Howdy

Well sounds like texas is kinda cold! Well its been kinda cold here too, in the mornings thanks to the Amatahn. Man, the air is dry, and its hot during the day, and very cold at nite. I have started to drink herbal tea in the mornings before my workout cause its cold! Wierd feeling to be kinda cold... Well anyways we had Zone Conference this week, it was good to hear from President Dil, I got my package from grandma Lee! It was long awaited, and filled with peanut butter! Then Aunt Carrie sent me a suprise, filled with... what else PEANUT BUTTER!!!! Then there is a rumor running around Africa that my parents sent me PEANUT BUTTER également!! You know what that means,lots of peanut butter and eggs!!! haha! I really excited, it is also good bargaining tool with other missionaires, I hold the monopoly in the apartment! Thanks you sooooo much for the support and packages!! I have only one request, there is this Elder, Elder Niambé, who orginates from Ivory Coast, he is a little jealous that I have such an amazing family and they show their support. He told me he wishes that he had the same thing, I told him that my family is his family and that he will gets LOTS of colored pictures like I have from all his 'cousins' in Utah,Texas, Iowa, and Arizona! So you guys want to color some pictures and send them to him, he would really like that!
So transfers are this week, I have no idea where I will end up, hopefully I will get to go to Benin again cause I found out that my african family is going to be baptised! I havnt stopped smiling since then, it would be really neat to go back and watch them fulfil that!!! Well, this week Yaovi and his family popped into the picture, he is an awesome guy with a huge awesome family!!! He has 7 kids, and yesterday he brought all of them to church!! Its was really cool to see that!! Him and his wife have been prepared so much by the Lord!!!! I cant believe it, the first time we had a rendez-vous with them, they were asking questions of martin luther, John wycliffe, and other reformers, and then they connected it to how god was preparing the way for the restoration of the gospel!!! They are an amazing family!!! We have high hopes for them!!  So I want to know, who all accepted my little challenge? How did it go?  Any comments on it? Mom, I here you are doing missionary work too!!! That is marvelous! The work really moves forward on its own! So awesome, especially watching people lives change as they hand it over to God!
Well I gotta go, mom I would like the receipe to make homemade maccroni and cheese! Well anyways, hope all is well at home, pray that God will choose an other Prophet to leads us, and rememer who you are!!
Love You!!

Love,
Elderly

Websters Dicionaries

So another week has slipped under the radar, if this keeps up  easter will be here soon, then my birthday, then fourth of july, then thanksgiving, then x-mas, then Im home!!! Wow it going to be quick! haha Well anyways how are things are home! So dad got called to be a counselor in the bishopric! I thought that is why you moved! Congrats and good luck!!! This week, has been interesting... lots of wierd little cool stoires have happened! First of all we found a cremerie of sorts than is absolutely AMAZING! It sells a coconut ice cream thing that is the best ever! I dunno, maybe I just have been gone THAT long, but what a treat! Also my companions had a interesting day saturday, we were teaching a lesson under a HUGE mango tree, and right in the middle of it, a bird dropped a poo on my companions shoulder, then we tried to clean it off, but it just spread into this big gross yellow stain for the rest of th e day! Then later we were rendering service by drawing water from the wells to help on of our investigators build their house, I love drawing water, I am going to have a well when I grow up, anyways the cord broke and so I decided to go down the well and try to get it out, I got down there, pretty far actually, kinda a wierd feeling being down there, but it was just too deep for me! So we fished it out with a rope and a big hook. Then later the same day my other companion was trying to climb this wall for some reason of an old abandoned house and as he started to climb it, the wall fell/brake away and it was really funny! I just who this kid is, a whole wall fell down as he started to climb it! So funny! We determined that if there is ever an earthquake, everyone will be dead cause all the buildings will collaspe! Assuring, isnt? Later the same day, I had a really cool experience while teaching about the plan of salut. Our investigator, Noélie, loves to ask hard but good questions, so as we talked about le ressurection, the judgement, and the three degrees of glory, as I talked about the Celestial Kingdom she asked a question. Something like, "is it possible to have that happiness without end without your family there? There must be a way to be 'sealed' to them for eternity." We have never talked about the eternal nature of families, temples, or any of that, but she used the word 'sealed'! Sometimes, like at that moment, the viel is thin, we already know this stuff, we just are reminded about it, truths like that can be felt, people know this! They really do! What a spirit was there as we explained, that families are ETERNAl, they can be SEALED for time and eternity! That is happiness, we can never have happiness without end without our families! Its impossible! I am so grateful to the prophet Joseph Smith, who was humble and faithful enough to pray to know the truth, who was answered by Our God, The Father and His Son! Who now in the latter days has restored the PLENTITUDE of the gospel of Christ! Where know the fulness of the blessings of temple can reach into the eternities without our families! Oh how grateful I am for my parents, who live worthly to have this absolutely AMAZING blessing for my family, and raised us to have the testimony of faith and hope that I have!!!! LIfe is  so great! God is great! How blessed we are! And the opportunity I have to share this blessing with my people here! Yes they are my people, my brothers and sisters! Everyday, I am excited to get up and serve! I love it, despite all the pain or whatever, its is worth it to look into the eyes of someone and tell them that they can be with their family for eternity thanks to the gospel of Christ!!! Never forget the blessings that we have, I am going to 'lance une defi' or give a challenge this week to all those who read this messege, I want that for two days, in your prayers, ask nothing for blessings but give thanks for what you have! Dont ask for a single thing, just render thanks! Just do it and you will see more blessings rendered upon your heads than you can think! Dont believe, me?  Try it, I dare you! Well I gotta get going thanks for all the love and support, until the next time I love ya, and remember who you are!!

