The Pig Man - Ahoutoué, Côte d'Ivoire

Hey everyone! Here's a bit of an update on what's been going on for the last month:

I'm still in Ahoutoué with Elder HoChing. The work here has started to get a lot better. It was pretty rough for the first few weeks. We arrived to find a pretty dead area. But since then, the work has started to pick up some good speed.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a lesson fall through and I was showing Elder HoChing a cool part of the jungle that I had found with another Elder when we went on exchanges. Eventually, we reached a dead end on our trial and we stopped for a minute to look at all of the beauty around us. (I don't think that I've mentioned it much, but Ahoutoué is completely surrounded by the most beautiful jungle). A few minutes go by and we hear somebody calling out to us. We'll after we respond, a man comes walking out into view on a hill a little ways off. He asked us if we taught about Jesus and we said that we do. He invited us to come to his house.

All of the land between us and the hill where he and his house were was marsh. Regardless, we had been invited over and we were determined to fulfill the invitation. So we found what seemed to be the least muddy path and batted away the trees that crowded it. Arriving at the man's house, we found that he has about a dozen pigs or so. We walked with him for a moment as he explained to us what he was doing as he worked with his pigs. After a few minutes, we all sat down and started talking.

The man told us that his name is Ibrahim. Ibrahim is more interested and serious about learning the Gospel than probably anybody else that I've met here in Ahoutoué. He's brilliant. Since we met him, he's come to church a couple of times and he's read nearly the entire Book of Mormon! I'm so happy that we met Ibrahim. He's been a great blessing to my life in the short time that I've known him.

One of the Elders in my apartment often says that we forget to ask for the things that we want. We forget that we have a 24/7 hotline for absolutely any need we might have. We need only ask. I've prayed many times during my mission to be able to find people just like Ibrahim. And on many occasions, that prayer has been granted. Heavenly Father desires to bless us and to help us be a blessing to others. We need only ask.

I love you all. More importantly, your Savoir loves you all. Look to him and you will find true joy. 

Elder Farr

I'm Alive - Ahoutoué, Côte d'Ivoire

Hey there folks, here's a very short email for lack of time. I'm still alive, still in Côte d'ivoire, and still loving it. I'm serving in Ahoutoué with Elder HoChing for one more transfer. I'm loving the village life. I've spent most of my mission serving in small villages like this and I hope that that stays the case. Anyway, I'll be sure to write more in-depth stories next time around. Love ya!

Elder Farr

Elephants, Malaria, and a Blind Man - Ahoutoué, Côte d'Ivoire

Bonjour tout le monde! 

It's been a few weeks, but I'm alive and well. Here are some of the highlights since my last email:

We went to the zoo as a zone. They had all kinds of animals from all over Côte d'Ivoire. It was really cool to be together as a zone. I finally fulfilled my long-standing goal of seeing an elephant in Côte d'Ivoire. 

I was sick for about a week and a half with what they suspect was malaria. So that was exciting. We were stuck inside for days on end and it got really boring. I mean, not for me, I was either asleep or on the toilet, but Elder HoChing must have been bored out of his mind that week. Anyway, I'm feeling a lot better now and things are back to normal.

The last week and a half since that sickness ended and we got back out to secteur has been one of the best parts of my mission. Something about being locked up for such a long time made me really start appreciating the days that I get to go out and do missionary work. We have found so many opportunities to serve others. On our first day back out, we helped a group of boys throw a pile of logs and branches up to the hill where they were building a house. We've become village-wide legends for it. And thanks to that, we have been given more and more opportunities to serve. It's been a great week.

We spent quite a bit of time out in Ahoué, our second branch that only has two active members. With every formerly-active member that we meet and talk to, it seems that we're uncovering layer after layer of the mystery of what happened to this branch. We're trying our best to help these people rediscover their faith in Christ. We've met some amazing people in the process.

While on an exchange with Elder Nelson in a village called Memni, I met a member named Frère Jonas. Jonas has been working alongside the missionaries for more than five years now. Probably the first thing that you'll notice about him is that he's completely blind. Despite it, he walked us around that village and took us from house to house, person to person, as if he cod see them all perfectly. He's a brilliant man. We helped him out by taking his water buckets to the river about 10 minutes from his house. We filled the buckets with water and carried them back to his house by carrying them between us on a bamboo stick. 

There is a great work for us to do here. I'm grateful everyday that I have the opportunity to do it. There is nowhere that I'd rather be than right here. 

I hope you all have a great week,

Elder Farr