The Fam!

So I feel really good, cause now I know that I have a real family, not just some picture, or far off memory, or words on a screen, but REAL people with real voices!!! I was so awesome to talk you guys, even though Elder Howard keep coming up and scaring me straight, it was really good! So this week has been very interesting, so as some of you know that I am in a threesome, in two huge exploding areas! They are gowing sooooo fast and the quartiers are huge, half of lomé, and there are only three of us and so we are literally running to get to appointments, and eating whatever we find! So crazy and tiring, and hard and hard, but through it all you learn and grow sooooooooooooo much so fast and you learn to enjoy it all, I hope things never become easy again! So x-mas was wierd, we made crepes to keep the Lee tradition alive, the ice cream in Africa is really expensive, but worth it! So today is new years eve, and people are getting ready to part, wow the markets are nuts with people buying yingyahms, fish, alochol to celebrate the new year, I hear that this fest is huge, all the goats and chickens, have mysteriously disappeared into a piles of bloody meat, suspisously next to  an african style barbeque! I dunno we have too many investigators, can you say that? Its hard to plan for all of them and keep going but we are aided so much by a divine power, you see it every lesson, something different that God did to prepare them for us THAT day! Well I will tell a funny story, so I was drawing a diagram is the dirt about the first lesson, and I was sitting on, this little little stool, and I was being all animated about it, I was a the point where I was explaining that after christ prepared the chemin and after wicked men came and destroyed this chemin, totally erasing it off the face of the earth, I kinda lost my balance and like fell backwards onto my back, its hard to explain, but it was really funny, but the understood it and remembered the principle of the only way back to god was completely destroyed with the death of the apostles, then later that day I read in alma 24:27 where is says the lord worketh in many ways for the salvation of his people, and it made me laugh!   Well I think I should get going, all is well among the saints here in Zion! I love the work, I love the Lord, I love my family, and I love my tesimony! Anyways have a good new year and know that I love you guys and always remember who you are!!!

love elderly

Attention!!

Well some sad news, I am moving! My new email is Lee_J_24@myldsmail.net cause there has been a lot of problems over in ghana and they were serious so our president asked us to all move to ldsmail.com again and only have one hour, so I will try to answer emails and all that good stuff, but I got to be obiedent! Hopefully I will still get emails from all of you!!! Have a good one and I love you guys!!!from all of you!!! Have a good one and I love you guys!!!

Elderly

WHO doesnt want to Serve a Mission Here!!!!!!‏

This Week has been awesome!!!!

So many things I want to say and let you see!!! So this week, we visited a mama, one that lived 15 miles away, no joke. We started out at 11h00 and walked there cause to take a taxi all the way is extremely expensive on missionary soutien, so we took camion, whats that called in english.... TRUCK! Wow I forgot that word, well anyways we hitchedhiked on these camions and it took forever and still we had to walk a long ways, so this mama is really nice, very very VERY faithful! Every week on SUNDAY, she gets up at 3,4 in the morning to start the walk to church, every SUNDAY! You know you always here these kinds of stories for people doing incredible things, and it doesnt mean alot until you have literally walked in their shoes! Every Sunday she does this, by herself, her family doesnt support her in this, she makes the long trip there and the long trip back, to worship the True and Living God in THE true church! I did a lot of thinking about this, wondering if I had that kind of faith, I LIVED a three minute walk, and she lives a 3 hour walk. I admire her soo much, she has the sweetest spirit about her, just one of those people who I know will have a place next to our Father in Heaven!!! I was such a wake-up, saying Dan/Elder Lee is true! Just go and do it, everyone else is why not you!
   I just finished the most amazing book ever written , close to Our Search for Happiness, but I finished Jesus the Christ! That is a book! Took me forever, but I really enjoyed it, I have gained a deeper appreciation for what Christ accomplished in such a short time, and one thing I really liked was seeing all the faults of the apostles, seeing them struggle with faith and believing and doing things, like Peter, who did things from even denying knowing the Christ and yet, Christ still loved him and respected them, in all their faults, he still had respect and trusted them, gave me a hope that the same can apply to me, in despite of all my faults as a missionary and as a person! Am not perfect, either was Peter, and yet he was a prophet! I LOVED IT!
A lot of things have just made this week a good week, like finding wheat bread, i missed it so much! And I just got back from golfing, yeah I went to a real golf course, and not a bad one by our standards, and golfed with the Senior couple missionaries! So yep I can say I have golfed on another Continent, and Africa for that matter, it was too bad, the clubs were really really short and it was hard to hit the ball right but it was really fun!!!!
So things are going really good here, we will have two baptisms next week so I am really excited for that, so anyways I hope you all have a good festive week and know that I love you and hope that you always remember who you are!!!! Love ya!

Love
elderly

Togo Togo‏ Togo

So another week flew under my radar until one random thursday Elder Howard said, Happy Thanksgiving! I had no idea that it was thanksgiving this week, doesnt even seem like it! It is so wierd, thinking that everyone back home was eating turkey, potatoes, gravy, deviled eggs, ham, all that good stuff and I ate tuna fish snadwich with Elder Crooks! I went on a exchange on Thursday. I had absolutely no idea, I cant believe that in less than a month it will be x-mas! I dont believe it, it is soooooo HOT here! Just starting to warm up! Wow I seriously sweart buckets when we go out tracking in the mornings! Wow! So work here is progressing very well, President Dil has no asked us to do a task that going to take a lot of time, looking for less active members! There are like 600-650 people that have been baptized here in and olny about 300 come to church. So we need to go find this people and try to revive their spiritual minds! I a pretty excited cause I like teaching less actives, they are fun! We had a experience with one of our investigators this week, she read the joseph smith brochure and then had a dream, in which she read a chapter in Isiah and she said she knew that it was true! It is amazing how often these people have dreams with visons or revelations, Sunday that is what priesthood was all about, personal revelation, and it was very interesting to hear everyones story about their dreams and stuff. The work is good, is so hot, and I love it! The people are what makes the mission, I dont care where they live, how much they got, these people are happy! That is one lesson that I want to take from this, I can be dirt poor, live in a mud hut next to the lake in which my house floods every now and then, with no hope for a good job or food, but as long as I have the Truth, the real truth, the gospel and I follow it, I can be soo happy! I am really grateful for that, they are teaching me alot more than I am teaching them! Only in and through the gospel can we have true happiness and joy! Well thats all for now, have a good week and remember who you are!

love
elderly

Togo Togo‏

So a lot of people have been asking me where the heck am I in Togo. Well I am in the Capital city called Lomé! The church has been here for about 6-8 years and you can tell! A lot of the old members of the church were converted in France or England, and then came here and started the church. There is two branches, the Lomé and the Topkoin. I am in the Topkoin branch. This branch will split here pretty soon. So there will be three branches and talks of making a stake and building a chapel! So the church is so strong here compared to Benin, missionary work is pretty easy, go to church, take rendez-vous, talk with members, get referrals, and go out and work! It pretty cool but sometimes I think it is too easy, I dunno. There are 10 missionaries here and a couple too, they dont speak much french but I really like the couple! Elder and Sister Gillis from Canada, he really makes me laugh, for example one day, he came up to me and was saying Elder Lee, I want to show you something, so he leaves out to the car and comes back with a COWBOY hat! He is this little short man, kind of resembles an elf, wearing this african style cowboy hat! He was so proud and his grin was so funny cause he knew I was the cowboy type! See, here our mission president lets us wear hats, some missionaries wear a hat that makes them look like Temoins, or Jehovah Witness in English, so ridiculous, so Elder Gillis thought it was a good idea found a hat that kinda resembles a cowboy hat! It made my day!

