Week 19 - November 18, 2019 "I Love Praccali!"

This week has been super good! Not gonna lie I was super uncomfortable switching companions, just because I was pretty comfortable with Elder Ayinde but I have been LOVING my new companion. I was really nervous or unsure about how things would go with Elder Solofoharimana at first just because of some rumors that I heard about him but I put those out of my head and it has been great! Working with Elder Solofoharimanana has been a major blessing. The Lord really knows what I need and what the people here need as well. Elder Solofo has been helping me everyday with language study which has been SO helpful. 

Getting Elder Solofo wasn't the only awesome thing that happened this week, we also had a multi mission conference that was so fun. We had missionaries from the Benin Cotonou mission, Abidjan East, Abidjan West and the Yamoussoukro mission there. It was seriously super fun seeing all the different missionaries from everywhere. President Kearon from the presidency of the 70 came and spoke to us. His message he shared with us I felt was just for me. Seriously I had a notebook full of notes I wish I could share them all but I'll just share one that I really loved. The message he shared with us was based on the fact that God created us to be happy. Nothing else but to be happy. But he's given us specific instructions on how we can be happy and that's by keeping his commandments. While I've been out here I have found that obedience really does bring the most happiness. And hearing that God created us to be happy was a good reminder to me that really I just need to be happy. God wouldn't have sent me here unless he knew I could be happy. I really feel and know that that is true. 

I have loved Sector this week. Being the veteran missionary in the sector I've really had to step up and lead this week. I've honestly seen that God qualifies us for what he calls us for. As he has needed me to step up he has been with me and helped me get to a new level. I have been so surprised with how I have been able to choose what appointments we will go to, start conversations and lessons and teach much more effectively and simply. One really kinda fun and interesting thing in sector this week was we taught this girl who came straight from the village and didn't speak any french so we had to have an interpreter there to help translate the whole lesson. Nothing can stop the work of the Lord. We should have a baptism for Sr. Evet this week if all goes well which i'm super excited about. She's been a super good investigator and shes had a super hard life with her husband leaving her and other really sad stuff. 

I'm finally starting to adjust to the food here. Sr. Evet made us some Praccali which is literally my least favorite thing. I saw her bring it out and like wanted to die. It's just like salty dough that you dip into sauce with cow skin covered in hair. I started eating it and literally just couldn't stop. It was so good! I was downing the cow skin and all just couldn't stop dipping the praccali in the sauce for more! 

Anyways that's a little bit of whats going on for me here in Africa! 

I love you guys so much, grateful I have the best team ever to be in this work with!

Bisou,

Elder Freedman

At the birthday party of the bishop's daughter. Andrew's companion and the other Malagasy elder in their apartment. 

Andrew and Elder Knoll. Getting pizza after the multi-mission conference. Knoll serves out in Lakota so it's super fun for these guys to get together. They started their missions together.

Andrew and his companion Elder Solofoharimanana

Sweat stain after a day of work from Andrew's shoulder bag.

Andrew loves his new companion. Says he is so easy going and a really good teacher. 

Jean Luc fromt the ward took his camera and snapped a bunch of pictures.

Andrew's first package from home.  Good times...

At "Picasso" for real pizza!

Elder Ah Quin - Timpview classmates

Elder Evans from the East mission

An elder in the Yamausoukro that 

MTC Companions and awesome friends

Andrew got to hang out with Elder Deiderich today!

Week 18 - November 11, 2019 "Training Complete!"

Hellloooooooo everyone! This week was pretty exciting because I finished my training. Honestly I didn't mind training at all and I feel like the time during training flew. I probably owe a lot of that to Elder Ayinde who was a dope companion. He taught me so much about Africa and how to teach and helped me a lot with french. 

So as far as the transfer for me... I'm going to be staying here in Koweit working with Elder Solofonahana. He's from Madagascar which is pretty legit. He only speaks Malagash and French which has been kinda tough so far but its ok. I know that working with him my french will get a lot better so I'm excited about that. I only met him like a couple hours ago and honestly don't know much about him yet, he has been really nice and patient with me so far so that's been really nice. I'm excited to work with him i know I'm with him for a reason. 

