Fr. Eloge

Hello everyone!!! Wherever you are in the beautiful world I sincerely hope that all is going well for you and that life has been wonderful despite the challenges and difficulties that we all have to overcome.

Here's a photo taken of me, our friend shortly before he was baptized, and my new companion named Elder Joseph from Layton, Utah. 

At the start of our new companionship, Elder Joseph and I were able to help out a friend that I've been teaching ever since I first arrived in Bè-Kpota named Fr. Éloge be baptized the 14 Nov. 2015. This guy is a stud and I'm really proud of him for the progress that he made in the short time we've been teaching him. He's still got a ways to go, but we'll do all that we can to help him prepare himself to go to the temple one day. Prayers for this one will be most appreciated!

 

 

Well, I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. 

 I'm pleased to announce that I had a fantastic last-Thanksgiving-on-the-mission holiday/dinner as well! :D Believe it or not, but for our dinner, we had mini steaks, rice, devilled eggs, mashed potatoes and gravy, pumpkin pie and chocolate cake, chips and guacamole, along with a variety of drinks consisting of sodas and cider. I guess one could say that after having lived here for over a year, I've finally learned how to eat (or rather, found the locations of the stores containing said foods). 

 

 The mission has been going incredibly well these past few weeks and the work has been moving forward faster than I've ever seen before. My companion and I have been teaching investigators with members almost every day (props to the ward and it's members). We receive an almost uncontactable amount of contacts from the ward. We've been having an average of ten or more investigators come to church every Sunday, some of which started coming for the first time since I've been here while others were brought by members and then would later become new investigators. Nearly all of these investigators have baptismal dates fixed, two of which named Fr. Honoré whom I've been teaching since I arrived along with and Sr. Nicole, a ten year-old girl whom Elder Joseph and I started teaching and has kept commitments and come to church ever since we started, are going to be baptized this Saturday. We pray and hope that everything will go according to plan.

 As for other exciting news, our mission received a visit from Elder Visent of the Seventy (the Elder with an Australian accent who gave the opening prayer at the start of the last general conference), with whom I was able to speak during a leadership training meeting, which was really awesome and quite inspirational. And then there's today, which would make the thirteenth month mark of the mission along with twenty-five days away from Skyping back home!

 Well, I pray that all goes well for you during the following week. May you perform well in everything that you do and in every pursuit and ambition that you strive and work to accomplish. May you be physically and spiritually safe and out of any kind of harms way. I pray that Heavenly Father blesses you with everything of which you stand in need. I sincerely miss you, I look forward to seeing you again soon, I love you all so much and I hope you have a wonderful week to come!!

Sincerely,

Elder Gonzales

"We're not expected to be perfect, but we are required to do all that we can."

Salut ma famille!!

 Well, my last companion, Elder Adjei, was taken by the assistants to go to Benin where he will have his final interview with Pres. Morin and then take his flight home to Ghana. I had a great time working with him, he was a great companion, we had a lot of fun and got a lot of work done, and he had shown me an excellent example as to how I should end my mission once I get there.

 

 My new companion came in on Wednesday, this has been one of the best weeks I've had since I've been in Bè-Kpota, one of our investigators named Fr. Eloge was baptized last Saturday. Elder Miyasaki and I have been eating very well since we've been living together, although, we ought to make a better budget. We've been doing our shopping in American-equivalent stores. My new companion is from Layton, Utah, his name is Elder Joseph, he is African-American, and he came into the mission with Elder Whitt. My new guy is really cool, we get along very well and we've been working great together so far. 

 Well, everything has seemed to be turning out for the better this past week. I've been making a lot of great friendships with ward members and investigators and I've been able to develop more Christ-like attributes that I've been striving really hard to acquire. 

 So, last Sunday, I finally had the opportunity to watch the morning and evening sessions of conference at church with the ward. I had a difficult time understanding what was being said because the speakers in the room weren't functioning very well. There was, however, one lesson in particular that I retained from what had been said by of the new Apostles. I forgot which one said this, but one of the Apostles said something that stuck out to me, that is, the fact that we need the constant, daily companionship of the Holy Ghost. We have been promised that if we heed and listen to the words of the prophets and continue living according to the principles and ordinances of the Gospel we will have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I know that we can be worthy to have His constant companionship as we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ along with His promises and His Atonement, as we apply the Atonement in our lives through sincere and daily repentance, as we live in accordance with the baptismal covenants that we've made and as we endure faithfully until the end by praying and reading scriptures personally and as a family, by going to church to renew our baptismal covenants, and by performing righteous works, rendering service, and keeping the commandments to the very best of our abilities. We're not expected to be perfect, but we are required to do all that we can (Moroni 10:32-33). I know that as we do so, the grace and mercy that come from the Atonement of Christ are sufficient to change our lives for the better, to enable us receive the forgiveness of our sins, to help us overcome our trials and our weakness, to enable us to improve ourselves and to eventually obtain perfection that will inevitably come to all those who willingly accept and do all that which had been previously said.

