Soccor week in Togo...ugghh

DANG! I forgot to tell Blake happy birthday in my letter to him! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO!

Ya. I flippin heard America lost against Ghana. It has been heck for me the last week. I'll fill you in on that. That was a house that he lives in [referring to a picture that he sent with a family sitting in front of a crude shack]. There are a lot of things like that. I actually love his property. It's really calm and on the beach. They were dirt bike riding behind his house, (white people here for some world tour thing) and I really wanted to go watch... they were riding behind a dune... I couldn't see.

I left my suit in Abidjan and I don't know if it's molded or eaten or whatever... It's Africa. I have an extra now just in case. It was 50 bucks.

Companion is great. Health is great. Had a baptism on sunday. He's nigerian. First baptism I've done in English. Weather is a little rainy and warm. Yes. My testimony has grown. Lol! A mission definitely helps kick that into gear.

Sorry to hear about Elder Dunn... I heard about his grandma but not his mom... That's gotta be really hard... At least he got to see both of them... That's rough...

It sounds like you guys have had an interesting week. It's sounds like you had a lot of fun. Makes me really miss home. If Shane really wants a Bou bou, I can get one made for him. It's only 20 bucks for all that. It's not at all expensive. I could get one made even cheaper really. It's just little things that make it a little more expensive.

Well I was hoping that you would've sent the transfer today cause I knew I wouldn't leave, but it's this week that I don't know if I leave so leave it off. I'll let you know next monday.

Ya I've only got seven months left! That's just crazy. Guillory is down to four... Nuts.

You did not tell me you got a fish tank. That's been years. I remember in the old Edgewood house I'd scoop the fish out of the tank and take baths with them. It always baffled me that they died in my bath water but not in the tank water...

Okay so a little about the week. I was SUPER depressed that Ghana beat the USA. I've become a devoted soccer fan... Ya... I love playing too. Wish I would've kept going when I was young and went pro... Oh well. BUT the reason it sucks that Ghana won is EVERYONE in Togo supports Ghana, so My country, my team, and I were insulted for one week and was even worse after we lost. soo what the togolese like to say is "we beat you, we beat you!" So I ask "who beat us?" and they say Ghana. Oh okay. then I ask "and where's Togo's team?" LOL! Togo didn't even qualify for the World cup. Makes it easier to bear the constant insults anyways. Lol!

So I didn't know this but Elder N'Dri doesn't like when Elder Kablan screams either, so what did he do? Elder N'Dri made a beating stick so every time he screams, he beats him with the stick. It's really REALLY amusing.

Have I told you that people just pee in the middle of the road, even the women? They'll squat down and just do their thing right there. It's just lovely.

This is a funny story. We were at a member's house and there was this little kid that kept wanting to hit me, so I took the arm of a kid (maybe twelve years old) and I pretended to eat his arm. After I did that I looked up and I pointed at the little kid, and he turns around and takes off at full speed and starts screaming and crying. He roudns the corner and I hear his mom ask him what's wrong. Then EVERYONE starts busting laughing. She then brought her kid around the corner and kept saying "White men eat little naughty black kids." That child may be scarred for the rest of his life... Lol!

Well I believe that's it for the week. Just hanging in there for a transfer. It's been 6 in a half months in the same place... We'll see how things go. Love you all!

Elder Halvorsen

PICTURES!!

YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE ME! PICTURES! I bought a little SD card reader thing for 16 bucks. (Cheapest best one I could find. I don't want something that'll break after 2 tries...)



OMG! Those were THE FUNNIEST stories I have ever heard in my life! Blake and the car. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL! My companion is seriously telling me to stop laughing cause he's a little embarrassed. Lol! Man. That was funny. Happy Father's day! Not gonna lie, I forgot AND I didn't know what day it was... They don't have that in Africa. Only for the Mom's.

President just wants the Ivoiriens to have a chance to do more things. Work is hard to get here. I don't have Herr'sx email. Gari is a type of manyok and manyok is cassava. It's manyok in French i think...