We are still planning on having a baptism for Sr. Evet this week which I'm pretty excited about! She has a sister that is in our ward so that's how we got her contact and it's honestly been so easy teaching her. She just understands everything and has accepted all of our invitations which has been super nice. 

I went on splits with Elder Nokes this week and it was super fun. Having 2 white guy was pretty crazy haha. People just constantly yelled Le Blanc at us which got old quick but its ok. We were in my sector I had to lead everything which was super fun, I didn't do half bad actually. I felt pretty comfortable which was awesome, I could really see the gift of tongues in action.We also got a bunch of free food and new investigators which was good. We would just be teaching people and then whatever they would be making they give to us because they wanted to see if we would like it. Most of the time it was good actually. Somebody gave us alloco, fried plantains, and it was super yummy.

This morning I was feeling pretty down on myself just nervous about my new companion and all the change happening and I just was not feeling good. I decided to study God's love for us. When I started the study I was really hoping for a big revelation that God loves me... but that's not what I got. One scripture that I read and really put things into perspective for me was in Doctrine and Covenants 6. It talks about remembering. It says something like remember that one time I spoke peace to your heart. As I read that I just started to really reflect on everything and I could really see all of my blessings. I realized that God really is there. Sometimes it's just hard for us to see it. It totally brought peace to me just thinking about everything like that. No doubt I've felt him there so I know he always will be.

Love you guys I'm super excited to see all that this week will bring. It'll definitely be super interesting.

Bisou,

Elder Freedman

Andrew and his new companion

Andrew's trainer, Elder Ayinde

Elder Nokes and Elder Freedman on splits

Week 17 - November 4, 2019 "First Baptism!"

This week was one of the best yet! I really just focused on making every day the best I could. Whatever I did I tried to make it memorable. It made the week so much better! I didn't miss home as much and just was super focused on the mission. It was so awesome and it just felt like I was actually happy.

 Probably the most exciting thing that happened this week was we had  baptism of Sr. Miriam and Fr. Kiyali! My first baptism of the mission CHEEHOOOOOO! It was such a cool experience. I got to do the baptizing which was really fun too. The coolest part of the whole thing for me though was after it was all done and we were back at the apartment. This week I studied humility and I set a goal to just thank Heavenly Father for every big and little success we have. So I prayed and thanked Heavenly Father for the baptism and while I prayed I felt the spirit so strong! Like it was so cool, really big testimony builder for me. I know that this is really Gods work. Having that baptism just makes me want to work even harder and go get another one.

This week the hardest thing has just been that we have had no water or the past 4 days. We had a little bit in our reserve tank but we ran out of that in a day so we just have no water now. To say the least I smell awful and feel super sticky and gross. It really stinks because I can't workout or anything because I don't have any water to shower with so I just have to stay as clean as possible and its no fun. But we did go out and buy a bunch of little bags of water that are good to drink so I'm not dehydrated.

I'm really starting to like Cote d'Ivoire! Food is still not my favorite but i'm loving the people more. I love speaking Nushi, the Ivorian french, with all the teenagers they all go crazy when I start talking Nushi to them. I know that this is where I need to be and I'm happy to be here. 

Something that I love about this church and the gospel is just how happy it is. It is honestly the happiest thing ever. Its a church of HOPE of LOVE and every other good thing anybody could ever want in their life. When I picture Jesus in my head I just see him smiling saying I love you, carry on. I hope that as a missionary I can share just how happy one can become through living the gospel. It's real and all of this I did not really understand until I got here. I love it! Next time I send an email i'll be done with my training which is absolutely insane to think about. Time to go make the most out of this last week!

I love you guys thank you for praying for me. I'm happy. I have the best team to be with in this work!

Bisou,

Elder Freedman

Week 16 - October 28 "Light the World!!!"

