Oh Africa....March 11, 2013

Well, can’t believe another whole week went by! Tuesday and Wednesday can start off a bit slow, but once it hits Thursday, the week starts to go by pretty fast. Then, what do you know, it’s already time to start writing my weekly email once again! 

Things have been going great out here though! Kodjo and Yvonne both got baptized this past Saturday, so needless to say, our week was a good one. The baptisms went well, although I think Kodjo is scared of water. Right before he would go under the water, he had the funniest face… like he forgot that he would have to go all the way under water! We ended up having to do the baptism twice, but he was pretty excited finally having done it! Actually, both Yvonne and Kodjo were super happy before and after the baptism. After the whole service, we were at a lesson with Kodjo’s brother and Kodjo just walks in and he’s got his swagger on as always (at least, that’s what Elder Owusu says… all he does is pop his collar up on his polo shirts, but I will say he does walk with a certain kind of boss/swagger-ness about him… don’t worry if you don’t get that!). 

 That is the all famous Mama Yvonne though! Haha... I just get a kick out of this picture... so ridiculous. Sooo... in Togo... they never count and tell you when they're taking the picture... hence all the really funny faces.

 These were all the people ready for baptism and their missionaries taking a picture together. I'm standing right next to President Weed actually! He came and visited Togo for some meetings and was able to attend our baptism so that was pretty cool. Apparently he always goes to the baptisms in Benin (since he lives there) but it's pretty cool to have him come out to one in Togo. I wasn't able to get a picture with Kodjo because he left as soon as the service was over but he's in the very back between two white elders on the right-middle side of the picture... descriptive I know but he's also making a really funny face. Which is why I love him because he's always making these super funny faces whenever we see him.

I’ve been doing pretty good as of late. Hit a few rough spots here and there, but that’s to be expected every once in a while! On Thursday, we got a visit from the Assistants (to the President) and they stayed with us. Elder Gunderson bought a grill to cook some chicken on… problem was that we weren’t able to get the coals hot at all. So, we just decided to give up and order some pizza. Yup, that’s right… got some good Hawaiian style pizza. Cost me 5000 francs for one pizza but it was totally worth it! Definitely not as good as the pizza back home, but here, you learn to like the little things that you can actually get. So, Elder Gunderson, Elder Robison, and I all chilled on the roof and ate our pizzas. Then we all slept up on the roof which was cool until the mosque went off at 5 AM as usual... who knew that walls could absorb so much sound. I was worried about getting eaten alive by the mosquitos, but they didn’t get me too bad.  Oh yeah… going back to that chicken we were trying to cook… we forgot that we left that chicken on our grill all night… and just so you know, they did eventually get cooked! Just took all night. We ended up throwing the three chicken legs to the school next door… I wish I could see the faces of the kids who find three fully cooked chicken legs outside their school classroom! Haha… oh Africa.

It’s actually been hotter than usual this week. From what I’ve gathered, it seems like this is the hottest time of year right now (right before the rainy season). However, I’m not sure what their definition of hot is here because to me it always feels hot. It’s been hard since losing my sun glasses too… I actually went to an eye doctor today and got a prescription. But, my goodness, when we went to the glasses place to buy some frames… I don’t think I’m going to get prescription sunglasses anytime soon. It was going to cost at least $100 regardless of the frames I got. And all the frames there were like these crazy designer brands (Gucci, Ray Bans, Coco Chanel) that I wouldn’t even buy in the US let alone Togo! Sister Leavitt told me that she just buys the cheap sun glasses and walks around blind most of the time and she says it’s just fine. I think I’m just gonna do that too because the sun is way too strong to walk around without sunglasses. Figuring that the sunglasses on the street are only 500 francs anyway, it’s not too big of a deal.

So, I’ve had a few questions about the churches around here. I’ve gotta say, people believe in some pretty crazy stuff. Here in Togo, there isn’t a whole lot of Voodoo but everyone believes in its power and is scared of it (won’t lie, I’m scared of it too!). But there are tons of crazy Christian churches here too. Apparently, what happens is people go to Ghana and get their “doctorates” to become pastors. Then they came back here and set up their own churches. You honestly can’t go on a road here and not find a church… most everybody here in Africa belongs to some sort of church. I would say that most are Evangelists, then Catholics, and then various other religions. Well, actually, I would say that Islam splits the country with Christians. Tons and tons of mosques here, always with the speakers too. I would say that pretty much everyone here is nice to us, regardless of what religion they are. 

There’s probably more I could say about the religion stuff, but I think people got the general idea of what religion is like here. People love, love, love to put Jesus stuff on their cars and things here. You always see these huge Jesus heads on the motos here, as well as in the taxis too. It’s kinda corny, but it’s kinda cool too! 

Soooooo… let’s see… nothing much else has been happening. The Leavitt’s told me and my comp to be looking for a new apartment in my sector… problem is that the people we’ve been teaching have all been on the outskirts of our sector so we haven’t really had the chance to find any good apartments for us. After our latest inspection though… I think we might win most improved! I think the price for that is 4000 francs… i.e. $8! Wohoo!!!! Crazy right?!?

