"I absolutely love this mission that the Lord has sent me here to do!"

Salut famille!

 

 Thank you so much for your prayers! Without a doubt, they've helped me so much within this past week, of which, was actually super great! Well, here's some great news with the language: I can communicate with anyone now and say just about anything that I need to say. My current goal at this moment is working on having longer and more meaningful conversations with people and I've been having a lot of success with said goal. Also, here's something super awesome: yesterday at church, for the first time I taught the lesson in the missionary/investigator class and it went really well! Actually, since my new companion came, I've been forced to speak a lot more French than ever before and that's helped me out a ton.

 So, we've fixed two baptisms for the fourth of April with two of our investigators named Frère Michel and Soeur Angel. We've seen a ton of recent converts, investigators are coming to church and we're finding more people to teach. We're staying active, diligent and busy and personally, I've been feeling the Spirit guide me more than ever before. I'm starting to speak with more power and authority and my testimony is growing more than ever before as well.
 Well, the language has finally come; but, of course, there's still a whole lot of work to do before I master it. I absolutely love it here in Adidogomé, my companion is awesome, we're having great success, we've taught a lot of people thus far and we've still got a whole five to three months worth of teaching to go depending on the next transfer. I've developed a great love for the scriptures and along with the words of the living prophets (still scripture); and, believe it or not, it's getting harder for me to read and sometimes speak in English.

 Bugs are our full-time room mates. We have tiny, terrible smelling ants crawling in the kitchen and the front room all the time. Why they smell terrible, I haven't the slightest idea. However, we don't mind them because they clean up for us, they don't ever get out of control, and they kill the occasional cockroaches and carry them out of the house. As for the other bugs, they can get pretty big and so far I've seen some massive ants, beatles, and wasps, but we've never had any problems with them.
 As for me and my companion, I can't begin to tell you all the crazy experiences that we've been having! Everything has been going really well for us and we've been able to teach a lot of people the past couple of weeks. The only struggle that we're having at the moment is trying to get our investigators to come to church. I'm actually really convinced that if we really improve the manner in which we commit our investigators to act on and keep committements, they'll do what the Lord wants for them to do. I feel like I know exactly how to improve in what to do and say to help them come to church based on what the Spirit is prompting me to do.
 But as for good news, the five converts that my last companion and I helped become baptised have been very active and have been progressing so well! My friend Boris still comes to church every week and we're still working with him to make sure that he knows the doctrine. Hopefully soon he'll be able to recieve the Aaronic Priesthood. Jean and Bernice are doing super well! Jean has a calling and recieved the Aaronic and Melchezedik Priesthood and he and his wife are doing their geneology so that when they're able to go the temple they'll be able to do their ancesters' work. As for Beaugard and Marie: Beaugard has received the Aaronic Priesthood and we're now waiting for him to receive the Melchezedik Priesthood and they both are super active in the church, despite living super far from the church building.
 

 I absolutely love this mission that the Lord has sent me here to do. It's certainly not easy, especially when we work as hard as we possibly can, but man, I tell you what, if you work and
serve with all you heart, might, mind and strength, it's then that you will see the most absolutely rewarding results. My companion and I have been striving to do all that we can because we know that its only by obedience and diligence that we have had the fullest capacity to teach by the Spirit and genuinely help these people to come unto Christ. We're by no means perfect, and we've certainly been shown just how weak we are; however, every time we've placed our trust and faith in the Lord, we've been made strong and have been blessed with many occasions to be instruments in His hands by which he has helped his children receive his gospel.

 Thankfully, the members of the church help us out a ton, and even come with us when we go out teaching investigators. It's actually quite normal for us to have about 5-8 lessons given in the presence of a member per week which has been super great. We have three people who help us out a lot, of whom are Soeur Bernice, Frère Toy and Frère Gabriel. On top of all that, we have members who offer to help us from our branch all the time as well.
 The great thing about this work is that though we may teach the same things in different ways according to investigators needs, the days are never ever the same and we are continuously learning, improving ourselves, receiving new and sometimes crazy experiences, progressing alongside with investigators and recent converts, and improving our testimony and knowledge of the gospel. And, quite honestly, the only things that I've been able to teach since I've arrived are the things that I've learned on the mission. It's absolutely insane how much I've been growing, especially in ways that I've never even imagined myself growing in.