We had an interesting experience the other day too, we were teaching the Plan of Salvation about the spirit world, and Elder Carter was teaching about it, and so he was explaining about Paradise and he used the example of one member there that he will go to Paradise if he guards the commandments, then after explaining the wicked and evil people will go to Spirit Prison, he said people for example like you! He told our investigators she was wicked and a sinner and was going to spirit prison! I about fell of my chair, then Elder Carter realized what he said, and so just out of pure pity he started apologizing and saying that it was him that was evil and going to spirit prison! I was laughing so hard i couldnt take it, it was just one of those things that you just had to be there for!

So I had a really cool experience that taught me a lot, we were out tracking and contacting, there was this group of people and I felt that we should go talk to them, the second I did I realized that they were all muslims. I have talked to a lot of muslims and so I know the story, so usually when we tell them that we are christian they dismiss us. This time somehow they invited us to talk, and at first they told me that they believed in the bible, everything, except that Christ is the Son of God, they wanted me to show them, usually I dont like to but I did, showed them that Christ was literally the Son of God, and that he IS the Savior of the World, everything I showed them proved them wrong, they were literally running in circles not knowing what to say, until one of them said Muhammad. They went of on me about why I couldnt believe muhammad as a prophet. My companion was saying anything during this conversation, so finally they asked me why I don't believe in Muhammad, and then it happened! I just bore testimony as Joseph Smith as a prophet of God, they were about 15 people in this group about half were in this conversation and the others were just talking about something else, but the second I started to bear my testimony of Joseph Smith, and Christ as the only means of Salvation, and the restorted church, they were silent, absolutely slient, because of the Spirit! I kinda felt like Nephi for a moment when he silenced his brothers and told them of their sins! Everyone was completely silent and listening, and I know they felt something after that cause afterwards, they couldnt argue with us, something touched them I think and they didnt say another word. After that I got up to leave and they invited us to eat with them! So we stayed and ate like African Kings with them! Incredible experience! I know know the power of a personal testimony. The power of a personal conviction of the truthfulness, no one can argue with the truth, especially when you KNOW that it! I love being able to bear testimony, I love hearing other people testimony, the best are the short, sweet, heartfelt, and sincere ones! I am going to miss that the most of the mission, I got to savour every one moment that I can, there is nothing better! I got to say that if you haven't had the occasion to share your testimony lately go do it! If you have one and you want it to grow or not shrink, share it, whenever you can! At baptism, we make a covenant to always remember Christ and take his name upon us, are we really keeping that covnant if we are not sharing His name and what glorious blessings he has given us? I dont think so! Please, this week find someone who needs to hear you testimony, including yourself! Remind yourself that you do have one! Its true! Joseph Smith IS a prophet of god! Christ is the son of god and savior of the world. He loves us and KNOWS us so personally, the power of prayer is real, the communication between us and heavenly father is open while we are on our knees! The gospel of Christ has been restored and there is a living prophet today. I express this with all the energy of my soul, and I hope you know and feel of my love for you and my god. I render this humble testimony in the name of our savior, even Jesus Chirst, amen! Have a good week and remember who you are!

Elder Lee

As for Togo.... Well...‏

So yep another transfer has left me in another country! I dont know how many missionaries can say that! Transferring to another country!  So I dunno what to think of this place, it is very beautiful! A lot more trees and green here, and my quartier is supposedly the best in the mission and I can see why, there is this lagoon in our quartier that one road walks along, huge palm trees covering the road, a amazing breeze coming off the lagoon, and everyone just wants to talk with you! I arrived here on a Wednesday afternoonish, and by saturday we taugh like 26 lessons. Its not hard to teach lesson here! It almost too easy, my companion is from Quebec, Cananda and has a wicked wierd accent, but here he trys to put on a french accent so that the rest of us can understand what he is saying! But he speaks perfect english too, and I guess I should mention his name Elder Carter. I really like him, likes to work hard and yet has good sense of humor, It will be fun! So yes I am now in charge of showing him how to run the big show, it will be pretty easy in this quartier, the church here is so much more established than in Benin! The members have been members for longer than two years, they get that it is up to them to spread the gospel, and they actually run the branch! Sunday was kinda wierd and nice cause I didnt have to do anything, no translating, no teaching, no nothing, just sit back and enjoy it! So I dunno what to think about it, I reall like Benin and alot of things here are worst than there, and there are things better here than there, I dunno I guess time will tell! Togo, they speak a different tribal language here, so I can really use any of my fong that I learned, but I am feeling really comfortable in French, I know I still make plenty of mistakes and but they understand! So what else is new, it was really wierd seeing the other elders who came to Africa with me, they all stayed in Togo for five months and then one day they are just there! Wierd! I am really hungary right now, I havnt ate alot the last weekish because I think I had something but yesterday I was so hungary I ate all my food and now I need to go buy some so I dunno what else I want to say except that things are going to be good and I am excited to try out a new country!
Well I love ya and hope you have an amazing week! remember who you are

love
elderly

SCARY HALLOWEEN WEEK!

So I know they dont celebrate halloween here in Africa but I found a way to celebrate it! So this wekk, is one word, NUTS! So wednesday, at lunchtime we came back from our appointments and had lunch and then I did my french study from the book of mormon, and it was 1:15 so I decided to take a nap until 2, so I took our phone and set the alarm for 1:50, plugged the phone to charge and set it right next to my head. and fell asleep. I awoke at 2:20 and I was kinda upset cause the phone didnt got off, i figured elder Foucher must of taken it to call an investigator of something. I found him and the other elders who came in at 1:40 while I was sleeping talking in the big living room. I askezd where the phone was and he said he didnt take it, I asked the other elders if they took it, and they said no. SO I seatrched the whole apartment looking for it, but I knew that I put it right next to my head when I went to sleep. I had the elders call it , s when it rang i could find it, someone answered it, and hung up. We called again, and there was nothing. Then I asked elder foucher what he did while I slept, and he said he fell aslepp in the big living room to unitl the other elders came in. We got robbed. Somone had come into our apartment, while we wehere sleeping, found the phone next to my head and took it, on the way out of my bedroom, saw elder fouchers camera and stole that too of his desk. Went in to the big common room where elder foucher was asleep and in the back corner of the room, far away from the door, stole my camera which I had recieved three days ago, and left the apartment without awaking either of us. It is sound incredible, and not running ino the elders coming back. Unbelievable! It sound ridiculous and I have been dreading on telling my mom, the camera that hasnt even left my desk has been stolen. Of all the chances! I am pretty upset for a while, and so was elder foucher. I think I was more upset cause all our phone number were lost, and two investigators who are ridicilously hard to get hold of cause of work, their numbers are lost! huge mess!

And to top it all off I am leaving for Togo tomorrow, leaving all my hard work in resurrecting my cartier i wont be able to see the five investigators baptised, the first ones in over a year in this cariter, especially my african family! It sucks but i guess there is a reason! I guess my cartier now is the best one in the mission, and I get to trainer someone too, Elder Carter from Quebec.  So it will be intersting going form the worst to best. Well I dunno, lots of cool crazy stupid stuff happens in life, guess you just have to take it, learn from it and move on until the next bump in the road! Well thanks for everthing,and I hope you all have a good week! remember who you are

love you!
elderly

Wow another week‏

Well this might be really really short. Cause I dont have any time to write, so ill try to put as much in as I can before I have to leave. So this week has been really crazy, President Dil came this week so that means Zone Conference and that took a long time between five hour conferences and interviews, and lunch. Took a long time, well and then we saw general conference!! This one is very well done, I have really gained an appreciation of conference over the last year and a half, ever since the general conference that I saw during college. Each one gets better and better! The talks are so inspired and now I know that when you go into conference with questions and you come out with answers! I really do now appreciate it now, not just something to sleep through on sunday. Well this week we had the opportunity to give a blessing to one of our investigators,and what an experience. She has malaria and wasnt doing so well, so we decided to give her a blessing and it was an amazing spiritual experience! THe power of the priesthood is real, it is the power and authority to act in the name of god for the blessing of his children! I am so glad that I had this opportunity to give her a blessing, it was Hortance, my African mother. So glad that I can live my life worthy to use it and help these people gain their faith in Jesus Christ! I will never forget it, ever! So I have received a lot of instruction and now all I got to do is show that I learned it by living it! Well transfers are next week and so I will learn if I am moving, hopefully not but its possible. Well time had come that I got to go like a herd of turtles, so I love you guys and hope all is well! Remember who you are!