The French is coming along well… I’ve been trying to study more often during my free time and Sur gave me the advice to study vocabulary during down time so I’m going to try and start doing that… I’ve got this cool dictionary that I brought from home (I’m pretty sure either Fro or Sur used it back in the 90s right before I was born because there’s a calendar thing in it dating back to July 1992, and the dictionary is organized by category, cooking, directions, daily routine, etc.). 

Thanks for all the support and prayers from everybody… getting close to having to go, but just know I love you guys and am thankful for you. Hope everyone is getting ready for Spring… sad I’m missing one of my favorite times of year, but it’s all good. I mean, where else in the world do you get to feel like you’re in a Sauna for free all the time!? 

No, but really, I’m having a blast here. I’m finding that the key to the mission is loving the people you meet and having fun too. I’m learning to really love this little country and I’m trying to cherish every single moment I can here… since Elder Gunderson and Elder Owusu both have under a year left to serve, they like talking about all the things they’ll be doing when they get home (and I don’t blame them!). Instead of getting down about how I have just gotten to the 20 month mark (ouch), I’m just looking at how I can cherish every moment here on the Dark Continent. You just gotta learn to appreciate the little things, if you know what I’m sayin’.

Anyway… love all you guys! Thanks for the letters and thanks for the emails. 

Love,

Elder Hawkins

P.S. To Sean and AJ: where have you kids been?!?! 

Apparently what people used to call Africa in the 19th Century!

So this is the aftermath of us trying to take a picture with Yvonne. Basically our Branch so us trying to take a picture and then everyone from our Branch came over. 

Yeah... kinda awkward when all of the RS came over and it was just me and my Comp (the only guys) in the picture! Our DMB (le dirigeant de mission de branche) came over for some random reason too... things in Africa are just random... oh and in this pic you can see how the African moms carry their babies! I've seen 8 year olds being carried this way... I think it's ridiculous if you're that old and your mom still needs to carry you.

Note from the Fro: Glad he manages to look on the bright side every week!  He didn't mention those "rough spots" in his emails to me and never says anything bad about his companions, which, as the Fro, I appreciate!  I laugh a bit about the pizza because he thinks Hawaiian pizza is SO not real pizza.  But I did cringe a little over the chicken in the school yard thinking those kids probably ate it!  Hope it was well and cooked and maybe on the chicken jerky side by that time. 

* For those of you who would like to hear from Trev, er, Elder Hawkins personally, please send him an email!  If you haven't emailed him, he doesn't have your email address.  He was very prolific at writing down street addresses in his address book, but forgot email addresses completely!  I know he would love to hear from you.  And you might want to write before he calls you out here in his weekly letter (ie. his Conestoga buddies this week)!  You can write to him at: trevor.hawkins@myldsmail.net  

Bonjour tout le monde!

Wow... what a crazy week at the MTC. Lots and lots to talk about.

 

So, we had a crazy bug on New Year's Day... on New Year's Day, we knew that Soeur Hall and Allred went down with the stomach virus (S. Hall had cramps, a sinus infection, and the stomach bug. Triple wammy! Poor thing!). As we were working out last P-Day, Elder Seidl came up to me and told me he threw up twice in the bathroom, so we then had to go to the health clinic (all the healthy comps waited outside while the sick ones waited in the clinic). We waited for about and hour. Then Elder Ihalmo got sick later that day and started throwing up around 6 that night... so that night, Elder Evans and I slept in Elder Kunz's and Elder Adam's room (they have two extra beds) since we were all healthy. That night, we were all talking about how one of us was going to go down the next morning and this was a lot like Russian Roulette! And lo and behold, Elder Evans was barfing big time at 3 AM in the morning. It was really gross but kinda funny because Elder Evans was so happy he wasn't sick the day before. Then Elder Kunz had some other stomach problems all through the night so they went down.

 

Sooooo... after it was all said and done... only Soeur Hoar, Elder Adams, and I made it through this whole thing not getting sick at all. Let this be proof to Oomps, Egg, and Meanie Butt!!!!!!!! Perfect. Immune. System. (thanks to God though! Don't want to curse myself). So with all the sick missionaries, on Wednesday, Elder Swenson (another district), Elder Adams and I got to direct traffic for the new incoming missionaries! All the other missionaries were too sick to do it, so we got to have walkie talkies and cool reflective jackets. I can't send any pics today, but I'll try to send them while I am in the field. We look pretty dang cool if I do say so myself.

 

I think in total, about 1/4-1/2 of the whole MTC got sick! It was crazy and almost like a ghost town. It was cool going to class with just two other people. Got some really cool personal lessons so I was happy to have that.

 

As of right now though, I think we are all pretty healthy now. Yay! I'm sure there's more to say, but there is no time to waste for I recieved my travel plans!

