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Elder Walls and his MTC companion, Elder Jorgansen,
Ghana Missionary Training Center |
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| MTC District |
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| The craziest kids I know! |
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| Ghana Temple |
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| Elder Walls at the Ghana Temple |
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| Elder Walls after decorating the Christmas Tree |
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| Walls and his favorite Ghanaian |
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| The Family Delphine |
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| SR Rose et Moi, her mother was one of my first baptisms |
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| Elder Seka getting excited for Christmas! |
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| Mission service project at an orphanage |
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| Elder Walls showing off his muddy pants which he had to wear for 2 days |
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| Add caption |
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| Quidah Beach |
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| Quidah Beach |
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| Gila Monster |
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| Quidah Beach |
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| Notice the markings on her face--they make these markings to look more like the snakes |
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| Wow! |
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| Students at a Culinary School |
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| Ben and Jerry's in Africa!! |
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| Attempting to compete with the children at soccer |
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| Barnes and Walls |
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| You commonly see trash on the sides of the roads |
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Can you spot the water tower on the horizon?
That is where the Branch building is located. We make that walk several times a week (about an hour). |
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| My sector |
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| Riding in style to a baptism |
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| No bake cookies are a success! |
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| Where's Eric? |
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| Porto Novo Cityscape |
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| School Children |
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| Porto Novo Branch building |
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| African wildlife |
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| Baptism of Solange |
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| Katchi, the Porto Novo equivalent to Times Square |
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| Shepherds watching their flocks |
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| Black patte |
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| The sauce that goes with patte |
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| Open wide! |
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| Cooking on the 4th of July |
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| Finished product |
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| Teaching Sunday School in Porto Novo |
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| Another District activity at the Temple of Pythons |
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| Painting at the Temple of Pythons |
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| Painting at the Temple of Pythons |
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One of the huts at the Temple of Pythons
White flag represents Voodoo |
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| Walls, Legbanon, Marurai, and Ribera at Temple of Pythons |
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| Door to the Temple of Pythons |
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| Entrance to the Temple of Pythons |
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| Ouidah Beach |
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| Ouidah Beach |
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| Humorous skit at English competition |
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| Jose at English competition |
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| African scripture case I had made for me |
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| Super cute family |
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| District wearing boombas |
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| Loving the scenery! |
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| Just posing, not actually riding a moto! |
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| Out in the boonies |
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African goat cheese--very different from cheese you find in the States
Women sell it out of buckets of water they carry on top of their heads!
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| Jose's Baptism |
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| Great view of this beautiful country |
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| Pictures from our P-day field trip to the zoo |
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| Ribera and Walls |
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| Elder Walls goofing off on the swings |
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| Can you tell that tennis is not as popular as soccer? |
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| Jose's Baptism |
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| Making grilled pizza to celebrate my one year mark |
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| Part of the anniversary celebration: Burning a worn out shirt--a rite of passage for missionaries |
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| Lunch Ribera and I while out on splits |
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| Boudakasa with sauce Boma |
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| Before the Porto Novo building got their own baptismal font, we used to travel to this hotel and use their swimming pool |
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| Ronald's baptism |
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| Isaac's baptism |
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| Cute kids |
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| Amazing African Sky |
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| Way to move furniture in style! |
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| Elders Ribera and Walls keeping cool |
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| My olds sandals that wore out--they didn't even last a year! |
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| Our old apartment in Aimlonfide, we keep our new one here much cleaner! |
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| Young Mens, with Maserick, Fabien and Gael |
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| Elders Ribera and Legbanon |
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| Elder Marurai |
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| From MTC days--Elders Bailey and Jackson |
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| Us with the senior missionary couples, love them! |
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| Poor lost goat |
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Yovos! You don't see too many here.
The white people you do see are almost always French and/or Jehovah's Witnesses. |
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| Memorial to the first missionaries to arrive in Benin |
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Sacrificial ball, I believe is opened every 7 years to put stuff inside.
The stuff on top is red flour with oil--the food of the gods. |
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| More photos from our trip to the zoo and to the Temple of Pythons |
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| Rogenio's Baptism |
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| Rogenio looking classy in his new church attire |
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| Rogenio with his friends Grace and Gracia |
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| Rogenio's Baptism |
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| Gave our study a makeover, my desk is on the right |
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| The senior couple try amiwo for the first time--they said they liked it! |
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| The senior couple and President M and his wife join us for lunch. We made them amiwo. |
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| Sweeping A's yard |
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| Boombas in honor of Elder L's departure |
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| Realigning our zen as we prep for a baptism--namastay! |
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| One of my converts and I |
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| L's baptism. He is from the Congo and a great guy! |
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| Our district |
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| My comp and I |
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| A sunglasses salesman on the road |
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| The road to Sangai |
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| It is going to be so hard to leave Porto Novo! It is amazing how much
the Branch building has changed. When I first came to this area, we
missionaries lived upstairs (Elder B and I slept on the floor no less!).
Now that we have moved out, there is a huge Chapel on the second floor.
