History in Togo

Dearest World,

Today begins with a story, and I hope that you open your minds to fully imagine the importance and the principles behind it.

Amid the gloom that told of the coming winter, the mist and fog rolled in upon the shores. The weather was cool, and good strolling atmosphere due to the silence all around harmonized by the crashing of the waves. Along the foggy shoreline paced an aged-man pondering over the deeper concepts of life, the unanswered questions that a man of his standing was not allowed to not know.

During these pensive moments he witnessed a strange thing taking place further down the shore. A boy stood facing the vast ocean before him, and just a little ways behind was a recently dug hole. The boy begins walking into the frosty water, and in hand was a little cup of some sorts.

The man, still watching from a ways off, began to make his way towards this young boy to give him a good “whatfor” for his act of stupidity. As he approached he saw once again the boy upon the brink of the ocean, this time making his way to the hole to place the water from the goblet into it. Shivering and soaking wet, the boy turned to face once again the enemy that was the ocean. Before the old man could raise his voice, the young boy was once again submerged in the waves to gain his little water to put in his hole.

He got out and placed the water once again his hole, and the old man finally arrived in time to stop him from going into the water. He asked the boy, "What do you think you are doing going into the ocean?"

The boy, with a puzzled look on his face responded, "I am filling up my whole with the ocean."

The old man then asked why the young boy would be doing something like that, and with derision in his voice he asked, "What do you hope to do with the ocean in your hole?"

The boy smiled, he went a little wide-eyed, turned his gaze to the ocean, and said, "I hope to put the whole ocean in my hole! It will take some time, but I can do it one day, somebody dug the hole that it is already in." The aged man responded with unreserved laughter.

"You honestly think that you could fit all of the ocean into your small hole!? What have your parents been teaching you?"

The boy nevertheless went back into the ocean to retrieve his little bit of water. The old man scoffed and walked away still laughing to himself about the hope of the young boy trying to put the whole of the ocean into his little hole.

Think about this, who are we in this story? Do you have the hope of this young boy in putting the whole ocean into our little holes through work and persistence, or do we have the laughter and scorn of the old man mocking the "impossible?" 

The ocean before us is the mysteries of God, knowing bit by bit His goodness and love, and the little hole is our heart and mind. Do you stand on the brink wide-eyed and excited? 
I hope that I am wide-eyed and excited, I sure feel like I am.

History was made here in Togo this past weekend. We spent Saturday and Sunday hosting an open house and then the dedication of the first chapel in Lomé!!!! It was a monumental moment in the history of Togo, and the most spiritual feeling that I have yet to feel here upon my mission: hundreds of saints humbly bowing our heads in prayer and dedicating the chapel to Him, and along with the chapel our lives once again. 

Chapel dedication at Kegue. Elder Haggard with Pres. Weed

Another great week here in Africa, though still rather warm. I am loving life, and everything that it entails. Keep the Lord first in your life and only good things will follow, for only good things are on the path laid for us by the Savior.

Sincerely, 

Elder Haggard

Another Week in Be-Kopte (That Makes Two)

Dearest Children,

Well here is another letter from another missionary in another part of the world.

The week has gone by rather well, only one hitch along the way, my flash drive that had all of my photos from Kodjoviakope and the MTC was "misplaced" somewhere in Africa. So, my memories of my first four months on the mission will be from the pages of my journal only, and whatever photos make it to me through the efforts of missionaries that I have met along the way. So here's to hoping!

This week we spent a lot of hours being beaten upon by the hot African sun because of our lack of scheduled appointments. You will notice something on this mission, and I am fairly certain it is the same sentiments around the world, nobody enjoys O.V.B. (open your mouth, contacting, porte-a-porte, etc.) Well, there could be some aspects that people like, perhaps meeting new and wonderful people, getting to know your area or secteur, better than doing nothing, but when it is HOT or the weather seems against you, you don't like being outside any longer than is necessary. Even coming back to the apartment for lunch is sometimes difficult with how hot is has been getting here. I miss the ocean breeze of Kodjoviakope. They say that it will stay this hot or hotter until March... optimism at its best...