 There's a fantastic book that I've been reading called Believing Christ that I highly suggest that you read because it completely changed my perspective in many different aspects of my life that has helped me better understand the scriptures along with the Atonement and learn how to apply it in my life. I highly encourage you to read the book because is has also helped me learn about what is expected of me in order to receive perfection and it has given me hope in that I no longer worry about whether or not I'll receive Celestial Glory because I know that that it is completely and 100% obtainable thanks to the Atonement of Christ.

 I know this Church is true, I know that the fullness of the Gospel along with the authority of the Priesthood have been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. Thanks to the Restoration, we have a sure knowledge of the true nature of God. He is our Father. We are His children. He has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; however, He is different in that He is a perfect, glorified and resurrected being. I know that He knows exactly who we are and I know that He loves us with all His heart. Because He loves us, He sent His son Jesus Christ to the earth to suffer the price of our sins by performing the Atonement, by being lifted up upon the Cross, and then being resurrected so as to give all of His children the possibility to return to live in the presence once again. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and contains the fullness of the Gospel. I know that as we diligently study this book and put into practice that which is there written, we can know exactly everything that we need to do in order to obtain eternal life and that we may know for a surety that Joseph Smith was indeed a true prophet.

 

 I'm afraid I'm out of time, but I'd just like to let you all know that I love you so much and that I hope you had a wonderful week! Take great care of yourselves and of each other, continue doing great things, and I'll talk to you next week!

Love, your brother and son,
Elder Gonzales

"One year mark!"

 

 Every week, I try as diligently as I can to write a weekly letter to my Mission President. He has asked us as missionaries to write to him about two things: the highlight experience of the week along with our personal progress. This time was a little different from the usual for on 31 Oct. 2015, I have accomplished my official "one year mark" in the mission. The following paragraph is what I wrote:

"This mission has been one of the most difficult, yet most rewarding experiences that I've had in my entire life. I'm so very grateful for the opportunity that the Lord has granted unto me to have one more year to serve Him and to make difference in the lives of His children here in Togo. I've become a better man since I've been here and I see myself becoming an even more effective missionary in the Lord's hands with every passing day. I've developed so many qualities, talents, and abilities that I know I would not have otherwise received unless I went on this mission. Despite the many difficulties and trials that I have to overcome every single day, I've genuinely love this mission for it has brought unto me along with all those with whom I've interacted many wonderful blessings and life changes. There are three things for which I'm particularly grateful which consist of the new-found doctrinal knowledge and reinforced testimony that I've obtained, the many people whom I've been able to meet and render service to, along with the many friendships that I've been able to make since I've been here."

 

As for my new companion, he's really great and we've been working very well since we've been together. He's extremely tired (only having one more month to go before he goes home), but he's really patient, super kind, considerate, respectful, and is always willing to serve and help others. It's crazy to think that my guy is getting ready to go home.

 

  The start of the first week was really rough due to trying to get comfortable with the way of which my companion teaches along with getting to know all our investigators, recent converts and members. I had a hard time having charity towards the people in my secteur because I'm not always treated with a lot of respect, but thanks to a lot of prayer I've been able to develop a stronger love for all those who are around me. The secteur that we work in is filled with members along with a ton of non-active members, all of which we see on a day to day basis. There is a vast multitude of people here, a lot more numerous than that of the other secteurs that I've worked in. I particularly appreciate the members in my ward (yes, I'm in a ward) because there are very kind, they love the missionaries, they interact with us a lot, for the most part they are making a great effort to magnify their callings, and we receive a lot of help from their part which has been a fantastic change from Kégué. The new calling has been quite a neat experience thus far and has put me in a position to be an example, which has helped me to become a better person and leader, which has made me more courageous and bold, and to have more opportunities to serve others which has been really great.

