The Crack Under Your Door Is A Little Too Big..... :)

[Collin will not be including any photos in this post or next, because he felt like it would be his luck that a virus might hit and nuke all of his photos on his memory card.  So we are including photos from the Mission President in this post.]

These lizards really can have
quite the interesting colors!

Monday was good. It was sprinkling in the morning which felt awesome. The ride to Cape was long as usual, but emailing was super fast. We did our shopping and came home. Cooked dinner and then went to FHE with the Bordohs. Then Elder Knecht gave me a haircut.

In the morning we went and benched at the Bordohs which felt super nice. District meeting was good. I instructed on commitments. We came back for lunch and ate waakye. It was way nice. We taught 2 new investigators, but both of them will need a translator.... so we'll try again. :)

So while in Takoradi we
were on an exchange with
the missionaries and were
about to turn the corner in
a neighborhood when
around the corner came...

Wednesday both Elder Knecht and Andreasen went to Takoradi to renew their citizenship cards, so I spent the day with Elder Seba. We had 3 great lessons. Agie was first, but her right leg was paining her so we gave her a blessing. I'm so grateful to be able to have the priesthood. The next one was Justina, I love teaching her. She's a wonderful young lady. Then we went and finished with Emmanuel and he'll get baptized next week. He's a super sweet kid.:)

and more of them....

Elder Knecht and I are the cooks of the house, so we spend a good amount of time in the kitchen making nice food. All of our people were busy so we went and helped Gladys at her shop and then she gave us Fufu! I love her. :) We finished the night by seeing Justina. She finally got an answer to her prayers and said that she wants to get baptized! The church is true! :)

and more!  We did not move
in the car as the horns
were very big and long!

Friday's food: cinnamon rolls and Alfredo with fried chicken. We eat well! :) We went to Kissi to do a baptismal interview for the Kissi Elders, they're doing great work out there.:) We came back and taught Justina and her brothers the rest of the Commandments. I love how engaged they are in the lessons and their desire to learn. From them we went and saw Agie and had a nice lesson on the Restoration. She's a delightful young lady, but she's leaving for school which is a bummer. We came home and rolled a fire cracker under the other Elders' door..... :) Someone fell out of their chair. :)

Hang on Little Goats!
Transportation of animals
comes in all different
ways here.

Benched at the Bordohs again. A man named Prince called us today and wanted to meet with us. We talked to his mom on Wednesday and he saw the pamphlet, so we met him and had a nice lesson with him. He'll make a great member some day. We taught Justina and the crew again plus one which was sweet. And then saw Agie and gave her some banana bread that I made. Taught lesson 2 and played with the neighboring children.

This big truck was
not going slow!
We thought for sure
one would slide off.

Sunday, I was hoping more people would have come to church. None of the people we planned on came to church. Prince came though! I was honestly surprised! The Durrants came and inspected our apartment and went on their way. Mary had us over for Fufu with Palmnut soup and then we went to Agie's and she gave us Fufu with Light soup. We were about to bust. We could barely finish it. We waddled over to Justina's and finished lesson 5. They didn't come to church though and so we'll have to push their baptisms back a week. :/ So I won't see them but I know for a fact that it'll happen. So it's all good. :)

Botswana Namibia with Cross Dressers

Komenco

Monday was a pretty standard P-day. We did our washing and cleaning and played a game of pool before going to Cape. Cape was normal, emailing and shopping. We had to wait forever for a tro, though, which botched our FHE appointment. I wish things were steady here and not so wishy washy.

Elder Oteng

For District Meeting, Elder Andreasen gave a nice instruction on Covenants. I liked it a lot. We ate at Terresa's for lunch as usual. The sun was so dang hot... eish. Robert found us... He's a drunk man that used to hang around Felicia's and so he likes to be around the missionaries. He sang Gospel and Christmas songs to me for about 20 minutes or so. Sometimes he gets out of hand and physical force is needed... I'm just grateful for big huge mamis. :) We only had a lesson with Dina, but it was good. She said that the blessing we gave her worked and that the Spirit has told her that the church is true and she wants to get baptized! It is so true! That night I gave Elder Knecht the rest of his hair cut.

