Christian in Africa

From: Mom Date: Saturday, April 30, 2022 Subject: So  long April I cannot believe we are putting April behind us already. Can you? How was your week? How are things coming along with your ami’s? What was the best part of this week for you and your companion? Things here have been low key. It’s been quite nice to be honest. I have enjoyed sleeping in my own bed and having my own pillow each night. For the whole month we will have spent a total of 15 nights away and 15 at home. It has been a month of travel and go go go. So crazy. My computer crashed so I need to go buy a new one but that really is about it as far as ‘big’ news goes. Tyler and I went to dinner with some friends last night and while I was talking to Amber she was asking about our missionaries. She served in the Ukraine and was talking about how the war pulls at her heart so much even now and it’s been years since she was a missionary. She has a daughter that is Brooklyn’s age. Anyway, she was saying tha...

There was no photo button circle thing to push so we had to screen shot.... The Monday when we learned that for whatever reason, Facebook took away the white circle to take a photo of your screen when you are on a Messenger Call..ha ha ha. But whatever, we totally made it happen!  Elder Garcia was happy this morning when we talked and he was updating me on all the things of last week. But before he got into it we were being serenaded by Elder Profitt in the background. Not kidding. This kid sings and sings and sings and it is hilarious.  Some key moments to remember: - The water pump exploded on the roof today! Elder Garcia was doing laundry and saw water coming from the roof but it wasn't raining so he headed up and found the problem. They were able to turn the water off and had someone come take a look. There is one part that needs replacing but that will be done later today and they were able to get the water turned back on too - One thing Elder Garcia learned this last wee...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, April 25, 2022 Subject: Chicken wings and Zone Conference Hey y'all and  Woezon to another weekly email from Elder Garcia! I hope that you enjoy.  P.S. Thank you all for the birthday wishes! They definately made my Wednesday better! Monday last week we had a stake activity that all of the missionaries from the Tokoin Stake were required to go to. So hence why I didn't write an email. But it was great nonetheless. It did rain all Monday too so that was a blast and it made it so that this week was a little bit colder than it has been.  Tuesday my companion (Elder Mulamingu) and I went out to sector all day and it was pretty great. We were able to find a lot of new people and we were able to make every singe rendez-vous also! My companion is seriously so cool, and he likes to work really really hard so we walk really fast. At least for me it's fast. He's a lot taller than me so it's his normal pace haha. We...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, April 25, 2022 **Reply to Mom's email** Hey mom!!  Getting to talk to you on Wednesday was great. It was a little weird to have it during the week like but I'm glad that it worked out to call.  District Leader is coming along I guess. So far so good I think. We had Zone Conference this week and I got a call from the Zone Leaders that night and they asked if I could maybe encourage my district to find at least 5 new amis per week. And by the end of this week in our whole district we were able to do that so it was great. The sisters are responsive enough, the STLs definitely are but the other companionship is iffy. One of the sisters is coming to the end and she's kinda just in the "I'm done" mood. And she's training St the same time so it's trying to find a way to help encourage her. It's been good, except she keeps asking me to buy her a pizza for no reason haha. Elder Mulamingu has be...

From: Mom Date: Saturday, April 23, 2022 Subject: Havasu Happy Saturday to you. I hope the rest of your week has been good and productive. I enjoyed being able to break up the long drive to Lake Havasu with a call from you. I hope you had a great birthday How are things lining up as a District Leader? How are you feeling overall? It’s a lot of responsibility to make sure missionaries are working hard, learning a language, strengthening their own testimonies, and also looking endlessly for those who are looking for the goodness the Gospel can bring. How are you working through this responsibility? How are you working through all of this with your companion? How are the other missionaries taking to the change? Are they responsive with you there? A mission offers constant change that I am sure people adjust but not everyone molds and blends personality wise too that I wonder how all parties are handling this transfer and leadership change. :) I can’t believe we are heading ...

