African Rains, Bad Haircuts, Hunting Rats

Boooooonnnnnjjjooouuuurrr!

Woohoo another week has come and gone! And here is yet another email from Elder Perkins. A lot of fun stuff happened this week but I'll still try and keep it short and sweet!

First off the rains have FINALLY come! It's honestly been crazy hot with the sun being out all day but now we have been blessed with the rains. And when it rains here, it RAINS. Multiples hours of water being dumped in the dusty streets of Youpogon makes the work interesting, since everyone goes inside and doesn't really want to talk ...just sleep. It hasn't been too bad though and we haven't need to go to sector in crocs just yet. One storm was so loud and thundering that lighting woke us up multiple times in the night and then the power went off so fun times.

In my title I mentioned bad haircuts and yes...I have finally succumbed to the basic terrible buzz cut from a rando African barber. My usual barber who actually knows how to cut my hair and is one of our amis is in the village for who knows how long and my hair was getting way too long so I had no choice. The guy did fine on the sides but then I asked to take "a little" off the top which he translated to buzz it down to a half inch. It's honestly not too bad and it's fun for the experience!

So I've killed a number of rats during my mission but ever since I've moved to the Maison Blanche, it's been like a daily thing lol. One instance that's memorable is when right before bed we noticed that there was a rat in our bedroom so we obviously weren't going to leave it so the game began. We were hunting that thing for a solid ten minutes but it kept going under our beds(sometimes on it) and climbing the cupboard. We were considering just chasing it our of our room for the night so we could go to bed. However, as soon as it was on top of one of the cupboard doors, I saw my chance and came at it with a giant wooden spoon and wacked it on the head. Pretty brutal but hey I was tired and it was also pretty funny

Last pday we went on a fun trip as a Zone to St Paul's Cathedral which is in downtown Abidjan. Super pretty and pretty big as well! We took LOTS of pictures because let me tell ya if Africans love anything, it's sleeping, eating, and taking pictures.

Also during a lesson with someone inside a mini restaurant, like 5 soldiers with AKs came strolling in asking questions about some dude and then they saw us and we like "yo you're the LDS missionaries...where are your masks??" Lol it wasn't that scary just surprising because soldiers like that dont really come around the ghetto parts of Youpogon that often. And yes we never wear masks when out at sector. It's like a lowkey rule to do so but literally no one follows it and even President Lewis said it was fine.

The work is going great! We have 4 baptisms set up for next month on various dates and we've been able to find a bunch of people to teach! Nouveau Quartier 2 is a killer area with some amazing members who are super ready to do missionary work! They even want us to do a little Preach My Gospel training with them! We love seeing members who are excited and ready to bear their testimonies and share what they know, even when they don't know exactly how to do it! 

Okay that's a lot but it's all the fun and exciting stuff that's happened this week! I love the work and I love God!

Elder Perkins

PHOTOS

1. Just for you to see my haircut. It's not too bad but I'm just not used to it being the shortest I've ever had it.(also to see our relief society pres and her new baby!)

2. Pics from St. Paul's Cathedral!(pre-haircut) Paul is the goat

Elder Perkins!

Well the good news is you probably won't have to get another African hair cut before coming home!!! That is so wonderful that you have so many amis studying and committing to be baptized! I talked with your Aunt Myra and she said she's written you three times? Please make sure and respond to her, and the people in Abidjan that she has been able to teach level 3 English to. She said a few are in your area. She also said that if you are going to teach any English classes, to take it seriously. She finds that most aren't prepared for level 3 and need to

On Mon, Apr 26, 2021, 12:51 AM Kartchner Perkins <kartchner.perkins@missionary.org> wrote:

Boooooonnnnnjjjooouuuurrr!

Woohoo another week has come and gone! And here is yet another email from Elder Perkins. A lot of fun stuff happened this week but I'll still try and keep it short and sweet!

First off the rains have FINALLY come! It's honestly been crazy hot with the sun being out all day but now we have been blessed with the rains. And when it rains here, it RAINS. Multiples hours of water being dumped in the dusty streets of Youpogon makes the work interesting, since everyone goes inside and doesn't really want to talk ...just sleep. It hasn't been too bad though and we haven't need to go to sector in crocs just yet. One storm was so loud and thundering that lighting woke us up multiple times in the night and then the power went off so fun times.

In my title I mentioned bad haircuts and yes...I have finally succumbed to the basic terrible buzz cut from a rando African barber. My usual barber who actually knows how to cut my hair and is one of our amis is in the village for who knows how long and my hair was getting way too long so I had no choice. The guy did fine on the sides but then I asked to take "a little" off the top which he translated to buzz it down to a half inch. It's honestly not too bad and it's fun for the experience!

So I've killed a number of rats during my mission but ever since I've moved to the Maison Blanche, it's been like a daily thing lol. One instance that's memorable is when right before bed we noticed that there was a rat in our bedroom so we obviously weren't going to leave it so the game began. We were hunting that thing for a solid ten minutes but it kept going under our beds(sometimes on it) and climbing the cupboard. We were considering just chasing it our of our room for the night so we could go to bed. However, as soon as it was on top of one of the cupboard doors, I saw my chance and came at it with a giant wooden spoon and wacked it on the head. Pretty brutal but hey I was tired and it was also pretty funny

Last pday we went on a fun trip as a Zone to St Paul's Cathedral which is in downtown Abidjan. Super pretty and pretty big as well! We took LOTS of pictures because let me tell ya if Africans love anything, it's sleeping, eating, and taking pictures.

Also during a lesson with someone inside a mini restaurant, like 5 soldiers with AKs came strolling in asking questions about some dude and then they saw us and we like "yo you're the LDS missionaries...where are your masks??" Lol it wasn't that scary just surprising because soldiers like that dont really come around the ghetto parts of Youpogon that often. And yes we never wear masks when out at sector. It's like a lowkey rule to do so but literally no one follows it and even President Lewis said it was fine.

The work is going great! We have 4 baptisms set up for next month on various dates and we've been able to find a bunch of people to teach! Nouveau Quartier 2 is a killer area with some amazing members who are super ready to do missionary work! They even want us to do a little Preach My Gospel training with them! We love seeing members who are excited and ready to bear their testimonies and share what they know, even when they don't know exactly how to do it! 

Okay that's a lot but it's all the fun and exciting stuff that's happened this week! I love the work and I love God!

Elder Perkins

PHOTOS

1. Just for you to see my haircut. It's not too bad but I'm just not used to it being the shortest I've ever had it.(also to see our relief society pres and her new baby!)

2. Pics from St. Paul's Cathedral!(pre-haircut) Paul is the goat