love elderly

TIKAL!!!

so to explain these photos...i know there are likt 10000 but like i said you dont{ have to forward them all....these are pretty much for the family to see....but whatever you want to do with them...anyawy trying to remember which ones i selected...there there is one of a man named philipe molino...we rent our house from him....he is a branch president for another area...oh i also included some photos of our house...we dont{ have running water and my comp was washing her clothes in our pila so no photos of that....que mas...oh mucho photos de TIKAL!!!!! and my canopy tour aka zip line thing soo much fun and you fly sooo fast through the trees haha it was such an amazing experience...this is the day that i wasn{t feeling weel becusae my head and stomach hurt (to be specific for mom) haha so if i look dead in the photos....sorry...but it was soooo crazy to see thses ancient ruins and then to think that the lamanitse or nephites or ammonites or whover could have lived in places like this...or this very place!!! everything that i{ve seen here so far as far as ruins and stuff that i have learned about bom stuff just adds to how possible it all really is! it makes it sooooo much more exciting to read the book of mormon! like right now i{m in alma and to read and piture all the wars that were going on with captain moroni and stuff and then to now have sort of a visual for their lifestyle it is really neat! the view from the temples is great too!! and there really is nothing for miles!!! jugle solamente! pero es muy bonita! que mas en mis photos....no sé...oh there is a baptism of Lillian! that girls is sooo cute! she is 9 yrs old and her tia (patty who is in the photo o the left) or aunt is raising her and all those other little girls...they are all sisters! but crazy how differnt they all look! they are all my favorite!! oh and thre are pictures of me in a hammock!!! haha not my hammock yet...cause i need to buy food first and makes sure that i have money for it...but hoepfully today i will have my very own hammock to sleep in!!! hahah i love it here! okay so that{s it about the photos...the other e-mail is our weekly adventures aiight? adios llove ya -hermana collette

GUATEMALA GREETING!‏ (Alyssa)