Yes, I didn't enjoy spending many hours doing O.V.B. but there were results. We found many wonderful people with the potential to progress. Among these people there were a young boy reading his bible, a man who chose to stop us on the road, an elderly woman selling goods by the gutters, and all the miracles that encompass them. Your eyes seem to open as you allow your heart and mind to be opened by and for the Holy Ghost, and through this you can see these miracles happening right in front of you.

I will start in a reversed order on explaining these fine folks. The first we shall call Maman Elisabeth, and she is a lovely lady of 40-50+ years of age. She is a kind-hearted, shy and humble woman, that practices her faith amongst those in the Catholic Church. She knows that her answer to the Gospel will come through prayer, she just is hesitant to ask if it is true or not. That is one of the best reasons that I have ever seen for not praying, though there is never a good reason to not pray, that comes close. Fear of getting a response that isn't in line with what you have known so long is so much better than just not caring. She accepts all the lessons and respects the rendez-vous, she let us down by not coming to Church this past Sunday, but we have hopes for her in the next couple of weeks.

Next, the man that chose to stop us on the road.This man is named Kokou, (pronounced Koh-koo) and he flagged us down in the middle of the night as we were walking to our apartment. He thought that we were the Témoins de Jehovah (Jehovah's Witnesses) but we were too well-dressed and I was white... So we got to talking, he accepted our rendez-vous, he was keen to know more about the mythical "Livre de Mormon" and how it could possibly testify of Jesus Christ. We met with him, talked to him about the Restoration, he had a few issues on the power and authority subject, but in the end he knew that it is possible, but he would first have to read the Book of Mormon, his words not mine. He came to Church on Sunday, that was amazing!!!!

Final person of the week, the young boy reading his bible, whose name happens to be Joel. We finished what we call a "lesson" though it was rather short and the person we were teaching was distracted, and so we had "extra time" to go knock on some gates. As we knocked on the first gate, there stood a toweled boy, still wet from his shower, yet for some reason he had his bible already in hand. He invited us in with a beaming smile on his face. He didn't let anything stop him from hearing this message, and everything just went perfectly throughout it. My companion and I worked the best we ever have together and it just flowed. He understood, and asked questions, and he is another person that knows the answer will come through the Livre de Mormon. Let us see how they all pan out.

Those are the exciting things throughout this week. I tried to let you know a little more about what I was doing rather than what I have been learning. I hope that you have felt a part of my week. I would send you pictures, and from now on I will, but all those that I once had are now elsewhere. My mission is going great, feet are nice and sore from walking, hands are nice and sore from doing my laundry, shoulders are nice and sore from carrying the Gospel in my bag. The daily pains are just a nice reminder of how great this work is. The physical burden on my back is nothing compared to the spiritual responsibility that I have been entrusted with here on my mission. It is nice to know that the Lord has placed His confidence in me and permitted that I stand as His representative here amongst the people of Togo and Benin.

That is my week in a nutshell. Hope you have all had as great a week as I have! I love you all! Talk to you next week!

Adieu,
Elder Haggard

First Week in Magical Bè-Kpota!‏

• Heya World!

  
  

  I am currently typing on a keyboard in French, and they have removed the option of changing it into English, so in advance, if you start seeing words misspelled, assume it to be that instead of deteriorating English, please and thank you!

  
  

  First off, CONGRATULATIONS Amalia Barrow Salmon on your wedding!!!

  
  

  My letter this week may be brief in regards to what is happening on the mission front, but nonetheless I will tell you all about my new secteur, and more so I hope to tell you about my recurring thoughts this past week. I hope you will bear with me as I try to articulate my thoughts (they kind of all just spill out as soon as I start typing, like a running dialogue in my head). So onto this adventure we set off!

  
  

  So let us start with Bè-Kpota, with its beauty, and its... dead people. Yeah, there is the largest selection of dead people that I have ever seen found here in my secteur, albeit in the form of a cemetery. It wouldn't be such a special sight, but here in Togo they don't believe in burying people in the ground and so there rests large concrete tombs above the ground. So we get to walk through that everyday... and every night! Eerie as it may be, but I like the creepy things... or not. Honestly I don't like creepy things, and you can ask many people that I am the most scared in the room when a scary movie is on, a little pathetic on my part, but I live with it.