 

 Even though it takes thirty minutes to walk there and then thrity minutes to walk back every day, our secteur is filled with members who live amongst one another and interact and colaborate with each other far better than any other ward that I've seen since I've been on the mission. The members are superb in that they get along and they do everything they can to get us contacts and they work with us very frequently and whenever they are avaible. This is by far the best ward I've ever been in and I thoroughly enjoy interacting and working with the members.
 

Great news!!! Bro. Frank and his entire family have been baptized!!!!

 The baptism of this Nigerian family was an excellent experience and I'm grateful to have been able to attend. I actually almost was not able to go. I asked the assistant, who acutally happens to be Elder Dioulo (my trainer), if I could attend and he said no because it wasn't in my zone. However, I sent a text to our Mission President, asking if I could attend and he authorized me to go to the baptism the day the service took place. I won't lie, it was quite the scramble.

 Well, Elder Tapusoa told me that I should be the one to baptize the family because he was going to confirm them as members the next day. Although their baptisms weren't by any means the most graceful due to their fear of water and seeing that they don't know how to swim, it was a great experiece nonetheless. By the looks on the faces of Bro. Frank and his wife Sr. Carol, I could tell that they looked slightly concerned due to what I felt to be doubt, but the fact of the matter is that no one is perfectly ready to be baptized (particularly those who are baptized into a church whose members only speak Evé and French).
Fortuneately, the family will be moving to Ghana where the members speak English sometime next month and so they'll finally be able to hear what the Church is all about with their own ears and comprehension.
They've made what I felt to be a courageous decission due to their current situation; however, I know that they will be blessed for the great amount of trust and faith that they had demonstrated unto the Lord. I sincerelly hope that they will remain faithful, strong and active in the Church so that they may one day be able to go to the temple so as to be sealed as a family for time and all eternity. Please do me big a favor and remember this family in your prayers.

 

 At times I dream of home, perhaps more often than I should, but my mind is steadily becoming more fixed on my missionary purpose. I have one more year left of this and it will all be said and done sooner than we think. My prayer is that I will be able to conquer my weakness and consecrate the remaining half of my mission in rendering diligent and dedicated service with a genuine desire to teach, invite and encourage others to come unto Christ  with more enthusiame and out of the goodness of my heart. Charity has been a difficult attribute that I've been constantly trying to improve due to the way that I'm frequently treated; however, I've become a lot more patient and loving than I've ever been in my entire life since I've been here and I have the Lord to thank for that.

 Though my course has not yet been accomplished, I feel as if I've had a mighty change of mind and heart since I've been in the mission.

  I know that our Heavenly Father lives and that He loves and knows each and every one of us. He's given us weakness so that we may learn from our mistakes and then rely on and turn to Him so that we can become strong (Alma 38:5, Ether 12:27). Because of Heavenly Father loves us, he sent to us a Savoir through which, thanks to His infinate Atonement, we may receive the forgiveness of our sins through sinere repentance, the strength we need to overcome our weakness, and a way by which we all may return to live in His presence (John 3:16-17, 1 John 4:9-10, Alma 7:11-13,14-16, Moroni 10:32-33).

 

I sincerely appreciate the many wonderful compliments and counsel that you've given to me along with the news feed on what has been happening back at home. I truly apprecaite the heed and diligence that you've made in following the words of the prophet, apostles, the seventy along with the other auxillaries leaders of the church. I know that if you continue to do so, you will be sincerelly blessed and you will be able to improve yourself in every aspect of your life more than you've ever been able to do so before (Mosiah 2:41).   

 I'm afraid it's time for me to go. I love you all so very much and I hope that you've had a wonderful week! Take good care of each other, keep making good choices and keep on doing that which is right.

Sincerely,
Elder Gonzales

 

P.S. No joke though, I'm living on prayers over here.

 

 

 

Called as a Zone Leader!

(Two weeks in one)

Salut ma famille!

