Christian in Africa

District Activity The Food - sausage, fries, bananas, coleslaw, fish and chicken  

Happy Halloween Happiest of Halloween from Utah to Africa. Only in Africa they don't really celebrate so well...anyways. :) It was fun to have Brooklyn jump on and say hello before she headed off to school today. This week was a full week for Elder Garcia and so much good! Here are some highlights: - The group of people in the small village that Elder Garcia is in has officially become a branch! President Proudfoot was out on Sunday and was able to create this branch and all I can think about is how incredibly cool that must have been to witness and be a part of! - Elder Garcia said he really loved the Spirit that was felt on Sunday as people were extended callings. President Proudfoot had to teach them about sustaining those callings and Elder Garcia said it was just a really cool experience to see how excited and happy they were to be able to support one another - The Elders were able to take care of the confirmation of the new ami's that were just baptized as well Having suc...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, October 31, 2022 Subject: TABLIGBO BRANCH!! + baptisms Bonjour tout le monde!! So last week... yeah I'm not sure how that passed by as quickly as it did. Sorry that I didn't send an email out, I was thinking about writing one but decided that I would wait until this week.  So kind of what happend now 2 weeks ago. We did a LOT of exchanges. I was in my sector for all of them but the week went by slowly. We started off the week by doing an exchange on Tuesday with Elder Kasula (ka-sue-la). He's a great teacher and knows how to really answer the questions that amis ask. It was great to work with him. Even if it was just for the afternoon. Wednesday I did another exchange with Elder Mazunzu (ma-zoon-zoo). He takes a different route to talking to people by just saying hi to everyone no matter what they are doing or if they're talking to someone. His confidence is something that I consider to be contagious becaus...

Baptism candidates Sr Emefa, Sr Parfaite, Sr Blessing Tabligbo Branch Avec les Elders  

From: Mom To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Saturday, October 29, 2022 Subject: October is almost gone Hey Elder Garcia! How are you today? How is life in the mission world this week? Were you able to have some baptisms today (Sunday)? How are the rest of the ami's doing? You had interviews this week too yeah? Anything exciting there? I am also curious to know how the creation of a branch takes place. Is that during church on Sunday? Is it something that President Proudfoot takes care of before church? All questions going on in my brain. :) It has been a week here. Fall Break so no school. Tyler was hunting and so B and I got to it in her room. I forget how much I actually hate painting. The prep work is a nightmare. I hate filling in holes, waiting for it to dry, sanding it, cleaning up the super fine dust, and the dreaded taping of a room....ugh. Anyways, it was fine and we got it all done and it looks great. She got her bed where she wants it (not in the cen...

Exchanges with Elder Mahan Exchanges Kids wanted in on the pictures  

By the looks of this photo you would think it was like 2am! I look ROUGH ha ha ha. But I will take whatever I can get in order to be able to talk with Elder Garcia. :)  Elder Garcia is thriving in his new area in Africa and really really enjoying where he is at and who he is working with. The apartment has a good vibe going on and he is really embracing the work at hand with the small village he is in. Some highlights of this weeks call: - He did some exchanges this week with some other Elders and he learned the importance of planning. These exchanges were not well planned which means the time spent was not well executed. Not only a good lesson for the mission field but also for long term life - Elder Garcia was able to share his love of art and drawing with an ami. Loved being able to connect on the level with him and it will help make for transition from friend to ami. - Elder Garcia loves having Elder Mulamingo in the apartment with him again. They aren't companions but they are...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, October 24, 2022 **Reply to Mom's Email** Snow huh? That seems like it's pretty lame. I would take the cold over the heat that I am experiencing right now though. I honestly didn't think that 100 degrees would ever feel that hot but humidity just takes it way out of porpotion not gonna lie.  This week was alright. It was really weird with the exchanges that happened. I still don't know why my companionship did them with the other elders in the district but it's past us so we just roll with it and learn haha. We had somewhat slower of a week for Tabligbo because of the exchanges which was kinda nice but at the same time I felt bored. We were busy contacting and talking to people but I really prefer lessons. Everythin is going alright with everyone in the apartment, I brought up kinda what was happening with the food (because I don't want to cook something and then have it go to waste) and it got reme...