love
elderly

It is so hot here in Benin!‏

So by far this week was the hottest week i have ever had to live thorugh, maybe 3 a days for football came close, but its true the African sun is HOT! I cant believe how hot and humid it is, i havnt stopped sweating, even at nite for a long time. Each day I am drinking like 5 liters trying to maintain some sort of balance.
Well this week has been really good, really good. We got out and taught alot of good really quality lessons andwe were rewarded for it, we had more investigators come to church ever cause of two things. One it didn't rain Saturday or even look like sunday, and too we were blessed for our hard work! My district leader said we taught the most lessons again and we doing good. A good way to end a transfer. This week is going to be very fast and chaotic! This week is Zone conference which means the president from ghana will have to make the 11 hour trip to come. Transfers would usually be this week but they are going to wait until the 5 of oct for that. That will take up to days and then this weekend I get to listen to General Conference for the first time! I am really excited cause I get to try to listen to it in French and see how really well I understand this language! That will take up all of Saturday and Sunday! So this week is kinda shot so tomorrow will be full!
This week was pretty interesting, alot of random stories of stuff that happens/ Like we were teaching a lesson along a busy road and my back was to this road and al of the sudden i heard this huge crash, I turned around to see billions of glittering objects exploding around us. It turns out that this huge old travel bus, the huge back window of it came loose and fell and tyhen exploded! Glass was everywhere, the funny thing was the bus didnt even stop, just continued moseying down the road, and all the motos and cars that went through it got flat tires a ways down the road. It was a big mess! It was really funny, at least I thought! What else, oh that same appointment, right after we finished i stood up and turned to leave and sliced my head open on the tin roofing thing, blood was dripping off my head and everyone just said.... OOOOHHH! Doucement! THe blood just blended into my hair, no biggie! I dunno, what else of my secrets I want to share this week so I guess this is it and i will talk to you guys later! Love ya and remember who you are!


love
elderly

Haha from Benin

Bonjour

Wow another week has flown by, by next week i might be done with my mission, thats going to be a sad day. Well this week has been very interesting. Alot of wierd random unexplained stuff has happened. Well to get off with the bad news that this week one of the missionaries might be going home, due to mental depression problems, the kids is really weird and all of the sudden he goes into these depression pits and doesnt stop for a long time. I dunno I hope he doesnt go but, its a good possiblity. Well with that out of the way I can go to bigger and better things. So this week was interesting one alot of cool experiences have happened. Like one day we were way far away teaching danic and he was occupied for sometime so to we went and visited some other investigators close but none of them were there and we are not supposed top proyslete that far out right now and so the stadium and there were alot of people going into it and so we decided to try to get in for free. and we did and it was a soccer match between the benin national team and the president of Benin and his cabinet. Sure we got patted down by huge army dudes with ak-47 strapped to their backs. But we saw the president of the country play soccer for a little bit and it was pretty cool, in a stadium of 30,000 there were three white people, we were 2.
Also this week on sunday was an amazing experience. so during the week we met Frankie and his story is that he was once an investigator long ago and never came to church but recently, before talking to us he started like blessing his food, saying his prayers, and reading the the book of mormon, then one day he saw us walking down the street and called us over and we are now teaching him. When he told us this earlier that day I read the scripture in 2 Nephi 32:8 and it was , BAM here it is in Live action for ya! and he has came to church for the very first time!!! I just hope he continues to progress!
Also the missionaires got invited over to a real african b-day party and it was huge! Lots of people and lots of amazing food! But the worse part is that we had leave before we ate cause of an activity we planned at the church. We had a lot of games so that we could invite our investigators and members so that they could mingle and get to know each other better, it was really cool! well I gotta get going but thanks for the support and have an amazing week and remember who you are! love ya!

love elderly

Bonjour‏

So hello y'all. How are things back in the cold snowy states of US? Well today is like 94 degrees and 100 percent humity. Nice and toasty! This week is been pretty good to me I have had alot of amazing experiences this week! Wow sometimes I think I am too blessed, I mean really of all the things that of happened to me over my life, I have no idea why I am blessed so much! this week like I said was full of AMAZING experiences! From baptisms to lessons, to prayers, to miracles, to tough stuff, it has been good! I cant explain how awesome it has been so i wont try to describe it. But a little taste of it, well we have been working really hard with my African family, trying to get them ready fot baptism, they are just not sure if they want/need to be baptised again. Eric was ready but he wants to wait for his mom to be ready also! So We have talked alot about the gift of the holy ghost and joseph smith. Saturday there was baptism of two little kids of the age of 9 and 12, 2 new converts, one of the kids parents arnt members. But so we invited Eric and Hortance to the baptsim, eric as already been to multiple baptisms, but not hortance, his mother. So at the baptism it was AMAZING!!!!! Just everything was incredible! We sang Je suis enfant de Dieu, or I am a child of God. ANd the spirit was incredible, the kids parents who wernt members have never came to church before and they werent there for the start of the baptism. Just as we were closing the gate, they showed up, you should have seen the kids face when his parents came!!!! He was grinning from ear to ear! JUST incrededible! I was standing to hortance during the baptism, afterwards she just sat there staring at the font. I asked her why and she wanted to be baptised! I dunno, the spirit is a miracle worker, really he is!! Stuff like that has happened all day, doors that have been shut to us are now starting to open. Seems like anything is possible now!!! All of it is possible by faith! Anything you ask in faith, and it is a righteous desire, you will recieve!!!!!! I dunno things are just opening, miracles are been wrought, even to the point of healing the sick!! Just an awesome sacred testimony that our Savior lives!!! Our loving heavenly father hears and answers prayers! Everything hinges on our knowledge faith and charity and action! I am completely exhausted but never felt content with anything! Most day i die in bed, but find myself still there the next day! I love it! I lvoe ya guys and hope you have an amazing week! remember who you are?

love elderly

Vodo People are everywhere

So this week, what is new, first of all BONJOUR! I dunno  whats new this week, well we just got done going through Missèbo, the largest open air market in africa! The thing is huge and so we walked all around in there and it was awesome! You can find anything you ever want in there, even black market stuff! Yeah you could get into trouble in there! We bought a lot of ties, we found a place where we could buy ties for 100 francs, or about 20 cents! Some poeple went nuts and bought like 30 ties, wierd! So this week went by fast like every one, i dunno not a lot is changing, just trying to find those people that I need to. I has been kinda hard, just a bunch things have happened, but nothing catastrophic! Everyday is just different, and I like it cause it always changing, nothing is never the same, like the other day on a moto I saw someone carrying three full size refrigorators on his moto, stacked on top of each other. Stuff like that is just cool, you neve see that at home! Well I will describe one nite that I had here, we had a rendez-vous at 7.30 at nite, at 7 it is dark here. And we were a long way from the apartment, this guy came to churhc, but we didnt know where he lived, so we met him at the Etole Rouge, a huge statue of some african guy, and then he came riding a moto, and said he lived about 15 min away on a moto, but we cant take motos here, so there are these things called tro-tros, basically mini-vans that they shovel as many people as they can into them and they drive a route. We got shoved unto one, had no idea where to get off, barely knew this guy, and headed off into the unknown country! There were 27 people in our tro tro, no bad! So going along, suddenly the driver stopped and shouted for the yovos to get out, so we got out and looked around and I didnt see this guy. Suddenly he showed up and all thing were good. Taught a lesson and climbed back into a tro tro and rode home, i dunno it was a pretty freaky/awesome experience! Well things are well, love ya and gotta go! remember who you are and love ya guys!

