An Unexpected Detour - Abidjan,Côte d'Ivoire

What a week. So for those of you who don't know, I've been sick to varying degrees over the last couple of months. Last Monday I got a call from President Bendixsen letting me know that I was being transfered down to Abidjan to go to the hospital where we can, hopefully, figure out what's been going on.

So on Thursday, Elder HoChing and I packed up our bags and left our little village for the last time. I'm sad that my time in Ahoutoué has come to such an abrupt end, but I'm glad to be here where I can get some actual medical care.

After I had a couple of days of testing, Elder HoChing was transferred to another area where he will spend the rest of the transfer. It was sad to see him go but I'm glad that he will be able to get back to work.

For the time being, I'm with the office Elders. It might yet be a couple of weeks before we are able to get everything situated and I'll be transferred to a more permanent area. But for now, I'll be working with he office Elders down here in Abidjan while I get my testing and, eventually, treatment for whatever business is going on inside me.

This wasn't exactly the direction that I though my mission would go at this point. Regardless, I am already seeing a lot of the blessings that are coming from this slight detour. Soon enough, I will be better and be right back to work.

One pro is that I'll get to spend my birthday in Abidjan later this week. Anything to make it better than last year's birthday when I was stuck inside the apartment with no water or electricity in a village out in the middle of nowhere.

I pray that I will get some results back from the hospital soon and that whatever the problem is will be treatable from here. I put my trust fully in the Lord and in His plan for me.

Have a great week! 

Elder Farr

One Year A Foreigner - Ahoutoué, Côte d'Ivoire

It's been a good week. Right at the end of last pday, the other Elders in the apartment got a call that they were to be split up mid-transfer to train to knew Elders from the Congo. On Wednesday, they came back to the apartment with their new companions, Elder Mahata and Elder Kabongo. It's been fun having a couple of French-speaking Elders in the apartment again.

Other than that, we've had a good week meeting with our amis and finding some good new ones. I really do love the people here. Going out and meeting new people is such a great joy. Every day, we find a new trail that we haven't found and walk down it until we find to what or to whom it leads. We've had some great experiences at the end of some of those trails. This village is so fun.

This week I hit one year in Côte d'ivoire! I love this place more than I ever thought I would. This has truly become my home. 

That's all for this week, love you all!

Elder Farr 

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

Christ Nous Souleve - Ahoutoué, Côte d'Ivoire

Bonjour tout le monde,

It's been a pretty good week over here in our little village. This secteur is a lot different than any of the others that I've been in here in Côte d'Ivoire. There's a surprising lack of interest in the Gospel in this village. That being said, we have been blessed to find some of the people here who have a real, genuine interest to learn of and follow Christ. Through all of the frustration and all of the trials, I've learned a lot. For example, in all of the lessons that we have had over the last couple of weeks I've felt the spirit guiding us perhaps more than in any other time on my mission. It might be difficult sometimes, but we're being helped and lifted through it.

I hope you all have a fantastic week,

Elder Farr

A Two-Person Branch - Ahoutoué, Côte d'Ivoire

It's been a crazy week trying to figure out this new secteur. Elder HoChing and I have been putting in all of our efforts to get it started up.

At the beginning of the week we faced a lot more rejection than I'd ever faced here in Côte d'Ivoire. It was really discouraging. Especially considering that we didn't know anybody in our little village.

Later in the week though, things started to turn around. On Thursday we found 10 new amis who we are really excited about. Everything is starting to turn around. I'm starting to love this little village. 

We went on a walk the other day that took us through the most beautiful jungle I've ever seen. It was amazing.

On Sunday we took the long, two-hour journey to our second branch. We were a bit late to the meeting and were embarrassed to have to walk in late in front of all of the members of our new branch. We heard the branch président speaking to everyone as we approached he building. Based off of the intensity and power in his voice, we were sure that there was a full congregation of people in there with him.

To our surprise, he was preaching to a congregation of one. As we came to find out, the branch président and his wife are the only active members of that branch. That was a humbling experience. We have a lot of work to do bringing these members back to the Gospel.

I'm so excited about all of the things that are ahead here. 

Elder Farr

Meeting Legends - Ahoutoué, Côte d'Ivoire

Hey everyone! Its been a crazy week.

I got transferred to a tiny village called Ahoutoué on Saturday. It's a bit of a change from my last area but it also feels like a bit of a return to pace. Serving in tiny villages is always the best. 

Elder Leight and I got news on Thursday that we would be moving to the same apartment to train a couple of new Elders. Friday was spent going from house to house and breaking the news to all of our amis and members from Atlantique and Aéro-cité. There were a few really difficult goodbyes.

I think the hardest goodbye was with Frère Koffi. Elder Leight and I found him my first day in that area. Over the last 3 months, he has become more converted to the Gospel than any other ami that I've worked with. He was sad to see us go and said "Je ne vais jamais vous oublier," or, "I will never forget you."

On Saturday, we met our new trainees and made our way to Alépé, the village where our apartment is. My companion is named Elder Ho Ching and he's from California. It's really fun to be with a new Elder. We have a few tiny villages that we cover and I'm really excited to get to know them.

Yesterday we had our first sacrament meeting with one of our branches. The branch is very small, only a dozen or people or so, but all of those people are really awesome, dedicated members.

In that sacrament meeting, I met two people that I've been waiting to meet for a long time. Phillipe and Annelies Assard were the first members in Côte d'Ivoire. Phillipe left for Germany in the 70s for school. While there, he met and married Annelies. After meeting the missionaries and being baptized, they moved to Côte d'Ivoire to bring the Gospel to Phillipe's homeland. 

Ever since I read about their story at the beginning of my mission, I've wanted nothing more than to have the opportunity to shake their hands. 

Yesterday, Elder Ho Ching and I were the first to arrive at our small church building in Ahoutoué. Not long after who walked in but none other than Phillipe and Annelies Assard.

Of all of the places that they could have chosen to live, they live in Ahoutoué, the smallest village you've ever seen. It was so amazing to meet them and to be a part of the small branch with them.

This week has been really good. I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead in our little village. 

Thank you all and have a great week, 

Elder Farr