C'est chaud eh?- Week 25

Bonjour tout le monde!

Probably most of you guys know already at this point but due to the COVID-19 situation in Cote d'Ivoire. All missionaries were ordered to return to their home countries to finish their mission. I got the call last Wednesday and since then it's been a "always be ready" type of thing. We tried leaving Saturday morning through South Africa but they closed its borders as we were checking into the airport. So we stayed the night at an apartment close by and then we were super bored all day. 

After a little walk to the beach with some fun pics we got the call and quickly got ready and headed to the mission office then to the airport. I see this whole thing as a blessing because the church snatched us business class seats so we were having a good time and I slept so well it was great.

After a four hour layover in Paris and then another in LAX, we finally arrived in the great valley. I honestly am still a little dumbfounded by everything after 7 months in Cote d'Ivoire. I miss it. My heart is still there and everything is surreal right now but Heavenly Father is looking out for me and for the countless other missionaries who are going through the same thing. The Lord's hand is in this. We just need to keep the faith and endure whatever comes our way. 

I love you all so much and I am eternally grateful for all of the fasts, prayers, and support that you have given me! We can do this guys! 

PHOTOS

1. One and only photo with my last comp Elder Colas! He's stuck there until Haiti opens back up in a couple weeks so I'm praying for his safe return as well.

2-4. Beach pics about an hour before getting the call to go home!

5. Basic name tag photo with a touch of Africa in it.

6. Church hooking us up with that business class seat. Church is true.

Baby Steps... -Week 24

BONJOUR

Tu es malade...(You are sick)

That's usually a low key insult here but it might turn into the more literal meaning nowadays because there something called the coronavirus that's going around right? I guess it's pretty serious or something...Blague! Haha no we are very aware of COVID-19 we're not that far out of the loop and it's been kind of a crazy week probably just like everyone else's week!

So yeah we have to stay clean and healthy, putting on hand sanitizer, not shaking hands(which is VERY common here), and staying away from sick people. So we've been like Bob Wiley over here and being scared to touch anything and very aware of germs..."Baby steps out to sector...baby steps taking their number...baby steps buying groceries..."

We also stopped having church over here too so that makes the work a little interesting. And we're still going to teach people and visit members but we just can't have much progression because going to church is kind of needed before the baptism but hey we'll find a way because the Lord provides a way to follow all of his commandments, even the sacrament. We'll probably have our amis go over to families to have authority to do the sacrament so that they can understand they importance of it and such.

Amongst all of the craziness, we had our transfers come this last Saturday! Elder Adams and I were expecting to stay together since we both recently came to this sector. But that doesn't stop revelation! So we got the call that I am now the Zone Leader for the brand new Selmer Zone! They recently split the stake here and with the new stake, they form a new zone for the missionaries!  So that was a very surprising but exciting call! It's going to be a lot more work and responsibility but I think it will help me keep my mind off of the craziness of the world. So that's my other "baby steps" that I'm taking going from junior comp to DL to ZL so like I'll be an apostle by the end of the year right??

I also got my new comp, Elder Colas! He's from Haiti which is great because Haitians are actually the best. You just need to meet one to get why haha but I'm really excited to learn a lot from him and do great things together!!

I know everyone's kind of having it a little rough in many different ways and I hope everyone has held fast to their faith and trust in the Lord to get through any trial that we may face in these times!

Bonne Santé!

Elder Perkins

PHOTOS

1. Taking a ride on the classic scooter in africa! Kind of reminds me of the one's in Back to the Future that Marty took from the kids haha

2.  Celebratory milkshake for the end of the transfer!(They had hand sanitizer on every table)

3. Selmer Pic

4. Aftermath of a super heavy rainstorm. The road was completely flooded over and mud everywhere

5.  Sooo we kind of splurged on the African ties just in the rare case of somehow getting taken out of Cote d'Ivoire or something but I think we're staying here yay! Anyway this is my updated collection.

6. Pic with one of our amis who is about to be baptised Sr Akoutchi! I'm gonna miss her but I will surely be there for her baptism/confirmation

Show quoted text

I Miss The Mountains- Week 23

Bonjour! Tout le monde va bien?

Now dawns another week of being an instrument in the hands of God. Let's just hope that I'm in tune...

So as I read Saints 2 of the course of the week, reading the many descriptions of the Salt Lake Valley and other cities in Utah, I just couldn't help picturing those beautiful mountains that I was so used to when I was back at home. Then the cherry on top was when I saw a picture in this month's Ensign magazine of downtown Salt Lake along with those towering mountains and I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a little trunky haha

I love seeing the fruits of my labors! Frère Olivier's baptism this last Saturday was awesome! His spirit and testimony are so strong and I can't wait for his future as a disciple of Christ!