love
elderly

African Blood‏

So you are all wondering why my title this week is African blood. Well I got stuck witha needle this week. Well it was last week but I forgot to tell ya. Yep thats right, in AIDS ridden Africa I got stuck by a needle! Isnt everyone else excited as I am? Maybe I should explain.... Well first of all I am offically a citizen of Benin,Africa. Dual citizen if the US and Benin, so anyone who says I am not African I can show them my resident card! It is pretty cool! That was the reason I had to get stuck by a needle, to get tested for AIDS, I hoped I passed! Dont worry the vodo lady said it was a clean needle, she even used soap! I okay okay before my mom  passes out it was a clean needle at a government hospital and I made sure it was a clean needle right from and unopened box! Everyone was making a big deal of it but really it wasnt at all, i can now tell a good story that I got my blood drawn in Africa, hey its better than a amateur nursing student who was digging around for mine... I an just kidding the guys couldnt even find my vien which I thought was pretty ridiculous, i had to show him which one. Dont worry mom, everything is fine!!!!!!!!
This week was a very rewarding and uplifting week for us cause Danic was Baptised!!!! It was an a amazing experience! He really has grasped the gospel and taken off with it! I will send a picture later. But i dunno, Danic is just like the perfect investigtor, understnads well and when he doesnt he asks questions, keeps his commitments and more importantly, LIVES the gospel! From the man he was when I met him until now he has made huge changes in his life and has been incredibly blessed for it! He is one of the happiest guys now! Just another testmony to chalk up on my board of testimonies! That is what the gospel is all about changing lives to make one happier, thats all it is pure righteous everlasting happiness! No one can ever disagree with that, I dont care who you are it is that simple.
 LIfe is very simple I have come to find, very very simple, i could explain it all to you but I wont. Sometimes its the journey not the destination that matters. Life is awesome, is such an adeventure with random twists, thats my favorite part the random small and simple things. The key is just to have His gospel in your life and LIVE it! In the words of a wise friend... vous devez la foi in Jésus-Chirst et suivre son evangile pour que vous puissez être herreux!  (you must have faith in Christ so that you can be happy) He is a good man!

Missions fly by I mean this week 1/4 of my mission is over! Yikes! Thats almost too fast! Its pretty crazy how fast its gone. I just hope one day my french catches up! Well I dunno what else to write this week so I will catch you next week! Love ya remember who you are!

love
elderly

The Benin Story‏

I dunno if the Benin story is as good as the westside story, but alot of stuff has happened this week. So where to begin? Lets see, well transfers was this week, I am still with my frenchman Elder Foucher for another six weeks. I am really stoked about that, we get along really well and my french really really improves cause of him! We had Zone confernece this week and it was pretty good.

This week was kind of a slow week cause of Zone Confrence. We did a lot of tracking as usual cause our cartier is DEAD! So tracking this week was interesting, we were walking back to our apartment in the dark and someone passing us started chanting Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith. It was really interesting and quite funny to the point I started laughing, i dunno if that was the best thing to do...  Then later we were walking along and We felt prompted to talk to this one guy in particular, as we walked up he called he us the 'mormons' I havent heard that named in so long! It turns out that he is from the Congo and knez alot about the mormons. We have started to teaching him.OHH I almost forgot!!

This week Danic is getting baptised!  I am really excited for this one cause I am really close with him and the changes he has made in his life is just incredible! the gospel is simply incredible! I have been reading alot of old genreal conference talks and man, i read one called, SUNDAY WILL COME by joseph b.wirthlin that was incredible! Just the sincereity and the simplictiy of the doctrine and the comfort that comes from that! One person we founs just had his niece die that was six years old and it was very hard for him. We shared a little about the ressurection and how children are automatically saved, and one day he can live with here forever and this is thanks to jesus christ! The spirit was so strong, the gospel is simply amazing and simply TRUE! I know it is!

I got to thank my aunt carrie cause I recieved my first package this week! Peanut butter has never tasted sooo good! Along with redvines!! Thank oyu so much! I am way to spoiled sometimes, but this doesnt mean you have to stop! I also recieved letters from dAVID THAT WERE OVER THREE MONTHS OLD!! THANKS TO Benin mail! haha


oh and a little side noteI got robbed this week! yes my camera got stolenn along with all my pics. Im alittle depressed because of that cause I had some really good ones, and I found out the Butch died this week. MAMan I thought he would last a little longer but life goes on. Well things are good in Benin hope everything is amazing with all of you! until next week I love ya and remember who you are!!!

love
 elderly

Benin is good!‏

Mom, first of all, I knew that you would be worried but now I am fine, by wednesday I was completely fine!! Malaria, what is that? Never heard of it, haha I am kidding. Dont worry Sister Southam took very good care of me! So you can thank her. And no I dont have Malaria. Well this week. Has been slow yet I when things are slow, you learn sooooooooooo much! So we had a lot of rattiez-vous, this is when people dont show up at your rendez-vous, something 12. Slow week! And it rained all week. One thing I have come to learn about rain and African, they dont mix. Aie Aie Aie! Tracking in the rain no one wants to hear your message. They will NOT go out at all even if it looks like it is going to rain. Hard week. BUt I love it!!! At Church on Sunday it was raining, guess how many investigators came to church? ZERO. Not even one, it was really hard to grasp. Why no one would come, I was kinda mad about it all Sunday until after our 3 hour planning session I was reading in Conference talks and I realized something. My testimony!!! I dunno alot of things came into this moment. One of our investigators didnt not comphrend the concept of faith, I have have been studying that, and I realized what I am here to do. Proclaim that god TRUE church is here! It is not some ther good church, in which I am trying to convice people to come to church. But this is HIS TRUE chuch! No other church can say this! I am a servant of God called to proclaim everlasting life!!! I cant wait to share my testimony with everyone, I shouldnt be ashamed at all cause this work is is gods work. I cant describe how I feel, just amazing realizing this is not just going to church, its your eternal welfare at sake! A lot of things have come together, and I am truly grateful for everything that is hard, everything I get to go through because it just builds my testimony and character! This church is true! There is no doubt! If there is anything that is more sure than this, tell me cause I dont know! The church is His, everything that happens to us, every trail, hardship is nessacry for our salvation! God, Christ lives! I dunno what to say except if you dont know find out! Get on your knees and ask Him to know! He answers, every nite he answers my prayers, every nite! This is my testimony! As I said, Benin is good! Until next week, remember who you are! love ya!


love elderly

SICK IN BENIN

So here is the letter my mom has been dreading for since I opened my call... I was sick this week! haha Yeah quite the adventure, a couple of days ago I had a temperature of 101, and staying up all nite doing what is lovely referred to the double dragon. Thats all im going to say. So they think I might have Malaria or something small like that. Not much to eat and sleep the last couple of days but, hey what do I expect? Im in Africa! It also couple be some sort of parasite or something dunno. Its all good! It just makes everything kinda blurry at times.. and at nite it is really cold, wow, it cold at nite! Im doing a little better still have a temperature and stuff but it will be fine mom!

For this week, I meet a person called Will. An amazing kid, we started to teach him this week and at our first rendez-vous he took notes like he was a school and just posing these questions that simply put were amazing! I really like him, you know those kinda of people you meet for the first time but you feel like you have known them your whole life, yep I meet one of them in Africa! And in French! I dont know, he is another Taylor, Ken, Bryce kind of a guy. Just really awesome and pretty dang serious too! I feel really good about him! Danic is progessing really well and doing very good. Serge is doing alright, i worry about him lot. Man you really grow attached to people on a mission, especially those you teach. Like Hortance and Eric and Hypolite, just cant explain it, just you love them i guess, simply put and you just want them to feel the thing you feel, have the blessing of the gospel in their lives. We let go on of our long time investigaitrs th at wasnt really progressing, wow its difficult. really difficult.

