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