allison, unpack his stuff for about 10 minutes, and then we headed out right away to a lesson, throwing him into the deep end haha. His French is not good, but I'm not worried about it. I was in that same spot not that long ago, and I keep telling him that it will come. He is very eager to learn, a quality that I admire. 

These next two transfers are gonna be awesome, and are gonna go by super quick. Some cool news, so, tomorrow is the 25th, the official 1 year mark for me in Togo. It's crazy to think that I've been here for a year already, and it has definitely flown by. Given that, the time I have left will fly by as well.

Everything over here is going well, and I have nothing to complain about. The mission is awesome!!

Next time,

Elder Orchard

Big Changes

Bonjour!

How is everyone? Things are going pretty good over here, and some big changes are coming, especially with the recent transfer calls. I'll jump right into it. 

So, first of all, these were a pretty good last few weeks. We did a lot of good work, and saw a lot of blessings. We were able to realize the baptisms of two of the people we were teaching, both children. They are the children of members, some less active families, so we were happy we could help out there. We didn't have too much success with our own efforts, but that's alright.

Last Saturday, we got the calls from the assistants. For once, i get to stay in my area haha. Elder Malenga is transferred to Tokoin, which is in the same district, so we'll still see each other often. Then, for me, I get to train again, this time an American. I'm super excited to train, and teach this greenie the celestial language of French. He won't get here until Friday, so until then, I get to chill with Elder Oler. 

Well, that's about it, just a short update for transfers. I hope everyone is doing well, and the new year has started off great!

Until next time,

Elder Orchard

Hospitalized. And Happy New Year!

Bonjour,

I'll just get right into it. This last week, on Monday, I tested at the apartment for malaria, and tested positive. Well, I figured that was coming, giving my symptoms and everything. So, we stayed in all day, and I even thought I was feeling better.

Then, I went to bed, and Tuesday at 1:45 am, I woke up, and felt absolutely terrible. My head and stomach felt like they were going to explode, and I felt like I couldn't really move my legs. So, I called the office couple, and thankfully they picked up in the middle of the night. They ended up taking me to the emergency room, where they tested me for malaria, again. This time, it came back negative, but they tested my blood again, and it was positive. They also ended up doing a bunch of other tests, and giving me an IV will we waited. We were there from 2ish am to 8:30 am Tuesday morning. Yeah, so we didn't go out and work that day.

Thankfully, I'm feeling a lot better now. I ended up getting some injections for malaria, and they even tripled the dose haha. We ended up going out these last couple of days, and preparing some of the people we're teaching for baptism. We didn't do anything crazy for the new year. Everyone was telling us that the new year celebration was gonna be crazy, and people were going to be partying until the 6th of January, but everything is pretty much normal still. 

I can't believe it's 2022 already. It's crazy to think that I'll be going home THIS year, in August. I have completed my full year of service, 2021, to the Lord. I can't wait to see what 2022 has in store.

I hope everyone has a good year! Just a quick update over here.

Have a Happy New Year,

Elder Orchard

Here are a few pictures. Unfortunately, none from the hospital.

A CRAZY Week!

Bonjour!

How is everyone? I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! I'll let you know how things are going over here. 

So, this was a very event filled week. So, to start out, we had our Christmas activity for the mission on Tuesday, and it was a blast. We sang, ate, and got some gifts. It was awesome. We also met the new couple missionaries for Togo, and they are literally the nicest people ever. They are named the Jeffcoats, the first time I talked to Sister Jeffcoat, she literally invited us over for Christmas. More on that later.

On Wednesday, my companion had his birthday! And to celebrate, he accidentally spilled some oil on the gas fire, causing a 10 ft tall flame in our kitchen, and he also burned his hand pretty bad. Happy Birthday Elder Malenga, but in all seriousness, his hand is doing alright.

I got to go on exchanges with Elder Anwaucha, my man. We lived together last transfer, and he's awesome. We had a great time together. On Christmas Eve, we had a ward Christmas party, and it was super fun! It was mainly for the kids, but I still felt the  Christmas spirit. I also participated in a game of musical chairs, where I lost first round haha.

Christmas day was pretty awesome! Like I said, the Jeffcoats invited us over, along with the Office Elders. We went there from 11-5, and they were way to nice to us. We talked a little, shared Christmas traditions, and then ate the best meal I've eaten since being here. Chicken, potatoes, green beans, and a whole bunch of other stuff. We also played a dice game, I always knew it as farkle, but there's other names for it too. And then they gave us the nicest chocolate I've ever eaten, brought from England. They are so awesome, and so nice to us.

Well, this week kinda ended bad. I wasn't feeling good yesterday, so I took my temp, and it was 103.5° F, so that's not good. I called the Jeffcoats, and they are coming tomorrow to give me a malaria, and Covid test. So, well see how that goes. 

Well, that's it for me. All in all, a pretty solid week.

Until next time, 

Elder Orchard