So here is africa in a nut shell so i was luch and we were sitting on the side of the road drinking a malta for lunch and there are thousnads of motos driving by and one moto, jsut one had a monkey sitting the handle bars of a moto! It was really cool, i wish i could of taken a picture with him, i tried to flag him down but to no advail. well i no its short but so is life, any ways ttyl and remember who you are! love ya

love
elderly

Benin and Stuff, A lot of Stuff‏

H-ello

So this week FLEW by, seems weird that  Im sitting here writing again, so soon. But for updates well I got kicked out of my old cartier and now working in one that has been referred kindly as dead. So there is a lot of tracting and teaching and hoping people come to church. So not much new here just working and working and working and feeling tired all the time; But I found that when I eat fruit in the morning too that i feel a lot better and more energized! I also found my favorite drink ever, well my second favorite drink besides peach juice but thats its own category, but its called Malta Guinness! Its a malta drink that in non alcoholic and it is amazing  and gives you alot of energy after you have been tracting in the hot african sun for hours! Some of the elders like it, my companion doesnt but he gets a coke or something,  one thing that is really cool about here is that they sell pop soda whatever you call it, in glass bottles still, it really cool and its alot cheaper cuase you only buy the soda, like a bottle of pop is like 250 francs, or about 50 cents.
Danic now has a baptism date set for the 22 and he had he interviezw with Elder Bayly from togo cause his dad has like threee wives or something like that. Here is ghana , togo , and benin, is considered to be the polygomy captial of the world! So everwhere has there problems, and here is polygomy and vodo! So ithe other elders are going to move to another apartment and its on the 3 story like ours is and from ther you can look down into a vodo temple that is adjacent.
Also I have been adopted here. I am offically African! Yes mom, ido have another family here, but there are nothing like the the one i have in IDah... TEXAS! THey are a family we fou_nbd and there are 4 of them. THe speak NIirian English and french, and they take good care of us always having us over to eat , and stuff like thayt! THey whoole family isq going to bee batisped soon, i dont know when but sometime like the end of september beginning of oct! missionary work is fun. lot of work but its totally worth it so far! Well not much else to say, i was trying to attach a a photo of my new african family but this computer is.... african! so i will send it tonite at the couples; well have a good week and remember who you are! love ya!

love, elderly

My New African Family

So here is 

Moi

Arnold

Elder Foucher

Eric

Apolet

Hortance

They have an amazing view from the fourth floor of the city of Cotonou, always a good breeze up there. My Family, in AFRICA!!!!

Another Week in AFrIcA!!

So someone told me this week an interesting fact. It goes like this there are 52 weeks in a year, and we are here for two years so thats 104 weeks, so every week that is about 1% of your mission. So sitting here thinking what am I going to write, I say there went 1% of my mission,what do I want to say... Well here is the news for the week. We committed Danic to Baptism, which I am really excited for! He is really grasping thez gospel we are gonig to start teaching his wife this week too! Just ready to take off, I am very blessed to help him know. I really dont know what to say about this week, we had a lot of time to do tracting, and I learned some very personal stuff about this work, it is not mine, its His, when you try to do it on your knowledge, you are going to fail miserably, miserably! Once you humble yourself or get humbled, and turn to prayer with a sincere desire to do His will. AMAZING things happen, somethings I am not going even try to explain, but I want you guys to know that the power of prayer and following through with promptions, no matter how ridiculous they seem, you can do more good than you will ever know!
  We had alot of people come to church this week, new investigators, like 8 new ones! Amazing! We are really excited to blessed like we are, and so fast! But also there is a downside, and an upside we found out wednesday! So randomly, two new missionaries show up this wednesday! Totally out of the blue, just hey there are two new missionaries at the boader that you need to pick up. So now we have two new missionaries, Elder Howard, and Elder Picard. Elder Howard is from Bountiful, UT and Elder Picard is from Tahaiti, yes that right Tahaiti! I was pretty excited that we have an Elder from Tahaiti cause now when I go to Bora Bora I can see someone I know!! I really like both of them... but they took my cartier along with all my invstigators, I still will work with Danic and Serge, but the rest, gone. I really have miwed feelings cause the new cartier is dead, completely dead, and has been for a long time, so its going to get jumpstarted with a stick of Dynamite called Elder Foucher/Lee! A lot of work, but I am sad cause I really have drawn close to the people in my cartier especially my investigators, and its hard to leave them. Oh well just means I get to start over!
Thats about all I have this week I think, so I leave and I hope you guys all had an amazing week and will have an amazing week this week! remember who you are! love ya!

love
elderly

The baptism from last week, a family that is getting ready to go to the Temple!!!

Words cannot describe this face, is just Africa! I really liked it!!!!!

Baptisms and Fatigue‏

What an AWESOME week we had here! Probably the best week that I have had here, just one spiritual experience after another. It has been amazing! This week my companion and I worked really really hard, near the point of pure exhaustio!. I would have to say honestly week walked at least 15 miles a day, the bare mininium. Going from investigators houses to member houses to less active member houses, just a exhausting week. But with all that exhaustion it feels so GOOD, knowing that week gave it our all.
   Joseph Smith after he had seen the father and the Sonin the First Vision, he was completly exhausted and had to rest awhile before he could move. I really think spiritual experiences drain you like nothing else. Everynite when we came home, I about died, I wanted to eat but I was too tired to cook anything so I would go to bed. Just physically tired from walking in the blazing hot humid sun,mentally tired from thinking and speaking French, and spiritually exhausted!!! There are times when I swear I couldnt walk another mile, yet somehow I do, time and time again and I am still happy! Never has exhuastion felt soo good! Right now I am so tired, hardly can walk but I feel so good, I feel like a worn down missionary and that is what I want!! Hopefully we can continue to feel like this and eventually I will grow stronger!!!
  So like I mentioned this week it was a very BIG week for me, Elise and Michel were baptised!! I have been working with them since I got here and now they are baptised. A lot of fustration, work, sweat and spirit went into this. I didnt feel they were ready until I prayed and asked if they were. God answers prayers of the sincere in heart. That is one of the many many many lessons that I am learning!!! I used to think French hindered me from expressing how I feel, but I cant even express how I feel in English. If everyone felt I how feel sometimes, you couldnt doubt that feeling and knowing there is a god! We are litterally his Sons and Daughters and he Love us immensely!! A baptism is such a simple yet POWERFUL ordinance. I have been reading Jesus The Christ and this weeking I was reading about John the Baptist and memorizing the words for the baptism in French. I cant explain how it feels to know that the same authority that Jesus Christ and John the Baptist had exists today and for some reason I have been blessed by it. In French the baptismal prayer reads, Ayant reçu le authoritie du Jésus-Chirst, Je te baptise dans the nom du Pére, et du Fils, et du Sainte Esprit. I just marvel the simplicity yet the puissance of it all!! Amazing!
   This week we started teaching a person called eric. He is embo, meaning Nigerian and he is progressing really well. He came to church last Sunday, taught him this week and we invited him to come to the baptism, and he did! He wants to be baptised now! We also started teaching his family too! HIs house is really cool I will send a picture of it later. Danic finally came to church and I am so stoked cause he is probably our best investigator and amazingly smart. I talk alot about him cause is awesome! I dunno things are just starting to fall inplace now and its really cool to watch! Well I better get going, thanks for everything/ support and until next week remember who you are!

Love
Elderly

Aie Aie Aie... I love(HATE) French‏

Bonjour

Well whats new, I have a French companion and it sweet and bitter all at the same time! My French comprrhension has gone way up, self esteem up and down but overall, amazing! It was a very difficult week but a very rewarding week also.  We didnt teach alot of lessons this week cause this week I never had so many people not show up to appointments, at their houses! We had over 12 "rattiez-vous" this week. Horrible but I think it was a good week overall, alot of changes and I feel now like alot depends on me, anything I want to get done is up to me, and I really enjoy it. My companion is diffently one to follow, which for me will take some time getting used to cause I did all the following but now both of us have to do it. For example this Sunday was nuts, I was asked to teach the English class during Sunday School, then direct the Primary afterwards, and talk to all my investigators and try to schedule appointments, we didnt have all the investigators we wanted at church.
You remember Danic and Serge, well they didnt show up to church and it was very disappointing so tonight we are going to go find them and find out why. So this Saturday will be my first baptism I think! Which I am way excited for and I hope that everything will work out smoothly, we are trying to get the Dad to baptise them but he is refusing so I might get the chance!! It is so surreal that they are getting baptised cause I have taught them since I have been here and NOW they are ready for baptism, wow wo excited for them and they are even more excited than me and thats hard to do!

