Akpakpa

I am in Akpakpa now. It is quite a change. It is a lot different than most of the other areas of Cotonou. There are a lot more big houses, and bigger roads, more cars, etc. Our apartment is right on one of the major roads here, and so is quite noisy some of the time. The church is below our apartment, so it is very close. The branch here is small, very small, but yesterday the room was completely filled, since the room we have sacrament meeting in isn't very big either. We had 41 people there, including several investigators which is not something the missionaries have had a lot of success with here, getting people to church. Often, two or three at church is a major accomplishment.

You asked if Akpakpa was in the East of Cotonou, I think so, but I don't really know directions that much. But, I guess the ocean is to the south, so yes, it is to the east. It is a section of Cotonou, there are tons of different quarters or areas in the city, it is a big city.

My companion is named Elder Aka, he is from Cote d'Ivoire. I don't know a whole lot about him yet. I think he has been a member 4 years or so, and on a mission for a year and a half or so.

New area, for a while- Akpakpa

I am not in the same area right now. I am in Akpakpa, with Elder Samutamu, who is the zone leader. Elder Schwieger was also a zone leader, and so he left, and they haven't sent a new missionary here yet, so I am here, and the other three in my apartment are working together for a little bit. That should finish in the next couple days, but sometimes things don't work according to schedule. It has been an interesting experience. Most of my stuff is still in Gbedjromede, so that is hard sometimes, but it works out. It is always different to work with a new companion. That is (for me, and probably for all missionaries), one of the hardest things with missionary work.

New Companion

We had thought that transfers were done when two missionaries got transfered to Cote d'Ivoire last week. But, 4 more missionaries went there this last week. I think that it was all of the district leaders in Togo and Benin. That is what I heard anyways. So that is a huge change. My new companion is Elder Gondo, from Cote d'Ivoire. So, that is a change. It is so much different with an African companion. The culture is just so much different here. That will take a lot of getting used to. It will be hard, but that is okay.

I will be speaking a lot more French now. In our apartment, I am the only one who speaks English. The last week, I have felt like my French has improved a lot. Both with Elder Phillips and with Elder Gondo. I have had to speak a lot more lately it seems like. But, for the most part I can get by. I need to learn a lot of stuff outside of teaching situations though. Understanding is still sometimes hard when it is fast. And my vocabulary is still small. But, like I said, I can get by for the most part.