Christian in Africa

Both missionaries on the same call this week Just before Sister Garcia jumped off a call with us Elder and Sister Garcia on the same call again today! So fun always to be able to see them together, hear them interact, and listen to the things they talk about with respective differences and similarities to their individual missions. :)  Elder Garcia is doing well. Some of the key bullet points from this weeks call are: - They are no longer a trio of missionaries. We are now back to Elder Garcia and Elder Meline - Next week his mission is scheduled to get 14 new missionaries but even better? The next transfer they are getting 22! That is a boat load of new missionaries. I love to hear that they are all arriving because it just means that the Gospel is being taught and spread and the Church continues to grow. - The family Elder Garcia was working with up in Kpalime all got baptized this last week! He was literally grinning from ear to ear when he shared this with me. - Elder Garcia ha...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, February 28, 2022 Subject: Goodbyes BONJOUR!!!! Ah, comment vous allez??  This week was absolutely great but with so news! Let's get into it.  Tuesday was normal for the most part. District Council, the last of the transfer so getting some pics of that and then going back to the apartment to eat some rice and chicken like normal. But then came our rendez-vous... I don't know what happened but somehow we have been slammed with very little time to visit everyone that we are meeting with. But we definitely gave it our best and ended up at institute and when we got back all 3 of us were just dead tired.  Wednesday was another day of chuck full back and forth and yeah haha.  Thursday we did an exchange and got a call from President Proudfoot in the morning and found out that for some medical reasons an Elder was going home to recover and Elder Teko was going to replace him. So I got to spend one last day with ...

To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, February 28, 2022 *Reply to Elder Garcia's response* It is just in your responses that I am reading that you want this mission to be on your terms. And that is fine. I am good with respecting that and hope that you truly believe that as far as expectations are concerned...it isn't that I have any. I never expected you to serve a mission. This has been your choice from day 1. I would hope that you live up to the expectations you have for yourself as well as those that you know your Heavenly Father has of you. I am sorry to hear that Elder Teko has been moved. I am sure that has been an adjustment. And I am sure you had some shuffling to do at the apartment again to go back to a two companionship instead of a three. I know Elder Meline is happy to be with you. His mom is great about letting me know how he is progressing and how much he enjoys being in a companionship with you. I am and always will be available for a c...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org **Reply to Mom's Email** Date: Monday, February 28, 2022 I never said that I didn't want you as part of my mission, but okay. I guess you can think what it is that you want. I was busy last week and was planning on calling this week but if that's not something that you want to do then I would like to know beforehand so that I don't waste your time.  We lost Elder Teko this week because another Elder went home for medical reasons, so that was a rough blow but it's okay because Elder Meline and I will still be together until the end of his training in April.  I hope you have a good week if you don't end up wanting to answer a phone call. Believe it or not I do love you and I do respect you and understand what it is you expect from me, even if I act like a child some of the time because I don't see why in the moment it's good to listen. It comes around though.  Let me know your thoughts?  Love, Elder Garcia

From: Mom To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Saturday, February 26, 2022 Subject: Hoping your week was good Hi Elder, I understand and respect your wish for me to stay out of your mission and I will do that. That being said, I won't keep you long with a boring email of stuff going on here so as not to interrupt your time and schedule. I hope you have had a good week and that the trio is moving along just nice. I hope your companions are both learning their respective languages and that they are able to jump in now on lessons and help teach the ami's you are working with. We had a good week here. Plenty to get caught up on with another month coming to an end but everyone seems good and happy with how things came together. Weather is cold. Single digits most mornings which has kept the snow that fell around all week. Todays high is only 31 but we are hopeful as we look into the next week to see the 50's again. Spring is close, I can feel it and I am ready. ...