The Garden of Eden is something really interesting actually. It's very hard to make people understand that Adam and Eve didn't SIN, they transgressed a law. BUT to learn between good and evil, they had to receive the consequences for doing against God's commandments. When we take 2 Nephi 2; 22-23 We read that all things would have stayed EXACTLY the same if they didn't eat of the fruit, that they couldn't have children, and life would never of started. But we have the reassurance in 24 and 25 that God knows all and we're happy because of what Adam and Eve did. IN FACT God himself declared that Man had become like God in Genesis 3 (22 I think) and said to block the way to the Tree of Life so that Adam and Eve wouldn't live forever in the transgression that had come to pass. There's a lot of interesting things that we can learn from Adam and Eve. We learn that marriage is something that is very important. Man is for the Woman and Woman for the Man. We learn that even though we transgress the laws of God, he will forgive us. We learn God is a God of righteous but also forgiving for the wrongs that we do. We read in the Pearl of Great Price (forgot the book and chapter.. Should start bringing my scriptures to the cyber...) but Adam was really afraid God hadn't forgiven him. The Lord saw that immediately EVEN when he asked another question, a little like how he did with Nicodemus. Well I think that's good... We'll talk when I get home. Lol!

Well i forgot my planner at home and I know that I had some funny stories, but I'll just explain a couple photos instead. I took a picture of the water rat that we bought.
You'll love that.
A picture of a Bou bou with hat.

I put up the recent baptisms.
Missed one that we did yesterday...

IT POURED YESTERDAY! We wore rubber flip flops ALL DAY! We walked in water all day and got drenched by rain... Baptised in the rain. That was cool.

The attendance at church is normally 140-150 but it was.... 22 yesterday. At the beginning I was worried that it would be just the missionaries and the bishopric and the 2 people we baptised. (one on satruday, one on sunday.) It was a really fun day though.

I got a little beat up at football today. A kid rammed his knee right below mine. It's nice and swollen but all is well. I hate forgetting my planner... I wrote other things too.

OH! Okay. So the Herr's gave us all fire alarms. Guess what? African's have never seen a fire alarm. I put in the batteries. First mistake. I pressed the test button. Second and worse mistake. I have been woken up by a fire alarm placed next to my bed, I have received several migrains thanks to the fire alarm going off while I'm eating, and other random "testings" that happen throughout the day thanks to giddy happiness that is found in the push of a button. It's fun in a circle thing! Lol!

Well the pictures are still downloading so now I'm just killing time... I think that next time I wont send 21. Just 1 to 5 of randomness. I got dad a present too! Still workin on mom's... Maybe I'll get that in the next transfer. And yes boys. I have stuff for you too. Stuff for the whole family actually. Just little cool things and stuff. Well, I hope you guys think they're cool.

Well this letter is gigantic... I think I'll just let the thing download the pictures now... I gotta pay more time though... Ca va aller [gonna go].

Well I love you guys and miss you a lot!

Elder Halvorsen

Ready for a change!!

I loved the story about the car. Lol! It made me think about what I heard here in Togo. Togo is probobaly the CHEAPEST place on Earth you can buy a car. A 2005 Jaguar, perfect shape, 7500 bucks. Ridiculous. I asked why. He said that there are the Lebanese that do drug deals and cause it's so much money they can't get back on the plane to get home, so they buy a car and sell it in Togo to get the money from the drug deal back. Lol!

Well I'm just gonna send this email for this week. The lady here is crazy at this internet café. I said I wanted thirty minutes. then I asked N'Dri if he was gonna write and he said no. So I said okay. Give me an hour. And she said well that won't be the hour price of 250. I'm going to charge you two thirty mintues so that'll be 300. I said you just can't add thirty mintutes? I haven't even started. And she said that's impossible.

We had a lot of rain this week. All of Togo almost disappeared. We have zig zag on roads. Imagine a straight road that would take maybe 5 mintues to walk down. That becomes an Olympic jumping, balancing, and running event of thirty five minutes. There was one day that rained super hard and our normal road got blocked with water and we were so drenched we just said heck with it and ran through this huge lake of a puddle.

