Almost Burned My Face Off- Week 4

Bonjour mes amis et ma famille!

Okay it wasn't that big of a deal but it got you to click on my email didn't it? So that is all that matter. I am scared for the day when I run out of clever titles and then absolutely no one reads my emails besides like my parents. Anyway just when I was cooking some chicken for spaghetti I had the heat on super high for the oil and when I put the chicken in it, it caused a huge flame that almost reached the ceiling and it almost hit my face so that was spooky.

Okay I don't have much time so I am just gonna give the juicy deets of the week. First off the work kind of exploded this week! We found around 6 new Amis de l'Eglises and they all seem pretty interested so I am super excited for them! Also 10 of our Amis came to Church yesterday and it made me so happy! The joy that comes from this work surpasses any marvel movie if that helps you understand and I do love a good marvel movie haha. Also I have my first baptism scheduled for the 9th of November!! His name is Frère Odilon and he is super chill. We have a lot to teach him but he is on his way and I am so happy for him!

So a new fun fact about Cote d'Ivoire that I learned is that there is an Antichrist here Wahoo! Yeah he is actually pretty popular and he has some pretty weir beliefs so it is fun to run into one of those guys.

I cut my own hair on Wednesday and I gotta say I did a pretty good job for it being my first time. There are barbers here but they are all super sketchy and are not used to cutting a white guys hair. My comp helped with the back so it asn't completely atrocious but I am basically already a professional. There are pics below.

We gave four blessing this week which is super cool to start using the power of God to bless these amazing people. I couldn't participate much since it is in french of course but it is still cool. I learned how to do all of the ordinances in french so I can do more in the furture so I am excited for the next opportunity! 

One experience was crazy. We visited Soeur Gbazaré who is a member and she lives on the outskirts which is kind of on the pooer end of my sector meaning four concrete walls and thin matresses on the floor and stuff like that. We asked her how things were going and she said that it has been hard to get food for her family and stuff like that and I honestly had no idea what to do because how could I give her comfort? I have lived a cozy life in the U.S and never had too worry about what I am eating next. I shouldn't have been able to comfort her. But then the Spirit told me to flip to Ether 12 which involved having faith and hope and how God can make us strong in weakness and she started to cry and then i started to tear up and the Spirit was so strong. I then started to explain how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love her and they understand her difficulties and it was honestly the best french I ever spoke. It was the most I ever felt to be an instrument in the hands of God. We then gave her a blessing of comfort and during the blessing I swear that I could feel angels present in that room giving comfor to her. That one experience humbled me so much helped me realise that this is the Lord's work and I am here for a reason. 

Sorry for the long story but that is basically it for this week! The french is still coming along and I have just been loving it here. It is super hard but at the end of the day I really am loving it and I wouldn't want to e anywhere else.

WEEKLY WISDOM: Moroni 8:16 "Perfect Love Casteth Out All Fear" You can bet that these past four weeks have been scary and hard but while studying I found this scripture and I gound so much comfort. You can also find comfort in the scriptures as long as you are guided by the Spirit and are open to its revelations.

Jusqu'à semain prochain!

Elder Perkins

I Hate Sand...- Week 3

From Mike - FYI if you are/were a doubter about the wisdom of having missionaries being able to call/video call home weekly, I am a true convert! Even though the internet connection is ridiculously slow, and the internet cafe is obnoxiously loud, being able to see and talk to Kartch every week is great for us, and he says it really helps him too.

...It's coarse, rough, irritating, and it gets everywhere. I never thought that I could relate to Anakin Skywalker so well in my life(hopefully not too well)

Bonjour mes amis et ma famille!!

Yes there is sand everywhere and it gets in my shoes, in our apartment, and in my bed. I have started to view my sector as Tatooine just substitute droids with wild animals and spacecraft for vans packed with people. My trainer is Obi-Wan Kenobi and I am Luke Skywalker who doesn't know in the slightest what he is getting himself into. I am basically one of the Jedi of the church in simple terms. Anyway sorry for the random Star Wars reference. I made the mistake of asking my family about episode nine that's about to come out and I got a little trunky haha.

