Don't like these kinds of letters!!

• I'm in Abidjan. The Assistants came and picked me up... For a special reason which I will tell you about later. My luggage is American Tourist and it's lasted really well actually. All three of them. They are good bags. There's a couple little things that broke. but nothing big. They work just fine. The black bear sounds cool. Sounds like he's been there a ton of times... And with the hotel President and the Lycee Scientifque. We were between the two.
  

So this last week wasn't at all great... I got......................... TYPHOID FEVER!!!! How cool is that? [His father and I don't think it's very cool!] I've had Malaria AND Typhoid! I spent a good three days in the hospital with a temperature of 40 degrees celsius. My body was sore all over and I started throwing up wednesday night. It was just wonderful. The whole zone came to visit me. I'm feeling fine of course now. I'm taking it a little slow so don't worry about my health.

Since I spent most of the week in my bed, I don't really have any experiences... Other then now I'm in the sector called Riviera. It's a very safe location in Abidjan. I'm in the apartment with Elder Cruz and Elder Lamboni. We will have 12 missionnaries total in the apartment tonight. I'm the Zone leader for the apartment with Elder Bertoch. The two congolese Elder's that were in my zone at Yakro will be coming so that's good.
And we wonder why he's not sick more often!!??!!??

That's about it. I have one question. Do you guys know Alpha Blondy? Apparently his house is just next to our apartment.

Yakro smells like Missouri??

I don't know why it sent three times... I sent it ONCE with TEN pictures. I never sent it again... That's really strange... But whatever.

I'm really not thin. I suck it in so I'm starting to do some exercises now. That picture is the top part of the dome only. Not the whole thing. I took a picture on bottom too but didn't send it. Last computer was terrible. There is only EVER one white missionnary in Yakro and only as zone leader. So it's really a great privilège to be here and experience life here.

For Dad, There is a Hotel that they call the Hotel Député that is behind our house. There is a place called Cent logements that is right next to us. They look like organised apartments. Then there's a big saucer thing. We're between that and the cent logements. We're on the Carrefour AdÏ. I don't know if that'll show up...

The Ivoiriens LOVE americans. Their style, music, and many other things come from there. I'm not even kidding, Michael Jackson is more famous here than in America. And Celine Dione. (I know she's canadian but still.)

The elections are just elections. We've seen some of the candidates pass in cars but nothing too crazy. The work is going good. Looks like we have three baptisms this week.

The [mission] couple NEVER come up here and I'll tell you why AFTER the mission. : ) I see The Président just like in Togo and Benin maybe every six weeks. Health is fine. I eat too much. We shop at the Grand Marché near a place called Habitat that is just in front of the Présidence. Compy is great. Getting along.

The idea of flying down works. I LOVE flying. To fly from Benin to CI was too short... Lol! I don't know why I like it so much... I've gotta give Blake some stuff so that works out for me. Also I like the idea of going down there and giving out some resumés. That really seems like a good advantage for me.

Alright for this week I brought my plannner! So here goes.

This is a random thing. It smells like Missouri here. But... It's WAY hotter. Lol! And speaking of heat. There was this one day... DANG! I was sitting in front of the fan... I went and took a shower then went outside... IN THE SHADE I WAS BURNING/ It was like I was in the sun but I was still in the shade... It was ridiculous... WHAT? the keyboard just changed to qwerty and I m really lost... alright, so real quick now. there are a lot of fireflies here! they^re really pretty, they light up everything at night.

A quick thing for Blake. Don^t send him with the skinny dress socks. they^re worthless on a walking mission. I burned holes in the pairs you sent me in two weeks, Gold toes are going strong.

well that is about it for this week. sorry wasn^t much. Love you all BEAUCOUP!

Elder Halvorsen

Touring Yamoussoukro

Pictures!!