And like that...my day has come to an end and it has ended without a phone call from my Elder in Africa. I know he is upset at me and he hates that he was caught doing things behind the scenes with a girl here at home that he knows is wrong. But I guess I never thought he wouldn't call.  I have to be okay with this and I have to allow him to work through and process all of what he is going through. I need to remember in all of this that it is HIS mission and he is going to choose to serve it however he wants. I can change nothing, even it is black and white right in front of me. For what it is worth, I love you Elder Garcia. I will continue to have you in my thoughts and prayers always. To the moon and back, Mom 

Pday soccer fit They didn't score We did a good job That was some pretty good pizza  

Date: Monday, February 21, 2022 **Reply to Mom's Email* This week was seriously chuck full and we were going going going. It was really good but really exhausting haha because it was a lit of back and forth in the sectors. And it's good because Anfame has amis now that we are able to go and visit. The training is coming along great, in lessons they both just try and drop the bomb with everything at once kind of like what I did once I could speak better at the beginning so it's just a need of a little fix to go slower so the ami understands what it is that we are talking about. Elder Teko's visa paperwork got sent the last week that he was in MTC so we will see. President snd Sœur Proudfoot don't expect that he will be here for even the rest if next transfer but we also don't know because its a visa in another country kinda thing. We have a lot of amis and there are quite a few who are progressing and seem to be promising so I am hoping that it will ...

These kids are actually INSANE at fooseball (aka baby foot) Jokes haha Gotta stay focused to finish it all It's hot but good LaPaat chez Famille Djmindo  

Interesting architecture with a photo bomber  

From: Mom Date: Saturday, February 19, 2022 Subject: Good morning Hey. How are you? How has your week been? How is the training coming along for both of the Elders you are working with? Do you know how long your companion will be in Togo before he gets to go to Kenya? Talk to me about your ami's and how they are doing? How are they progressing? Do you have any baptisms that you are looking forward to or that you can see an invitation coming out for to any of them? How are YOU doing in all things? Have you had a chance to talk with President Proudfoot about the things we have talked about the last two weeks? I want to be sure to check in with him myself and make sure that we are all on the same page and that both he and I are in the same corner to cheer you on and to be able to help you in making this mission of yours the best that it can be. I have been thinking a lot about you as a person this last week and as a missionary as well. Wondering if you can see growth that...

LaPaat with my preferred sauce  

District Council with Tsieve et Tabligbo Family Home Evening with famille Djimdo AMAZING family and friends with the senior couple!  

Let's start it off with a Happy Valentines Day! It was another early morning here in hopes to talk with Elder Garcia but it didn't quite work out to get a first thing in the morning call. Elder Garcia said that his companion, Elder Meline, was going to call home first but I am almost more certain that Elder Garcia didn't want to really talk to me after the discovery and hard conversations that had to take place.  There wasn't much time to talk by the time Elder Garcia called but he did have some key things that I wanted to be sure to get those accounted for. - Elder Garcia's new companion sure loves his sardines. He literally puts them on everything he says. Elder Meline had made some sauce and Elder Garcia said it smelled sooooo good. Just as they were getting ready to eat, sardines. And Elder Garcia said they are more than likely expired and are just gross all the way around. They were able to eat dinner but Elder Garcia made certain to remove any sardines he coul...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, February 14, 2022 Subject: Exhanges and Such Bonjour tout le monde! Ça va? This week was a very interesting one to say the least. So let's jump right into it.  Tuesday we had an awesome District Council as usual. Elder Meline and I went out and talked to amis and Fr. Raymond helped us contact even more people. He's basically the best.  Wednesday we got the call that my new kid, Elder Teko, was coming so we waited at the apartment and then got him settled in and then headed out to sector. With his help we found some new amis too! He speaks Ewe because he's from Togo so it helps quite a bit when people are interested. Wednesday night I headed up to Tsieve to do an exchange with the Zone Leaders.  Thursday I worked with Elder Ngoma and let's just say that he's pretty freaking awesome. I learned so much from him and I am going to try and apply that to my missionary work everyday until the end of my mission ...