  
  

  My companion is amazing! His name is Elder Kouadio and he is from Côte d'Ivoire. He loves to cook, to work, and to sleep. The latter is possibly due to his age, for he happens to have six extra years under his belt than I do during this mortal state. Yeah, I do feel rather young around him, but I will get over that all. I am also with two others in my apartment, Elder Ringle, who I happened to meet as he was in the MTC and I was in the Referral Center, and Elder Soanantenaina, he is from Madagascar. They are all super cool so I am happy here.

  
  

  Shout out/rub in the face for Elder Hawkins in Kodjoviakopé, the water pressure here is AH-MAY-ZING!! :P

  
  

  So now let me turn my thoughts to something of a little more spiritual, I hope.

  
  

  My thoughts go to a talk that I happened across this morning given by Neal A. Maxwell back in April of 1978 entitled, "The Women of God" and it touched a special place in my heart. In this talk Elder Maxwell speaks of the mysteries of God when giving specific roles to His sons and daughters. It was something that people often question on the whole equality dispute, and here it was simply put so that all the world can understand, it is how God planned it to be.

  
  

  There has always been a sacred nature and a special reverence given in regards to womanhood throughout all time. There have been very significant impacts through Heavenly Father's choice in His daughters sent to this world. The list is very long, and each has in fact effected the world as we know it. The part that started to turn and turn in my mind is that, as we well know, God is the same yesterday, today and forever, that leaves no room to dispute that he continues to choose the specific work of His daughters. So my thoughts turned to my mother.

  
  

  I often have felt, in recent months, after that whole angsty, rebellious teen phase, that my mom has always been an inspiration to me. She, though left alone early to raise her children, has always found a strength to stay resolute in the faith, and has been able to give us the opportunities that we have needed to be successful in life. She has set an example for me to follow in loving my children, to withstanding adversity, and to staying true to the gospel. She has had much challenge in her life based on situations that she was placed into, but nevertheless she arose to be a strong-spirited and loving person. 

  
  

  I know that God specifically chose her to go through those trials, to be my mother, and to put up with all of my burdens. I know that God did all those things because He loves me, and more importantly, He knew that this day of realization would come and now I have to make it up to her.

  
  

  God is amazing, He has blessed my life with my amazing mother, my sister, my future wife and daughter(s)maybe). Yes, men in my life have made a difference, but woman will always make the greater. I love the blessings of the Lord that come through His chosen angels here upon the earth. They truly bless the lives of billions through their loving grace, and their resistance to the beatings from the world for "empathy during agony is a portion of divinity" as expressed through the Savior in His precious moments upon Calvary's crest. Women are amazing, be grateful for the women in your life, for I am for those in mine.

  
  

  That was the little thought that I had today.

  
  

  Sincerely,

  Elder Haggard

  
  

Seven Baptisms and a Transfer

Hello Everybody!

This has been an exciting week in the life of Elder Haggard! I mean, every week is exciting here in the service of the Lord, but this week has been a little more so. (Maybe the title of the email gives you a little hint.)

We had SEVEN BAPTISMS! (That's quite a bit to have in one week.) It was a nice surprise when you go into the week thinking two and then investigators that you have almost given up hope on decide to "give it a go." My heart leapt for joy as they all accepted to follow the Savior's example. To see people's hesitation as they enter the baptismal font followed swiftly by the sight of peace and joy as they come up from the water is such a beautiful sight! I can't even begin to describe it.

That was an amazing and faith growing experience that I will always hold in a sacred place in my heart. I was blessed with being the one asked to perform the ordinance, and that I am grateful for. I would love to keep the spirit that was felt in this experience, and to show that despite the ordinance it being perfect in its purpose and power, there are still the influences of man involved, and so there is a funny story to one of these baptismal candidates.