I already bought new sheets so the bed bugs shouldn't be a problem anymore. Sounds like the trip was a success. I can't believe that Grandpa is really 90 years old. There isn't a missionary couple here at Yamoussoukro. There's just Elder Dago and Elder Halvorsen. We take care of everything here at Yakro...

Well this screen just popped up with a virus warning of a ton of viruses so I don't think I'll be able to load anymore pictures until the end of my mission... I don't know if it's my card or the computer. It loaded one and then it was finished. They don't take care of their computers so there are tons of viruses on them. Ya it's not even loading anymore. Hey! It's loading! Ok. So again I forgot my planner at the apartment so I'm just going to try to list stuff off the top of my head.

So we went to the Foundation, and the Cathedral like I said Monday night. I'm sending you guys some pictures. We had our mission conference last week with president. It was good and interesting. We also had two missionnary fire sides and they were successful and the leaders here of the District of Yakro got lectured hardcore by president... Lol! It was very needed.

I hate when I forget my planner... It's my guide for monday... Well the computer loads and then stops, then loads and then stops so I don't know what's up.

well since I forgot my planner I don't really have much to say... So I'll just try to send all my photos and then I'll write what happened this week next week...

There's no birthday's that I missed are there? Lol!

Love you and miss you!

Elder Halvorsen

Bed bugs and touring the city

Well I don't have much time so I'm just going to say a couple of things. Atiéké is the cassava stuff. Had it again today. Lol! I think I've missed one day since I've been here. Getting plenty to eat. Ne t'inquiète pas. [do not worry] I took [Elder] Bowman's place. We have two baptismal dates fixed with a possible 6 total.

Health is fine except for the stupid bed bugs. I bought two sheets cause I left mine in Togo cause I knew I left the second NEW pair in Abidjan but they gave those to another person. So I bought USED sheets (behold the problem.) and now I have bug bites all over. I wash the sheets once a week. THe bites are starting to go down. Mosquitos aren't bad. There are no crocodiles in the streets. Lol! In fact we were just there thirty minutes ago to go see the crocs, but the President of Côte D'Ivoire JUST drove up with a convoy of military so they chased us off. I took some far off pics but they're not great.

Ya the roads are gigantic and the most of them are paved. There are not a TON of bicycles. It's just some people and old muslims that have them. Lol. The two former missionaries that I met are not in my branch, but they're in the same building and live next door, so I see them once or twice a week. Elder N'Dri gave us a ton of food to eat! Love Mangez-vous. (Eating appointment) : )

Members work with us sometimes but not often starting this week because of school... Everyone gets super occupied by that life. So our numbers of lessons with members will drop. They took a hit last week.

So Just so you guys know, the elections for Côte D'Ivoire are coming up the 31 october and they happen at Yamoussoukro. Just for safety precautions I'm going to Abidjan the 25 october until the 8th november or longer if there is a problem at Yakro. But really there is nothing to worry about. It's just for the non-ivorians. I'm going down with the two congo elder's that are here, Mbunga and Muteba as well. I'll see Guillory and Legere! I'm excited for that.

So today was the best P-Day ever. We went to the foundation and the Catholic cathedral. THE THING IS FREAKING HUGE! I don't have time to send you guys a picture but I will send one next week. It was really amazing to get to see all of that. We went as a zone and took a ton of pictures. I'm actually really exhausted cause we walked a lot everywhere... So I'll sleep well tonight, even with bed bugs.

Also wanted to wish HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Chandler! (That feels weird writing that once a week for three weeks now.) I hope all of your guy's birthdays have been great!

Well sorry if I didn't answer all of your questions. I don't have enough time left. Next week I'll have time to send some pics of today's activities.

I love you all and miss you a ton!

Elder Halvorsen

Back in Cote d'Ivoire and 4 months left!

