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
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