Christian in Africa

Well...today was a hard call home for Elder Garcia and even harder for me as his Mom to take! Elder Garcia is super duper homesick! There were oodles of tears and I won't lie, I wasn't sure this week would end on a positive note. It was awful and heartbreaking to not be able to just sit in the same room and hear him out and then be able to hug him and tell him that everything would be okay! This gig as a Missionary Mom is seriously SO HARD! Elder Obeya is still proving to be a tricky companion for Elder Garcia along with the use of the pamphlets to teach. Elder Garcia is for some reason stuck on the Preach My Gospel and is unwilling to put that aside for now and embrace the pamphlets. I tried to encourage him to see how he could add his own twist to the pamphlets to have them tie into what he has studied in his Preach My Gospel handbook. Hopefully something here will mesh together and between these two missionaries this piece can move forward. One of the tricky things with Elde...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, August 30, 2021 Subject: Week 2! 2 Months!! And some Peanut Butter Bonjour tout le monde!!! Sorry that it's been so long since this has been a thing from me. Anyways just a little recap for ya, Africa is great! It's super rainy up here in Kpalimé all the time I feel like but the work is so good! The gift of tongues is a major help in my life too, not being able to understand everyo e has gotten easier but there is still a little struggle.  Like the title says, I hit 2 weeks in the field and 2 MONTHS on my mission already. That and Elder trenum found some authentic American Peanut Butter for me (i'll send pics next week of that) Just a thought this week: These past few weeks have been a lot of changes snd getting used to things, but nonetheless i know I am not alone. The Lord is with me always. And with you. Just like in the story of Peter and Christ walking on water, as we start to fall He will be there to pick...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: August 30, 2021 Reply to Mom's Email Hey mom, So this week was meeh. It finally hit me that it's 2 years and it was kinda rough for a couple days. Lasagna was great, African great not really American great haha. I don't think I will be making that when I get home.  Elder Obeya is still the same. Very controlling and he told me that because I talked to my President that I sinned gravely and have a lot of repenting to do. I have rried my best to serve him but anytime I do something he just gets annoyed with me.  You are seriously one broken thing after another mom haha. Maybe by the time I get home you'll be better and we can go weightlifting. Sound like a deal?  I guess it's a good thing that I left when I did then haha. I don't really have to deal with all of the politics and whatnot down here. Tough I did gets cussed out and told to leave by a drunk guy yesterday so that was funny.  It's so exciting K...

Coconut President de la branche  

To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org From: Mom Date: Sunday, August 29, 2021 Subject: Hey! Hey! How are you? How was your last week? How was the lasagna lesson and how did it taste in the end? Something you would make again at home when you get back? Talk to me about this past week with your companion? How did this week look? Could you see some changes in him at all? Were you able to find ways to serve him and maybe see you in a different light? Life here is moving right along and sometimes much quicker than I would like. I was scrolling through my phone to see if I had any fun pictures to send and I literally sent you the only one I took all week long!!! It was the day I had the drinks on the kitchen counter. :/ I was going to start weight lifting training with Lisa Van Rooyen but then I finally got to where I needed to go to the chiropractor because I couldn't really turn my  head left or right anymore. Well, turns out the curve in my neck is pretty much gone and that...

Kpalime "mountains" that Elder Garcia says are more like rolling hills and not really mountains like what he knows mountains to be. I love being able to see the area of the world he is in. The roads, the 'sidewalks', homes, and even some of the local residents as well. 'My shower for the past week....' Elder Garcia has been without water for a WEEK!!! I cannot even imagine. Water tank and pump fixed!!! Elder Coe was able to make a visit and get Elder Garcia and his companion all fixed up and they officially have water again! Yay!!  

Well, I wasn't 100% sure a phone call would come in today after my email on Wednesday this past week so imagine my pure joy when I saw Elder Garcia calling this morning!  Right off the get go I could not just sense a change but I could SEE a change in Elder Garcia. His entire countenance was radiating and his smile was glowing through the screen video call! It was so wonderful to see the Christian I know! Especially after a not so great week...Elder Garcia was back in Lome for a Zone Activity. They were learning how to make lasagna from an Elder who went to culinary school but...the apartments don't have ovens so they can't take what they learned back and make lasagna again anytime soon. Can you imagine no oven! CRAZY! We talked some on how Zone Conference went last week. He said he loved it and it was so nice to see other American Elders. It was nice to have others to talk to about some of the frustrations he is currently experiencing with his companion and just the transi...

Elder Garcia says "all it takes is some soda, sour patch kids, and some faith" 2 months already!!! So quick!  

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: August 23, 2021 Reply from Mom's email on Saturday Hey mom' Alright so idk if I am going to be able to call today because of my companion. He is very controlling with the phone so we are going to have to see what happens. That is why I am not very reactive to messages, I did send a message to my President talking about that and him using the phone as much as he does on Facebook. I don't know what will happen but we will see. How was the birthday party? Super drained aftereards?? Your party sounds fun though! I would say that I should do something like that when I get home but all of my friends are leaving this month so I have a little bit of time before I can do anything like that haha. And are you kidding me?? That's funny, especially since I forgot about that family and everything like that... is that bad? I also read your email and have changed up some stuff and this week has been really really good when it come...