That's a lot of questions...[[ enquiring mothers want to know!] Well I LOVE being in Côte D'Ivoire again! I hear French everywhere, I've eaten Atiéké [according to a google search, it a dish made from the cassava root] each day since I've been here, and the environment is just how I like it. Yakoussoukro is interesting. They have GIGANTIC roads, but very few cars... Three lanes going both ways and you see maybe 10 cars and a couple of motorcylces pass every five ten minutes. I would LOVE to drive here. Huge roads and NO cops. Lol!

Doing missionnary work is weird here though. The houses aren't close together. They're also Gigantic and on gigantic weird roads. I'll take pictures. I'll try to send some today. My Comp is Elder Dago. He's interesting. He's from Yopougan I think... Abidjan. We have Elder's Mbunga (From republic of Congo) andElder OulaÏ from Abidjan in our apartment. The weather is hot here. it's WAY up north in comparison to Lome, Cotonou and Abidjan. It's a little hotter than Lomé which was the hottest of the three that I listed. The branches are really weak here... The work isn't easy. There's a flipping HUGE catholic cathedral here. We're going to go visit it today and the "Crocodile Lake."

Ya Elder Jerman met me in the airport. He's the assistant. Unfortunately I didn't spend more than four hours in Abidjan. I got right on a big bus that was uncomfortable for 5 hours after that. Health is fine. I left a lot of things I didn't need at the mission office. I'll pick it up when I come home.

I said happy birthday to Dad and now HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN! That's weird that their birthday's are all so close... I thought that they were farther away from each other...

okay. So It was an interesting trip overall. I left Togo last Friday and I spent a bit of time in Benin. I stayed in Elder cloward's apartment so I got to talk to him a lot. elder Ba Bi who was at yakro before who is not Elder bo Bi talked to me a bit about how it is here and he was right. It's very interesting. The pictures aren't downloading... oh well. This cyber is fast but it's not downloading the pics... Wierd. So I took the plane from benin to Côte D'Ivoire. The flight was really short. It was great to be in a plane again. I kinda missed that. OH! So just before I got into the waiting room for the plane in Benin, I had to go through the Passport check. So apparently they said my Visa wasn't good, so I was like great. They said you have to pay 10,000 francs. So I said ok. I showed him the entry visa they gave me at the border and he said that's not good enough. So I honestly got a little ticked off and I said I have to call someone. Can I borrow you're phone? And he just sat there. I said you gonna answer me or not? and he just sat there. So I asked the guy next to him. Same thing. So I went around the airport asking people and everyone was like oh sorry. I don't have credit. EVERY FLIPPING PERSON until I had to CATCH someone that just finished making a call so I knew that he couldn't lie. He said sure you can call. I called the couple real quick and they said the Office would reimburse me so I gave the guy 1000 francs and he was super happy. Lol! So I paid the Jerk cop and he was happy. So THEN I took the plane. I got to Abidjan and saw Elder Jerman who picked me up. I got to talk to him for a bit. We got to the Office and Elder Bowman had just arrived also. so I was taking pictures with him and he realized that he had left his camera on the bus... We went quick to try and find it, but someone had already taken it. It was super hard for him.

So I got on the bus, I'm sending a little pic, and spent 2 hours in traffic in Yopougan. That was wonderfully hot in the bus... then we got on our way. The road was decent and pretty for the most part. Then it was around 19:30 and we stopped in a town called Toumodi. A lady stood up and said "that lady that just got off stole 7000 francs of mine!" A whooping 15 bucks and she got off and they started throwing punches and slapping each other around the bus. That was cool AND delayed us. Then we found out that the lady that said the other was the thief, was the thief... It was just wacky.

So I got to Yakro super tired and got to the apartment. I used the ironning board cloth as a bed sheet cause I thought I had left my second pair of bed sheets at the office (they weren't there). I already bought a pair here, don't worry. Then the following morning, I plugged in the iron to iron my clothes and the power cut out. I learned that in order to iron, you have to unplug the fridge. Lol! And then two days later, our power cut off. Just our house. We checked everything. Slept without a fan for a night or two. Then the electrician came and said the wires were fried and said that it'd be a hundred bucks. We said no thanks. So the owner of the house called her electrician. He fixed the problem for 7 bucks. Lol!