Baby Squid :)

Wednesday I had an exchange with the Kissi Elders. I brought Elder Oteng to my area and showed him around Komenda. He's from Odaben. It used to be the bushiest area in the mission before they gave that section to the Accra West Mission. Super sweet guy. We taught our Fante speakers since he's a local. :)

Thursday the only lesson we had was a young boy named Emmanuel. He's a referral from Sister Bordoh. I thought he was a member until she told us to teach him. We'll be able to baptize him just before I go home! :) We set up a bunch of appointments and then visited Felicia. Ebeneezer got his mission call! So we rushed over to his house and he's going to the Botswana/Namibia mission! (that mission is huge) English-speaking (probably like how Ghana is English speaking.... plus 8 other languages. ;) ) I'm so stoked for him! But now we'll have to find a new translator.

Fetching Sand!

Friday, we found out that Dina's father won't let her get baptized. He told us why and so we answered his concern. He said that what we are saying is true and then still says she can't get baptized! I'm so sick and tired of hard-headed, narrow-minded people! After we went and taught Emmanuel lesson 2 and then cruised into town. For the festival, all the men were cross-dressing, it was quite entertaining. :)

Mission President photo:
While driving to Assin Foso for Stake
Conference, we came across the newest
Ghanaian Fishing Boats!  Each boat is
made out of 1 very large tree!
This semi is carrying a ton of weight!

Saturday I got wrecked! Holy cow. We helped Dina and her family fetch sand from the beach. We did it twice. The first time I carried the bag on my head, the second on my back. My neck would have collapsed if I tried it for round 2. 25kg for just under 2 miles. Twice. We were dead! Plus the sun was killer. We finished pretty late in the afternoon. Our body was super sore. They fed us some banku with fish that wasn't fully cooked. That's why we bless it before we eat it.

At church we had 4 investigators! It was way nice. :) I gave a talk on Conversion that had to be translated, so hopefully the talk was good. We went to Mary Asma's after church and she fed us rice with potato leaf stew. Super good. Elder Knecht was feeling sick. We taught Emmanuel and then went and taught Justina! She's finally back! It was super nice to see her, she still loves the message and hopefully she gets her confirmation for baptism. :) She needs to join the church. :)

Wrecking bugs and a Methodist Wedding

Sports

Monday morning we had a District activity at the park. We played Frisbee and Football. I love playing sports. We emailed pretty fast in Cape. I saw Josephine! My convert. She's doing great. I'm so glad that I got to see her. :) Came home and had FHE with Cecilia and her family.

Elder Knecht gave a pretty good instruction at District meeting. The key to the instructions is to actually apply it. We ate at Terresa's and then tried to see Gifty and Phillo. People are just busy because of the upcoming festival. We played with the children by Ebeneezer's for a bit. We taught Agie, a new investigator, and then finished with Dina. She's going through a rough patch right now, we're doing our best to keep her moral up.

Methodist Wedding

Wednesday morning we did another nice trail run, made pancakes, and then started the day with Dina. She made us wait for a bit, so in the meantime we killed an entire colony of ants. :) We had a good lesson with her. We just want her to be happy, and that happiness comes from the message we share. She was our only lesson. We tried to see others but nothing worked out, which is really frustrating. We found a really big spider when we got home, so we got a lighter and a can of raid and nuked the sucker. :) It was super satisfying. :)

Weekly planning here is honestly so rough, people here are so flaky. So it's hard to plan for anything serious. We went and saw Dina first, we helped her peel cassava. When we went to teach Agie, there were 3 other guys there that were somehow interested. It was nice and refreshing to have someone ask legit questions. Dina had us come back for fufu with Abenkwynkakra. It was super nice.

Mission President photo:
Mpintsin Stake Scout Troop
helping with Stake Conference

Potato Puffs for breakfast, Alfredo for lunch, we eat good here. We taught Dina about the Book of Mormon. (Don't know how we missed that lesson...) That is the key to happiness. We tried to see Agie, but she was busy, so that lesson was pretty much a dud. Ebeneezer said he'd call us.... but he didn't, which means that we weren't able to see Kweku or Kobbina this week. Gahhhh.....