 I couldn't imagine myself being in another mission. In fact, one night, my companion and I visited a member in our branch in our new secteur (area) who's from Ghana and speaks English. I tried giving a spiritual thought in English, but I didn't like it because I kept mixing French with my English and it didn't feel nearly as powerful until I started speaking in French. I know it's the same thing and
all, but I so much prefer speaking French when bearing testimony and teaching the Gospel because that's what I've been called to do and I can really feel the power and authority that the Spirit has allotted unto to me when I proclaim Gospel in this new language. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but it's pretty crazy to think that I might be the only one in all our family who's be given the opportunity to receive the gift of proclaiming the Gospel in French.
Well anyway, everything is still going really well and I absolutely love it here!
I hope that all is going well for you, that you are all as happy as you can be and that hopefully nothing serious happens to any of you health wise. If you could let Grandpa, Grammy, the Ward, and everyone else know that I love them all and that I hope everything is going great for them as well.

Je vous aime, Dieu vous benit, et je vais vous parler encore la
semaine prochaine!!!

Votre fils et frère,

Elder Gonzales

Tout ira bien: Everything will be okay!

Allo ma famille!

Ah vraiment, je suis très heureux de vous écrire!
 
 I'm actually going to be staying here in Adidogomé this upcoming transfer, which will take place either tomorrow or Wednesday.
  I'm going to be a Junior companion again.
 Oh, and guess what? Our friend Borris was baptized last Saturday and ordained a member yesterday! :D We still have a long ways to go with him, but I'm still here so I'll make sure that he is well taken care of.
  Thank you so much for all those really awesome quotes! I'm actually really glad you sent them to me because I can't begin to tell you just how difficult this work has been these past few days.
  Well, before I get into the details, my new companion came in a few days ago. His name is Elder Jeneseri and he's African-American. He was born in a country called Tanzia and moved to the U.S. when he was twelve as a refugee. I haven't quite yet heard the story due to how busy he and I have been, but he said it had to do with the church. And so before he came to the mission, he was living over in Holiday, Utah.
  So, as for the details: My companion has been working in Bénin for the past 9 months and now he has arrived into my secteur, which means that I have to show him everything and catch him up to speed. For the most part, I've showed him to all the members and most of our recent converts and the location of which they live. As for investigators, we're still working on that.
  In any case, since he doesn't know the area or the people, I've had to do all of the planning everyday thus far since his arrival. I tell you what, it's a lot harder filling up about 8-10 hours each day with things to do than I thought and it's pretty rough when plans fall through. On top of all that, my companion and I are taking on a whole new secteur that I've been to only three times to visit a family with the district for a mangez-vous (eating appointment).
  ça va aller, everything will be okay. We just need to keep ourselves cool and just do the very best that we can for now until we're able to get things figured out. This last Sunday was so great because we spoke with a lot of members who offered to show us to all the houses of the investigators and the recent converts in this new secteur. Oh, thank goodness for amazing ward members. That, and we spoke with our recent converts and set a specific day during the week when we can pass by, and we plan to do that with everyone else of whom we teach as well. Doing that would make everything so much easier to handle because I won't have to scramble to make appointments with people when the appointment is already set for us.
  I honestly have no idea what I'm going to do this week, but I'm just going to have to put a whole lot of faith and trust in the Lord that my companion and I can have success in our efforts.
  This has been going fairly hard for me this past week, but it'll get better in the weeks to come as we get everything settled down and figured out. But hey, since I've been forced to speak French more than I have ever before due to having to speak with everyone and schedule just about everything, I'm becoming more and more capable of communicating with people. That, and my testimony and my capacity to preach to these people have increased immensely these last couple weeks which is the most important thing.
  Well, I'm obviously here for a reason and the Lord has allowed me to go through this crazy situation to really help me progress and really rely on Him.
  Other than all that, I've been doing fine and everything else has been going alright. My faith at times has been really tried, but I'm still going strong and still hanging in there. But don't you worry, I still have a strong testimony and I'm still striving with all my heart, might, mind and strength to be of good cheer and to do the very best that I can.
  Well mom, thank you so much for all these really wonderful quotes. They really helped me out and reinforced my desire to keep moving forward and to keep work, work, working (which I haven't stopped doing and will never ever stop doing while I'm on this mission).
  I'm super glad that Dad's health is going strong and that everything is still going well chez-lui. I know that Dad will be okay and that he'll continue to grow stronger and healthier as time goes on. Well, I'm so happy to hear that everything and everyone are still going fine. I'm afraid I'm out of time so I'll need to be heading out of here!