The building now has its own baptismal font. Ceiling fans, purple
paint, walls busted up, we even have a sign on the front--lots of
changes. The church will continue to grow here--I am so glad to have
been a part of it! |
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| The Porto Novo Elder's Quorum--a few members are not pictured |
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| President and Sister Z. It is amazing how the Lord calls inexperienced
people to do His work. These two wonderful people have had to learn all
the rules and traditions of the church. They have worked hard and tried
their best while learning to lead the Branch. |
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| One of my favorite members, A. He would often help teach Sunday School,
and is going to take my place as SS president. He speaks both French and
English. He recently received the Melchizedek priesthood, and is
considering serving a mission.Hard to believe he was baptized only a
little over a year ago. |
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| These two are not a couple, we just took a photo together. I love them
both. P (the man) is our Branch clerk. He works in the Benin Historical
Archives--I visited him once at work and his job looks so cool! ML (the
woman) lives so far away from the church building but always makes it on
time to church. Quite often she brings food for the missionaries. She
asked that if I ever meet the prophet, that I show him her photo--I'll
do my best! |
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| E is a former voodoo practioner, and now is one of the first to show up
for church every Sunday. He is a great guy and wants to be baptized. |
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| B is always fun to be around--love him! |
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Another great member here is A. To look at him you would think he is in
his 20's, but he is in his mid 30's. He always has a very serious face
while listening to talks or lessons--you can tell he really pays
attention to what is being said.
Our Stunning Primary
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Mangezvouz
First course: Salad!!
Second Course: Patte with sauce crehn crehn--this was delicious!
Third Course: Chicken and rice--I was pretty stuffed by this point!
Cococodji Branch Building
Palace de Congress--the most beautiful building in Benin
F and C on their baptism day
Another photo of F and C
M's Baptism Day
Back when we did autonomy training--training to help the people in the area to be more self-reliant.
Classes were given on how to find a job, start a business, continue schooling and so forth.
We were there to talk with the nonmembers. L-R Walls, Elder M., Elder S., Elder B.
Want to buy some fish? Not quite the same display you'd see at Wegmans!
I usually buy frozen fish, not this smoked stuff which has been sitting out all day.
Peace out from Benin
Like many youth here, this girl walks around with foodstuffs on her head all day.
Her mother sends her out while she keeps shop. The girl is taking a breather.
Farewell to Elder A!
It's a shame we have to split up so fast--he's one of my favorite comps
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| Pres Comi and Elder A conducting music together |
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| The Elders in Cocotomey |
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| Sr De F |
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| Elder Walls in front of the Cocotomey church building |
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| M-- and J--s' baptism |
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| Another shot of M and J on their baptism day |
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| Elder R's last day in the mission |
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Good Eats!
We don't normally have time to prepare this nice of a meal |
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Our study desk is a disaster! We did clean up today.
My side is the one that doesn't have the photo of Carrie Underwood! |
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Can you see the orange speck at the top of the tree?
A guy climbed this really tall coconut tree that is in front of our house. |
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| Elder Walls and his comp, Elder M. |
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| Elder M and Elder Walls peeling yams for ingyam pile |
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| ingram pile. Boiled yams that are then beaten into a doughy ball and served with a sauce |
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| My Thanksgiving dinner plate |
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| Our Thanksgiving spread |
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| Don't worry, we didn't eat this! The couple missionaries were coming over to do a cleaning inspection. I remembered one Christmas where mom put oranges and cinnamon sticks in a pot of boiling water and made the house smell nice. So, I thought I would try it. It worked, the whole apartment smelled great, but then all the water evaporated and I was left with this burned cruddy pot to clean. |
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| Babies! |
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| Sister C and her children |
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| Elder Vinson of the Quorum of the Seventy visits the mission |
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| E--'s baptism |
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| Elder M taking a photo of the Palais de Congres, where the District Conference was held |
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| Buses were provided to transport members from across Cotonou |
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| Buses and members begin arriving |
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| Sky view of the hustle and bustle |
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| L and M from my first area, Cococodji |
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| I-- from Porto Novo, looking sharp! |
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| Cococodji Branch Members |
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| Kolo Moto taxi, not against mission rules! |
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| Traffic |
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| Found this mural in my sector. I have a lot of respect for the local artists |
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| Love the goats here in Africa. Thinking these photos would make great inspirational posters! |
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| Thanks, Mom, for the cake mixes and frosting. |
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| Makeshift flag pole. |
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| A new area we discovered in our sector, Agbocodji. |
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| Elder Walls and his companion, Elder F. washing bottles for an orphanage |
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| "I figured I should get a picture with a chicken--Why not? I see a thousand of them everyday!" |
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| Revenon dancer on the voodoo national holiday. They are able to keep their costume spinning around their neck as they dance around. |
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| This group of revenon dancers caused quite the scene right in front of our house |
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| Close up of a revenon dancer. If you look closely, you can see his hand outstretched, asking for money from us. Not sure what a spirit would do with money, but who knows. |
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| We walked really far out into our sector and saw this amazing landscape |
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| Cows on the beach. You never cease to see new things in Africa! |
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| Tacos we made from the tacos fixins you sent in the Christmas package |