The Three Musketeers  

Exchanges First lesson of the exchange You can look up now We're going to act like we are studying the Book of Mormon Elder Ngoma  

From: Mom Date: Wednesday, February 9, 2022 Subject: Your terms Hey kiddo, I hope you have had a successful pickup of a new companion and that this new trio will be a good opportunity for each and every single one of you. This week has been hard I will not lie and my thoughts have been super heavy with you. I have spent countless hours on my knees, prayer in my heart and tears in my eyes. I have read the purpose of a missionary and I am working on Preach My Gospel now for my own understanding on being a missionary on the Lord's errand and on His time. Christian, I am going to ask that you reach out to President Proudfoot and explain to him all that is going on. And then I am going to ask that you let me know when that has taken place so that I can then follow up with him to ensure we are all on the same page working to keep you as a missionary, and a dang good one at that, or to make arrangements for you to come home. This will give you the opportunity to work with him...

Elder Lunda, Boukaka, et Kalendia The District I like photos - Elder Boukaka  

I haven't slept well since we got back from Kauai on Friday night. I think between Saturday and Sunday night I have had a total of maybe 5 hours?! And at this point of this morning (like 8am) I had burning eyes and was nauseated sick I was so tired. :/ Elder Garcia and I started our chat SUPER early today! I wasn't able to sleep so I was up at 2:30am Utah time which was 9:30am in  Africa. It was quiet and we were able to catch up some. He told me in a message that he had 'news'. So, continue on and learn that what was once a companionship is now going into a trio... Highlights from our call today: - Elder Garcia got a call from President Proudfoot and he is getting another new missionary to add to his training. They will be in trio beginning Wednesday. Yep, 2 days from now! This new Elder has an original call to be in Kenya but will be in Togo for a reassignment for an unknown time. Elder Garcia is a little overwhelmed and apprehensive and says it will be a lot but I tr...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, February 7, 2022 Subject: Dynamic Duo becomes the 3 Musketeers? Bonjour mes chers amis et famille! J'espère que la semaine a passé bien et vous avez les miracles de Dieu dans vos vies.  This week Elder Meline and I worked our guts out! It was really great and we had a pretty freaking bomb Zone Conference. ~I am going to start doing breakdowns so that these don't turn into books haha ~ • We found an ami who speaks 4 languages and taught a lesson in English • WE FOUND AN AMI IN ANFAMÉ. His name is Jeff and he seems really really interested and promised to let us come by this week • We went out to sector with Frère Raymond and visited inactive and found 2 new people to teach • Zone Conference was really AWESOME and super spiritual as always. President Proudfoot and everyone else who shared something was truly acting in the spirit. I love Zone Conferences.  • Had 2 AWESOME missionary coordinations with 2 of THEE best wards • ...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, February 7, 2022 Reply to Mom's Email Hey! So this week was alright. It got pretty slow towards the end of Sunday but this next week should bougee a little bit more. We found some new amis through members that ACTUALLY showed up to church so that was great! Elder Meline is still grinding with the language and is asking for help with pronunciation right now so that's what we're focusing on in our comp study by doing role-playing of explaining scriptures that we could potentially use in lessons. We also had an absolutely AMAZING zone conference and that's what the picture of the study plan is. I have a "plan" but it's up to change everyday and we were invited to make a study plan and so I added some artistic touches to my plan so that it looked decent and was organised. I still need to get them copied so I have more than one but it's a start. It also helps me to set goals and a theme for wha...

There was water...but only in one of them?? Turtle Street  

From: ME! <3 To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Saturday, February 5, 2022 Subject: Happy Saturday from home Hey! How are you? How was this week? How did things go with all of your appointments and how is Elder Meline doing with the language? Any news on any ami's? Also, I would love to know what the images are you have on your drive that looks like someones notebook? And what is your goal sheet you drew out? Things here are fine. We travelled home yesterday. All day. Literally. We left Kauai at 8:25am and arrived home in our house at almost 11pm. I love Hawaii and the escape into warm and sunshine but I do not love the travel that it takes in order to get there and back. :/ I am incredibly grateful to be home with no masks! I cannot believe that Hawaii still has them in place. I cannot believe the airlines still do as well. I long for the day that they just simply don't exist. I hope it is before your time on your mission is done. Fingers crossed! B had ...

Commencer un nouveau plan d'etude  

The Streets The Streets pt. 2 Got a picture with an AMERICAN school bus that we pass every day