 I tell you what, this mission certainly has been quite the adventure and it's already almost half way complete. Ten more days and I will have hit my eleven month mark.
 Well, let me hook you up with that which has been going down over here.
1. First of all, we bought a duck some time during the week and killed it on Friday, which just so happened to be Elder Whitt's year mark. We ate the duck Sunday evening and it actually tasted really great.
2. Bro. Frank, the father of the Nigerian family that we've been teaching, had a dream about us after having prayed about our message one night. He said that him, his son Daniel, my companion and I,
were in an appointment-like setting in his house. There was a lady with us who had a problem with her eyes to the point that she couldn't see and she apparently had some sort of mental illness as well. I
told this woman to write her problems onto a piece of paper. She did what I told her to do and then handed me that which she had written on the paper. I then took an eraser and then presumed to erase everything that she wrote. Shortly thereafter, once all that she had written was erased, I wiped off the paper shavings and then blew away the rest. The lady then screamed and shouted due to what I would imagine to be joy because she had regained her sight and was healed. This was without a doubt the strangest response to a prayer that I've heard yet. At least he said he felt the "fruits of the Spirit" while experiencing this vision (Galatians 5:22), making him feel that everything that we've taught so far is good.
3. We were thankfully able to find, meet up with and teach more investigators to teach during the week. Despite difficulties, we've thankfully had a better week as far as productivity goes and we
were able to work with more members which was really nice.
4. Bro. Franc and his family (save for his wife) came to church again for what would now be I believe the fifth time which is really great. We've attempted to fix a baptismal date with them but they haven't quite yet accepted due to wanting more time to reflect upon said decision. I'm sure though once we teach them more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ along with the Plan of Salvation they'll come around and at last be willing to accept to be baptized.
5. Our friend Fr. Daniel, the brother of a recent convert named Sr. Eugenie, came to church as well, but ended up leaving after Sacrament out of either fatigue, boredom, or both. We tried to convince him in just about any way we could to stay, but in the end he still left. This is actually not the first time that he has done this since we've been teaching him and since he has started coming to church. Well, at least he came. Can't complain for that. Although, now we're just going to work on helping him stay for the remaining two hours. Working with a member and then finding him a friend to be with during church ought to do the trick (I hope). Prays for this one will certainly be appreciated.
6. Unfortunately, I don't have any news concerning Sr. Reine. As far as I know her husband has still refused that she be baptized and has even told her to no longer come to church anymore as well.
 This has been quite unfortunate because Elder Tapusoa and I spoke face to face with her husband and he said that he will have to reflect upon that which we had informed him about, that is, the baptism of his wife Sr. Reine. He said that in the end it all comes down to that which his wife wants to do, but I don't think that what he said was in all actuality how he felt. Well, we'll try to talk to him again and maybe try to explain as to why Sr. Reine wants to be baptized again after having already done so in the Catholic Church. We need to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by one holding the authority of the Priesthood by immersion for remission of sins, thereby rendering
ourselves eligible through the purification and sanctification that comes from the Atonement to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. All of which is essential for salvation. Hopefully it will all turn out okay.
7. Stress is killer. Power naps are awesome.
8. 2 Nephi 2:27 says it all. After all we can do, it's up to the investigators to make up the rest and then choose for themselves to do that which they want to do.
9. I played basketball with the other missionaries in our zone and then went to a small restaurant thereafter to buy hamburgers and liquidy milkshakes for lunch today which was pretty fun.
10. This week is the last week of the transfer!!!
Wow, the time sure passes by quick. I'll sure miss working with Elder Tapusoa.
 He has been the best to work with since I've been here and I'll actually miss him.
Thankfully he lives in Kearns, Utah so I'll be able to meet up with
and see him after the mission.




Sooo, Elder Tapusoa and I received our transfer calls last Saturday while we were having a rendez-vous with Bro. Frank and his family.
 I have been transferred and called, after having worked in the Kégué secteur for three months as a trainer for E. Tapusoa (who has been called to continue to serve in the Kégueé secteur to work with a member as the senior companion), to be the new Zone Leader in the Bèkpota Zone. I was transferred yesterday afternoon and I am now working in the Bèkpota secteur with Elder Adjei from Ghana who only has one more transfer (six weeks) left until he goes home. I was in all honesty not at all expecting to be called as a Zone Leader, let alone be transferred from Kégué. I was hoping to not receive more responsibility than that of what I previously had, but it'll be a great opportunity to render service and to help others accomplish that which we've been called to do. As far as responsibilities go, it's in all reality not that much. All I have to do is keep track of all that which a number of companionships are doing, make certain reports, among other things, help take care of zone funds and transportation, lead out zone meetings with my guy, perform baptismal interviews on behalf of the district leaders in the zone, and then there's not much else to it.