Message from Sister Alyssa Collette

well the mission is going great!! the work is coming along!!! this week i had a good old guatemala greeting...lets just say that i like the food...but i{m not sure how well it likes me...hahaha but it{s nice becasue i{m sarting to think of here as my home for the next 16 months (almost 15) rather than just a place that i am visiting! so i didn{t write yesterday becasue we were at a conference with presidente folabella...i think he{s in the quarum of the 70...very good man tambien presidente coleman was there! we have soooo many people helping us to become better missionaries it truely is a blessing! oh and so i had to bear my testimony yesterday IN SPANISH!! in front of like a million people!!! haha but it was all good no fair those becasue the latins get- to bear theirs in english...haha i{m kidding but so that was a lot of fun...once again we got to halom that really is like my favorite thing! the people are soooo nice! we halomed on a bus on the way to the conference and the lord truely blessed us because pretty much the whole bus was prepared to hear our message! the spirit had prepared those people becuase they were all so wiling and eager to listen to our message! crazy too becasue the driver ended up being a mormon! and also i pretty much taught the whole front part of the bus...by myself and the spirit..but in spanish! while my comp was teaching the middlish and the back of the bus! very great experience! very long trip too...almost two hours just talking and teaching about the gospel! there is nothig better! que mas...we have not had power or water for a bit....so that was pretty nice today to be able to shower completely haha....oh i did get a lot of mail this week...the rest of the letters from mom came from christmas! thank you sooo much! it is always great to hear from home! i{m sorry that i can{t write any letters to you guys though becasue i dont{ have any stamps! and the post office here doesnt{ send mail to idaho..,...i owe letters to grandma! and karla and robert and leslie to thank you guys for the christmas present and for the christmas package...but i can{t send anything so only an e-mail for now but i promise i am soooo grateful! you guys are an amzing support! i truely am blessed! the little kids love all the stickers mom! haha i get attacked for them every sunday! hermana coyote hermana coyote haha that is what they all call me!!! soooo cute! let{s see what else...we had a baptism of a little girl 9 yrs old...lilian she is such a sweetheart! and we have two more baptisms on the 26th...two more kids 8yrs and 11yrs...but these kids are pilas! pilas is like golden! everything we teach them they do! very obedient! reading their scripture, they fight over who gets to pray haha and they went out and bought some more cafe it{s the caffeine free coffe made with maiz-corn that i sent photos of....but yeah i{m excited for them! and the parents are sooo nice...not interested in the gospel but at least they aren{t against it right? i have learned a lot this week....and i truely feel sooooo blessed! i was reading the church news...which is sooo great to read becasue the church is sooo small here...but then to realize how many members we have and also all of the amazing things that are happening all over the world becasue of the members of the church! it brings me great joy and happiness to know that i am appart of this glorios work! also the theme for the week was grattitude in the church news...and as i read it i truely though about all of the things i have been soooo blessed with. nereida y juan (our two baptisms that we hve coming up) always pray and give thanks for one more day here....it really hit me how the people here really can only live day to day...they are so humble and grateful for everyday that the lord gives them....i dont{ think i{ve ever thought to be gratful for that...or how blessed i am and have been to be born in america....we truly are sooo blessed you can{t even imagine! but the people there are so prideful and i{m really grateful for the opportunity to be here and learn sooo much! i have been humbled a lot by the people here...they are all great examples to me on how to truely be happy in life! the gospel is amazing too...a received a package this week from a fellow missionary in africa...and he said something that i really liked and wanted to pass on to everyone...something along the lines of out of all the people in the world...he was born in america and into the gospel! i think so often we take that for granted! there are so many of our ansestors that paved the way for us! grandma coming to america! my mom being converted to the gospel! there are so many more but i am just really grateful and have been so very blessed becasue of the lives of my family! i love you guys you are great! well i think i am going to cut this short...even though i know it is long....but i love you guys...i really do have a testimony of this gospel! it is sooooo amazing!!! i love that i am able to share it with the people here! add to their happiness and help to increase the love they have for the savior! until next week!
-adios hermana coyote!