Saturday morning we got Elder Knecht a hair cut and then went to a wedding for an investigator's sister. I love LDS weddings. I leave all other weddings with a headache. They're so apostate and we're SOOOO true. :) We taught Phillo for the first time and tried to see others, but ended up at Gladys'. She fed us some fufu with some killer light soup. Holy cow it was good. Bought a little girl a fan yogo, then visited Felicia.

Sunday was my last Fast Sunday in Ghana! I'm kinda glad because it's nearly impossible to do a dry fast here. Dina came to church, and after we gave Cecila and Joanna a blessing because they're sick. Came home and rested small and then ate lunch. Tried to see our investigators but as usual none were free.... Dina was free, though, so we spent the evening with her and the family. She fed us banku and stew. She loves us and we love her. :)

Spiritual Giants and Super Nice Food!

Lovely Children :)

Monday morning worked out and then we went into town to do our shopping. Grace and her children spotted us and her little girls came running and gave us big ole hugs. I love those little girls. :) Went to Cape and did everything, but we had to wait forever to email so we got home late.

Moth on drying clothes

Tuesday morning we did a nice run and then went to Zone Conference. I love President and Sister Hillam. They are so motivating and inspirational. I'm glad that I'm able to have them for a part of my mission. After, we had interviews with them. I wish I was able to have more one on one time with Spiritual Giants. I'm going to miss them so much when I go, it's only been a little bit and I love them to bits!

Tacos! :)
(you'll never
eat this nice here)

Wednesday, we burned trash and made lunch. Visited Felicia since it's been awhile since we've gone and seen her. Robert came in totally wasted. Felicia threw him out (literally...) because he was doing everything that he shouldn't be.... Saw Gifty and taught about the Book of Mormon. Tried having some GCs and then went to PEC. We waited for Dina for quite some time and then had a lesson about baptism.

One of my many girl friends ;)

Elders Andreasen and Knecht hit their year mark, so we went and blended sugar to make powdered sugar. Elder Andreasen made sweet rolls and frosting. They tasted pretty legit to me. :) But my tummy ached afterward because of the sugar overload. Sat with Felicia for a bit and tried to see our English speakers, since the other guys took Ebeneezer. Grace fed us some garry and soup and we helped carry her little girls home since they were both asleep. :) Anabell (she's 3) is my first girlfriend. (There are plenty ;)  )

Friday we made breakfast burritos, which were awesome. It was overcast all day which felt so nice. I'm honestly sad. We weren't able to see anyone again. This work is hard, especially when you can't see anyone. Helped Gladys for a bit, but then the rain came which botched the rest of our evening.

Mission President photo:
The Cape Coast Zone - August 2017

Mission President photo:
Yes it is real. Our Ghanaian
Grasshoppers!

Saturday morning we went trail running clear out in the bush somewhere in between the college and the sugar factory. There are some pretty birds here. We made tacos as well. It took some time, but my tortillas were esentially store-bought. ;) Shredded some chicken and added some fajita seasoning to it. Man, it was delicious! All of our people bounced at first, so we GCed for a bit and then saw Gifty and taught the Plan of Salvation. Played with some children and then saw Cecila and her family.

Patrick came to church again. We just need to get that man baptized. Rested small after church and then Mary Asma fed us Fufu with Light soup. Then Lizzy had us over for Fufu with Palmnut soup. Both were so nice, but I was a little too full. Played with all the children around her house for quite a bit. When your shirt gets dirty... you stop caring and just make memories. :) We can wash our clothes. :)

Finally a Baptism!

