Week 73 Email: Bye bye loo

From: Christian.garcia@missionary.org
Date: Monday, November 7, 2022
Subject: Bye bye loo

Okay so this week was a great week but there was some sad news at the end or towards the end of the week. Let me explain haha. 

Okay so to start off the week we did a District activity on Monday where we ate some "African delicacies" I guess you could call them haha. It was really fun to get together and just have a good time and talk with the distrit. I spent a lot of the day talking to Elder Oliver who's from Canada. He was trained in one of my most favorite sectors too! (Adakpame) So we talked about that and how he's liking the mission and basically just anything that came up haha. 

On Tuesday we had our lst District Council of the transfer. It was a llittle sad because we all knew that there were going to be soem changes but we had a great time together. We talked a lot about being responsible as a missionary and as a person in general. It was going really good and then someone started throwing out scriptures and then it turned into scripture chastisement... I haven't had that happen in a while so all I could do was laugh. The Elders here realy know how to throw out some scriptures haha. 

On Wednesday we did our final planning for the transfer and planned also for the month. We wanted to focus a lot of our time this past transfer on those that were progressing and we found ways to do that. So we planned to focus again on those kinds of amis and I am really looking forward to working into this next month of November! We went and visited some less active members and also a part member family in the afternoon and evening. It was really cool and really good to sit down and just talk. Because I didn't konw them very well I asked my companion if we could just talk to them rather than go with the intent ot teach them. He liked that idea so that was what we did and it turned out to be really good. And they even decided to come to church this past Sunday as well! I think that with the branch being organised there is a major opportunity to help members start to come back again. 

Thursday was a heatwave. In teaching and also in temperature. With almost all of our lessons we were there by ourselves. The amis didn't show up so we were kinda burning the boats and going all in with some people. We ended up meeting someone who I think is going to really love these teachings. An then it was just hot. The sun decided that it woud be a good day to tell West Africa, specifcally Togo, that it was going supernova... but that didn't stop us! We stayed out in sector and just talked to people. It was really nice because there were times when we fwould find shade and then a cool breeze would come and it felt really nice haha. 

For the rest of the week we spent the days visiting members and also our amis who were going to be abptised on Sunday. On Saturday we also got a call from the Assistants... and Elder Ibanda is leaving. He will still be in the same zone so that will be good. And so is Elder Mulamingu, but he is going to Benin. So there is a chance that I won't get to see him before I finish my mission. It is really sad but I am so gratfeul for the time that we all have had together. They are very great missionaries and I am very jealous for their new companions haha. 

On Sunday we were able to have a baptismal service for Soeur Akoss and her family! It was really special because they were able to be baptised together (minus the dad because he's in Lome most of the time). It jsut goes to testify that this is truly a family church. God loves each of us individually but He put us in families to grow together. If we didn't have our families it  could be very dramatically bad haha. I know that the Lord gave me the family that I have because He knew that I would need them to look up to. I am so grateful for them and for all that they have done for me and all that they have taught me. 

Thank you all for reading another weekly! I promise that the weeks aren't as jumbled together as I make them seem. There really is an order to do things. I just don't know how to write that haha. But hey, you made it and hopefully you understood.

I love you all lots!! Bonne semaine 

~Elder Garcia

Photos: I don't know what ones loaded up haha. But there's some of the food that we ate and some food that memebrs gave us as well as a picture of me and Elder Ibanda. Also a picture of all who got baptised this past weekend!!