Okay well this week has been a lot better in terms of getting comfortable living here and getting acquainted with how things work around here. I am already almost a basic Cote d'Ivoire missionary. I have a really bad tan on my arms and neck and watch, I have some dope African ties, I love Youki Pomme which is a popular drink here and tastes the exact same as Martinellies if that's how you spell it, I say the word "tcheee" which is just like saying "dang" or something like that, and I do the missionary handshake with everyone. It is just a slap, a bump, and then you hit your plaque it's pretty sick. The only thing I am missing is the basic white plastic sandals called lekeys that everyone wears here and you know...speaking french. But those two will come in time for sure. Especially the sandals.

Okay I want to explain how church is here in good ole Africa. Try and think of every single religion you can think of and no joke I bet every single one of them is here. Basically every single christian denomination is here. Also buddhist, muslim, and some indian religion that I forgot about and many more. If you have a microphone, a loud speaker, and a gathering place, you can start your own church. Now my church building is definitely not what you would call "up to code". Half of the rooms aren't finished and once again there is sand everywhere. I can barely hear the speakers let alone understand because we have fans going and there is no mic. There is also no piano so we all sing acapella and it is never in the right key. And let's just say the people here are VERY confident in their singing when they necessarily shouldn't be haha. So I just cringe only a little bit during hymns but it is okay. Also in our second ward building, the church next to us cranks up their microphone and their music and since that ward is outside we can't hear anything so it got to the point where we got our own mic too so now we are battling with the church next door haha.

We found a lot more amis this week! One sister in our ward introduced us to her neighbors and they are named Frere Christ and Elvis which are pretty cool names! Fr. Christ came to church yesterday which was awesome! We had another lesson with our buddhist amis, Fr. Richmond, and he still is having a hard time believing us but we're trying our best. We're teaching two sisters, Soeur Carmel and Soeur Edith, and they are really interested but it is hard to meet with them a lot because they are gone for school a lot. We taught a bunch of teenagers this one time which is really scary because they were all different religions and they were all listening but not really accepting the doctrine. Some just got up and left so that was awkward but we set up an appointment with one of them so hey that is a victory!

The language is coming along little by little but I can see that I am making progress so that is all that matters. I have kind of accepted that I won't be super comfortable at the language for a while so I just have to be patient as always.

Anyways it has been just a grand time here. It has been a rollercoaster of emotions and digestive functionality but I have withstood all of it and I have grown so much closer with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ!

WEEKLY WISDOM: Patriarchal Blessings are the coolest things ever. I challenge y'all to read it at least once a week and if you don't have yours, I strongly encourage you to do so. They deliver so much guidance and wisdom everytime you read it!

Photos:

1. BURGER KING I never though that I would like burger king. I probably just lowered my standards

2.  My first set of pine ties! Pine is just african cloth it is super cool!

3. Sunset from my apartment

Sweet Dreams are made of Doxy-Week 2

Bonjour mes amis et ma famille!!

Okay so the doxy pills that we have to take for give you really weird dreams so that is my entertainment supplement for my whole mission: I am honestly probably gonna start a dream journal haha: One included my companion and I teaching a dog that had rabies and attacked us so there's a taste of what it does: It also helps with acne so that is a huge bonus: maybe I'll just keep taking it after my mission haha

I honestly don't know where to begin with my letter because there is so much that I can talk about that I don't know what I should or shouldn't share: The work is going pretty well: My trainer says that right now is a slow time because so many peole are gone for school so it is hard to find people or people who will follow through with appointments: We are teaching a Soeur Naomi which is cool because that's my sister's name and she seems to be taking the gospel really well: It is hard to tell if she is actually comprehending what we teach her though: 

We are also teaching a buddhist named Frere Richmond and that is really really fun because he has a lot of questions and a lot of contradicting beliefs so it is hard for him to accept the doctrine but we(more Elder Agbahounzo) try our best: I bore my testimony of the BoM to him when he wanted proof of our church but he still seemed unconvinced: He's one tough cookie: 

We also hav a lot of inactive members here for some reason so we visit them a lot and a lot of them came to church yesterday! That really puts a smile on my face haha:

I am somewhat drowning in the French: People just talk so crazy fast and kind of mumble so it makes it hard to pick out the words I already know let alone the words I don't know: And all of the natives make fun of my bad french so that makes it hard: Like they don't mean it in a harsh way but it still hurts my confidence a bit: It is a really good thing I have the Spirit to do most of the communicating for me or I would be useless: Gift of Tongues is real: I just need patience, diligence, and the love for these people and I will get it soon...hopefully

Okay fun stories time: There was a herd of cows blocking the whole street this morning(picture below) also a group of dogs  starting fighting in the street and alnost ran into me so I almost died in short(sorry no picture): I have seen multiple kids just squat down and go to the bathroom in the road: I have stepped in poop twice already, of what kind I am not sure there are just so many possibilities:The kids here have warmed up to me and started coming up to say hi and give me hugs! So I am basically a celebrity now: Using the power of le blanc hehe especially for conversation starters: "Hey you are white" "Yes I am, do you want to hear about the Gospel of Jesus Christ?" and BOOM I am in and they will be baptised in a week simple as that: Haha just kidding it is not that easy but I wish it was so everyone could have the happiness that this gospel brings!!!!

WEEKLY WISDOM: Don't take things for granted: Even the small things: You gotta enjoy the little things

PICTURES!- Sorry for none last week it was a busy day

1. Last night in the MTC. I miss these guys

2. Airplane flight selfie!!

3. Just me and a cool tree at the mission home

4. Me and my formateur Elder Agbahounzo!

5. SUPER sketchy bridge that we cross a lot to get to one part of our sector. It is super shaky and like a 15 foot drop to a trashy river haha

6. Atchieke- a common dish at Cote d'Ivoire. I don't have the courage to eat the fish head yet but I will get there

7. Cows

8. Sleeping quarters

Le Blanc-Week 1 in Africa

Hello hello hello everyone!

Wow has this week been a doosy! Let me tell you guys that Africa is wack.

 First off though I want to talk about my flights to get here! It was crazy long and exhausting but it was super fun. Good thing I was with my MTC comp and some others or else I would have been missed every single flight. So the flight to Seattle was not bad but when we got to the Tacoma airport the jetway wasn't working and we waited forever to the point where we could've missed our flight but luckily we were changed to the gate right next to the gate for our flight to Paris so that was a miracle. Right before boarding, a woman stopped us and asked for a blessing. It totally threw me off guard but we went to a kind of isolated corner and somehow I ended up giving the blessing. It was the first blessing I have given so I was stressed but it was a super spiritual and an amazing opportunity! She was headed to Nigeria for a humanitarian trip and was really scared about it so she was really grateful.

Our flight to Paris was LONG and long flights suck for missionaries because no movies or anything: However, did I peek a couple of times at someone watching Avengers: Endgame?...maybe...Then our flight from Paris to Cote d'Ivoire wasn't too bad! We were on an AirFrance plane so it was really nice.

Okay here is what it is like in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire: There is no streetlights, no street lanes, no waste management, no air conditioning, no carpet(I already miss carpet), and no white people. Walking down the street consists of basically every single person looking at you and the kids yelling "le blanc!" meaning "the white". At least there is no confusion for when people want your attention. 

I got assigned to my formateur(trainer) Elder Agbahounzo! He is from Togo and has been out for nine months! I'm so grateful that he is my formateur: He is super patient with my french and gives me plenty of chances to teach these marvelous people! They all like to make fun of my french and how I am american: I just laugh it all off. If I got mad everytime soneone nade fun of me here I would've been home after day one haha.

I'm in the sector of Beago which is nore of the village part of Cote d'Ivoire. Meaning that all of the roads are dirt, there is trash everywhere, and there are A LOT of animals walking around including goats, dogs, cats, and cows. What a party. 

This week has been very rough don't get me wrong, especially with the language, but I know that this is where I am meant to be and what I'm supposed to be doing. Only Heavenly Father is crazy enough to send a kid like me to Africa. 

WEEKLY WISDOM: End your day by identifying how Heavenly Father has influenced your day: It could be something very small, or something plain and obvious. Find those tender mercies in your life.