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| Elder Walls, N--and R-- on their baptismal day, Elder F |
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| Can you see how low the water level is? |
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| Finally, the mouse's long reign has come to an end |
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| Elder Walls (2nd from left) with his former MTC comp, Elder J (white shirt and tie),and his current comp, Elder F (far right). Photo courtesy of Amber Jorgensen. |
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| The wedding of J-- and C--, J-- signs the papers |
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| J-- and C-- sign the papers |
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| J-- and C-- exchange rings |
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| Guests at the wedding |
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| J-- and C-- with their marriage certificate |
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| J-- and C-- with B-- and R--, another couple recently married |
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| Baptismal service for C and J |
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| Reception after the baptism |
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| Food served at the reception |
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| Elder N and Elder B were able to come for the baptismal service |
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| We had a lot of missionaries attend the baptism, including: Elders Bailey (from MTC) and Elder Nsengiyumva, Teihotu, Arek, Archer, Adjo,Miller, Teaupa, Pellevoizin, Mutumbo, and, of course, Mayamba and Walls |
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J, looking fresh after his baptism (like the world right after rain),
and photobombed by R, one of the Young Men in the Branch |
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| C after the service, it was touching to see how much this meant to her |
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| One of our amis, P |
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| The secret to getting our shirts so white! |
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| Close up on our little laundry helper |
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| Birthday party for C's daughter, M, who turned 1 |
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| Elder A and A work in the bureau and have some flexibility in their schedule, so they came to the party |
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Come, similar to patte, but spicier. When I was training, Elder Adeji made me eat this everyday.
Mama C loves to feed the missionaries--and we love to eat! |
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| Mama with her little piggies hanging out in the trash, a pretty common sight here |
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Zone meeting we held a few weeks ago.
From L-R back: Marie, Walls, Neubert, Bailey, Moss, Kincaid
> front: Gozo, Kiala, Mayamba, Yoboue, Kabuyah, Barou, Ranriamalala, Nsengiyumva |
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| Elder and Sister Stanfill visit the Benin missionaries |
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| The First Benin, Cotonou Stake Conference |
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| Elder and Sister Stanfill visit with the missionaries in Togo |
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| Elder Walls with his former MTC comp, Elder J--, in Togo |
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| Road trip to Togo, a 3 1/2 hour drive |
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| More photos from our trip to Togo |
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| Most of the trip to Togo was rural scenery |
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| I was pretty excited to see a Shell gas station in Togo! |
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| Cargo ships at the Port of Togo |
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| Port of Togo |
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| Elder Walls in front of the Togo Stake Center, hard to see because it is night |
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| The mural on this voodoo hut is a representation of Mami Wata, the Mermaid Voodoo Goddess. I don't completely understand all of the legend/myth around her, but I do know that many people think she is responsible for many of the misfortunes that occur to people on the sea. A lot of people (including many church members) believe in her, and are afraid of her. |
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| Another Voodoo Hut at Ouidah |
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| Fishermen off the shore of Ouidah |
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| African Canoe |
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| Revenon ("Awoken voodoo spirit") Statue at Ouidah |
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| GTV (Goat transport vehicle!) |
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| Baptism of AF |
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| Mangez-vous (dinner appointment) with Sr. D, Fr. E, L, E and D |
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| Patte with Spicy Peanut Sauce |
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| Spicy! |
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| This little cutie is the son of one of our amis |
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| Elder Walls holding a baby goat |
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| Baptism for P-- and B-- |
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| P-- with his twin brother, P--, and friend, B-- |
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| Baptism for P-- and B-- |
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| Baptism for P-- and B-- |
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| B-- with her sister |
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| Baptismal service for M-- |
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| Baptismal service for M-- |
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| Post baptism mangez-vous |
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| Post baptism mangez-vous |
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| Post baptism mangez-vous |
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| Watching General Conference |
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| Sustaining Church Leaders |
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| Caught Elder K-- catching some zzz's during Conference! |
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| #Selfie |
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| Baptism of Ge-- and No-- |
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| Isaiah 52:7 |
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| Painful electrocoagulation to remove warts |
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| Catching up with Is-- and Jo-- from Porto Novo |
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| Baptism of Fr. Me-- |
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| Baptism of Fr. Me-- |
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| Baptism of Fr. Me-- |
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| Baptism of Fr. Me-- |
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| Little shed where I taught my first lesson |
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| You don't see too many monkeys in areas where people live--this guy was pretty calm and friendly |
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| Two of our Nigerian amis |
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| Yellow Eba, a Nigerian classic dish |
Final Photos with Converts and Members
hi elder my name is roger kanda im writing from congo and just to let you know that iv been called to serve in benin cotonou mission on september 17 im so happy to come and serve with all of you
ReplyDeletehttp://elderkandaroger.blogspot.com/ ........this is my blog too