 Well, this calling has more than likely determined all that which is going to happen to me for the next six to seven months of my life in the mission. So I'll probably be at my 3/4 mark by the time I'm called to do something else.
  I suppose a new chapter in the book has been opened and we'll see how it all turns out in the end. At least my new guy is really cool. He's super nice, really considerate, has a great rep for being a great missionary, and I can see us working together quite fine.
Those who are in my district apartment consist of an Elder from Hawaii along with another Elder from the Congo. They are also really awesome and I can see us all having a fun time together.

Well, working with E. Tapusoa has been the best experience that I've had since I've been here and has certainly been the best three months of my mission life thus far. He and I worked very hard to come up with investigators to teach by doing a lot of door-to-door proselyting. Our labor consisted of a lot searching, finding, teaching, and seed planting. We managed to find certain people who will potentially be baptized while I'm gone, which would consist of Bro. Frank, who wants to be baptized, along with his family, Sr. Reine, who would have been baptized by now if her husband had accepted that she be baptized, and Fr. Daniel who we hope will be ready to be baptized by the end of October, along with Fr. Jean, the younger brother of a member named Fr. Ekoué, and his son Beaugard who will hopefully be ready to be baptized by the end of October as well.

Elder Tapusoa taught me something during our last companionship study that really touched my heart and inspired me to change and improve the manner of which or the quality of how I do this mission. He showed to me a picture that had been sent to him by a friend that had a quote on the back saying something along the lines of, <<The measure of success is not in the amount of numbers accomplished but in how happy one is to serve the Lord.>> This helped me realize that this is indeed the Lord's work and that I should do my part by acquiring more charity towards the people that I teach, by not relying so much on my own capabilities but more so on the Spirit, and then by being a worthy, happy and cheerful instrument through which the Lord may accomplish the work that He has called me to do.

Well family, I love you all so much, take good care of yourselves, have a fantastic week, and I look forward to hearing from you next week!

Je vous aime tous beaucoup et que Dieu vous bénisse!!
Sincèrement,
Elder Gonzales

Salut tout le monde!!!

 

Salut tout le monde!!!

 

Well, to hook you all up with the news of what's been going on, last week was probably the most difficult week we've had since we've been here. We literally only taught six lessons (one lesson a day) throughout the entire week. Nearly all the rendez-vous that we fixed with our investigators fell. We would get to the investigators home, after having called and confirmed our rendez-vous, and they were either busy and didn't want to receive us or they weren't even there. We did, however, have several opportunities to receive more contacts through the members that we worked with throughout the week, which was nice, but there are a few contacts that we'll probably have to drop due to a few crazy experiences that we had with them while attempting to present to them our message. 

In brief, here are the hardships that we have to over come on a typically daily basis: The word "Yovo" (White) being shouted out at us by children and adults alike among other racial slurs, envious individuals attempting to make us give them money, an insane language barrier seeing that there aren't many who speak French very well, falling rendez-vous, writing in my journal every night (it's a lot harder than you think) among with other things. At least we do have super awesome investigators, even it there are few; "Yovo" only bothers me when I'm extremely frustrated which doesn't happen very often if ever anymore; we've grown tough so dealing with crazy people isn't too bad and at times can be rather fun; as long as we have members with us, everything seems to take care of itself and investigators understand what we want to say; even if our rendez-vous fell, at least did everything that we could as far as staying productive and we were at least able to make one difference a day; I've still been writing in my journal and I even write for the days that I've missed because the memories we've been making are way to great to not be recorded.

Though the secteur at times may be tough, I have the best companion in the world who supports and helps me out all the time. He and I have been working super incredibly well together and it's been simply a breeze training him (come to think of it, he only has three weeks of training left!). I also have a fantastic district and so coming home after a hard day's work is always great. The four of us in our apartment get along super well and we've been having such a blast working together for the past couple months. I'm not gonna lie, I'm really going to miss working/living with these Elders when it's time to be transferred.

Well, I've worked so far with three missionaries in three secteurs (areas) found in Lomé, Togo. First of all was my french-speaking trainer named Elder Dioulo from the Ivory Coast whom I worked with for three months in my first secteur called Apidokoué. Secondly, I worked with Elder Jeneseri, my senior companion from Holidy, Utah, oringinally born in Africa, in my second secteur called Adidogomé for four months. At this present time I'm working with a missionary from Kearns, Utah named Elder Tapusoa, my favorite companion so far whom I am also training, in my third secteur called Kégué for two and a half months. In total, I've been out in the field for almost eleven months (add another month and a half for when I was in the Ghana MTC). 