So, as Eva entered into the waters, she was trembling. Not to be stereotypical, just from my experience, Africans are scared of submersion. So, that is what I feel was the cause of this fear. I assured her that the process is quick, literally painless, and that she need only focus on the joy and the feelings of her heart and what she feels after, not before, the "plunging."

Her shaking ceased a little. She took a breath, and with a smile on my face I began to say the prayer. "Amen!" My arm descends to aid her into the water, but before I can get it there *SPLASH!!* Water is all over my face, as I try to help her back up, but as she comes back up out of the water, SHE SPITS ALL THE WATER INTO MY FACE! She is also shaking more vehemently than before. As I help her out of the water, she begins to sob, rather loudly, as she enters the echoing chamber to change. :/

Later I found out that in her "graceful" entry of the water, she got some of it in her ear which displeasured her very much. It wasn't me! I didn't cause a girl to start crying despite anything Elder Hawkins tries to tell you! Don't listen to him! She was radiant and jolly the next day at Church as she received her confirmation into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That again was a nerve-racking experience as I performed two of the seven confirmations, in the French language mind you. I had never done that before, but it eased my mind in knowing that I can do it.

Let me share with you all something awesome that it took me six months to read, so forgive my tardiness.

"Life can be difficult, and it can harden hearts to the point where certain people seem unreachable. Some may be filled with anger. Others may mock and ridicule those who believe in a loving God. But consider this: though they do not remember, they too at one time yearned to return to their Father in Heaven." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

How can you look at people now? How does it make you feel that their first step was your first step? They chose to descend from the presence of a loving Father, to come and receive a body, and to try to make it back to His presence once again knowing that there was a risk of failure. They chose, before any other decision was placed before them, to act in faith. We started on the same path together, and we came here with the same purpose. So where along the way did some of us lose our footing?

That is something that we should think about. Where are we in this eternal endeavor? Food for thought...

I also got transferred, or the news that I will be mutated, this week to an area called Bé kpota. It is in the middle of Lomé so I will be taken away from my wonderful ocean breeze. I hope all will be good over in yonder world. The mystery of being transferred still eludes me because this is my first time since arriving to Africa four months ago. Kodjoviakopé has been my home, and it saddens me to see it in the "rearview mirror" but that is the life of a missionary. We make friends, and create a relationship that you can't find any other way, but then the Lord needs you elsewhere and you have to pick up and leave. So, trying to be like Nephi, I take an attitude to "go and do the things the Lord commands."

Let me tell you one last thing before I go. It has to do with the most amazing family in Kodjoviakopé! It is a family of three, but technically four, that live in the most humble of circumstances. The dad works in the most lucrative industry in the world, rice-dealing. Due to this business he lives away from his family in Ghana, and the first time I have ever met him was this past Sunday. So, we went and visited them later that day, in hopes to get to know him better and see what we can do to help this family.

The ones that we know well are Soeur Brigitte, and her two daughters Oliva and Blandine, and we regularly visit the family and talk with them. So we get there, but the dad flys out the door saying that he will be right back... that means see you never here in Africa. "J'arrive" is the polite way of never coming back. So we just spoke with the family.

Within a few minutes it started to rain, so we got under their overhang thing. It worked for a little bit, but then it started to downpour. Soeur Brigitte then invited us into their parcel, and began quickly apologizing for how crowded it was... That sweet family lives all together in a small 8'x10' room. It truly opened my eyes to the blessings that Heavenly Father gives to his children, and made me ever grateful for those precious few minutes spent hiding away from the rain with those most choice of God's children.

They chose, despite poverty and hunger, to follow the commandments of the Lord. Despite Soeur Brigitte not knowing how to read she still strives to hold her family together based on the principles of scripture study, prayer, and family unity. It is the most marvelous sight in all the world to see. There truly is beauty all around when there is love at home.

Be strong in your faith, no matter where you may be in life. God loves you. Be grateful for what you have, give that which you can to others. If you have nothing to give, know that you can always give space in your heart to them. Love those around you. That is the message that I want to leave with all of you, love your family, love your neighbors, and above it all, love your God.

Sincerely,

Elder Robert Haggard