Elder Hansen, Elder Deafon, Elder Mulamingu, Elder Johnson, Elder Alison, Elder Barker  

 

Tyler, Mom, and Brooklyn headed to Lake Havasu for Spring Break Holy cow 19. 19 years old today! And we got a phone call on our way to Lake Havasu where we were able to wish him a Happy happy birthday. :)  Elder Garcia called on our way to Arizona today and it was fun to listen to him talk about how this small short week as a District Leader is going. He says that he and his companion are getting along and that his companion really likes to work hard. I loved hearing this and hope that Elder Garcia is bringing good things to his companion as well. There is one set of Sister missionaries that Elder Garcia has in his new district and he is learning that they are a little tricky but he is excited to get to work with them.  I still cannot believe he is 19 but with each day passing by as quickly as it is, it is bound to happen. With one birthday down it means we only have one more to go before he will be home. Time seriously is flying by.  Happy happy 19th Elder Garcia! Keep u...

restaurant My lunch  

Vibes haha  

When I wake up on Mondays I am certain the first person I will hear from is Elder Garcia. Mostly because he is 6 hours ahead of me here in Utah but today it wasn't him who was first. Which is totally fine. :) What I did hear is that he will be busy today doing a Stake activity so he won't be able to call but that he will be able to call on Wednesday (his 19th birthday!) and wanted to make sure that would work okay for me. As much as I would have loved to taken the time today to catch up and hear how his first week as a District Leader is going I also appreciate that he is busy and helping out where he is. I love that he has an opportunity to serve, even if it does take some of our Pday phone call time. :)  I will look forward to hearing from him and celebrating him on Wednesday. Until then, so proud of you and all you are doing. I love you. Mom

Elder Mulamingu Found a broken sign  

Dernier dimanche Pt 2  

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, April 11, 2022 Subject: Welcome to Atlantis, the Flooded City Bonjour bonjour tout le monde!! J'espère que vous allez bien! This week was a week full of rain and water and puddles and so really nice weather actually haha. I will definitely never forget the last week of the transfer with my son haha. Let's get into it... Tuesday we had a great final district council and Elder Meline and I got to teach in it. His French is seriously so much better than mine was at the end of my training. He's also really confident so that makes it better when teaching. He was definitely the best son I could ask for.  Wednesday we tried to find and find and find. We basically jsut went and talked with everyone we knew and everyone we could find. It was a great exercise of the language.  Thursday we did an exchange with Elder Luna and Elder Ipatutele. Elder Lunda was in Doumassesse when I was in Kpalime the first time so we know ea...

Elder Garcia in Africa, Mom and Robyn in Kauai, Sister Garcia in Brazil It was a Monday of a party of 4 this week on a call since I was in Kauai and Robyn and Sean were with us. Robyn woke up early to jump on and say hello and was pleasantly surprised when both the missionaries were on the call. I was thrilled she got to see you but I was upset in the end because our time on our call was not the same with the interruption. :)  (It's all about sharing...I am trying to learn ha ha) Elder Garcia jumped on after Sister Garcia and I were talking so I didn't get very long with him at all today but I did learn that he is going to be a district leader in this next transfer. He is excited and looking forward to it but also a little apprehensive and so turned to Sister Garcia for some advice. We all know what happens when these two are on the same call. :) Sister Garcia started talking and sharing her experiences from being a trainer to an STL and gave Elder Garcia some sound advice. One...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, April 11, 2022 **Reply to Mom's Email** Well first of all those cookies are freaking cool! I saw those and I was like DANNNNGGG kinda thing haha. This week has been alright I basically got proposed to and had to turn this lady down because she thought I was close to her age (she's 33). I did an exchange with our district leader who I went and visited in doumassesse with Elder Trenum in my training, his name is Elder Lunda. He's pretty cool and he's very keen at getting people to ask questions. I'm doing good personally, not very much to report there haha. Though we did get a call Friday telling me to call president Friday night so we thought I was training again buuuut in actuality I am going to be a district leader and be working with a "hard" companion. President Proudfoot said that he has been harder because he just doesn't want to work and stuff so I get to try to help him do that. I a...