While working in my first two secteurs I stayed in the same apartment until I was transfered to Kégué for seven months. A change was definately warm welcomed.

Everything has been going extradinarily well for me so far. This has been the happiest yet most difficult part of my mission so far because I've been blessed with the best companion in the world and have also been granted one of the harder secteurs in this part of the mission, that is, in Togo.

We've been having several investigators come to church almost every sunday for a little over a month, which consist of a Nigerian family who speaks English (who came last sunday), our friend Fr. Daniel and his recent covert sister whom we helped start coming back to church named Sr. Eugenie, a woman with whom we fixed a baptismal date with named Sr. Reine for this upcoming Saturday, but won't be able to do it because her husband has refused that she be baptised, along with two other friends named Fr. Doumassi and Fr. Raoul with whom we fixed baptismal dates, but have gone on voyages and won't be returning until next week and so we'll need to refix those dates. We've been fortunate enough (more so lead by the Spirit) to be able to find more people to teach the last week which was despritely needed because many of the appointments that we've been fixing with investigators have not been holding as planned, rendering productivity quite a difficult task.

I can't express the amount of gratitude that I've developed after everything that I've been through. As difficult as this misison has been, it has certainly been the most rewarding work that I've ever taken part or particpated in, an experience that has changed my life along with who I am for the better and the greatest blessing that I've ever been granted in this life (other than the Atonement and my family) due to the wealth of doctrinal knowledge that I've received along with a new and profound testimony that I've obtained of everything that we believe in in this Church. I absolutely love this mission and wouldn't want to be anywhere else in this world. I'm living in a very poor third world country; however, it is filled with a very kind people rich in spirit and a particularly positive way of thinking. The every day problems that we have in the U.S. quite frankly don't even exist here in Togo, seeing that there are many whose only worry is finding the means to feed their families on a day to day basis. Being here has really opened my eyes to many things along with certain aspects that I perhaps would never have thought of before had I not come.

 

I'm sorry, I've gotta bounce. District Leader forgot the key to the appartment and is minutes from pooping in the yard.

 I hope you all have a wonderful week and that life continues to go well for you. Thank you all so much for your love, your support, and especially your prayers!

Love you all so much and have a wonderful week!!!!!

Je vous aime tous, passez une merveilleuse semaine, et que Dieu vous bénisse!!!!

Sincerement, 

Elder Gonzales  

 

 

 

 

 

"Everything on my side of the world is going great!"

 Salute family!

 

 I've got some really fantastic news!!! We had three of our investigators named Sr. Reine, Sr. Adjo and Fr. Raoul Johnson along with a Nigerian, English-speaking family attend church with us last Sunday! The two sisters are progressing really well and hopefully we'll be able to help them become baptized by the end of the next month. As for our friend Raoul,  we've only recently started teaching him,  but he is doing really great as well. So, here's a cool story as to how we met Raoul: While we were on our way to meet up with someone to make a rendezvous with, he approached us from behind and asked if we were from the LDS church. We told him that we were and that were missionaries. Before further explaining, he had been talking to a girl over Facebook living in France who happens to be a member and she started telling him about our church. He became interested and told her that if he ever saw the missionaries in Lomé he would go speak with them to find out more. So, one day, he felt inspired to go for a walk for no apparent reason, and in doing so, he met us. While talking with him we gave him a brochure and took his number and set up a day to drop by his house to teach him more about our message. He voluntarily agreed and willing fixed a day to meet up with us. Since that day, we've met up with him three times and he has already come to church! The last time we were at his house, we took pictures together with his tablet that his sister sent to from my Germany and we sent the photos to the girl in France to show her what her missionary efforts produced. Pretty awesome story right?
 As for the Nigerian family, we were walking in the secteur on our way to a rendezvous Saturday evening and the father of the family who was driving his car at the time pulled over beside and us and starting speaking in English asking if we were from "That Church", that he had recently came from seeing the church building and asked when it was that he and his family could come to visit. We told that he and his family could came by the next day on Sunday, that church starts at 11h00 and ends at 14h00, that we were in fact from "That Church" and that we were missionaries, that we would like to take his number so as to be able to call him and make an appointment with him and his family to be able to share with them more about our message and that it would be a pleasure for us to see them at church.
 These sort of situations happen every now and then, that is one approaches us asking what it is that we do, if we have some sort of message to share and after having given whoever is what that asked us these questions a brochure along with a number to call if he/she is interested in learning more about our message, he/she says that he/she will come visit our church; however, they never actually come. But guess who was at the church the very next day?! I actually wasn't entirely surprised to see him and his family there because he seemed sincerely interested in coming. While he was there, I translated for him in Elder's Quorum and it went really great. I've got a pretty solid feeling that he and his family can genuinely progress. Well, we fixed a rendezvous with him and his family for this Wednesday so we'll see what happens.