Everyone

Monday was the usual. The tro ride took forever. Got to Cape and did everything and did some last little souvenir shopping at the castle. I'm glad that I'm finally finished. :) Came home and made some super nice egg sandwiches for dinner, life is good. :)

Albert :)

District Meeting went well. I instructed on true happiness. God really does know what's best. We all ate at Terresa's after and enjoyed banku. We were only able to see Gifty today. As long as we keep seeing her then I think that she'll progress. :) Dorcus and Suni had us over to learn how to make Jollof. Just before bed we threw a small tupperware lid around that house that really zipped, we had the fans on so it really tripped out the disc. A nice way to decompress and laugh small. :)

Doreen :)

Wednesday morning we all went and weeded for Felicia's Aunt. We weeded a good amount, but we started with the wet and went to the dry.... We should have flipped that. She fed us a ton of Waakye and then we came home and napped small. Tried to see our English speakers but none were home, Ebeneezer helped us teach Kweku and Kobbina.

Mission President photo:
A view along the coast by Axim.
Our beautiful Ghana!

Thursday morning we ran to the junction and back. Mistakes. We thought it was shorter than it was. It was probably 3 and a half, almost 4 miles. I haven't run in ages! Elder Andreasen, just before we started, slipped on a rock and super manned it in the mud. Funniest thing of my life. :) We saw Kweku and Kobbina again, and then we finished at Dina's because she wanted to feed us fufu with palmnut/light soup. I've never had that before, but it was nice.

Mission President photo

We made banana bread. Some for us and some for Dina and her crew. We had a nice lesson and kind of a come-to-Jesus meeting. Often in people's prayers here, they pray to be the doers of the word and not hearers only. People only hear here and don't do. So we encouraged them to actually do what we have taught them. Life is slow when you only teach one lesson a day. Stephanie is going to UCC, so we visited with her for a bit since we won't see her again. We'll miss her so much! We saw Gladys in the evening and tried to help her little boy Sammy learn to crawl. I love that kid. :)

Mission President photo:
Saturday was a National Day of Service
in Ghana.  Our missionaries participated
in it all over the mission.  Here are the
Saints in Axim cleaning the hospital
close to the chapel.  They began at 6 a.m.
and then hurried home to clean up and
come to their Branch Conference
Adult session at 1 p.m.

Saturday we ran to the college and back. I love running next to the beach where that constant breeze is. :) I did the baptismal interview for Albert, the man I used to teach and he is more than ready. I'm so glad that he is making this decision.

Mission President photo

Chocolate pancakes for breakfast! Dina came to church and enjoyed it. She even came with us to Albert's baptism. Albert is such a good example for his family. I know that in some short time the rest will follow. :) Grace fed us fufu with light soup and the peppe was killer! But it was still nice. Then at Ebeneezer's, I put a little girl to sleep in less than 3 minutes, record time! I love children, even if they're a little dirty. That's why we wash our clothes. :)

Food from Dina.....every day

Farming for Dina

Monday morning we did everything and then biked into town and bought all of the things we can buy there. Had lunch and then went to Cape. Shopped and emailed. Good day. :)

Tuesday was good also. Elder Oteng gave the instruction at District meeting. We came back and had lunch at Terresa's. Banku with stew and shitto. Sooo nice. :) Stephanie is going to UCC next week so we visited with her for a bit. We'll miss her a ton. Went to see Dina and met her and her friend. Her friend seems interested in the message, the only problem is that she stays in a village just past Dutch Komenda... That's a bit of a walk.... But the Gospel is worth it! Dina just needs to join the church. She's a wonderful woman.

A cute little girl. :)

Wednesday we started by teaching Dina and her family about the priesthood more fully. I love how they understand what we teach very well. Tried talking to everyone in the Zongo and South Africa areas. Not much success. Jesse came in the evening with supplies and then we finished with Mami Esi.

Thursday we stopped by all of our Fante speakers just to let them know that we still care about them since we had no translator. Sat with Isha for a bit and then with Dorcus and Suni. We finished up at Dina's. She tries to feed us every time we come. It's nice, but she thinks that feeding us is more important than the message. So we're helping her understand that we're there for her; not the food. But the food is nice. :)

Blessing the Goober. :)

We started the day by seeing a new investigator named Adjua. A young mother with 2 super cute daughters. Taught Dina about Temple and at Banku. She gives us way too much food. Thank heavens for chickens and cats that hover. We used Ebeneezer for Terresa but she's not serious, and we finally taught Gifty (a new one that stays in the Bakano area).