From: Your Mom! To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Saturday, October 22, 2022 Subject: Snow Yep...you read that subject line correct. We got snow today. :/ I will send a picture in messenger when I am done writing. How are you? How was your week? How are things going with you and your companion and other Elders in the apartment? How are your ami's? Were you able to find new ami's this week? Things here are good. I had a cleaning lady come Monday and she was fine and I asked her to come back but as I moved through the house Monday night and Tuesday morning I realized just how much she didn't do so I fired her. I just need to be okay with maintaining and cleaning the house and whatever. So frustrating. The pool got officially closed on Tuesday, Teeter got a haircut on Wednesday, Kaitlyn and a friend came up for dinner on Wednesday, I had a massage on Thursday and Brooklyn was done with school for the week because the 1st Term is officially over. Friday Tyle...

We slowly do be melting though  

Elder Mazunzu  

Elder Kasula  

Ha ha ha... Pday calls are my favorite calls This was a quick week of a call with Elder Garcia because we had a couple of things this morning at home that didn't allow for too long of a call while he had the phone. I told him I was just happy with whatever time we did get. :)  This last week was a big week for Elder Garcia and his companion with extending baptism to seven (7) ami's and then working with them and in the sector throughout the week. A few highlights from our call this week are: - They got bicycles fixed! Well sorta. :) They had them remedied they thought but then while out on them the tubes needed to be replaced so they stopped into a local bicycle repair shop. The gentleman there said he would be happy to help, took their bikes, but then started helping others who came in after the missionaries did. Finally Elder Garcia approached him and asked if he was going to be able to help and within 10 minutes they were back out on their newly fixed bicycles and headed to ...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, October 17, 2022 Subject: A Week of 7's Bonjour y'all! Comment vous allez?? I'm back with another update for this past week! And let's just say that it was AMAZING! Let's talk about it. So to start of this week we are going to head back all the way to last Monday evening/night. That's why it didn't get included in last weeks email. But Elder Ibanda and I went and taught a few families and we were able to fix 7 baptismal dates for the 30 of this month! When we synchronised our area book I thought that I had made a mistake but we went back and it was in fact 7. It was so cool to be able to see that work from others and from myself manifesting itself in these people who had the desire to follow the way that Christ showed us.  Throughout the rest of the week we went out and we worked hard. We called lots of people, got rejected by a mama who only wants her kids to learn :( and found some people in ...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, October 17, 2022 **Reply to Mom's Email** So this week was AWESOME! Elder Ibanda wants to work and doesn't want to just pass the mission by he wants to do his mission so it's awesome to work with him. We were only able to see the 7 amis on Monday and Saturday and then talk with them a little bit on Sunday :( they just weren't home throughout the week so we had to plan something different. Which is okay, just sad sometimes because they are doing super well and it's nice to talk to people that are progressing like that. It was such a cool experience to be able to talk to them and do that. We talked a little bit about it before leaving the apartment but it wasn't something that was set in stone kinda thing. And then we were able to do it so it was awesome. It's this big group of people that we found just by inviting others to join the lesson.  This weeks highlight is probably the fact that we met a...

From: Mom To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Saturday, October 15, 2022 Subject: And that's a wrap :/ Hey! Happiest of Saturday to you. How are things this week? Were you able to get biked all fixed up? How are your new 7 ami's progressing? What a great message to get at the end of the day last week. I am so excited for you and hope things will continue to progress and make their baptism date. What is the highlight of the week, other than extending invitations and having them accepted of course. :) This week has been a week around here to say the least. It wasn't any one or two things just felt like most days I was just so ready for the days to be over by the end of them. Brooklyn had a great week and she is seriously so different now that we are done with accutane that I really enjoy hanging out with her again. That time she was on it was ROUGH. :/ She killed it on two of her tests and is happy most days. She is in the process of re-doing her room. She wa...

Learning how to make a metal chair with Fr Jules  

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, October 10, 2022 Subject: 2 weeks and RAIN Bonjour tout le monde! So I apologise for last week. I didn't mean to not send an email, the day just went by quicker. But that being said this week you get the past 2 weeks compiled into one! Kinda great huh?  I got up to Tabligbo! It's another village but thus time it's an actual village. Kpalimé doesn't really count anymore because its got paved roads like crazy and stuff so it's just Tabligbo.  I got a new comp who's also from the Congo. Specifically Kinshasa. There's a ton of Congolese in this mission so it's not really surprising haha. His name is Elder Ibanda and he's pretty chillin all honesty. The past 2 weeks have been vibes.  I'm in another 4 man apartment but there's no American so it's me and 3 other Africans who speak English. So that's awesome! I get to work on my French even more now!!! I'm also in the same ap...