We killed a lot of the mice that have been bugging us. We found their home and killed five of them. Funny thing is, there's more.

I saved a bird's life! A little bird fell from this tree and we couldn't see it's nest. It was just a little baby. So after the lesson I said, I think I see his nest. So I climbed up in the tree and found a nest that was really beat. Then I turned around and saw another nest with a fat baby in it. So I put the bird there. Saving souls. A missionary's job. Lol!

President said that I've been in the sector too long and when he gets back to Côte D'Ivoire he'll get me transferred. I've been in the same area now for 25 weeks. 6 months. I'll be happy for a change.

We had our zone conference this last week. It was good. I love the Herr's. They're so Mormony perfect. I don't know really how to explain that... They're just amazing. I miss the Leavitt's a lot too... Such is the misson. At the conference too president said that all the Ivoiriens now have to learn english and in the next six weeks when the president will be here they have to pass an interview of five minutes in english with him. LOL!!!! That made me SO happy for many reasons. Lol!!!

Well I think that's it to report for me. I've been eating a lot of gari lately. It's this weird thing I think they make from Manyok and it absorbs water like crazy. I mix it with soy sauce and mustard. I'll have to take a picture and see if we can find it over there. Well I gotta go!

I love you all very much! I miss you guys! I can't believe I'll be passing up Dad's misison soon! [Mike went on a mission during the short period of time that they were only 18 months] And Kirtley is getting home soon... Jealous and not jealous at the sale time... LOVE YOU ALL! Oh. And maybe five baptisms this week. We'll see how things go.

Love you!

Elder Halvorsen

New Mission Couple -- The Herrs

I loved the last commentaire on Dad's face. Lol! That was priceless. The Herr's are WONDERFUL! They fed us today and we just had a great time at their house. Also we played soccer again. I still suck but it's a "getting better" sucking. Didn't have to pay for the package. They [the Herrs] served a mission in Russia and Kenya so I think they're used to Togo. Lol! I don't know when I'll be transferred next but I hope it's soon... I've been in the same place for 6 months... I need a change or I'll go crazy... I'm starting to feel like a robot... They don't speak French, the Herrs.

Go Kameron! Going out to Brazil! At least he'll be like me and not speaking spanish. Lol! That's great about Austin! Flippin smart kid. And Chan with the Tennis! I miss tennis...

Well my week wasn't that exciting... It rained a lot and we played soccer today. We have a couple great investigators that will be baptized soon and the Zone conference this Friday. It's thursday that I'll know if I'm transferred or not. That's really about it... Nothing too crazy...

The president told us to read the Book of Mormon in six weeks and I'm nearing the end this week. I've learned a lot of new things. I've been doing a lot of studies with the Bible and the BOM concerning Wisdom. It's a trait that I really want to have in all aspects of my life and as it says in Proverbs, Wisdom starts by following and fearing God. So I've been doing studies on this subject for a couple weeks now.

I love you all and hope that you all are doing well! For my health, I've just had a lot of Diaherra this week... Hasn't been pleasant... But it's kinda normal sadly... I swear I have that like once or twice a month...

I can't believe it's been that long either!

Love you!Elder Halvorsen

Cam's 7'3" Baptizee

Got my package! SOCKS! YES! And deoderant! So thankful for everything that's there. That shirt is so white... I put it next to my shirts now and you think they're ten years old at least.... Lol! One baptism. Explain that later. Feelings later. New comp is good. He's calm. A big change from Kakou. I've noticed a big change in my enegy level now, cause I literally had to work my butt off to make our relationship work and now it's not as hard. Kinda happy. : ) They don't really do enrichment night... I don't think... I don't really know... Blake told me about the job! Sounds cool! Gettin' money. Lol!

Well I'll talk a little about this week.I loved the package! I saw the photos of the bros and DANG they're in shape! I'm getting fat again so these pictures give me a little umph to change that. Lol! The Tracy girls got super cute! Sucks for the boys! Haha! Especially Katie and Emily. Wow... I didn't even recognize them. I remember them as super tiny... Lol! That's crazy.