I love you all so much and it was so great hearing from you all!!!!

Avec Amour,
Elder Gonzales

 P.S. -- Thus far, with Elder Dioulo, he and I have had the pleasure of taking part of 6 baptisms while we've been here. Hopefully, I'll be able to send you the pictures.

No more fish!

 Well, talk about having some experiences while I'm here. Turns out I just finished having one that I hope I never have to have again! So, I don't know if the mission leaders contacted you, but I've been in the hospital since Friday until this morning because I had a serious case of the runs and a pretty hardcore fever. Yeah, it was pretty intense. But, like I said, I was just released today, not having shown any signs or symptoms yesterday and today. As for the hospital experience, it wasn't too bad, other than the shower water smelt absolutely horrid and the bed was as stiff as a board. I had an I.V. in my wrist for to receive fluids and I took three shots to the top of my right back side. As for my sickness, it was caused by something that I had eaten. I don't really remember what the meal was exactly but it had something to do with fish.

The fever was pretty hardcore and I was burning up pretty bad; however, I don't know how high it was.
The hospital was alright. It was nothing like an American hospital, but at least it was a nice facility with workers that knew what they were doing. My only issues while I was there was that I got bitten a ton by mosquitos the first night, it was super-hot (until they brought me a fan), the bed was super stiff and the shower room stank super bad as well as the closets where we stored our stuff. My companion stayed with me during the whole experience. He slept on a think, cushioned mat.
 But there's no need to worry, I'm doing much better now and my health is working its way back.

  Well, as for baptisms, we've committed a young man named Borris to be baptized I think towards the end of the month, but we might need to push the date back because we haven't quite gone over everything yet. But he's in progress so we'll continue to work with him and hope and pray that he'll still want to be baptized! A lot of people that we've been working with have been progressing really well and we've been lucky to be able to teach some of our contacts which has been super great.

 It's pretty crazy that I'm in Africa; however, now that I've been here for three and half months, it's really starting to become a normal deal, save for the occasional interesting or otherwise crazy experiences. Oh, guess what? Two more weeks and I'll be done with my training! That means I'll either be staying or leaving and I'll either become a trainer, which I hope doesn't happen because I'm nowhere near ready (but I'm at least still willing if that's what the Lord needs me to do), or I'll be a junior companion again which I think is what will end up happening.

 As for change, I'm definitely becoming more bold, courageous, loving, patient, and charitable. I've noticed that my character is being sculpted into something I never knew I was capable of becoming. I have a much stronger testimony, my wisdom and knowledge of the Gospel is increasing, my love for the scriptures is growing, I'm becoming more capable of teaching more effectively, I'm able to stand up for myself and hold my ground, I'm developing more fear for the Lord than the people, I've been repenting so much more than before, I feel the spirit so much more, and my love for the Lord and Savior is becoming so strong and I've come to be so grateful to Him for the Atonement and the Resurrection. Don't get me wrong, I still have a LOT of weakness, but this is the Lord's work and so all I need to do is make sure to strive to be personally sanctified, have a lot of courage, have the faith to open my mouth and speak.

 Well, everything is still going really well over here. It's getting harder to speak and write in English and getting easier to speak and understand French. Sometimes, while talking to the American Elder named Elder Sagers, I'll accidently mix French words in my sentences or say a phrase in English that is said in French (if that makes sense). I actually prefer to speak French now with him (due to the fact that he already knows French) because that's the best way to learn a language, that is, to speak and then continue speaking. And this is probably going to be the only time in my life where I'll have the opportunity to speak French all the time so I should live it up to the fullest and enjoy it while I can, even if I can't entirely understand all the time. However, give me about two-three more months and I'm certain that I'll have this language down, especially after I finish reading the Book of Mormon in French. But, the language doesn't matter all I need to do is learn the doctrine because that's the true reason why I'm here, that is, to invite others to come unto Christ so they can have eternal life in Heavenly Father's kingdom. French, for me, is simply a gift on top of all my work to be an instrument in the Lord's hands.