My French companion loves to eat sugar and sleep. I figured thats what they do, eat and sleep. All he eats is sugary stuff and pasta with ketchup, which by the way not bad, but he runs out of energy sometimes so I have to give him some of my energy which I have plenty of! I really enjoy being incharge of sorts. Its really wierd but very satisfying and the same time, I dunno if this is bad but I do like it. I decide how long we work, where we work and all this stuff I really dont know. Most of the time I make it up, or so I think and then something so amazing happens, we talk to this guy who give us a referral and this referral come to church! Stuff like this has started to happen in this companionship, cool spiritual things just happen everyday, and everytime it happens I am like wow, this is amazing! I dont know how to explain it except this is not my work, I am starting to see how I am only and instrument, a tabernacle of clay in the hand s of the Lord. And I think a huge huge part of that is obedience, actually I am pretty sure that has alot to do with it, as it says in d&c130 every blessing is predicated upon our obedience. diffently learning that and I hope I will continue to learn and notice these things. I want share just one experience, we were teaching Danic and he had a question concerning his uncle, we were teaching the plan of salvation, and his question was about life after death. It was kinda of a wierd question, then the idea came to mind, moroni 7 something, towards the beginning. I really sont know what it talked about in French except I about recieving good and bad, but it really really touched him and we kept referring back to it during the whole lesson and then he wrote it out on a paper cause he liked it soo soo much. I really dont know that scripture very well, and that chapter is one of my top three favorite chapters and I dunno it was just another testimony that I dont teach, its the spirit. I love it here!
So I played basketball again today and it felt really good to run and jump and run and shoot and run, running feels so good, I need to do it more! Still can dunk by the way!haha
Well I got to go to an appointment soon so I better finish up
love ya all and remember who you are and I will see you later

love
Elderly

This is Michel and Elise, they are getting baptised Saturday!!!! I am so excited for them, more pics next them!

This is me and the Couple, Elder and Sister Southam, and Kiki and Urbaine, both recently baptised and they are a couple of studs!!

I honestly have NO IDEA what kind of meat this was, very tough and weird, but you eat everything here, even the bone!!!

Crazy Crazy Week. Things are changing.

Bonjour,

   Well I think I need to be speaking alot more French now because after transfers were over, my companion is French. His name is Elder Foucher! He speaks with a very French accent and is very hard for me to understand and everyone else too. He has been out for 7 or so months. From what I have heard, ive kinda got to be the senior comp of sorts. I am sooo excited cause this means I am now forced to speak French or else I will die! No, not literally but yeah know what I mean. He understands English perfectly but refuses to talk in english so, my French is going to improve rapidly!
  The area I was working in got alot bigger, there were four areas before this Zone Conference, I adopted one of the areas so now mine is HUGE! A lot of walking and travel time but that means a lot more people and better odds of finding 'the ones.' The area I adopted was dead of sorts but we have plans to change that. From whaqt an Elder told me, its takes about 3 months of very hard work to get and area going, I plan cutting that in two. I really am excited for this because I can now work as hard as I want to, the first transfer for me was playing follow behind. Just getting used to being here, its been the hardest two months of my life, so so hard... but I realize how difficult, fustrating, painful, sorrowful I have been, I have grown so much. From self disipline, mental toughness, desire, charity, self motivation, to self happiness. And this next stage looks even tougher, I am really enthused beyond all comprehension! I really like now the tough times cause you grow so much than you would other wise.
  Investigators, well Elise and Michel are scheduled for baptism Oct 11, we are re-teaching them the lessons and hopefully they will be ready for this. Danic, he didnt come to church this week but if I understood right, he told me he wouldnt be able to. He is amazing, understand everything perfectly, believes it, or at least I think he does, and wants to change. Serge, I cant say enough about Serge. He is the man, he is a moto repairman and asks amazing questions! He really seems very very sincere about everything. Another investigator is Bienvenue, his name means Welcome, he did have a baptismal date, but the last two rendez-vous have turned into rattiez-vous, meaning he didnt show up.
We had a lot of mangez-vous(meals at member houses) because we lost alot people.Elder Gunnell, Elder Fox, Elder Lamarr, Elder Rawlings, and Elder Richard. We only had three replacements come in. Two are brand new Elders so that means Im not the new one anymore! One is French though and he is in my apartment so life going to be rough if i dont learn the French fast! So much change, but yet im think im ready for the challenge, I was born to come here to Africa and find those certain people I promised to bring the gospel to. I have been here 4 months or a 1/6 of my mission! I dont have much time left, heck im almost done and I havnt found them yet!
  Well I think I will leave you with a funny story if thats okay.... So we had Zone Conference today, a big long meeting where our Zone gets together, the mission President and His Wife along with the APs come and give us instruction. So we were three hours into this thing and I was sitting in a plastic chair. Just sitting there while Sister Dil was giving her talk. All the sudden this chair collaspes from under me!! THe legs fork out and just collaspes. It scared the heck out of me, depending on who you talked to, there where reports of me giving a little yelp as I went down. It was really funny, or at least I thought!! So I guess I must be putting on wieght in Africa, that is a feat unto itself!!
Well hope you are all rigoling to yourself now, imagining me breaking this chair, but untill next time, remember who your are and I love ya guys!

Love
elderly

Umm.... What to write‏

So this week in the beautful country of Benin... Not much. I dunno what I going to write in this email so its probably going to be a lot of random thoughts and little stories.... should be interesting.

   Well transfers are coming up tomorrow, and we have three leaving, for good. And rumor has it that someone is going to be transfered to Togo. So for all I know I could be going to Togo!! I hope not cause this week was a very up and down week. Comp has packed his bags already and is ready to go, andi ts very hard to get him to work sometimes but we have been rewarded with two very fidel investigators, you want to know the word for investigators is in French? amis de l'église, meaning friends of the church, i duno i always think its funny calling our investigators friends! But yeah, their names are Danic and Serge. this is a cool story, so Danic was one day walking down the strret when he saw Paul, a member, he stopped him, and said, why are you so happy, there is something about you that i want, what is it? They guys is amazing!Very humble, energetic men that could have a very bright future, so this week we doubled our total of investigators at church right! IMPROVEMENT!!! Every mission has its difficulties so I this is what I have been called to bear!!
  So a cool story about living and working it Africa, we were tracting down an investigator, some random road, just walking along, minding my own, business when i glance to my left.... a see a bamboon! It was so cool! Just sitting in a cage, its was huge! So later this week we are going to go back and take some pictures, im pretty excited. This is why I love Africa, just never know what is going to happen, keeps things interesting... I have started a book of little stupid ridiculous stuff that happens each day that I know that I i will want to remember but will forget over time, Im pretty excited for this at the end of the mission.
What else... OIh I went on splits with the member missionaries this week, so much fun! I went with Godwin, a member who was baptised about three weeks ago, it was so fun cause i got to control, who we saw, what we did, how long, is way a good time. my french is horrid but i have reached the point i can say i n very broked french about anything and with a lot of hand motions they understand, it was really cool. I like Godwin alot! Very good guy, goes with the missionaries 2,3 times a week all day. I really like the cool feeling being "on your own"! Someday, im excited! It was a good experience cause I can now see how far i have grown in my french and just in self disipline.
Senagalise food, AMAZING!
I miss peanut butter, wal mart, my canoe and fishing, mowing lawns, and Idaho!!
I dunno what else, so I ll be going hope verything is incredible for you all and I love and take care, souviens-toi que tu crois!

love
elderly

My Head is Pounding!