The highlight of this week was definitely Zone Conference. I'm telling you my Mission President, President Lewis and Sister Lewis, are the best ever! They gave us a lot of tips of how to study and told us the importance of using Preach my Gospel as missionaries. We also got to see the new video for Light the World this year. I don't wanna spoil it but it is just SO good. It's called, "The Christ Child" and it's awesome. It's in Hebrew or something which was super cool. They also created a slideshow with all the pictures of people who have been baptized recently and showed that and it was super cool. No doubt I felt the spirit so strong. I honestly was just holding back tears because I didn't want to look like a baby in front of everyone. But all I'm saying is just get excited for the Light the World video, its dope! Watching the video I just felt the spirit so strong and I was just so honored to be one of the ones who gets to bring this message to everyone here. I just sat there and was like whenever I'm having a bad day i'll think back to this moment when i'm feeling the spirit so strong.

Sector this week was decent. NO doubt it's when I'm the happiest but it just didn't seem like anybody progressed too much. We do have one baptism set for this Saturday which has been pushed off for a long time but I'm super excited for it! Its 2 teenagers named Sr. Miriam and Fr. Kiyali. Super good kids.

Language is coming slowly but its coming. My companion told me I really need to start speaking with more confidence this week. I also gave my first church talk and it was super fun! I had it all written down and just pretty much read off a paper but it was still super fun. I was really scared but I knew it would help me get better so I was really thankful for the opportunity.

Elder Nokes and I in the apartment are going beast mode in the kitchen. This week we made peach pie, pizza and cinnamon roles. All of it was super good! It would probably be like a solid C back home but it was a A plus out here!

My favorite thing I learned this week gospel wise was in John 6. I forget the verses specifically but somewhere in that chapter it talks about the apostles being stuck on the water and Jesus says, "Be not afraid, it is I". The next verse says IMMEDIATELY the apostles let him on their boat. As I have been out here I have really come to know that Jesus is always there, it's just up to us whether or not we will let him on our boat. As I have, I have felt joy and happiness.

Thanks for all the prayers I love all of you so much!

Bisou, 

Elder Freedman

Pictures:

1 Me in front of the church building

2. Our pizza getting ready to go in the oven!

3.Me and some guy with a lot of bulls

4. Mangez vous with futu and peanut sauce. This is actually super yummy!

Andrew was unable to send pictures for two weeks because of computer problems at the cyber cafe.

Below is hamburger in one fist and a PBJ in the other.  That's a happy elder!

Peach Pie

Week 15 - October 21, 2019 "Charity Never Faileth"

This week I was introduced to one of the best places in the world. In the Country of Ivory Coast among all the dirt roads and smelly streets there is a place far far away called... Cap Sud. Where the smells are clean, the floors are shiny and you can find Burger King. That's enough of that, but for real this place is super nice. It's this big shopping mall that we went to next to the Mission Office and it is sooooo nice. There were stores like Channel and Swarovski and all those fancy stores and honestly, not that this matters but there were more white people there than Africans. It was so interesting. I felt like I was a child at Disneyland is was seriously so fun! They had this really nice bookstore there and I went to find some French books to help me study and when I found the books that I thought were good and asked Elder Ayinde what he thought, he said they were made for Kindergartners. That one kinda stung not gonna lie. But, its ok, I still bought it, the first and second grade books too. They are just some children books that will help me learn basic pure french. They have actually helped a lot. But, I mean, I guess that gives a feel for where my French is. I feel like I can understand pretty well but expressing myself is still tough. 

We taught a lot this week which was super fun, still working on the 2 kids who are ready to get baptized. Hopefully they can get their parents approval soon! They come to church every week and are really ready. Besides that I would say we have about 18 people we are teaching and that keeps us really busy.

Last night, I got a call from some sister missionaries who said this active member keeps coming to their apartment telling them to let him in. They asked him why and he said, "Because Elder Freedman stole my wife." So, apparently I got accused by some guy that I don't even know of stealing his wife and now he is trying to take some Sister missionaries. Super creepy! I'm definitely going to call President Lewis tonight and just tell him if he hears anything, it is false. Things really are different here. 