 Well, hopefully my companion and I will be able to help Frère Borris become baptized this upcoming Saturday before our transfer ends. And, if not, it'll still be okay because I'll most likely just end up staying here in Adidogomé so I'll be able to continue working with him. I'm not sure, but I may also end up going to the new apartment in this same area.

 Well I hope everything is still going well for you all and that your health is still going strong! Keep hitting me up with the details about life! If you've got any questions, feel free to ask them! I love you all so much and I'm so glad to have been able to write to you! Be safe and enjoy everything that you've been given!

 à la semaine prochaine!

Avec amour,
Votre frère et fils,
Elder Gonzales

What teaching is like... Alma 18: 24-40

Wow, my hand just went numb. I just got shocked by the metal table that the computer is holding itself on.

Well, as for starters, I'd like to share what's teaching is like. If you read in Alma 18:24-40, believe it or not, but that's literally what it's like at times. Most people believe that God is a Spirit or that God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are one single person. I've heard others things, just for example, that God is fire, or made of fire. Yeah, the beliefs can get pretty interesting, but everyone and I mean everyone here believes in God. Not only that, but everyone knows so much about the Bible and so pulling out scriptures from there really helps to establish a solid ground of understanding for investigators.
So, the thing that we try to establish first of all with investigators is the true nature of God, Jesus Christ, and the Spirit. From there, we branch off according to the investigators interests/needs or we'll continue on with the true baptism, the Great Apostasy (to explain the multitude of churches) and the authority of God, or the Priesthood and the organization of the church to explain that this is the one and only true church on the earth. Personally, I always love talking about Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and his Atonement, along with the First Vision and the story of Joseph Smith. Those subjects always seem to hit at home with investigators and myself as well.

There are literally hundreds of different religions here, three of the most popular are Les Témoins de Jéhovah (Jehovah's Witnesses), Catholique (Catholic), and Muslim. Also, I'm not sure if it's a religion, but there's also Vaudoo (Voodo). Here's an interesting fact, turns out that Togo and Benin are the Vodoo capitals of the world. As for all the other churches, you'll here pastors preaching, singing, yelling into a microphone in a small church building all the time.

As for culture: If you're the one who opens the door, whoever is with you goes first. If you don't know an area, you're companion (if he knows the area) walks in front of you and you can't walk in front of him or else you'll show him that you're the leader, which they really don't like that; but, if you know the area, you always walk together, side by side or just a little bit behind. If you walk ahead without paying attention, they get mad. When making a greeting, you wait until you're about an arm's length away before saying anything. If it's a casual salutation, you can wave or call out them out from a distance. The people don't typically ask for anything, they just tell you what they want because the word "demander" means "to ask." If you can see the root "demand" you'll kind of see why it's like that over here. Don't get me wrong, the people here are very polite, super kind, always and extremely charitable, and incredibly faithful, but asking isn't much of the question unless they need information. As for the "right of way" whatever is bigger has it; this is the way that it goes: Bus/Truck, Car, Moto, person. At times people in vehicles yield, which is really generous, but if you're not careful, you'll get bumped. Oh yeah, and if you have more years than someone else, everything you do and say basically has the higher authority and you expect respect. Last thing, if you think that Dad has ever chastised me, which, I don't think he ever has, you've seen nothing yet. Just be glad that you've never had to go through an African chastisement because believe me, it's pretty rough. All that, and people are incredibly honest. If they don't like something, they'll straight up tell you, which at times can be pretty hilarious (when not directed towards you). But, like I was saying earlier, despite the different cultural stances, the people are absolutely great and I'm actually really starting to develop a great love for them because they really are awesome.