So so much has happened here and even more has happened there! First of all I gots to say Felicitations to the new Sister(Hermanna) Collette, who is going to GUATEMALA, GUATEMALA CITY NORTH MISSION SPANISH SPEAKING! That is nuts, im so excited for her! MY old house was flooded, family went to oregon, my boat is safely secure now, i got mail for the first time here in Africa which im very very gateful from ma mere, the Rhoades and the Luebkes! ITs true, like when the mail comes in the movie, The Best Two Years and they all flip out cause the mail came, well its worse here cquse mail comes every five or so weeks! Everyone went nuts and grabbed their mail, ran into a corner by themselves and read like rabid rabbits!!! It was pretty fun!
  So the work here had its ups and downs, sideways, whichways, underways, highways, and byways, everything is never the same, there is no such thing has a dull day in Africa! Anything can happen at anytime, and it does. I like it cause it fits perfect with my ADD and attention span. Always changing and never dull! So we went through a period where we dropped a lot of iunvestigators and did a lot of contacting, the people here are so greetable and friendly, but they like to lie. So naturally, im a pretty trusting person, so when people tell me they are coming to church, i believe them, and when they dont, oooh, they dont want to make fun of this chiniose! So the biggest thing i have found out here is Africans will tell you anything you want to hear, Oh i want to hear the  word of God, i will come to church, yahda yahda yahda. They will also do anything to cheat you, this is another story later, but so this week we wanted to see how serious Africans are, last week we invited 127 people to come to church, guess how many showed up....0! It was a very slow week for us, even our serious investigators, only two came. So lots and lots and lots of work to do.
    I  just finished my first transfer/planner, so i have been here in Benin for 6weeks now, thats crazy and my french still sounds comme english. I think though I am making progress, so those that really know me, know that I sleep talk, pretty well, well my companion says that i have started to sleep talk in French now... I pretty stoked cause im not even conscience and yet I get extra practice at french and i dont have to endure the misery!!! Also I want to clear up a point... IM NOT IN GHANA? IM IN BENIN!!!!! Ghana est pour les oiseaux(for the birds), Benin is where it is at! Just to let you all know!
  Maybe the 28th our investigators will get baptised, Michel and Elise,  I think im going to bring Michel back with me, he is totally righteous, so mom make sure there is another bed in the room for me in our new house!! He is the funniest kd i have ever met, just the coolest person ever!!! So here is your warning!!
   There had been alot of stupid drama between missionaires and also the branch. I thought i was out of high school and never had to deal with it again, mostly its between two missionaires, really lame but whatever.
   We played basketballl today, how could i forget this!!!! Amazing, never thought i would see a hoop and net again, but we found a place to play!! We played among the missionaries here because nobody came to play and it felt soooooo good to shoot a basketball, i found out that gravity here in Benin is the same in Idaho, cause i can still dunk it pretty easy, i was estactic!! So even still if i never play basketball again, i can say i still ended on a dunk!!
  I really love it here, everything is so cheap, so today we went to Odazazar and Meesaboo, huge markets filled with anyhting and everything you want, stuff is dirt cheap but everyone tries to cheat ya. So I found this place for silk ties, like the ones back home, but not quite as nice for 200 Francs, or about 40 cents each, so dont bother sending ties, unless you want me to remember you by them, bought a awesome, brand new soccer jersey for a dollar. and my most prized possession, this backpack!!! Found this backback, not really even looking for it, A Columbia, all waterproof, 80 buck backpack for 6000, or 12 dollars, the thing is amazing, something i will use so much! espcially during the rainey season, so remember how i said that Africans will try to cheap you? intial price 28000, you have to do a lot of bargaining here, especially being white, so thats my accomplishment for the day, and inviting all the ties guys to church!
  There is so much to tell, all the stupid little things here that just make my day, oh in life its all about the small and simple things. Alma 37:6,7 have really become my favorite scripture while on a mission, everyday i want to comprehend all, speak perfect french all the time, and baptised thousands, but that is not how the Lord works, he only asks me to do small things! everyday Im trying to pick a few small things and work on them and do them until i can do it, then the next day pick a few more, until you realise, wow ive been here for over 100 day sq and these thing have really addded up!! I cant express how much this scripture has helped me, just doing the little things, appreciate the small and simple things of life, and also being grateful for them. It really has been the focal of my mission, trying and doing small simple things, that and Charity, the both go hand and hand and I LOVE IT!!!!!
  Anyways im going to go but I love ya all and hope everything is well, appreciate the small things, and see what happens, alright§ Love Ya!!!

Amour
Elder Lee
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ma famille‏

so i found out that you qre in oregon this week, so i hope that was fun, dad did you ever get my email i sent you, i sent it to work but i have no idea if it forwarded it or not, things qre going really good, mom thanks for the letter, i got it this week, and it was the first mail i gotten since in benin. so crazy how things from across the world can actually find me another place all the way across the world. so how was your guys fourth of july? hopefully it went out with a big bang since its the last one in idaho, that is wierd to think about, wow. so im sure you guys will be busy packing and stuff, when is it that you actually move out? last trip to oregon, no we better go back, or at least i willl cause i really like crabs and mo's clam chowder!! well love you guys and hope everyhting is going well qnd smooth, mom just calm down and dont get stressed out about this move, k? love ya guys!

love
elderly

Fourth of July in Benin, yeah I actually celebrated it!‏

So they do celebrate the 4th of july here, well at least ay the american embassy. SO all of us missionaries went there and they had a fourth of july party of sorts, kinda, okay it was really wierd cause everyone was white! it like was a little different for me, i cant imagine what the other misionaries thought, it really kinda felt like i was home or sorts, cause there was grass, white people, blue red decorations, hamburgers, hot dogs, sun, and COUNTRY MUSIC!
   the music i felt really really guilty cause i knew a lot of the song and it reminded me of 'babylon' it was really wierd, lots of peace corps workers, other missionaries from other hurches, embassy workers, and some businessmen, but we totally stuck out cause everyone was in causal clothes and we were all dressed up. it was really wierd, i cant explain it, made me miss home and you guys, so that day i probably thought about home the most so far, but once that was done it was back top work as usual!
      things are going pretty good here, we dropped alot of our non serious investigators, and so we did a lot of tracking, a lot, and going and searching all our referrals, i had a really cool experience on saturday, so saturday, they branch had football game they hosted, and it was the missionaries against the branch members, mae wea(blackman in Fong) vs yovo(whiteman in Fong). it was a blast and they slaughter us, we only scored a couple of goals and i scored one cause we wrapped un the goalie and dragged him away from the goal.
    but afterwards, i was soooo beat, my companion was worst, so i convinced him thorugh physical force to go out and do tracking, we were pretty far away from our apartment in the outskirts of our cartier, and i was eating a fan ice,(more about later) and i looked down this street and i was really really curious what was down it, more than usual, so i decided that i wanted to go find out and my comp said it was a dead end, but we went down it anyways; at the very very end my comp started talking with this guy and i wasnt interested really, while i was standing there i saw this guy motion me over and and so i decided to venture out on my own and try to have a conversation with him, the guy that called me over wasnt serious at all, but his friend was amazing! so i sat down and started to tell him about myself and why i was here, it was really difficult cause my french skills are lacking but with the help of some animated hand motions i taught this guy the first lesson! by myself, answering all his questions and invited him to church! oh he was so interested acting and enthusatic and he understood my french!
   so sunday rolls around and i was anxiously waiting but he never showed up. really disappointing but hopefully next week or ill run into him again, but i thought wow, here am i, amazingly tired, qnd there was this road with a dead end, and at the very very very very end was this guys that i talked to, and taught him, just a good example of following through with my feelings! *
oh yeah so there is this thing we went to, called a revenon festival,this one was like a block away from our apartment, basically it is where everyone gathers in the street, and these people dressed up in these colorful costumes go around and just whip people with branches, its used to be a vodo sort of a thing back in the day but some people took it way to seriously! it was kinda funny to watch, everyone running away from these revenons cause if the revenon catches you, you have to pay some money to them, they tried to get me to pay and they were whipping me with the stupid stick kinda hard, then i think they realiwed how much bigger i was than them and i was kinda getting mad so they left the yovo alone.
So july 12th we will have a couple of baptisms so we are pretty excited for that, a lot of traking again this week, well i guess not a much as i think but yeah, anways i dont think there i much else so, hope you guys had a happy fourth and ill talk to ya later!

