Dawn of the Final Transfer (6 weeks remain)

It's been a fat minute. A lot has happened since I last wrote. I've still been with the same comp, Elder Kouadio in the same area, Koweït 1, up until this point. We've been teaching lots of people and helping them become converted. We've had so many lessons where the Spirit has filled our hearts to the point where we feel like we're on fire, and we've gotten to know so many wonderful people. It has been a huge blessing to come back here to Africa and serve here.

The past few weeks here have been spent under either blazing heat or pouring rain. It hasn't rained too much, but when it has, it's a complete downpour. It's kind of nice when it does rain, because it cools things down, most of the time at least. Or, if it drizzles a little bit and then the sun comes out, I swear it jumps to 120⁰ because of the bonus humidity. Elder Kouadio and I often get stuck in the bad weather, but it's fine, we're both always smiling.

I really love Elder Kouadio and his faith, strength, and example to me. He has been a member for only 3 years, and yet he worked to pay for the mission by himself, and is now here serving the Lord. He is the only member in his family. Obviously very admirable to see someone who has just joined the church serving like he is.

I'll add something here a little more tender. Last tuesday he shared with me some insight on his family. He said that normally on pdays, he's a little more calm because he doesn't really have family to call. He has an older brother and an older sister, but all three of them come from different fathers. His mom has been a big part of his life, but she was never married, and the three fathers of her kids were never actively involved in the family life. Basically he said that his father hasn't cared about him his whole life. His father doesn't know that he's on a mission, and supposedly hasn't talked to him for years. 

When he shared that, it made me so sad, and I cry whenever I think about it too much. I could not imagine what my life would be like without my dad, much less to have a father, and then to have him not care about you or what you do. It makes me so sad to think about. Yet, it also makes me feel so grateful for the family that I've been blessed with. So infinitely grateful.

It also humbles me that even despite all the problems that he faced, he is still on a mission, serving the Lord to the best of his abilities. He is such an incredible example of faith and strength. 

Every time when we teach about temples and eternal families, my heart is still full of joy whenever I testify of the blessings that I have and feel as a result of being sealed, but at the same time, sadness enters my heart as well because my comp is the only member in his family, so he doesn't have those blessings yet, but also his family isn't complete. I am so humbled and grateful for the generosity that Heavenly Father has towards someone like me. So grateful.

Anyways, no more sad talk.

On the 29th of May, we had a baptism! It was a really sweet experience. Sr Loua is a young woman that we had been teaching, and she was baptized. Also, the wife and daughter of our stake clerk, Fr Yao, were also baptized, and their family was united. This baptismal service was one of my favorite ones, if not my favorite. Fr Yao baptized his wife and daughter, and then I was able to baptize Sr Loua, as well as 4 kids that another companionship had prepared. It was such a blessing to be able to participate in that way. I was filled with joy.

The next day though, when I grabbed my wallet before leaving the apartment, it felt oddly thinner and lighter than before. When I opened it, I found my wallet ripped in some pockets, and completely void of any money. One thing lead to another, and I realized that while we were at the baptism, someone went through my wallet and stole the money. I was told to change into baptismal clothes very abruptly, so in my rush to change and go take pictures, I left my clothes unattended in the bathroom. It was around 50000f, which is just a little under $100. It was really shocking.

I found that out right before we went to church, which made it really hard for me to concentrate on the sacrament. In the terms here, 'mon cœur était chaud.' It wasn't too hard for me to accept that money was stolen, money isn't very important, but what really hurt was to know that a member here that I probably know had it in their mind to steal from a missionary during a baptismal service at the stake center. It was the loss of trust in the members that hurt, not the loss of money.

Two good things came from this event. 1. I learned not to carry large amounts of my money on my person at a time, and to be more cautious of my wallet. 2. It gave me an opportunity to forgive. Even though it was upsetting, I was able to quickly forgive and move on, thanks to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Overall, it was a good learning experience.

On Tuesday last week, Elder Kouadio and I went to a choir practice for a conference that we would have on Friday. We sang a musical arrangement of Lord I Would Follow Thee and Love One Another. It was really good. As I practiced singing it and thinking about what the lyrics meant in English, a strong feeling of peace and the Spirit filled my heart. It was a really cool feeling. Those feelings were in surprising contrast to what I saw outside as we practiced. It was stormy, papaya trees shaking violently in the wind and a dark sky. But, despite that image in front of me, I felt peace. It was really cool.

Thursday last week, President Gbagbo came back to Côte d'ivoire. He's one of the presidents that kinda caused the civil war here back in 2010 or whenever it was. Anyways, he came back. There was a huge buildup, and we had to stay in our apartments just in case some bad stuff broke out. Thankfully, nothing bad happened near us. Over in Koumassi, there were huge crowds with some people getting shot or shanked, but it only lasted a couple hours and then it was done. Super glad it didn't turn into another war. Yet, at least.

That night, I started something called MyPlans. Basically it's a course you take at the end of the mission to prepare yourself for la vie après. It's so crazy that it's already here. It was really good, I really felt the spirit while I went through it.

The next day, we went to the conference with Elder Vinson, one of the seventy in the presidency of the seventy. It was a wonderful spiritual experience. I was fasting while I was there just to be as spiritually prepared as I could be, and my heart felt like fire the whole time. I learned so much and felt so much love and peace, I'll never forget that.

I felt Christ's love especially as we sang the musical number, chills running up my spine and tears brimming my eyes as we sang the phrase "Apprend-moi Jésus à t'aimer," or in English, 'Teach me, Jesus, to love thee.' That saying has a deep meaning, and it really touched my heart as we sang.

I also learned many things while at that conference, but just overall, it was a wonderful spiritual experience. I also got to see Elder Sanders, the Elder whose training I started in the states right before heading out here. He's in the Abidjan East mission and is loving it. It was so good to see him.

Last thing. Transfers came on Saturday, and I'm leaving Koweït. I wasn't expecting any change, but for my last transfer I'll be going somewhere different. My area will be Lakota. It's a village in our mission, the farthest you can get away from the city. It'll be about 5 hours from the city, and an hour from any other missionaries. No missionaries have been there since covid hit, and I'll be whitewash training. 

It's kinda funny to me, because in my last weekly email to president, I said 'I don't know what'll happen this transfer, but I think some amount of change could be beneficial for me.' Well, I got change. 100% change. I'm going from the city straight to the bush. Not at all what I expected, but I'm excited. It'll be an adventure for sure. I couldn't think of a better way to end my last 6 weeks in the mission than out in the actual boonies. Once again, so excited to be able to serve the Lord over there.

I have so many feelings about the gospel and about Christ that I've felt over this past period of time since I've last sent an email, there would be no way to express everything here in this email. But I do want you to know that I know that Christ lives. He is the Son of God and did live a flawless, perfect life full of long suffering, selfless service, and love. He did sacrifice himself for us, taking upon himself all of our sins, sorrows, sicknesses, so that we could be saved. I know that because of Him, we can have joy, and that only through Him, can we have eternal life. He is our Savior and Redeemer, the sacrificial Lamb of God, the Prince of Peace and the Well Beloved of the Father. He is Jesus Christ, and He loves you. He always will.

Have a great week

Elder Lyman