At appointments, typically we don't say anything until we're seated. From there, the host of the house says, "Bonjour/Bonsoir" Good morning/Good evening and then you reply with the same word; after that, "Bon arriver" or good arrival and then you say, "Merci" or thank you; and then, the host will offer you water and whether you accept/decline it doesn't matter but that's when the conversation basically goes however it goes until the lesson.

Well yeah, that's just a little bit of what it's like over here. I'm actually beginning to really love my mission now that I understand the culture. It also helps that I'm learning the language very quickly and I'm more able to teach, express my thoughts, take care of my needs, understand people and so forth. But more importantly, I've been gaining such a strong testimony these past couple weeks and my knowledge of the gospel and the scriptures has increased immensely. I can't help but just be so grateful that I'm here, even as hard as it can be, but it's really forming me into the man that Heavenly Father needs me to become and who I also want to become.

Well, I sincerely hope that everything is going super well for you all!

I love you all so much!

Jusqu'a la semaine prochaine!

--Elder Gonzales

A birthday he will never forget!

 

You wouldn't believe what happened the morning of my birthday. My district and I bought a pig to butcher and for it's meat. But long-traumatizing-story-short, we killed the pig on my birthday. And now, our fridge and freezer is filled to the brim with pig meat. It was a pretty intense experience; one I hope to never have again. I do though have a ton of pictures of everything that went down. However, I'm not entirely sure if you'll want to see them because they're all quite gruesome. Well anyway, that's one of the crazy things that has happened to me this week.

 While on the mission, especially while learning a new language, it gives one a lot of time to go over one's life. If there is anything I've learned here is that family is important and needs to be cherished and never taken for granted.

Well pops, just know that you were awesome to me and I have every humble bragging right to say that I had an amazing Dad who took excellent care of me, my mom and my siblings. I really do look up to you and I believe that you are a great man. I look forward to seeing you again in 22 months time, but until then, just know that I love you and I thank you for all that you've done for me.

          Hey Mom, just know that you were the best mom I could have asked for. You've done so much           for me and I'll never ever forget your kindness. I sincerelly miss your kindness, compassion, understanding, and everything else that you unreservedly gave to me.

Avec amour, ton fils

Elder Gonzales

Happy 19th Birthday Elder Gonzales!

Cher famille:

J'espère que c'est ça va si je peux écrire à vous un peu en Français.

Merci beaucoup maman et papa pour vos messages! Je suis très heureux de vous écouter et de vous parler!

Vraiment, c'est très bizarre que je vais avoir dix-neuf ans demain!

Donc, c'est très bien ici-bas; parfois, il a été un peu difficile, mais, ça va aller, c'est la mission. Comme j'ai dit avant, je n'ai plus faim parce que nous avons achetés beaucoup de la nourriture maintenant de ce qui est merveilleux. L’œuvre missionnaire est une grande bénédiction et je suis très content d’être ici.

Well, I'd write more in French, but writing in English is faster and I'm running out of time. The days fly by it seems, seeing that it has already been a month since I've been here in Adidogomé, and two months altogether in Africa. I guess I say that now, but I've got a looooong ways to go.

The French is coming along quite nicely; I still struggle understanding people when spoken to, but at least now I'm more capable of sharing my testimony, teaching the people and expressing myself.

The weather over here has changed and apparently it's now the "winter" season. In the morning and at night it actually gets pretty chilly; that, or I've just acclamated to the heat so much that anywhere from sixty to eighty degrees feels really chilly. Oh man, coming home is sure going to be a shock to my body.

On New Years, I had a cold and a slight fever due to the season change. Before I continue on that, Pres. Morrin came over New Years day as well. While his wife went over how to handle medical and situational emergencies, each member of my district had an interview with President. I'm so glad that I was able to speak with him because it really helped me out. We discussed how I've been, how I'm handling the many stresses, along with my effectiveness and so forth.

Also, towards the end, he offered to give me a Priesthood blessing. He blessed me with good health, to be patient with and to understand the behavior and culture here and the ability to be able to express myself in French. Two days later, I was healed from my sickness. I've become so much more patient and tolerant to the way that things are around here and how I'm treated, and it's blowing my mind on how much French I've learned since then and how much I've been able to say.

I honestly believe that your prayers on my behalf have certainly added an incredible amount to my welfare. Not only that, but since you've been demonstrating your faith by reading the scriptures so often, it has also been generating an amazing abundance of blessings for our family.

