.....September 21-28.....

hello family and friends,

so not a very exciting week. we didnt do a whole lot. i do have some fantastic news however. i got my birthday package!!! it was absolutely incredible. and yes most of the food is gone already. i made easy mac for elder n'dri and he absolutely loved it.

mom thanks for the cook book but we dont have an oven. maybe i can use it at the next apartment if im lucky!! the family looks great in all the photos and thanks for the cassette. i have listened to it all at least 30 times already. and i just sent the family a letter and a dvd with some pictures in a separate envelope.

so like i said, not much happened this week. our baptism fell through, but i have gotten used to that. three of the candidates were bumped to the 10th of october, because they had some things that they had to take care of first.

so the goldden investigator i talked about last week, it turns out she has a "catch". her mom wont let her get baptized. we dont know why exactly, so were going to go talk to her. carine was devastated. however, we have another investigator where the same thing happened, and now her dad is letting her get baptized the 10th of october!!! pretty exciting. the lords hand really is in aALL things. we told carine to hang in there and continue to be faithful, God will take care of the rest.

me and elder n'dri are still enjoying each other. tomorrow we have another mission conference already. i cant believe its been 6 weeks since the last one already!! i am prety excited. dad if you talk to phil soon, tell him that yes we are in the appartment accross from the hopital still, and that frere bli says hello.

the sun is starting to really blaze, and my tan is rockin. everythings going alright here in koumassi. nothing really exciting going on. i miss you all very much but i am getting lost in this work, and the time is flying. my french is pretty good, but that hasnt been a problem since about week 3. i love this work its hard being away from those that i love, but i know that this is going to make me so much better, and this willl be a blessing to me and my family for the rest of my life.

oh yeh happy birthday next week mom!!!

well i love you all and pray for you all. cant wait til next week!!!

your african missionary

elder call

.....September 14-21.....

hello everyone,

sorry this week isn't very exciting. i literally have nothing to say. it was a quick week. we went on splits with a couple of ward missionaries to get a couple more crucial lessons in this week. were going to have three baptized this saturday which is kinda exciting. one of them is Carina. let me tell you about carina. she is the golden investigator that every missionary dreams of finding. she doesnt know much about god, but she wants to. she said she wants to go to our church forever, she wants to leave her old life behind. every lesson, she asks tons of questions and understands every concept we teach. its kinda easy. i am just hoping there isnt a catch. life happens that way sometimes, there's always a catch.

so glad to hear that kelli and the baby are doing well. tell carter that if he doesnt knock it off, when i get home i am gonna invoke some african voodoo on him. only kidding.

so yeh, sorry this week's email kinda stinks... just nothin that great to really talk about. all is well, i am learnig a ton, and my french is improving. i love the work and cant wait to see the changes start to take place in my life.

thanks for all the support and i love you all.

your missionary,

elder call

.....September 7-14.....

hello family and friends,

nothing extremely exciting or out of the ordinary this week. i do have some news that i am quite thrilled about, elder n'dri stayed for another transfer!!! oh i was so dang happy. so all is well in koumassi.

we had another baptism on saturday. i baptized both of our candidates again. i am starting to think that the africans dont really like the water too much. oh well, i am content. there names are pedome affi marie and koffi charles andre. it was another pretty awesome experience. we have another three people getting baptized the 26th of september, so the work is going strong here.

i had yet another encounter with some interesting food.... i ate pongolais. what is pongolais, you ask? oh its anteater. yeh i ate an anteater. it was weird. i really wanna try monkey next.... i will let you all know.

so i was kinda ticked off to see that i have been gaining weight. i had tried to gain for so long, and now that i am in africa of all places, i start gaining. dont you worry now, i still have my adonis-like figure, as i walk alot, work out alot, and not to much the sun enjoys sizzling away some pounds every now and then.

still no package. from anyone. there is another conference on tuesday so i will check with the assistants.

i wrote out the words to several songs from my ipod in english. elder n'dri has been singing his little heart out and it is the funniest thing i have ever seen in my life. his voice is deep in french, but when he sings in english, its a little like william hung. i love the kid and were still getting along great.

well not much else to say this week. keep me in your prayers as you are all in mine. and try not to worry about whats going on. just have faith. the big man is looking out for me.

i love you all.... until next week!!!

your missionary,

elder call

.....Another Week..... Sept. 1-7, 2009

howdy everyone,

so nothing really exciting this week... great job buckeyes and thanks for the update dad. all is well here in Koumassi. we just got our appartment sprayed with insecticide so we have to stay out for a while.

we had our stake conference yesterday in cocody, which is a gorgeous area, and the chapel there is sooo nice. elder dickson of the quorum of the 70 was there. he gave a talk on the family, which was incredible. he's the general authority with one arm.
Ndri and i worked pretty dang hard this week. between tuesday and saturday we taught 31 lessons. it felt good to see your teaching pay off in the lives of the people here.
this week is transfer. i am not looking forward to it at all, because i know elder n'dri is leaving. he has been here for about 5 and a half months. i love my companion and don't wanna say goodbye, but thats the life of the mission and i know that i will see him again.

so cote d'ivoire played burkino faso in soccer on saturday. it is absolutely nuts here when the games are going on. the shops close down, everyone turns on their televisions, all the cars honk every goal. i am surprised we were able to get 8 lessons in. i have never seen anything like it. its pretty awesome. n'dri said that with the world cup here next year, if i have an ivorien companion, he want won't wanna teach when the games are on. i believe it. soccer is life over here. if you dont play, your a wimp. i guess i chose the wrong sport then, huh?

i have been teaching english at the ward on fridays. it has been going really well and i usually get a good turn out. the members and investigators love it, and it helps me with my french too.
so we bought natural honey this week. it wasnt bad, but when i poured it out, several dead bees came out with it. thats normal... i looked at n'dri, a little confused. i wasn't sure if i was supposed to eat them. so i did. and then he busted up laughing. he told me he would never eat bees. i felt awesome (hint of sarcasm). good one companion, you got me.

looks like i have another 4 baptisms for this saturday. i am pretty syked. i hope it feels like it did last time.

thanks as usual for all of your support. mom an dad i still havent gotten the package but hopefully soon. i love you all and cant wait to catch up again next week!!!

your missionary,

elder call