 No really crazy food stories this week, thank goodness. It's actually interesting though because the same food that I did not like when Elder Ayinde would prepare food at the beginning in our apartment, is the same stuff I'm making now. I guess that's good. Just a lot of rice and noodles with fish that I didn't like and sauces that I wasn't too fond of. But hey I'm getting used to it! Elder Nokes and I also figured out how to make apple pie this week which was SO good!

This week I really tried to focus on having charity. It was honestly super cool. Walking around just looking at people thinking how each person I look at is a Child of God. It put things in perspective and definitely made me want to help everyone here more. Thoughts crossed my head like, "wow how is it even possible that I'm the one charged with the responsibility to help these sons and daughters of God return to him?" That's one of the miracles of the mission though. God promised to make the weak things strong and I can see that in action. Thank you all for your prayers, I write that each week but I still feel them all of the time. I know I can do this because I have the best team in the world helping me every step of the way!

I've been having trouble being able to upload pictures lately, so sorry about that.

Bisou,

Elder Freedman

As Andrew said, he was not able to send any pictures because of the computer. I took a screenshot when I was talking to him on Google Hangouts.

Week 14 - October 14, 2019 "Take My Cloak and Run"

This week I hard a pretty interesting Friday night. We had this appointment with Sr. Mirelle, a recent convert and while we had our appointment her friend brought me out some futu.

From Wikipedia
"Fufu (or foofoo, fufuo, foufou) is a staple food common in many countries in West Africa such as Cote D'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia, Benin, Togo and Nigeria. It is often made in the traditional Ghanaian and Nigerian method by mixing and pounding separate equal portions of cassava and green plantain flour thoroughly with water. It is then adjusted to either increase or decrease the viscosity of the fufu depending on personal preferences.^[1] Other flours, such as semolina, maize flour or mashed plantains may take the place of cassava flour. Fufu is often served with groundnut soup, palm nut soup, abunuabunu or light soup.

The traditional method is to boil starchy food crops like cassava, yams or plantains and cocoyams and then pound them into a dough-like consistency. Fufu is eaten with the fingers, and a small ball of it can be dipped into an accompanying soup or sauce."

This picture is from a previous week but shows futu on the left and one of the soups on the right.

I told her I was full which is super NOT OK here but I looked inside of the bowl and honestly just didn't want to eat it. In the stew their was a crab, a cow leg and little sardines. I had to say a little prayer and just dive in.  It was so painful eating. The crunchiness of the crab, shell and all, along with the sliminess of the futu just didn't go well together. I was so full and just grossed out after eating that and done for sure but then they brought out some rice for me with more fish and I was just like you have got to be kidding me! I just kinda chuckled to myself and thought, their is no way I can get this down. Nonetheless, I did my best to try. Then as Elder Ayinde and I were eating this rice it started raining super hard. It was actually raining so hard we couldn't go outside the house. I went to get a better look at the rain because most houses have few windows and this 20ish girl ran up to me and grabbed me and was like, "come on Freedman lets go wash in the rain together". I just like booked it back into the house thinking to myself, this place is crazy.

After sitting in the house for a little the girl that told me to go wash with her brought me some more futu and cow skin. I was like NOOOO WAY! I just leaned over to Elder Ayinde and said, "bro you have to help me". I was practically pleading with him. Somehow we got it down and then right after we finished they brought us some rice with sauce. It was literally punishment. After the rain slowed down, we were able to leave and I kid you not, I felt so uncomfortable, I thought I was going to throw up! That was super hard for me hahah. What I need to remember and know is how kind and generous these people are!

This week was pretty great. We were supposed to have a baptism but the kids we are going to baptize have been arguing with their parents so their parents told them they will have to wait. They will get baptized soon though.  They are super good kids.  They have an incredible understanding and excitement for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This week I have really just felt the Saviors love. Sometimes, when I walk in sector, I clinch my fists and feel like I am holding the Saviors hand. It has been such a cool feeling!