love
elderly

another week in benin.... yeah right AMAZING just cause i'm in africa‏

Tout le monde,

So i decided qfter one month the french still sucks. I think i hqte it more now than ever cause i hear it all the time but i really cant understand it qnd sometimes when i talk, the tell me to speak french cause they dont understand english, but i was trying to speak in french! when that happens i just laugh, i dunno its fustrating but funny all at the same time, so this week was a pretty big week for me, we had our first baptisms!!! Florian, Prosper, Elvis. what an awesome experience!! just knowing that ui helped in some small way to help bring those people unto Christ, was an amazing feeling! watching them walk into the font was quite the sense of accomplishment! i was kinda struggling , feeling baqd for myself, the whole stupid pity thing, oh i hate it, just so fustrated with french in general, thinking up ways i could teaxch everyone english so i wouldnt have to learn it, just stupid pity stuff, but when each one of them walked into the baptismal font, i felt that wow, its definititly worth it! wow i really kinda like it! so it was good timing for me, what else this week..... oh we found this sengalise food that is amazing!!! i think we get it everyday for far since we found it, the whole meal, cost us less than a dollar and is sometimes quite filling, depends on how i feel, but its quite the dish, i think tonite im going to set up an snapfish account for something, ill be on in qbout three four hours so if anyone is on, throw me a line! anyways whats new..... 12 we could have as many as five baptisms or sopmething like that, people that my comp and i foundso im pretty stoked about that, i dunno things are just going, seems unreal that im in africa still myself asking that im in africa for over a month and im still alive! amazing! so the fourth we are going the the american embassy for a party i dunno, should be pretty interesting! i think there will be alot of yovos there,white people in Fong, their nqtive langauge, so i guess ill be celbrating the fourth, so today we did so sweet stuff for our p_day, we rented motos, there are alot of zimms drivers, taxi drivers, so we pulled some over, asked to rent their moto for the day, gave them about four bucks, and took their motos for the day! nuts, we went and visited some villages and it was ablast! i think i might buy a moto/scooter when i get back, they just make sense, very good gas milages and they are just plain awesome!!! what else..... im in the best mission, is doing pretty good, my comps are all apostate still but they are turning around, or at least mine is, never easy but you dont grow when its not easy, n'est pas? so anyways ill send some pics later when the computer is better or ill do a snapfish or something; got to go, miss ya and love ya tons!

love
elderly

Tout le Monde

Hallo?

This place is nuts! and everyday that i am here makes me realize how much i love it and how "normal" everything seems and how i fit right in except this dangh white stuff on my skin... well this week had a lot of ups and downs, there seems to be alot of them im finding out, well we taught a awful lot of lessons this week, about 40, and we are starting to see some success! this is the amazing part, wow so this Saturday we have three baptisms of our investigators and im sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited to see them baptised! lately i ask myself alot about how important and sacred these covenants are, i dont ever think i realized how sacred the nature of our covenants qt baptism really are, then watching and helping people turn their lives over to god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i cant even come close to describing that! and then this week, we had our first invitations for baptism, and what an experience it is when the spirit prompts you to commit someone to baptism!!!!!!!!!! all the sports ive played i have never had such an adrenaline rush!!! we had four people commit to baptism, so that was pretty cool this week........... this week what else has happend... j dont know, it has rained alot here and been "cold" for everyone and im still sweating, we picked up some new investigators that are progressing really well, ohh!! today we went and helped with the special Olympics of Benin today!!! it was really fun, ill upload a photo or two but it was really fun!!! played some soccer and helped them stretch, i went on splits with my DL this week, i like his area alot cause its down by the lake and all the houses are on stilts on the lake, it was pretty cool, almost lost my book of mormon through a slit on the floor, it was good cause he is the least apostate missionary here, makes ense right, and it was really good to know someone else wants to do this right, like the only time my comp got up on time this week is when we went running and 530, oh he loved it!! he is getting better, i worked him pretty hard this week and he working me over really really good in french, it sucks but one day perhaps ill be able tro speak it, kinda funny but it was good, i was soo sore, i got to do that more often, well i dont know what else ot write so im going to go, things will be good here and haave an amazing week!!!!!!

amour
elderly

this is a pics of right after i tripped over the ball and ate it, all the kids came over to see if i was okay, we were playing soccer 

Yeah even Benin knows which way The best state is......

This is some sign of a village when we went on our moto expediton

this is my mission, cant beat it...AFRICA!!!

Why should I leave Africa?

Its going to be very difficult for you guys to get me out of here, wow what an amazing week! Wednesday we had an apostle of the lord come here, to Benin, David A bednar to dedicate a whole country to the work of the Lord.... and maybe thirty people got to witness this great nation officially open up for the work! I cant even describe what it was like, an apostle called me, elder lee, by my name, shook my hand, looked into my eyes, and asked me how I was doing! sainte vache! the dedication was amazing, so we were going to do it outside in the countryside but it was really blowing and raining and stuff, so we did it in the chapel, what a spirit, an apostle of god was here, first time ever! the dedication was nothing like i have ever experienced.... hearing him say... ¨by the power of the holy apostleship i turn the key to open the door for the missionary work in the land of benin...¨ wow!!! not melchizedek priesthood, but another authority!!! it blew me out of the water when he said that! Just so you know... you, my family, i consider everyone this goes to my family, that an apostle of jesus christ has blessed you! its was something to behold! so in the middle of his dedication he said, just really out of the blue, ¨by the power of the holy apostleship i rebuke the adversary from the face of the land so that he will not have power over the hearts of the people of this nation!!! one of the greatest witness/spirit i have ever felt was on wednesday,june 13, 2007 in cotonou Benin!!!! so you now how i said it was raining before, as soon as he got up it began to clear, and once he was done, it was beautiful outside! I kid you not, it sounds like those mormon legends but i witnessed it! he chose the hymn #1, which was really fitting and said that one day in a few years we will sing this song again and remember this day and when the clouds of darkness lifted form this country and Zion was established here! the fireside was nuts too! He genuinely made prophesied in the name of jesus chirst, about a lot of things, he said that in a few years, god willing he will be back to established stakes in benin! there is one branch of about 80 active members right now in the whole country! we got a long way to go, i so stoked! i just want to speak french right now so i can tell everyone about how i feel right now. so my companion and i had a talk yesterday, i was getting sick of it, we were going to plan foir the next week and i told him that we really have to start being the missionary the lord wants us to be cause if not i might as well come home, he realized that before and we are going to be some big stude for the rest the next 6 weeks he is here, im going to work him and myself to the ground this week, we taught about 27 leçons last week, but we can do much much better! we get to do alot of tracking because most of our investigators will be baptised on the 30th, they were the investigators of the another comapionship before us, so im excited to see the whole process of conversion from begining to the temple, that is alot of what we do, is going around to members and reteaching them the lessons again, witht he goal to get them to attend the temple. good week we are going to have, p-day today was amazing! the pics we got are incrediable, we are going to make a dvd so i will send it home later, this one pic is in a village near the coast west of cotonou, awesome day, i caught over thousand pounds of fish today! the fishing here is pretty sweet, i saw a bunch of guys hauling in a net on the beach, i jumped off and helped them pull it in! i was the lone spot in about 60 people hauling in their load! i was fishing in africa! how sweet is that? well anyways life is good here i love it! the poeple are amazing, no idea, well anways got to go talk ot ya later, love ya!


elder lee