Week 32 - February 17, 2020 "Whatever the price to trust Jesus Christ.. It's worth it!"

This week was so awesome! As I sit here and question myself where to start, I just don't know. I'm just very thankful. I'm thankful for YOU my family and friends, for Côte d'Ivoire, for this life and the opportunity it gives me to change, I'm grateful for the blessing of the mission, the lows it gives me to have many more highs, I'm grateful for Jesus Christ and for his life. I listened to a video this week and their was one sentence that really struck me, it said "whatever the price you must pay to trust him (Jesus Christ), it's worth it." Because of this sentence I've had the power to really work hard this week and I've had an extra motivation to serve him and be obedient. I realize that this really is not for me and I need to put all my trust in Christ. The promise and blessing isn't always clear but "it's worth it". 

This week has been filled with blessings. I've seen our amis progress immensely. I'm so grateful for each of them and hope we can continue to help them. I feel especially lucky this week to be here with the Fr. Rodhes. He has had a baptismal date for a little bit now and Friday we went to go check on him, share a message and see if he was ready for his baptismal interview that we had planned for Saturday. When we got there, he just said " Elders I don't know if I can do it anymore" I don't know if I want to be baptized. He said that his family was very against it and was discouraged by his mom who was doing everything she could to forbid and prohibit his baptism... As I searched for things to say I was pushed to share an experience of my friends from back home. As I shared this experience with him he was really touched, and went on to tell us that he decided he still wanted to be baptized and that if he had to do it alone without any of his family that would be ok. When he said this, I was so happy, what a good example of faith Fr. Rodhes is to me.

Another blessing I saw was with the Fr. Bagnmi. He has been coming to church for the past 3 months but lives with his wife and they are not yet married so that's what's keeping him from being baptized. As we met with him this week he just shared with us how bad he wanted to be baptized but he didn't have any work and that's what was keeping him from being married. He said If I could have a little bit of money I would go to the Mayor and get married so quick, but he just doesn't have any work. My companion was impressed to talk about the role of Dads with him and how they aren't just there to temporarily provide for their families but also spiritually provide for them. We talked about the importance of praying as a family and also doing family home evening. We shared that we know that if he will do that and show how he is ready to take care of a family to God, God will bless him with work or the means to do his marriage. He was really touched and accepted it. What a blessing to teach someone who accepts something so easily! Sunday, he and his wife talked with the Bishop again and seeing them with him made me so happy. I know that God will bless their family. 

Those are just 2 experiences that really touched me this week. They made me really grateful to be where I am. As President Eyring said, "If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest of times in life, can be a pleasant." I'm really grateful for this time that I have here and when I look at it with big goggles I'm eternally grateful and just so happy.  

Oh also no water this week again! That makes 5 weeks without running water but it's alright. Bagged water is doing the job! 

I love you guys and I'm grateful for you and your stories and testimonies! I've felt very close to you as I have tried to bring others closer to Christ. I know that "whatever the price we must pay to trust him, is worth it." Put him to the test and I know that he will not let you down. 

I love you guys sooooo much. We are really in this together! 

Bisou,

Elder Freedman

Week 31 - Feb 10, 2019 "Joyeux Anniversaire Charlie!"

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE! I love you so much bro! I will never forget the good times we had together. Also you're just amazing at skiing and a baller at lacrosse and you make us all look bad. But also you just have the softest heart and you help me to remember to always look out for people that need a hand. I love you bro thanks for being you!

This week was awesome though. I have been getting along with my companion pretty well and I feel pretty lucky to be working with him. He's super cool because he speaks french, he's from Haiti, he eats normal food, and he has a lot of the same cultures as us... I mean we are all from the american continent. I just think he's a cool guy and this week has been fun. Water has been a little better this week... We haven't really had any again but we found out that it comes on specifically at 1:45am so we have been able to wake up and fill up the tanks for the couple minutes it's there. 

The work here is going better! We still have Fr. Rodesse progressing and getting ready for his baptism the 22nd which is exciting! We've been really trying to get these 2 girls to accept baptism too so they can be baptized the same day but their mom is being super difficult. Their Dad is a member and he is down for it to happen, but the mom is telling them they shouldn't be baptized so it's pretty tough. We just hope they can really pray and receive the confirmation that they receive to decide for themselves what they should do. Something that I've loved about teaching Sarah and Aillah are their questions. Ailla is 10 and she asks the best questions like "why are we here" or "what is God like?" or "Why can't I see him". I love talking to her because she really is just so innocent and wants to know the answers to these questions. It makes me understand why God tells us to be like the children. 

The days in Africa are HOTTTT, we don't really have water, sometimes the food gets my stomach pretty turning and walking for an hour and a half to get to lessons gets tiring but honestly the story of the restoration makes it worth it. Something about Joseph Smith and the pillar or light that he saw gives me SO much peace and happiness. I know that its real something about it just makes sense to me. I love it, its awesome! 

I love you guys, I pray for you every night and I'm happy I am not alone in this! 

Bisou,

Elder Freedman

Week 30 - February 4, 2020 "No water - What Can You Do?"

Weekly Water Update... YUP didn't have any this week. Our water filter broke so when water came on for 5 minutes we couldn't fill up bottles so we had to order some of those blue jugs that they put in the water machines but then Friday night they ran out. We called them to bring us more but didn't make it in time so Saturday and Sunday we just had absolutely no drinkable water in the apartment. Thank goodness Sunday was fast Sunday because I didn't want to drink anyways so that was good, but Sunday night was brutal with no water and not being able to go out and buy any. First thing Monday morning I just ran out and bought some bags of water. 

We had transfers this week and nothing new happened here. I'm still in Gesco working with Elder Colas. Honestly I'm pretty happy  because I feel like we are starting to make some progress. We set our first baptismal date this week with the Fr. Rodess for 22nd of February. He's a super cool guy and sings Zoglo for his job. It's super popular African music and Fr. Rodess is actually super good. He hasn't come out with anything yet but soon I know he will be on the Itunes top 10 list! Our other amis are doing good and Fr Brice is classic as always. I cannot go one lesson without laughing with him. He is VERY passionate about Jesus and is very strong and confident in the way he talks about him. He just screams and shakes and we always have to calm him down. But he's starting to change and make progress. He decided that he wanted to be 100 percent with us this week but then he didn't come to church so that was unfortunate. Hearing his stories about  his Voodoo life and how he would drink fresh dog and chicken blood and then make serpents out of water is pretty wild but it's super fun. 

One of Fr. Brice's problems is that he really wants a sign. He wants like a vision or God to appear to him to tell him that the church is true. We try to tell him to have faith and just take a step forward but its hard for him. This week I was studying a little bit about "signs" because it's true that God did say "ask and ye shall receive" but does that literally mean if we ask for a vision we get a vision. I think YES if we have that much faith and have put in all the effort to get that we can have a vision like that. BUT I think it's better to just ask for a confirmation if things are true. I think that that is better because it's through the small and simple confirmations that the Holy Ghost can testify to us. My question was really just what do we have to do to either get these small or big confirmations? As I sat there reflecting on this I randomly thought of the primary song "search, ponder and pray". I really liked this simple response and how the answer is just a primary response to the question. I really know that if I can help the Fr Brice to apply these simple principles he will get a response to his question. 

Everything is good here and I got some bagged water to drink so I wont die of dehydration, and! time is starting to move quicker! I love you guys and I get to be a part of this work with you all!

Bisou,

Elder Freedman

Fr. Brice's Home 

These boys just walk into Andrew's apartment to play