Classic "African" pose Checkin the drip  

From: Mom To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Thursday, April 7, 2022 Subject: Early Email Week Hey, How are you? How are things going for you in Africa? It is crazy to me how quick this transfer has gone. Do you feel like it has gone quick? What do you see next for Elder Meline? Is he feeling ready to hit the road and dive in even perhaps training himself? The days keep going by quicker than I think I am ready for most days so I can't even imagine what it must be like for you with the busy schedule you keep. This week has been crazy and it is only Thursday. It always seems to be though when you are getting ready to go out of town. It seems like if there is something that could show up or need to be done, it arrives. And just adds to the busy of what life already is. Tyler thought he had his dentist appointment on Monday to finish up his two crowns but when he got down there it was actually on Tuesday. To say he was thrilled is the biggest lie ever. He was frustr...

 

That is in fact not grass or weeks but plants growing on a moat of sludge and nasty Looking right into the sun  

You know it's a good Monday when you not only get Mom on the call but you also get a Tyler too! :) Elder Garcia was happy and well today when he called and I love that. Elder Garcia started his day today by getting a package from home dropped off! And it had American deodorant in it too! Wahoo! The small things really do mean the most afterall. What a great lesson for all of us today. When I told him the cost that it took and then went back to President Proudfoot's email, we both agreed that it just isn't worth the sheer dollar to send stuff while he is there. Thankfully I sent 8 sticks of deodorant instead of 4 like I had originally tossed in my shopping cart. He promises to use it wisely. Ha. There was also some treats in there as a birthday treat so hopefully there is something to share with Elder Meline and something that Elder Garcia was happy about too. Elder Garcia had interviews with President Proudfoot this week. Transfers are coming up and President Proudfoot aske...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, April 4, 2022 Subject: The Will of God + The Words of God Bonjour mes chers frères, sœurs, et famille. Comment allez-vous? Woezon to another weekly email from Elder Garcia. I hope you enjoy Tuesday we had a district council and we got to talk about the letter that we received from President Proudfoot. He sent us a talk given by Elder Hugh B. Brown given in a New Era in 1975 entitled The Currant Bush. I would highly recommend it. I will attach a link to the talk on Gospel Library and also one given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson given in a 2011 General Conference. (There's a video to go with the second talk that helps to see) We went to go and talk with Sr  Bebé buuuut she was too tired to want to do the lesson :( she told us to come back Friday so we scheduled for that. We went and helped Fr. Vence (a member) set up his little shop of clothes so he could get some money. We talked with him for a little bit of dif...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Sunday, April 3, 3022 (Monday at midnight for Elder Garcia) **Reply to Mom's email** This week was a little tough in finding people but that's how it goes sometimes. As of today (Sunday) we have found 0 people but I am hopeful that we will find at minimum 3 today. The way Elder Meline and I have been finding is different than with all my other companions, we are trying to find amis who would progress not just random people on the street. So it can be a little difficult at times. For conference this time around I have been fasting and praying to know some things for after the training of Elder Meline. I asked President Proudfoot some questions this week in interviews also and those that I didn't ask or that he told me to be patient I am hoping to get out of conference the responses. I know that I will learn what it is the Lord needs me to learn no matter what but I can still have a goal in mind right? I told President P...

From: Mom To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Friday, April 1, 2022 Subject: Conference weekend Hey. Happy Friday! I wanted to jump on and send an email today to say hello and I love you so as not to distract you being able to take in all of conference without any distraction of an email from me. How was this week? How have you prepared yourself and your mind/heart for conference? Have you made a list of questions to hold onto? Are you hoping for anything specific to come through the talks? How have your ami’s progressed this week? Will they have an opportunity to watch or listen to any of the conference talks this weekend? I imagine for some it would be a great opportunity to listen and hear right? Maybe just help the lessons and testimonies already shared sink in a little? Life here has been just another week. We have had rain most days which has been nice. Grass is getting green, leaves are showing up on trees, flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and I ...

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