I'm so unexplainably happy to be able to write to all of you. Quite honestly, it always fills my spirit with hope and strength.

Oh, by the way, I recieved a letter from the Seidels and a package from brother Phipps today. It was so great! The package was really small and it took about two months to get here, but it had bag of chocolate, a bag of laughy-taughy and skittles. It costed $25, which is really expensive considering it's small size and weight, but it was still super awesome.

Well, I'm afraid I have to leave right now, but it has been so nice hearing from you and I genuinely hope that everything continues to go well for our family. Tell Jacob that I'm really proud of him, he's super awesome and he's doing an absolutely great job and tell the girls thank you for their absolutely wonderful messages and to keep them coming!

I love you all so much and I'll write to again soon :)
Avec amour,
Elder Gonzales

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hey everyone!  I'm a little behind on emails because I wasn't able to write on Christmas.

 I had a really buff guy, who I'm pretty sure was drunk, ask me for money because he was hungry and wanted to buy anana (pineapple). I didn't give him any money though because a member who was working with us just pulled out a coin and handed it to him and we left.

 The people who are homeless are legitimately homeless. They live on the dirt streets, have absolutely nothing besides maybe a blanket and the one pair of clothes they're wearing, and are starving, alone, and hurting. It makes me feel terrible that there's little to nothing that I can do for them.
 Well, as for what we eat, we sometimes only eat two meals a day, which consist of bread, lemon grass tea mixed with hot chocolate powder and maybe eggs and friend bananas in the morning, and then a huge pile of rice and one piece of chicken with a mixture of vegetables, chicken powder, and tomato paste for both lunch and dinner. Yes, I'm hungry all the time. But, I've started getting used to eating less so one big meal usually will do it for me.
  Sometimes we have something called pat which is cornflour mixed with boiling water. Once thickened, you make a huge ball that can fit in two hands. You then put some kind of spicy sauce that I don't know how to make but it has spinach, fish, and really spicy peppers into a bowl. Once the meal is ready, you wash your right hand, dip it in clean water, take a piece of intensely hot pat, dip it in the sauce with a piece of fish and voilà, bon appetit.

 Thankfully we got our allowance and went grocery shopping at the super market so we don't need to worry about not having food anymore; that, and the members here feed us a ton all the time so that really helps us out. It's actually not too bad, its just towards the end of the month that sucks. But yeah, c'est pas grave, ça va allez.

  As I've been reading through the scriptures, I've been finding a ton of amazing things that help me a lot throughout the day. The only way I've been able to really learn French the best is by reading the BofM. Every time I do so, I'm more capable of hearing, understanding and speaking French.
  Thank you, by the way, for praying for me. Although, I'm having a really hard time with the language; I don't mind not being able to speak as much as I'd like, it's just not understanding what people say that's really difficult. People talk to me all the time and speak so ridiculously fast and I just have to tell them sorry, I don't know what you're saying.
  My companion expects a lot out of me and demands that I speak French all the time. Which, is really hard, because when he talks to me, I seldom understand due to his crazy-heavy African accent. During lessons, he generally has me lead it out and he has me approach people and present our message. As difficult as it is, at least I'm getting better and I'm actually able to see my progress which is extremely nice.

 Well I just wanted to let you all know that I love you and I hope everything is still running smoothly. I miss you all so very much, but don't you worry cause I'll be home sooner than you know it. It's crazy, I've already been here for two whole months. Not only that, but I'll be 19 years old in eight more days which is also pretty crazy cause honestly, I don't even really feel like a man haha.

 

Please pray for me that I'll be able to have more love, charity, and patience. I'm trying so hard to develop these attributes because believe me, it's been pretty dang hard.

But hey, I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!

By the way, thank you so much for all that you all did for me. I wish I could take the time to write each of you a paragraph of everything you've done to make my life such a wonderful gift; however, I'm afraid I've gotta bounce.

PS -- took me two hours just to reply to two messages haha But keep sending them because I love hearing from you!!
Have a fantastic week!
Avec Amour, votre missionaire, fils et frère,
Elder Gonzales