P.S. Sorry about any weird typos, the keyboards here are different haha

Kartchner didn't think he'd have time to email, sho Mike took very detailed notes of our phone conversation...

Elder P was not able to email this week, he decided to spend most of his time today on a "video" "call" with me and his mom. The "video call" from an internet cafe was mostly intermittent screenshots and jumbled audio, but hey better than nothing. We hadn't heard from him in 8 days, since he left the Provo MTC. His mission president did send us the attached photos from the mission home last Friday. We weren't worried, but it was very nice to speak with him today!

Basic rundown of my notes from the call:

On the way to Africa, he gave first blessing in the Tacoma, Washington airport to a woman who was on her way to Nigeria on a humanitarian effort. He had anointed before, but this was his first blessing as voice.

He said there were many small miracles on the way to Africa via Tacoma->Paris->Bamako, Mali->Abidjan, but didn't have time to go into all the details.

Arriving in Abidjan:

Driving is crazy, no traffic signs or signals. People sell stuff in the middle of the street. There are goats, dogs, cats and other animals everywhere, including in the streets. There is trash in street everywhere, really stinks in some places. They take taxis a lot, they cost about $1 American.

Dirt streets, very little pavement, rains in mornings but not too muddy

Had to sleep one night in a crowded apartment so he couldn't use his mosquito net, and got a few mosquito bites, but he is taking his malaria pills!! (Mosquito-borne illnesses will always be a concern)

Mosquitoes are nocturnal, not a problem during the day. They usually return to their apartment at 7pm every night to avoid the mosquitos as much as possible.

He said it's hot, but not too bad. No air conditioning in his apartment, but the fans make it comfortable enough. But he's not sleeping well, very tired.

All the kids call him "Le Blanc"= "White Guy", make fun of him for not knowing the language... The language is hard, people speaking fast with dialect. He is teaching a lot. First couple of days, he doesn't think people could understand him, but his companion is helpful and he thinks people are understanding him better now

His first shower in his apartment was from a bucket because shower wasn't working. Showers are cold, no not water in his apartment. He is washing clothes by hand.

He misses carpet - there is no carpet - all tile or bare concrete floors. Computer keyboards are weird - keys are in different places. He will be using his portable keyboard gift from the Curtis'!

Electricity has gone out twice but at least they have running water all the time

He is exercising, went running one morning with his companion and sweat a lot, even though it is cooer in the mornings.

His companion is Elder Agbahounzo from Togo, Africa, which is immediately east of Ghana. His companion has been out 9 months, is a native French speaker, and is trying to learn English. Their proselyting area is Beago, which is about as far Southwest in Abidjan as you can get, very near the gulf waters. 

They are getting along well. He is a very good companion, Kartch drew "the long straw" to get him. His companion is a good cook, teaching him how to cook. Lots of chicken and rice.

When they don't have appointments, they just contact people on streets, proselyte from 10am-7pm daily.

His mission is geographically very small, nearly all missionaries are in the West side of the large city of Abidjan (4.5 million people), so on P-day's from 9am-12pm most of the mission meets at a stake center for sports - soccer frisbee etc. They had a lot of fun today, got to spend a lot of time speaking with the other greenie American missionaries.

He says having clean drinking water has not been a problem. They have a filter in their apartment faucet, and members/locals are good about providing him with bottled water. (Water was one of our big concerns, but so far so good)

He has not been sick at all, he said the food is fine, he is getting protein, chicken. He has also eaten an "entire" fish and sticky rice with his hands (but he let someone else eat the fish head). (Food/protein was another of our big concerns, but so far so good)

Overall he said it was just a fairly rough week, culture shock, just a whirlwind. The language is the hardest thing he has had to adjust to.

But he seemed to be doing okay and had a good attitude about the challenge that faces him!

Africa was referred to A LOT at conference this weekend - 2 of the first 4 speakers referenced Cote d'Ivoire specifically, and even spoke of a sister missionary in Kartch's Abidjan West Mission! We are very excited for Kartch to have this opportunity to serve the Lord amongst such humble people.

Thank you all for your support and prayers.

Mike