Sorry for the kinda short email this week, not a lot of time but next week will be better! Most of all I just want to say I love you guys all so much. I can't tell you that enough! This experience is and has changed my life. Yes, it's hard to eat a crab, shell and all but I would not trade this experience for the world!

Elder Freedman

On splits with Elder Sandberg, the Zone Leader

Brother Bonebo had the missionaries over to celebrate the departure of Elder Lebaron

Week 13 - October 9, 2019 "Island Vibes and Hamburgers"

I forgot to write about this in my email last week but last Monday, we went to the coolest little island for our pday. We went with a bunch of elders in the Zone and it was so fun. We took a 15 minute boat ride on this little wooden boat that was about 50 cents a person. When I jumped off of the boat, some guy was selling fresh sugar cane that was super good. This place was so cool! It was a village with stick huts and all. The funniest thing about this village was that the people on this island spoke English! Turns out they are all Ghanians who jumped in boats and landed there. I felt like I was on vacation while there. The people were nice, one even climbed a super tall coconut tree and got a bunch of coconuts for us. Then we went and jumped in a bunch of homemade hammocks and relaxed and drank coconut water. It was so nice! 

Now back to this week. It was pretty great. We started it off by welcoming Elder Nokes and Elder Adjrimanahara to our apartment! Elder Nokes is from Riverton and Adjiri is from Madagascar. So, yes I am living with a Penguin from Madagascar. He is also training so it has been fun to be with him. Malagash people are super chill and relaxed and I like them a lot. Elder Nokes is the best. We went to this super nice grocery story and bought hamburger patties and cheese and other good stuff and we are going to cook some American food! We have already made scones and other stuff so it has been nice. 

Speaking of food, I haven't had anything super gross this week but the bishop's wife always makes this pakali stuff that is edible but far from enjoyable. It is like salty, slimy dough that you dip in sauce. This weeks sauce had little crabs in it that can't be legal to eat but I don't know that the regulations are the same here. Instead of cleaning and separating the shell from the meat, they just pop the whole thing in their mouths, shell and all and eat it! I tried but hated the crunch so I only tried once. 

As for the work here, it is going well. We should have a baptism with 2 people this week. Sr. Miriam and Fr. Kiyali. They are siblings and their parents are Buddhist which has been interesting. They haven't held them back at all which is good. Other than that, we have so many people we teach but not any other baptismal dates fixed. I really hope to set some soon. One struggle that we face is that a lot of the people that we teach can't read and so it is kinda impossible for them to accept the Book of Mormon because they can't read it. We try to encourage them to find people that can read it with them. If I am being honest though, I can't talk much because I am not the best at reading French yet either so I feel what they are feeling haha. 

The language is coming along slowly. Last night this guy stopped us and just asked who we were and other questions and I carried the whole conversation by myself! It was a super simple conversation but when I walked away, I felt so excited because I understood what he asked! Right now I am learning how to teach the commandments. For conference we were able to watch one session. I didn't understand much but I really felt the spirit strongly. It was super cool because the one session we watched was the one with the choir from Provo. As I looked at the sisters singing I got super emotional because I got such a strong impression that those ladies were praying for the missionaries with their families at home and I felt so much comfort from that. 

I feel like I am starting to adjust a little. People in the ward know me a little better, people we teach are starting to be able to pronounce my name...It really is getting better. I think having an American in the apartment who I can speak English with and have normal conversations with is helpful too. Thank you all for your encouraging emails, I love opening my email up and reading everyone's super good advice. Also, I really want to say thank you for everyone who prays for me. It means so much, it really does. 

Love,

Elder Freedman

 Andrews first African tie

Andrew was not able to connect his camera to the computer this week so all pictures were provided by this awesome Ward Mission Leader, Brother Bonebo

This is the guy who climbed the tree and got coconuts for all the elders

Possibly a fermented coconut????

In front is Elder Ayinde, Andrews companion