Saturday started by farming for Dina. The Kissi Elders joined us. We weeded in between corn and cassava. She fed us Banku and some weird stew, but it was all good. All of our English speakers bounced, but Ebeneezer helped us see Kweku and then some prophetess woman.

Photo from Mission President:
"The fish market
was alive and well today."

Sunday was good. We were hoping for more people to show up but Dina has Malaria so she couldn't come. Bummer, but Patrick came to church, and we weren't able to see him all week. After church Mary Asma fed us fufu with light soup. Tried to see some people but no one was home. Felicia also fed us fufu with palmnut soup. I was sneezing and snotting all day, rough life. Life is good and I'm happy. :)

A Flooded Room, Maggots, and an Apostle :)

Komenda Beach

Monday was sweet. We started by playing football as a district. Tons of fun. But since we have no water in the house, we had to take a sachet shower. Emailing in Cape was great. The Zone Leaders needed us so we waited for them, which nearly ruined us for shopping in the market. Luckily we were able to find our things. Came home and found that our room had been flooded by our bathroom sink. Since the water was gone we thought that it was turned off..... guess not. So we got that all mopped up before going to bed.

Fat Babies :)

We bought fish last night in Cape. And in the morning, we found big massive maggots all over and inside one of the fish. We bought a spoiled fish.... so nasty. Elder Seba insisted on cooking it -- we let him have it all to himself. District meeting was good. After, we went and had lunch and then tried to see people. No one was free, so we wandered around and found some sweet people. We pray that some will be serious. In the evening we went to Dina's to finish and she fed us Banchi dough with Okra soup. It is honestly so hard for me to eat Okra because of the texture. Swallowing loogies is not natural. So we ended up chucking half of the dough into the bush clear across the dirt road by them and let the cats help us out with the stew.

Zone Leader Exchange!

Wednesday we started at Dinas and she taught us how to make Jollof rice. I love that rice so much. All day I was sneezing non-stop. It was so bad. I got a huge headache from sneezing too many times. We were able to see Gifty, a new investigator. She's young but seems like she likes the message even with me having snot running down my face.

Thursday was sweet. Elder Knecht made some super nice burritos in the morning. Man, I was stuffed. We didn't teach anyone all day. But we did wander most of Komenda and ended up finding one woman also named Gifty -- a young mother that will hopefully be serious. Dina fed us again in the evening: Banchi dough with Palmnut soup and Okra. It was better because of the soup, but it was still hard to finish. That dough and the Okra don't mix.

Komenda Beach

Friday, the Zone Leaders came to spend the day with us to give me so training and to see the area. Elder Neville and Elder Masendi. I love them. Elder Neville came with me and I showed him around town. We weren't able to teach anyone because no one was home, but we tried having a few GC's with some people. They left around 4. I love those guys. :) Dina fed us AGAIN. This time Kokonte with Light soup and Okra. We scooped out the okra, though, since it's just a big wad. I love light soup. She had a nice barbell at the house and so she let us take it home. Just packed it home on my shoulders. :) I love working out.

4 Generations :)

Saturday was kind of messed up. We started by weeding for Felicia in front of her house. Came home and prepped and then went and taught Dina the Law of Chastity. I love teaching her. She's our most serious investigator right now. Felicia had us over for Jollof and it was wonderful. Man, I was stuffed. But after that, the day was bumbed out. The weather and the funerals were not helping the work. It was so rough.

Sunday was fantastic, though. Dina came to church and enjoyed it a lot. We went to Ola and had a nice time hearing from Elder and Sister Renlund. Our leaders are such wonderful and inspired people. I love them so much. :) I got to see my son, my grandson, and his son. So we had 4 generations all together! Pretty sweet. :) Came home and made banana bread and then went to Dina's because she invited us for dinner. I love her. :) The Germans invited us over to their house since this week and next they will be going back to Germany. We we brought the banana bread and visited with them for a bit. They are some awesome people. It's a pity they aren't members..... yet. :)