Bienvenue en Afrique

Salut tout le monde,

I'm not really sure what to say to everyone. It is quite the experience here in Togo. I am in Togo and not in Benin right now. I am in the area Kodjoviakope, which is the most southwest part of our mission. My secteur (area) has two of its borders marked: the first by the ocean and the second by Ghana. I see them both from my apartment, which much like unto mine last year, has a beautiful rooftop balcony where I can overlook the city. The one problem here compared to in Avotrou last year is that the people now stare back.... Awkward.

My companion's name is Elder Ramananjanahary........ we call him Rama. Those Malygasy have quite the names. He is a unique little fellow. If anyone has seen the movie Radio, he sort of looks like that, but pocket sized. He is a machine when it comes to walking. We walk 10 miles a day, and that isn't an exaggeration, I brought a pedometer. It is super exhausting, but at least it helps me sleep at night. Plus, he has only been a member for 3 years, which I have noticed is the case for a lot of the native African missionaries. 

We have the only group in our mission. What that means, is that it is smaller than a branch, which is smaller than a ward. Most people don't hear about groups in the U.S. but apparently they do exist. We had 12 members come to church on Sunday, the most part of them are teenaged girls... I'll get into that a bit more in a second.

We spend a lot of time working with the few members asking them for friends and referrals that they can help teach with us. We don't do a lot of OVB, which is Ouvrir Votre Bouche (Open Your Mouth), because it is tremendously ineffective here. Our efforts are focused on member strength and unity. But there are disputes here among the members because nobody likes the Group Leader, Frere Alex. He is power hungry and has a "holier than thou" attitude towards the other members of the group. It is sad, but I have received plenty of earfulls about his personality. So that is our first priority, fixing everyone's relationship with each other.

Let me tell you about my first few days in Africa, and if you want a true description of what I see here, it may not be pleasant to some people's imaginations. That is a disclaimer. It isn't that I wanted to imagine these things either, but being here to serve my Lord at the request of my God through His servants the Prophets, I have seen these things. So they will help others understand how the world is here, beyond the idea that there are starving children in the streets and the land is war torn and ravaged. These things are true, but you see them from a different angle than most as a missionary.

On my very first day, we went out tracting after a four hour drive from Cotonou to Lomé. [The countryside here is beautiful.] We were walking down a street towards the house of an Ami (investigator). For those that don't speak French, "ami de l'église" is the way to say investigator for future reference in my letters and blogs. As we were walking towards their house there were girls gathered in a group all urinating by the side of their coiffure (barbershop). 

Today, being our jour de preparation (P-day) we were taking a taxi to this place called "Citimart" which is where you can buy American products here in Togo. As we were trying to find said taxi we had to walk along the boardwalk and wait for one within our price range to come by. Thus, as I was enjoying the view of the lovely ocean an out-of-place sighting marred my view. It was something that I had never seen before in such a way, nor do I hope to see it again. There were, lying in the sand of the beach, two dead bodies drying out in the heat of the sun.... This is just a taste of the things that are seen here.

As it is said, "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." I sincerely miss the safety of the United States, but I realize that the only hope for these people is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no way to deny that each of the teachings of the Gospel apply here, as they do all around the world. It is as if God knows what is going on in the world.... ;) 

There is no principle of the Gospel that can't help people all around the world. Through poverty's veil or abounding in wealth, the Gospel rings true and loud for the blessing and edification of the whole world. I am glad that I get to take part in so great a cause here in this special part of the world, though it will test my capacities more than I can imagine. 

I said a little earlier that I would explain more about the teenaged girls, and so I will. Now, take into account that most of the African missionaries are recent members of the church as well, though I don't condone their behavior on that excuse.

The natives enjoy those of the opposite sex here. They flirt with the girls, they hold hands with the girls, and yes, there are those that kiss the girls.... It is something that I do not like in any way. The other Americans here tell me to ignore it, that it is "easier to not say anything" and I can't believe that I hear that out of their mouths. 

Yesterday on our way to church my District Leader was holding hands with an ami called Sonya. Now, I tried to speak to him about it, but he acts ignorant to my ability to speak French and makes it seem as though I'm just speaking gibberish. It is ridiculous! I speak broken French, but it is still understandable. I know because after I said something the girl started to get awkward holding his hand around me, which I thought was good at first until they started holding hands again during Sacrament Meeting. GRRRR!!!!! I will figure out what needs to be done in this situation, so there is my rant and complaint about Africa this week. 

So let us talk about me bearing my testimony my first Sunday in church to the 15 others in the room: 12 Members and 3 other missionaries. It wasn't bad, my French is a lot better when it isn't in response to someone else's French. The Togolaise have a unique accent, and as I have learned, it is a self-developed accent. You see, when Togo gained independence from France in 1960 the Government decided that they hated all things French so anyone that had a French name needed to change it to one that wasn't French and with it, they changed their accent. They hate French accents. One of them said I sounded French, which I took as a compliment until I found out that they depise the French....

Well anyway, French was good, but I think the only person that was paying attention to me was the other American missionary there, Elder Hawkins. There were boys laughing and sleeping, there were two children playing tag, and the other girls were flirting with my District Leader. There of course was a woman with a semi-prolific beard breast-feeding her baby. I mean there obviously had to be this sight or Africa would be incomplete. Sure I respect breast-feeding, it is great and all, it isn't really a spectator's sport though. Plus, beards aren't the most appealing of things on woman. It gets me because she shaves her armpits, so why not her beard. You don't need to stare too long to figure out if they shave their armpits here in Africa, if you were wondering that.

Like I said, there are plenty of unique experiences here in Africa. They are once in a lifetime moments, and they will definitely help me appreciate the finer things in life. I love you all, I pray for you. I hope that you are all having wonderful and amazing lives, enjoy the simple things. They may seem small to you, but they may be the most important things in your life. 

Scripture that helped me this week, Ether 12:6. 

-- 

Elder Robert Eugene Haggard II