Riley in Africa : In the village part 2

Well I hope email will work better this week because last week the connection was so bad I couldn’t do anything so I’m going to try to give a little more polished idea of what my new life here in Hêvié is like.

My new district is awesome we have the chef de district, Raveneau, a Frenchman who is just four weeks from dying and he is just what you would think he would be, a funny Frenchman who is a little tired but wants to finish strong.

The other companionship in the apartment is Elder Ellison, one of the guys who was in the MTC with me. He is super funny. He went the Ivorian (from the Ivory Coast) route in the mission living with them and being trained by them while I’ve gone the Congolese route. We are both going to hit 6 months completed this week, which is crazy.

Ellison’s companion is Tshileu, a Congolese who doesn’t speak Lingala, just Swahili. He is a blast though, super tall and funny. He came to the mission one transfer after me which is so weird I’m getting older in the mission. Before I know it I’ll be dying like Raveneau.

Looks like the connection is just as bad as the week before so I don’t know if I’ll be able to send this this week. I’ll tell you a few new stories because I think you heard all the old stuff already, sorry. I really am in Africa, and Africa is a very diverse place, but when people say Africa they think of villages and like poor people and crazy languages and diseases and really third world. My last sector was nothing like that at all but Hêvié is a lot closer to that. There are actual village sectors in Togo I know but for Benin it’s primitive where I am.

Fun story!

I saw a guy in an Iowa t shirt! It was so crazy at first I didn’t believe it but then I looked closer and sure enough, it was the Iowa Hawkeyes t shirt! It was a shame I didn’t have my camera, I wanted to take a picture with him because that is so rare. Even in the US it’s like instant friendship when you see someone in an Iowa shirt. But the guy didn’t even know what his shirt meant. He just saw it, liked it, and bought it. It was such a weird experience. I’ll try to see him again to get a pic but not that I’ll ever get to send it while I’m here.

There are some cool people to teach here which is nice. Some people I teach just won’t understand like before we teach a lesson we ask if the person has any questions and this one mama has asked the exact same question the exact same way. Every time for 4 rendezvous in a row we answered the same question four times and no doubt she will do it again. I have gotten a little frustrated in this sector already but there is a ton of potential too. Everyone I invited to church the first week I was here came! That never happened in Menontin. We have one family of investigators that is just amazing. They are like my family here, they are the Mi____. The dad is Congolese from Brazzaville and the wife is an Ivorian from ivory coast they have three boys and two girls that I’ve seen but there might be more. One of the daughters is a member, she is 18 and is going to serve a mission. The littlest daughter is 6 and loves to steal my stuff and tease me that she can speak French and Fon better than me, which is quite true. The mom is the most prepared investigator to be baptized I’ve ever seen, such a strong testimony. It’s crazy her and her husband just have to get married first. Their marriage will happen the fourth of March: and the mom will get baptized right after the wedding! The dad really likes me because I know a little Lingala which is his language and he is also a professional singer for his job so you guys can look him up his name is Kembo Kembo.

The connection finally supported sending pictures!