I hate ldsmail

So I have been trying for the last half hour to get this stupid thing to work and it finally did, so it might be kinda brief today! Anyways, how are ya! Things are bouging here in Africa, lots of lessons and thrills and adventures to be had! So this week I went on splits with Elder Niambé, a missionary from côte d'ivore and it was really fun! So we taught a lot of people and walked even more, it was really wierd being the only yovo within miles of anyone, but I really liked it! So something hit me this week that I think I need to share.... How BLESSED everyone is, elder niambé and I were teaching a leçon and someone asked me, why are the whites people so blessed? We get this a lot, people asking why whites have big houses, lots of money, dont have to worry about what to eat, or how to survive the day, all things temporal, they think we are blessed. Elder Niambé started saying we are not. Then things just started to flood my mine, how really blessed everyone really is, maybe you dont have the latest gadget, or the newness of cars, or clothes might be a little outdated, but who really cares? I think money is a curse, these people have everything I ever want! They are so friendly with one another, they render service often, they care about their families and friends. They laugh smile and wink! They believe in a God. They are charitable, thrifty, and just good wholesome people. I think on average will be more christlike than any of us, because they are not of this world, they depend on each other and God. What else do you need? I dunno made me realize that I HAVE to stop complaining sometimes, I got it easy, I was born to a AWESOME family, who are well to do, I have great health, and I have the Gospel!!! Really we are all so blessed, beyond imagination, beyond! Be humble.
So we had a baptism this week, gentil was baptised and it was a good experience, one thing I dont like about here is they give them the priesthood they same day as confirmation, really wierd, alot dont grasp the concept of the priesthood and what we are entitled and obligated to do.
We found a monkey this week and feed it bananas, it really  cilché.
Elder Howard and I started a tradition of Bazooka Breakfast,every sunday morning are going to make a BIG breakfast, gives us something to do in the morning on Sundays, it fun!
Anyways I dunno what else to write but I hope you guys know how blessed we really are, if not come to Africa and find out, or even better go pray and start naming your blessings one by one, it will suprise you what the Lord has done!! haha HAve a good week and remember who you are!!!

love,
elderly

Family

So what a week! With New Year starting, and Im still in Africa and ALIVE!!!! It is some good news! Well to welcome the new year in, everyone here was party and alcohol-stricken! But not us! Everyone was so busy from preparing fufu and slaughtering thousands of goats and chickens to get ready to celebrate, that no one had time for us, or they were too drunk to even tell us their name! It was a different world! So anways,a member invited us over to celebrate on New Years and so the missionnaires from the Tokion branch, or our apartment was all there, and we ate some delicious Wakumé with pâte de arachide, or peanut sauce, and ate manyoke with eggs, until I wanted to explode and then watermelon!!! It was some good eating!!! I am going to have to learn how to make this peanut sauce cause I dont know how I lived without it!!! It is soo good! Afterwards, everyone was dancing and so they decided they were going to teach us an traditional african dance, lets say its VERY funny to watch and do!!! Its was a good experience, the pic that is attached is little christine, the cutest little african girl ever!!! I want to stash her in my luggage and take her home with me!!! She is a doll!
So I am going to try to send more photos, will see if they work. This week was nuts again trying to get to all of our rendez-vous and stuff, this week we have a baptism, Gentil le grand! He is a very smart kid who was well prepared by a member, to the point that alot of the time he taught us the lessons, we are pretty excited for him! As usual we will running like chickens with our heads cut off trying to make it to all of our rendez-vous, better than nothing to do, right? This week I was attacked by an army of African Red Ants, I leaned up against a tree real quick like and stepped away, then like 30 seconds later 30 red ants are all over my arm and down my shirt, biting/pinching me! I kinda started spamsing out, all the natives started laughing watching the yovo get eaten alive!! It kinda hurt, it was just more annoying than anything, but now I got a cool story!
What else is new.... still in a threesome, I dont like it, missionary work is hard for a threesome, especially with two françophones who love to talk and discuss deep dark mysteries of the gospel, it hard cause for me I am still working of Faith and repentance! Its interesting hearing the theories of stuff that the french moromons have about the gospel, wow!!
We got the new teachings of Joseph Smith book yesterday, and after planning session I started to read it, it a BIG book compared to all the other teaching manuals, but I think I am going to study this for my personal study, cause in French, you cant just breeze through reading like in English, but actually think a little bit, also I think by reading it I might pick up somethings to share with investigators!!! Well anyways all is well here in togo, things are rolling along, hope you have a good week and that you know that I love ya and remember who you are!!!

love
elderly

Camera, the prices here are ridiculous, I say send it, I found out that a member works here in the post office, and she handles ALL the packages and takes good care of us, so it safe to send, also could you send me some clippers? I used them last friday and they werent working very well then my comp was about to use them and they quit working all together! It would be much appreicated!! Thanks love you!!!

A&M Dan with Southams

during the branch x_mas party on the beach, good shirt, huh?

our latest baptism Agon, I think it was three weeks ago? Did I tell you? 

this is Aumhatahn, the huge dust storms from the Sahara Desert,

completely blocks the sun! Still here!