 

So, we are leaving the MTC at 6:00 AM this coming Monday (14th). Our flight from SLC leaves at 9:45 AM (I think we get to call you from SLC) and it arrives at Washington-Dulles Airport around 3:52 PM that afternoon. Then, we get on a Flight from DC to... drum roll please... Brussels Belgium (random!). That flight leaves DC at 5:55 PM and gets to Brussels at 7:15 the next morning (yes, a red eye). I hope the PennyTalk thing you gave me will still work for the phones because it says what number to call in France and not Belgium! Then, we wait in Belgium for almost 7 HOURS (what the heck?!?!) and get on a flight to Cotonou at 2:15 PM and get to Cotonou at 11:15 PM. In all, it's almost 48 hours of travel... I don't think I've ever flown that much! Maybe I can finish the standard works??

 

For FYI, our flights from SLC to IAD and IAD to Brussels (BR) are on United. Then we fly on the well known airliner "Sabena Belgium World" from Belgium to Benin... I'm pretty sure I'll be a frequent flyer on Sabena Belgium World just for flying to Africa. The district jokes all the time that we will be flying in the back of a cargo plane with chickens and random things. I'm just hoping we make it to Benin safe and sound!

 

I'm also the Travel Leader for our group so I'll be in charge of making sure we get on our flights okay, calling the church travel office if anything goes wrong, etc. I guess with all my travel experience, probably wasn't a bad choice huh? Haha, not really... they just choose based on alphebetical order. Anyway, it's a lot of flying! 

I finally got my package from Fro and Sur the other day... not sure if that canned chicken is going to fit (pretty sure it weighs like 10 pounds!!!!). I'm hoping I can get a package sent off with my old suit and shirts and stuff sometime this week. We're supposed to started getting all our daily stuff all packed up on Saturday. I don't think I really need anything though. I just was wondering when Chris's bag was going to be headed my way (is the wallet carrier thing coming too or should I just buy one here?). Also, thanks for the Priesthood line, calling stuff, and other things. They will all come in really handy! Hope I have enough room to fit everything however! I also got the Photobook from Tami (THANK YOU! THANK YOU!) and everyone loves it! It's super cool and everyone is kinda jealous that I have the coolest photo album. Some of the pictures from France are really embarrassing to show people, but they all have a good time with it!

 

Oh, I also never got the family history stories I wanted. It's not too big of a deal because I think you could probably just email some to me.

 

Wow... so I can't believe I typed this month and I still have a few minutes. Just so everyone knows, the French is coming really well. I feel like I can speak it at a pretty okay level know and not worry too much about it. Obviously I am nowhere near close to fluent, but the gift of tongues is defintiely real! I find myself remembering tons of random vocabulary that I don't think I would have ever remembered in school otherwise. It's been a really cool blessing and I can't believe that I'll be out preaching the gospel in a matter of a few days! I am getting really excited, not so much nervous but really excited.

 

Anyway, thanks to everyone who sent me letters. Just be aware, that if you want to send me Dear Elders, sent it to me before noon (MST) on Friday! I don't recieve any on Saturdays and I'll be gone by Monday! I'm going to reply to as many people as I can today but I don't have tons of time to write letters today (lots of getting things together to pack and what not).

 

Love everybody and hope everyone stays healthy!

 

Love and miss you all,

 

Elder Hawkins

P.S. repsonse to picture Fro sent... Fa-rooooooo! and yes I am sick of my suit already!

Note from the Fro: Thank HEAVENS for that "perfect immune system"!  He wrote in a letter that came yesterday that all the sick people resemble the zombies from The Walking Dead. He was wondering if they'd be issuing Biohazard suits. Feel so sorry for those that got sick! 

Some other "Trevor Talk Translations" in case you haven't spent time in our household and heard him refer to his siblings by other odd names.  Oomps (short for Oompa Loompa) is Sienna, Egg (also known as Eggnog, Nog, Noggin, or Deet....don't ask, I have NO idea!) is Keegan, Meanie Butt is Adele; meant in the most loving brotherly way of course (Adele IS his favorite actually).  You already know I am Fro (Fa-roooooooo is the long drawn out version of Moooooooooom) and Sur is his Dad.  Which is Trevor's slang for Monsieur, The Mister.  What can I say, he's a funny kid!  We miss his weird Trevor Talk around here, so I think it's hilarious when he uses it in his letters. As for being the Travel Leader, that's no surprise, even though he chalks it up to alphabetical....he's been traveling trans-Atlantic since he was a baby, so they are in good hands! The P.S. was from an email I sent asking specific questions that I needed him to answer today, in which I ended with "are you sick of your suit yet? That was a response to a picture I sent him of some African fabric to keep an eye out for.  His quilter Fro will need some for sure! 

TO MY FAMILY!  Please, please, please take the time to write down a family history story for Trevor!

TO EVERYONE: Please, please, please take the time to go on Dear Elder.com and write Trevor a letter before Friday.  Go to DearElder.com, click on write letter to Elder in MTC. Click on PROVO, MTC. On the "envelope" Put Elder Trevor Hawkins in the next three boxes put 335, BEN-COT, 0116. Easy peasy!  So what are you waiting for?  No time like the present!  I even provided the link.  Thank you SO much for taking the time to write and support Trevor, I know he appreciates it more than you'll ever know!