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