So Dad's face thing was more serious than I thought... It was kinda creepy to see the picture you took with Aunt Virginia...feel really bad about that... I hope it's gotten a lot better. Love the Iron man foot thingies! Haven't yet put them in. Will soon. And the SOCKS! YES!

Well real quick, we got stuck in a huge rainstorm that came in about... 5 seconds. That was fun. We found a little store with a overhang thing. We ran to that and the mama that sells there was definitely old and.... Topless.... We just ignored here and looked at the rain... Lol! It's always awkard to see that. We pass a mama each days that says hi to us...

We get ding dong ditched every day by these kids that live next to us... Can't say much more than that... Lol! When it starts to rain like that (see story before the last) all the kids strip naked and run out in the streets to shower... All of a sudden there are tons of little naked black bodies...

We went to the port today to see it's. It's a ton of mud and cars and random things they sell. Cars are SO CHEAP here. Think of a 2005 Dodge at 15000 at home. You'll pay 5000 here. Wow... Also went to the big market to see how it is and to get some ties and stuff.

Well the baptism. We baptised one person. He is 7 foot 3. He's HUGE! I baptized him on his knees actually... Lol! And I STILL bumped his head againt the back of the font...

With the feelings, I don't really have time, but I was reading in Alma, I believe 30 about Coriantum or Corihor that asks Alma for a sign to prove there is a God. He's stricken dumb and then the priest writes in the dirt, "You asked for a sign and Alma gave one. Now do you believe there's a God?" Alma is just so cool. Lol!

Love you and miss you!

Elder Halvorsen

Zion Resident and an Italian in Togo

Didn't get the package. Health is fine. Couple comes the 24th (If I'm not mistaken) and we had two AMAZING BAPTISMS! Insights on scriptures. Explain later. Things are great with Kakou!

Wow. Mission calls coming in all directions, School almost done. Selling Cars! Sounds like a good week!

Well this week went by fast. Cloward, AÏsseba, and Fontaine all took off to Benin, Fontaine to Côte D'Ivoire. Kablan is now with N'Dri. Dea went to Hedranowoe. Kablan was my companion for ten days in Benin. Lol. It's good to see him. He's so weird. LOL! The life with Kakou really is good. We laugh, play and teach. There really isn't problems. I think with him I learned a lot about a long lasting relation.

I baptised AN ITALIAN! Okay... Half Italian, half togolese. We baptised her mom, a Togolese, and her daughter. We'll baptise her son this saturday. We just got a Baptismal font at our branch! And we used it on the Year anniversary of the Branch AND we let the President do the baptisms. It was great! And the lady we baptised, Mama Amega, is seriously so amazing. She calls me her son and she always gives us stuff... Lol! I seriously love her. I LOVE relations like those on the mission.

Two funny stories. First off, we contacted this new guy. We went into his house and his mom was in the middle of sewing. (A TON of people sew here. It's a livelihood.) So We just finished singing "Hark all ye nations" (I think it's that... It's Peuple du Monde in French...) So We just got done singing that and she starts singing it in Evé. That's when her son said "That's the Evé version." I said "I didn't know there was an Evé version..." Okay. I promise it's funnier in person...

Then We met a guy also. I asked him where he was from cause he spoke in English. He said He comes from Zion... I laughed and said No for reals. Where are you from? He said again Zion. So I asked him where he was born. He said Zion. The angels carried him down from heaven and placed him on the Earth. We didn't go back to his house...

With the scriptures, The president wants us all the read the BOM in six weeks. I've left my personal in depth studies for now, but I did like the first chaptier of Jacob. It helps us understand the reason and objective to preach the Gospel and to help our brothers. Read through that when you have the time. Good Chaptier!

Well I gotta go! I love you all very much! Even Blake and his fluffy email.