To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org From: Mom Date: August 21, 2021 Subject: Saturday Hey, Just wanted to drop in and let you know I love you. This has been the CRAZIEST week and there has been something on the calendar every single night. I thought I was going to have a break today but it looks like since it is Big Banning's birthday we have plans now with the Stephens and the Millers to do dinner. We had a backyard pool/bbq last night for a Back to School celebration. Robbie and Sean were there, Grandma and Cowboy came, and then we had the Stephens, the Millers, the Wrights, and even Amy Earnest and her new boyfriend and kids were here too. (That was an interesting add) Anyways, I sent the invite to the Riddles a while ago and Shawna immediately responded and said her family would be here, Andrea wasn't sure when Evan would have a mountain biking race so she would have to get back to me. Well...she never did but when B was texting Damon to see if he was coming he...

Chillin with some goats Dégé... cuscous' sugar and cream. Smells good, tastes awful  

Disclaimer....this was the HARDEST email I have had to write so far. I pray this one will be the last one of its kind... To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Wednesday, August 18, 2021 Subject: Hump Day Email this week :)  Hey hey hey Elder Garcia! How are you doing? How are things this week? I would love to hear 10 things that were good or great this week for you. :) Things here have been moving at a speed I am not sure I am fully prepared to move at! Ha. It all started with church on Sunday and walking in as a party of just three. I hated it so much. And I wasn't sure we should really take our regular row because let's face it, we sure didn't need the space for three bodies. But I guess we didn't really need it for four either and we kept doing. Anyways, we slid in and it all worked out and by the end of Sacrament meeting and listening to Brother Woodward I knew it would be best for me to come home and just take a deep breath and say a prayer for the bot...

Zone Conference 8-17-21 Zone Conference  

Elder Garcia has a companion at the moment that is super controlling when it comes to the cell phone that the companionship has. That being said...I wanted to be sure to put in the blog the email conversation that I was able to have with Elder Garcia since there wasn't going to be a group email out today.  *************** Monday, August 16, 2021 Elder Garcia's reply to my email from August 14, 2021:   Hey mom! Alright so I should be able to talk to you over a call later. My comp is somewhere rn, I don't actually know where though. He kinda just walked outside and I don't see him anywhere. Africa life is definitely something to get used to and it is definitely not fully what I expected. It feels weird thinking that it has already been a week here. Feels like I just started yesterday to be honest. I am still adjusting, my comp finally let me talk in a lesson this last week but only once because my French isn't the best. He is kinda getting on my nevres though,...

From: Mom To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Subject: It's official, 1 week in Africa It’s official! You have been in Africa for an entire week. How does that feel? How are things going? Are you adjusting a little better? How is your French coming along? And what about your companion? Things getting better with being able to communicate and work together when it comes to the friends you are working with? I have so many thoughts everyday of what life is looking like for you. Things here at home are moving along.  Brooklyn starts school this week, Tyler is heading back to Wyoming to look for deer, and I have a full week of things literally filling up each day. We have missionaries coming for dinner on Monday, I have a mom pool lunch party on Tuesday, a presidency meeting (with the stake coming as well) on Wednesday, a relief society activity on Thursday here, and a family/friend back to school pool and bbq party on Friday. It’s nuts but I am sure it will be fun and nice...

My day planned out simply (ha ha...simply he says!)  

Dishes for some amis  

Bathroom, shower, and sink (all in one!) Elder Garcia's bed complete with mosquito net and fan (so he doesn't melt all night long) Kitchen : Sink, stove top, counter top Kitchen view 2: Fridge Living room and study area  

I woke up today not sure if it was even a Pday in Africa let alone if it was if I would have a chance to talk to Elder Garcia at all. I have heard such little in regards to his arrival that today felt super unknown the moment I opened my eyes for the day. Togo is 6 hours ahead of us so when I woke up just after 7am it was already 1pm there for Elder Garcia. I was busy chatting with Sister Garcia and checking in on her when I got am email from Elder Garcia saying basically that he was unsure if he would be able to make a video call, he hopes to get his sim card today, and that if it all doesn't work out he wanted me to know that he loves me. <3 I conceded that this was going to be it for me for today and carried on. As I was sitting at the desk in the office my phone rang and I totally assumed it would be Sister Garcia but it was not. It was Elder Garcia!!! He was able to make a call afterall. :) It was great to just see his face and to hear his voice period. The service is sketc...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, August 9, 2021 Subject: We Made It Holy cow you guys!! That was the longest flight of my life, I don't know how people do that all of the time. On Thursday I flew out of SLC the  to LA where I got held up for a second with covid stuff (dumb) and then went to Paris. So technically I could say I've been there haha. Then I was off to Lomé, and when I got here that was a whole other thng in itself that was just great hahah. My companion is named Elder Obeya, he's from Congo and he doesn't speak a lick of English so that's fun... not really. But that means I get to fully embrace French now and I feel better about it before. I still have a LONG ways to go though. We met with 2 amis yesterday and they were so cool! I understood very little but they were nice to me and let me struggle a little bit. We also met with a sister who just got baptized and I got to bear my testimony and I felt that it was the right th...