Week 17 Thanksgiving

Caleb made this whistle noise and Cuddles tilted her head and looked at him! It was so cute! 

Zoomed in on her! 

The stars! 

Thanksgiving day he got to call us for about ten minutes, it was like 12:30pm our time and 7:30pm his time. 

He “splurged” and spent his own personal money on Thanksgiving dinner for him and his companion. It cost him 1500 francs which I think transfers to like $24. This is what he got. 

He shared some news with us on Thanksgiving that he is getting transferred. He doesn’t know where or who his companion will be until Tuesday of next week. He just will pack up and hopefully fit his luggage in whatever transportation he gets and be off to a new adventure. 

One baptism on Sunday! The Tiassale elders had two baptisms so they did all the baptizing. 

The assistants to the president came and went to church with them Sunday. 

Caleb shared this in his journal about church:

“After everyone was done bearing their testimony my companion said we are finished, but we have some news. My companion is getting transferred, so we will hear his testimony. Everyone was surprised and sad. I cried a little bit during my testimony because this was my first sector, we did everything because we are a group, these are the only people I know, I'm getting to the point where I can have a relationship with them because my French is getting better, etc. It also didn't help that we sang till we meet again for the closing song. It is sad but that is the mission.”

Change is hard but I’m so grateful to the people of N’douci that loved and cared for my boy. Frere Sebastian, Pres Tie Bi, Frere Joel, the security guy at the store who was kind and trusted them to let them keep their bags in the store and so many more. Goodbyes are hard.

Their food cooking on the stove. His companion turned the light off while they let them cook and Caleb thought it was a cool picture and it is! 

His email from this week:

Salut!

This week was pretty good and a lot of things happened. On Tuesday we had some funny stories. So we went to take a taxi. These taxis are three wheeled things, but we use them all the time. One dude was getting off as we were about to get on. The driver and passenger exchange money, and then all of a sudden the passenger gets really upset. They started yelling at each other, exchanged some money, and then he left. We were a bit confused but still took that taxi. We found out later that the passenger gave the driver a 1000f bill. The driver gave the passenger a 500f because that was the price. The thing was he gave him a 500f coin, and not a 500f bill. The passenger wanted a bill and got upset about it. I guess it's a respect thing, but 500f is 500f whether it’s a coin or a bill. It was funny though.

Also on Tuesday we were finishing up a lesson with this young woman, when we decided to go over the interview questions. We got to one question and she happily answered the opposite of what the answer should have been. We assumed she did understand, but when we asked she said she understood us. We were confused when right then Frere Sebastian casually said yep she said the truth. His response was so chill and so serious I almost wanted to laugh. It made things a little complicated, but it all worked out and she is the one later in this email.

On Wednesday we left for our sector a little earlier and went to work. We had 7 teaching appointments and 2 contacts. We ended up teaching 6 of them, and sharing thoughts at the other three. Surprisingly I wasn't really tired after all of that. My brain was saying that I was tired, but my spirit wasn't tired at all. 

Thursday was Thanksgiving. The day was a normal day, but after we finished sector we splurged on some food. I used my personal funds and went to town. I didn't even spend that much because the prices here are so different, but it was a really good meal. 

Friday and Saturday went well. On Friday we got invited to a birthday party. We just ate some food and then left. On Saturday night we found out about transfers. President Litchfield changed some things. Usually we learn if we are getting transferred, what our new area is, and who our new companion is. But there have been problems about saying bad things about people's new companions or sectors, so he changed it. We only get to know IF we are getting transferred. We find out everything else on Tuesday. I am getting transferred but I don't know where. It is definitely a little sad because I have come to love N'Douci, but there is a plan for everything. 

On Sunday we had another baptism. It was that same young woman. It was cool because she was one of the people who could easily recite what we had taught in the last lesson which doesn't usually happen. The baptism went well. It was a fast Sunday, but after they handed out yogurt as bread to everyone. It made for a short fast Sunday for me, but I'm not going to say no to some free food. 

Anyways that's pretty much all of the exciting stuff that happened this week. I'm sad to leave N'Douci, especially because my French is to the point I can create some relationships with these people. But it'll make for a very interesting couple days. We head to Abidjan tonight, and tomorrow morning we'll find out about our areas and companions. 

Spiritual Thought:

I read Ether 12:27 this week, and it says: And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

None of us are perfect and it's why we are here on this earth. We all have weaknesses, but we have them for a reason. I love this scripture though because as we humble ourselves and have faith in Jesus Christ, are weaknesses will become our strengths and we will become perfect one day like Jesus Christ. 

Thanks everyone for your prayers and I hope you have a great week! Please enjoy the cold weather for me haha!

Elder Robinson