Here is a picture of me and my missionary boys chillin in the hood while snapping selfies!

We send you all our love and thanks for the love, support, care and prayers!

We love you all so much and thank you so much for all that you do for us!

For some its been a while since we've spoken. Know that everything on my side of the world is going great! I'm absolutely loving it here, my compaion whose name is Elder Tapusoa is a champ, my district (all of whom you see in the photo) is absolutely amazing and we've working really great together, I'm still alive and healthly, and as happy and excited to do this work more than ever before since I've been on the mission, and we've been having really great success in our efforts to spread forth the message of the restored gospel with all those willing to hear us among the people of Togo.

 

Have a wonderful week and I hope to hear from you all again soon!

Je vous aime beaucoup et que Dieu vous bénisse!

P.S. -- By the way, Sarah asked me if I've seen anything crazy or weird since I've been here. In fact, yes, I've seen two to be precise. I hope you're literally ready to hear what I'm about to say. (1) So, one day, while teaching an investigator, there was an old lady sitting on the ground not too far away from us who started a fire by doing voodoo. In between her legs lied a can that she had filled with charcoal, whether or not it was lit, I wasn't sure. At some point of time, she lifted her hands above the opening and made a few, strange hands signals. Shortly after doing so, sparks started flickering out of the can and a spurt of flame ignited. (2) While walking the streets of Apedokoué in my last secteur of Adidogomé, there were two topless ladies painted completely white, wearing a white, fabric turban over their faces while holding what looked like a white, round-headed paintbrush, marching and chanting down the street while being followed by a group of normal dressed people banging on drums and making all sorts of crazy noise. This is indeed a very weird place and voodoo is pretty freaky and scary.

Short but sweet!

 Ma famille!!! Vous me manquez beaucoup!!!!

 Oh wow! That's crazy to hear what happened to Naomi! I sure hope that she's doing okay!

 

 Dad and mom, I must let you know that you were amazing parents and I seriously grew up having one of the most fortunate of circumstances as pertaining to a genuinely happy family. I could literally go on for a very long time, but as a brief yet sincere summary, know that you've always taken great and wonderful care of me in supporting me in every physical, emotional, and spiritual need, you've taught me a whole lot more than you can probably imagine, you've shown me countless of times throughout the entirety of my life that you love and cherish me and my siblings, you've set an incredible example to me as to how I should be one day as a parent, and I will tell you right now that you have no room for doubt nor worry that you were unsuccessful parents because in my eyes you have sincerely fulfilled your roles as parents in my life by demonstrating through your countless efforts that you did everything that you possibly could to make my siblings and I genuinely happy by teaching us to do what is right and by walking beside us in the light.

 Well, talking about the time passing by, my companion and I were asking ourselves today if this last week even happened. It's true when one says that time flies when you're having fun. Even though this week was rather tough due to trying to find more people to teach who are willing to receive us, contacting many people, going door to door, person to person giving brochures, and so forth, the week has certainly been among the favorites since I've been here in Kégué working with Elder Tapusoa. I'm afraid I don't have a whole lot more time left for today so as a summary everything is going great even if we're having difficulty finding people to teach. Fortunately enough we've found a few people who've been receiving us super well and I'm certain that they can progress to baptism. We've even had an investigator who grew up in France and poses ridiculously hard questions during rendezvous come to church last Sunday. My companion is progressing super fast and really well due to all the hard work and effort that he has been putting in to become a successful and effective missionary. Elder Tapusoa is so great, we've been working super awesome together and by far he's been my favorite companion so far (even though he's only the third). 

 Well family, I'm afraid I've gotta bounce so I catch you on the flip side next week alright! 

Take care of each other and have a wonderful week!

Je vous aime et que Dieu vous bénisse!

Avec Amour,

Elder Gonzales