New Jericho Branch

Well another week has come and gone and here we are again!  This week went by really fast. You know what they say; time flies when you are working hard.  And that is exactly what we have been doing!

Like I said in the letter from last week Elder Boto and I have been working on finding new people to teach.  So we are now teaching a lot of new people. We have been really blessed in the people that we have found right now.  All week we were walking far and wide to teach our new people. They all live pretty far away from each other so we are working all around our area.

Yesterday at church some really amazing news was announced!  Right now I’m working in the sector of Jericho but all of our investigators [go to the] Gbedjromede Branch.  Yesterday the announcement was made that on the first Sunday in August the new Jericho Branch will start!  The people in Jericho will go to the same building but have their own branch. They are working on finding a building right now!  It’s so amazing to be here for this big change. I’m so excited for this!  This change is also very nice because there were so many people attending the old branch that I didn’t get to sit down at church for the past 4 months!

And for the other good news we had 6 investigators at church yesterday!  Ahh, what a great day! haha.  This is a really nice change, because the area has been struggling but I knew things would start to light up!

The package is amazing by the way haha. I haven’t eaten it all yet!  It’s so nice to see my beautiful tie again! haha (His favorite tie was stolen in the MTC so I sent him a new one.) The 4 x 4 Rubik’s cube is ridiculously hard lol but it’s all good!

Thank you for all that you do for me mom, I love and miss you! Have a great week!
Avec amour,
Elder Joseph D. Allred II

This is a van from another church! I think its awesome! haha The picture says it all!

Mom I'm here if you want to talk to me!

I have a couple minutes before my training starts

How are you today? Je suis tres bon! (I am very good)

I'm good. Not looking forward to another day of training. How's your day been? Any luck on the package yet?

I bet!  My day has been good. I cleaned all day!  Myself and Boto did laundry for one of our converts, and yes, the package is amazing!  What did you think of my Toms story? :)

I loved your Toms story. So glad you finally got the package. I can't believe that you are cleaning. Lol just kidding. Are you still in the same apartment that you were in with Rago?

I wasn't sure if it was appropriate or not to tell it. I didn't want people to think that my head was somewhere else and not on the work.  The package is amazing!  I love it!!!!  4 x 4 Rubik’s cube is freakin hard! lol 

I don't think there's anything wrong with the story. You're there for the culture also.

haha what a relief!  I was thinking about that all week!  Haha

I like the picture of you and the van. Did you ever decide about clippers for your hair?

I thought it would a waste of money. I’ll keep getting bad haircuts lol 

2 pour 1/2

Well another week has come and gone; can’t believe how fast it went!  This past week went by fast for us because we were so busy all the time!

As I said before and as you know Elder Rago was transferred about a week ago and I have to show the new missionary the area.  Well we got straight to work on that!  So this whole week we went around and I introduced him to the members in our area and our investigators!  And we started to work towards finding new people to teach, so that means asking people for contacts or going door to door!  Well we asked all the members in our area for contacts and that didn't go very well, so that means we were forced to go door to door!  We found a few new people who we are going to start teaching. I don’t know if those people will progress.  So as I said with Boto I’m forced to speak French and I think it’s really helping me!  I’m starting to speak really well so that’s pretty awesome!

And other than that it was a pretty normal week. So now I’m going to explain the 2 pour 1/2!  So in Benin Cotonou you can buy just about anything you want for pretty cheap and it’s either real stuff or fake crap!  So today another missionary and I went to an area of Benin with some really great stuff!  And we found a guy selling Toms, you know the shoes Toms!  So you know that whole thing about how you buy a pair of Toms and another pair is donated to a kid in Africa, well that’s kind of true....lol but not true at the same time.  It turns out when they get donated here people either sell them or steal them and resell them.  So I found a guy and we start taking, he says I want 12,000 cfa for 1 pair and I negotiate with him and we end up agreeing on 7,000 cfa. I couldn't decide which pair I wanted so I say I will give you 15,000 cfa for 2 pairs and he said yes! So I bought 2 pairs of Toms for 30 dollars American money which is half the price of one pair in the United States! Go me!! haha

Anyway this was a good week, things are good, I love you and miss you tons! Je vous aime beaucoup!

Avec amour,

Elder Joseph D. Allred II

Last week's baptism and new companion Elder Boto

Pictures from Family Home Evening

Big News for the week: My New Companion and a Baptism!