I cannot believe it is Monday and I cannot believe it is already a couple of weeks into October! Holy cow! Where is this time going and why is it going by so quickly?  Elder Garcia and I had a brief call today but he looks good and he seems really happy. A few quick things we talked about this week are:  - It did not rain as much this week so they were able to be out in sector quite a bit more - He has located the missing 2 bikes and will spend some time this week working on them to get them 100% and start using them - They came upon a group of 7 (mostly women with a child or friend) who they are working with. One of them had already listened to some missionaries while others are just learning. They invited them to come to come to church and they said they would. Elder Garcia was stoked to see them ALL walk in even though it had started to rain really really hard. One of the women told the missionaries "rain or shine we will be here. God is testing us and we will listen as lon...

From: Christian.garica@missionary.org Date: Monday, October 10, 2022 **Reply to Mom's Email** Hey! I am doing really good. This past week was a lot better than the week before. In terms of weather it wasn't terrible, though there were some days when it rained. So that was pretty lame but we were able to find new people and it was an entire family and I feel like they are going to progress really well! They also came to church today even while it was POURING rain so that was a plus for sure. I'm getting a little bit better with knowing this sector and eveything here. It is really weird with a group though, like maily the amount of people. That's the wierdest part haha. Elder Ibanda and I are chiling too, he is really smart and is pretty laid back too so it's not like there's anything to say bad about him haha. I did find the bikes! They are chilling in the garage, so I want to look at them to see if they are actualy broken... probably something for to...

From: Mom To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Saturday, October 8, 2022 Subject: Good morning Hey! How are you today? How are things going? How was this past week? Were you able to locate any of the missing bikes? Are you still getting up and going running or was that just a one time thing? How were your rendezvous this week? Anything exciting come from them? Things here have been good. We have had a busy week but a good week. Kaitlyn has been busy getting all of her stuff packed and she stayed the night in her new apartment last night. This has been so hard on my heart! I don't know...just knowing that this next stage of life is happening is hard for me. It's almost like she was too excited to get out. :) I know there are lots of friends and school and work and all but as a Mom, man this is hard. Don't tell her I told you this. I would hate for her to know. Brooklyn had a good week at school too. She had a couple of tests and I loved the text I got after...

The District of Tabligbo Top (L to R): Elder Mazunzu, Elder Ewusie, Elder Oliver, Elder Mahan Bottom (L to R): Elder Ibanda, Me, Elder Mulamingu, Elder Kasula  

  With a new area, the phone availability has changed some for Elder Garcia so our day started rather early in order to be able to get a call in. It has been a long time since I have had an early start but it was worth it as always. :)   Elder Garcia seems super happy today. He was full of smiles and full of laughter as he talked about his last week and the fun that has taken place in his new apartment and with the other 3 Elders that he is spending his time with. Some highlights from our call this week are: - His new area is village village. It makes it difficult for connecting to a call. Not just to home but to those that they are trying to get rendezvous scheduled with. He says they all have a good attitude about it and they just keep trying - Even though this area is normally dry dry, this last week has been full of rain. And not just a trickle or a sprinkle. Elder Garcia said that there was a day that it just poured and on top of that the thunder rattled and shook th...

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Monday, October 3, 2022 **Reply to Mom's Email** So we do get to watch Conference. They do a broadcast at the church buildings and this time was really special for Tabligbo because it's the first time that they have actually had the opportunity to listen to it live. It's really cool and really special for these people and their faith is just awesome.  My area is really really village haha. Like really village. I'll have to get more pictures but we're pretty busy too so that's a little hard to stop and do that haha. Normally it doesn't rain much here from what I'm told but this past week that's all there was everyday. Rain. I think it might just be tropical storms from the hurricane or something, but I also don't know haha. My companion is Elder Ibanda and he's pretty cool. He started his mission back in November but because he didn't want to get the covid vaccine he stayed in Congo (...

From: Mom To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org Date: Saturday, October 1, 2022 Subject: October Good morning! It is October and today it sure feels like it outside at home. It is chilly and the temps keep dropping each day. I think our highs over the next week are in the low 70's. I am not sure I want to admit it or accept it but I really don't have much of a choice either. Time to bust out the long pants and long sleeves. With today being the first day of October, and the first Saturday, it promises us that we get to listen to General Conference! Today I am so looking forward to this. I have a rather heavy heart on some things right now and I am hopeful that as I tune in and listen some of that will be lifted. Life is tricky isn't it? :) Will you get to watch or listen to Conference this weekend? If so, how will you get to? How is your new area? How is your companion? Tell me all about both. I would love to hear. I would also love to hear if you accepted my cha...