We're going to go to the Catholic Cathedral today. And the crocodile lake. It should be interesting. I wanted to get some pictures of that and send you guys them. It's seriously GIGANTIC! I can't explain how big this thing is. It's like a star wars building... I've been eating a lot of Atiéké too. Every day I eat it. Loll!

Well I gotta go. I hope the pictures load fast. OH! I met my old ex-missionnary comp N'Dri here! He lives here! Same with Kouassi! It was so good to see them again! I couldn't believe it!
He never got his hymn book... someone must've stolen the package...

Well I love you and miss you very much! click day on Austin's B-Day!

Elder Halvorsen

Back in Benin, then back to Ivory Coast!! Advice for Blake

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! I wish I was there or that it was easier to send stuff off to you guys... Lol! I haven't made the list yet for Blake I think I'll keep this letter short and just add that at the end. I just want to get off some quick things that have happened that I forgot last week and some this week.

We were taking a taxi with this old man driver and he was SHOOTING down the road at night... All of a sudden the guy turns around with his old man gruffy voice, "I gotta make a stop." We were like okay... So he pulls off the road (still on the road of course) and he hops out of the car. We think that he's going to buy gas. He just stood next to the front left tire of his car and... Peed. Yep. Right in the middle of the road... It was ridiculous... Even Elder Bo Bi said, Do these people even use their brains? Lol!

I don't know if I told you guys this story or not, but it's really REALLY hilarious, so I'll tell it again if I haven't yet...

So. We were at this person's house, (now a recent convert) and her mom was there too. Her mom is really old and is handicapped. Her left leg was amputated. So she asked us, in her language, and voici her question. "IS it bad to pray to Mary?" We told her yes it is bad and we explained why. She gave her response to what we said, and her kids started laughing like crazy. We said "Tell us Tell us!" Voici encore her response. "Oh. I know it's bad to pray to Mary. I already told her that I couldn't pray to her anymore."

I've loved being back in Benin and seeing all the people that I baptized and my friends! I stopped by the market to pick up a few things and I'm heading for Côte D'ivoire tomorrow at 11.20 I'm actually going to go visit another family tonight real quick and pass by my old apartment. I stayed at Gbédjromèdé for the friday till tomorrow. It's been good to chat with Elder Cloward again. Just like in Koumassi. It feels like I was never even in Togo... It's the weirdest feeling of all time. That's why I'm telling Blake right now to NEVER hate a sector, cause no matter how bad you think it sucks, you'll miss it like crazy, you'll miss the people and you'll be thankful to God EVERY DAY for all that you learned. Don't EVER forget that or you'll regret it.

The list.

Mesh garments only. (I've given away my other types to the branch)

LIGHTEST pants you can find. Three pairs only.

Don't bring a pillow. It wastes space in your bags. They have pillows for you and they're cheap if there isn't one.

Just bring one pair sheets. Two if you really want to, but it's not necessary. One pair of shoes. Check that one with Bro. Hardy, but here, shoes are cheap and everywhere. Two pairs of shirts, one pair of pants, two t shirts, (maybe three) and a LIGHT sweatshirt. I think they call that a windbreaker. 2 belts that DON'T MELT in extreme heat. Don't over do the mosquito spray. I gave a lot of that away and missoinnaries leave some in the apartments. You don't need a butt load of medicine. IN fact I only take doxy. ok. 1pair of drylux for when you get cold. Soap, toothbrush, shampoo, toothpaste, all that is easy to find. Bring this towel from Missionary mall. It's super light and really good. Cloward still has his. I hate my heavy towel. Don't buy baptismal clothes. Not necessary. They have them there. I'll think of other stuff later.

I love you all and miss you!

Elder Halvorsen