Also we played a soccer match in a thunderstorm today! that was a ton of fun! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Elder Halvorsen

Red Week: Tomato plants and a bloody toe

Wow. Life hasn't slowed down at all for you guys. That talk sounds like it was really good. I'm glad that you had a chance to feel closer to me even if it's some thousand miles that seperate us. Anything that helps you makes me happy. :)

And Dad, I'm so very thankful for the parts of your mission that you shared with me. I haven't gotten the package. I've not been feeling too great but I know why. There's always a lot new investigators. Baptisms, no. The baptism is for the 15th. We might have six. Four are sure.

They're building a baptismal font at our branch, too! Cool! I think that President Blaze picks up the mail here in Togo. He's the Branch President of Hedranewoe. We actually just got a ton of rain yesterday. I got to see the first session of Conference too. That was really enjoyable. I didn't get to see all of it... I'll wait for the Liahona. I think it will be better if you call Saturday at roughly the same time. We might be having interviews with the president or surprise inspections at our apartments the Sunday night. Saturday at 8:00p.m. I hope that that works. That makes me really trunky that Jon is home... Oh man... I know that it wont be much longer though before I'm in the same train.

I forgot to tell you, I've been growing a tomato plant with our laundry machine. It's outside and the excess water just spits out the back. I had it growing really well for a while but I think I have Dad's curse. It's dying. Lol! For some reason I remember perfectly that in Edgewood, Dad coud NEVER get tomato plants to grow. : )

Like I said, I'm really thankful for the mission story you shared. There are such radical differences between our missions. I have to FORCE people to NOT feed me! I swear I eat every hour. Lol! And normally with a first contact, we talk a little bit at least and get their contact and info with a next appointment. The goals for our Standard of Excellence is to have 4 baptisms a month, 1 date of baptism fixed DAILY, 36 lessons in a week, and 36 new investigators a week. Elder Kakou and I were on top for January, February, and March. We only had one baptism in April, but we'll be there again in May. : ) One has to work really hard to keep those. It makes you really tired too! Lol!

Well my health hasn't been too spectacular. That doesn't mean that it's bad. I'm glad I have a District that loves me and Elder Cruz and Elder Cloward gave me a really good talking to. And then with the story of the Sierra Leonian and the history of Dad's mission really gave me another boost of strength. Thank you so much for being great parents and helping me all the time. I hope the other boys see that as well.

A little on the lighter side. We were cleaning the branch at Hedranewoe to get ready for the conference this last saturday. We started setting up the chairs and sweeping and cleaning. I was going to go in the bathroom to grab an African broom (a broom made only of wood, even the sweepy thing on bottom) and I didn't see the little edge of tile that was on the entrance to the bathroom. I was wearing just the cheap rubber sandals that you can buy here off the womens' head. So I was walking kind of fast and didn't see the edge. BAMM! My big toe on my left foot caught the edge of the tile on the bottom of my toe and scraped off the skin about the size of a quarter. (If I remember correctly the size of a quarter...)

So being weaked stomached as I am, I quickly layed down on a bench and asked for water as my toe is bleeding on the floor. So I started getting dizzy and all that good stuff that happens EVERY time I get a good size cut. They had alcohol only and they put that on. That burned, but they wanted to take the skin off and clean it better.

There was a member that has a little medical room a little ways away and it was too far to walk, especially with me on the point of fainting, and no one here has a car. So I got on the back of a little 135 Motorcycle and he brought me to the spot. I entered and this lady directed to me a little back room with a high table. I layed down and just thought wow. I'm in Africa. I wish I would've taken a picture but I wasn't really thinking camera at the time. So she cut of the skin and grabbed this yellow bottle. I asked "What's that?" She said Bertinda or something weird like that. I asked "Does it burn?" Oh no. Not at all. That's when I felt like someone had stuck a knife in my toe. Yep. I started groaning and pounding the table. Everyone thought it was the funniest thing of all time. Lol! It was interesting. I'm walking fine already so it's no big deal. It's healing well too.

Well that's the news! I'm really excited for your call! I can't believe there's only one more left after that! and one more conference! It goes by so fast! I love you all! Tell the boys to think of GOOD questions and to talk clearly into the phone also. Love you!

Elder Halvorsen