We had the amazing opportunity of trying the drink Yamakou, an african delicacy. First off , no it's not alcoholic so don't worry, but boy oh boy is that drink one of the most horrid things my taste buds have come in contact with? Yes. It completely burns your mouth and throat and you just want to die. Like yeah I was expecting to come in contact with weird food and drinks on my mission, but wow that was something else. I'm sacrificing more than my time, efforts, on my mission. Also my taste buds and digestive system.

That's really it for this week! I love y'all so much I really do and I hope everybody is doing alright!

Elder Perkins

PHOTOS

1. The Boba Boys. Basically everyone wears these things here so we decided to join the club!

2. Olivier's Baptism! 

3. We also decided to immerse ourselves a little more in the culture when we needed to get more gas. Whenever someone needs to cary something heavy for a while. They just throw it on their head so it was super funny when people were looking at two white guys doing it too!

Elder Adam's email... we talked too long, so Elder Adam's gave more details!

Well I have a great surprise and a couple of miracles for you guys today so here we go!!

        This week was full of walking; talking and my favorite teaching! We found a new amis this week (Soeur Clarisse) and taught her twice this week. Funny Story; so she has her own little restaurant and sells all African food of course and was super nice to feed us one day before our rendez-vous. The main meal was super good; but then came the dessert that about killed us! it was like green goop with little like seeds in it hahah its so hard to describe. but we had to eat it all of course! so we were just praying we didn't throw up while we were just throwing it down our throat.   So then we thought we were done and told her we were done but then she wanted us to try this other drink called Yamakoo and my goodness I would never want any of you to try it hahaha!! it burns your throat when you drink it and it's like gritty and i don't know how to describe it but wow-- it was exciting and we got through it!! But... after that we had a wonderful lesson with Soeur Clarisse (with yamakoo in our bellies) about le Livre de Mormon and are excited about her progress!!

            I think i've talked about Frere Olivia a couple times in my last emails but if not ill recap who he is!! He was a contact given to us from a member just before Perkins came to Selmer. Olivia was the first Amis that Perkins and I taught together, the left side of his body is not super functional due to an accident that happened about 2 years ago, which means he walks with a cane and his speech is very slurred as well. But this never stopped him from walking about a mile n a half to church every sunday!! Such an animal

        Anyways we've been teaching him for about a month and a half now and truly with the gift of tongues! The first time we taught him we understood about 5 percent (due to slurred speech,but then add on French haha) but now a days we are understanding around 80%!! and here comes the surprise....... We had a Baptismal service for him last Saturday!!!!! and got confirmed yesterday at church ;) we are stoked over here! it was a little difficult with his disability but the lord helped us out and it went perfectly!!

     hope you are all doing well. let me know what's going on in your guys life i wanna hear!!! 

Love you all the church is true and don't forget to "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith"-Utchdorf

       

Here Comes The Sun-Week 22

Bonjour mes amis et ma famille!

Je suis infiniment reconnaissant pour tout le monde qui me soutient et prie pour moi!

Okay yet again it has been a wonderful week being in the wonderful country of Côte d'Ivoire accomplishing this wonderful work of the Lord! Not a whole lot to report on this week but it still has been super great!

We did an exchange with our Dirigeants de Zone Wednesday and it was super fun! It's basically doing a sleepover sanctioned by the Lord so I love it! I went over to their sector with Elder Sintyl from Haiti and I learned a lot from him because he's only got a few months left and so he knows the ropes if you know what I mean. He gave me some super good tips to better teach and better lead my district which I gladly took because to be honest I kind of need it haha. 

We also had our Stake Conference but this one was special because they were dividing the stake to make another stake here in Yopougon! Our bishop was called as first counselor so I was so proud. Elder Martinez of the Area Presidency also gave a great talk about self-reliance!

Loving the Work! Fr Olivier is on his way to be baptised this Saturday! That'll be super exciting to see him start his journey along the covenant path! We also still have the Fr Yannick and Sr Akoutchi who are progressing very well and coming to church so we are planning on inviting them to be baptised this week! Fingers crossed!

That's pretty much it this week! I got a little sick on Saturday but I'm getting through it so it's all good! Love Y'all!

Sorry I accidentally left my camera at the apartment so no pics this week!

Elder Perkins

Show quoted text

Pic from his companions email!