Well it sounds like you have been pretty busy the last couple days but busy is always good huh? haha ya I'm not really sure what happened I was here for a good amount of time and no response but that’s ok it’s all good! haha (We tried to chat last week but couldn't make a connection. I got his message at 8:30 p.m. our time which is 4:30 a.m. his time so it must have been lost in cyber space for some time.)

Anyway to answer your question about the Spanish stuff for Shelby, if she goes to the Provo MTC she will receive all of that plus more! haha At the Provo MTC they gave me 3 books to study French.  For Spanish I think it’s 4 and they give you the scriptures in your language. Plus other things so don’t worry about that stuff for her.  (His step-sister is going to Mexico on her mission so I asked about giving her some Spanish stuff that he had sent home from the MTC.)

Anyway so to talk about the big news for the week!  My new companion and a baptism!

Our investigator finally got baptized!  It was such a relief on me haha. We had been working with him for a pretty long time. The problem was he wasn't telling us everything. He hadn't received a response to his prayers but wanted to be baptized.  He ended up not showing up to his baptism interview twice.  But when all seemed lost he finally received his answer and he found it in a verse from Mormon Chapter 7 verse 10. (See below) I found it during my personal study!  So it was really great.  Anyway he was baptized on Saturday!  I’ll be sending pictures today. (No pictures made it.) 

Anyway so the other news...my new companion.  His name is Elder Boto and he is also from Madagascar! It’s been really great the past couple days.  The other good thing is he speaks really great French...and not really any English!  So he has been forcing me to speak only French and it’s been helping me quite a bit.  He thinks that I speak French really well but I still have a lot to work on before it’s really good.  I miss Rago but this is good for me.

Anyway other than that things are pretty normal.  I finally received the letter you sent with the Church News in it. I love the bookmarks inside. (I sent this around the 2nd week in April.)  And I received dad’s package but not yours.  I’ll let you know when it comes.  Anyway I hope you have a great day and week!  I miss you and love you sooooo much haha. Je vous aime beaucoup!

Avec amour,

Elder Joseph D. Allred II

Mormon 7:10: "And ye will also know that ye are a remnant of the seed of Jacob; therefore ye are numbered among the people of the first covenant; and if it so be that ye believe in Christ, and are baptized, first with water, then with fire and with the Holy Ghost, following the example of our Savior, according to that which he hath commanded us, it shall be well with you in the day of judgment."

Elder Allred and Elder Rago

Five Months

Hey mom well this week was pretty boring as well but I have some interesting news to report.  This week was a transfer week because a few missionaries are going home, so as always I was worried about the transfer.  Well here is the news.....Elder Rago has been transferred to another sector in Benin and I have been left to show another missionary the area.  My new companion is from Madagascar also so that's pretty cool but that is all that I really know about him. I hear he is a really good guy so that’s pretty awesome too. 

That’s really awesome about Shelby (his step sister) being called to Mexico. I’m almost a little jealous but Africa is the Celestial Kingdom so she can be jealous of me haha!  

On the good news I have a baptism this week. It’s the guy that I was talking about last week. If everything goes through I will tell you a cool story about him.  

Other than that things are pretty much the same.  Just getting ready for the changes that are getting ready to happen.  I love you and miss you like crazy!

Avec amour, 

Elder Joseph D. Allred II

Struggling

Well the first day of July is here, and it is pretty hard to believe how fast June went.  Sorry about last week. We went over to another area in the mission and didn’t get home in time to go email.  We went straight to our lesson instead.  It was a family home evening lesson.  Right now they are really starting to encourage family home evening. They have it at a different members house every week or so.  
 

So I’m pretty sad that I missed the family reunion. It sounded like it was fun. I always looked forward to that when I was at home.  HOPEFULLY there will be one when I get home! lol 

Things here are as usual busy.  Right now in my area things are struggling.  We only have 1 progressing investigator and he has been fading away so I’m getting worried about it.  Elder Rago and I are going to have a fast for our area on Sunday.  We were supposed to have a baptism on Saturday but our guy didn’t show up to his interview and we haven’t heard from him since.  

Things are hard for us right now but I know things will get better.  I miss you like crazy.  Oh, and I haven’t received my package yet, hopefully soon!  I hope you have a good week.  I love you and miss you!

Avec Amour, (With Love)

Elder Joseph D. Allred II