Drunks and Critters

That Ocean view :)

The joys of living with spotty power! Sorry it's so late.

Monday, we speedily cleaned everything so that at 9 we could go and play football with the Yamoranza zone at the Fifa Pitch. I got slightly sun burned, which will just make me darker. :) Man, my tan line is so bad, it's a distinct line. Half of my arm is white, like white white, and the other part is equal to a fair African. I'll come home black. ;)

Fifa Football!

We made Egoosey soup which was amazing. Lawrencia had us over again for food. She cooks a mean garden egg stew. Power went out just in time so we couldn't email. Yay... Plus there were no FHEs, but we managed to have some fruitful conversations. :) By  small and simple means right? :)

For Tuesday's district meeting instruction, Elder Ofordeme taught and discussed about the Godhead. It eventually became an extension from mine since it turned into a further discussion about the Holy Ghost. :) Power finally came back in the late afternoon. I've been trying to develop Patience, and will continue to do so throughout my mission. Patience helps you practice Empathy. Which can diffuse most situations. :)

The cotton part came off...
in his ear...

Wednesday was a swell day. The 2 hours of personal study time is so fruitful and beneficial. It's always a good start to the day before venturing out into the baking heat of the Ghanaian sun. Most of our appointments were successful. Which always makes a pleasant day more pleasant. :)

Power went out though in the afternoon, making the evening time slightly more difficult. PEC was cancelled too. When light goes out, your evening is essentially over.

Elders Quorum activity

Thursday was filled with great lessons and conversations. Success is gradually improving which makes the work a lot more enjoyable. The days are hot and the sweat is constantly drenching, but life is still really good. :) It seems the drunks have been venturing out more and more. Each day we encounter between 2-6. They're so drunk they can barely walk let alone talk, I slightly find it funny, but at the same time you feel so bad, because you know they most likely have a wife or 2, and kids with each and here they are squandering their time and money with poison. Power came back on today! But only for an hour and then it let again. Oh well. :)

My boii!!!!!

Friday was great! All but 1 of our appointments followed through! Voting starts on Saturday, so everyone is parading around doing one last round of campaigning and bribing. The people are crazy sometimes.... but I love them so much. :) We've been preparing several of our investigators for baptism, hopefully they'll be ready by next week. :) Power came back too! :)

Saturday began with a lovely discussion with 2 women named Mercy and Elsie. They were really attentive and engaged, which was actually quite refreshing. :) We taught them about the apostasy and they had lots of wonderful questions about it. :) Potential members. :) We were invited to an Elders Quorum activity, they played music and had lots of good food. Specifically Chicken Nkakra and Fufu. :) After we used Prince to help us teach the small boy Emmanuel Kingsman since his Brofou (English) is rough. So the day overall was just dandy. :)

Fufu, our staple food :)

Sunday church is always grand. Even if I only understand the Hymns in Sacrament and the writing on the board in Sunday school. Church is great! :) A riot broke out at the police station, caused by a gang and 2 of their members were shot and killed. The joys of being drug dealers and protesters about dealing......

That's me!

Emmanuel Kingsman wanted us to come again to teach, so we did. :) That boy wants to be a member so bad, it makes you wish every one was like him. Mami Sopa fed us Kontombley soup with fish and Apanche. She is such a wonderful woman. :) and will always be my Ghanaian Mother. We tried to visit those people that we didn't see at church, it was a hit and miss as usual. The first thing we saw upon entering the kitchen in the evening was a giant cockroach, he only lived to see us take off our shoe, and then the bottom of the shoe. :) But then upon entering our room, a mouse was running around! So we tried to kill him too, but he ran under my bed and then completely dissapeared.... so now we know we have phantom mice in our apartment. Yay. So that was my week! :)

Emergencies, Friday the 13th, and Drunkards

Matching shirts :)

I apologize for keeping the suspense going. ;) The power was out yesterday so we couldn't email, but the power came back this afternoon! Small and simple blessings. :)

Monday was pretty standard. We went to the market and then came back to wash and clean everything. I took a little nap and then went out to get Elder Ofordeme fitted for a suit. We only emailed for an hour due to things.... and then went to FHE with the Imbra family. We had a wonderful discussion of Temporal and Spiritual self-reliance, Tithing, as well as priorities. Christian had a good question about spirits and their bounds and limitations. So we opened up Doctrine and Covenants and explained it for him. His questions are always so deep and heart-pondering, that I believe he ponders the gospel with every waking minute of his life. :)

Playing in the rain

Tuesday Zone Meeting! Lots of things are changing in the mission, about supplies, communication, living conditions, finances, etc. It was slightly disturbed due to a Sister almost fainting and then nearly dying due to a blood clot in her brain, where, whenever she gets excited or stressed causes a hormone release which triggers an attack. So we rushed her to the hospital (might I remind you that their "hospitals" here are really really really really really sketchy clinics back home....) And they got her hooked up with drip (IV) immediately. She's doing fine now so don't worry. :)

Emmanuel and Suzy are daily lessons. Although, Emmanuel is the only one really progressing, which is sad because it would be nice to baptize them together. :/

I whipped up some banana pancakes for my companion and me for dinner. Best pancakes ever.

Lawrencia,
she can cook a mean meal. :)

We kicked Wednesday off with Fufu and Abenkwin. It's not the best thing for you, but it really is one of my favorites now. We had a lengthy conversation with a man at the chop-bar which led to the church and the Book of Mormon. You can always place your money on the Book of Mormon. :) Appointments were wishy washy.... and the sun just bakes. Afternoons are hard since no one is around, so it feels pointless to be out ourselves, but I know one of these days we'll see why we're out at that time of day. PEC went better for once. It seems like the ward leaders are actually going to do something about our ward mission leaderless condition. So we continue to pray for an active leader. :)

Rainy days during the dry season....? It's been raining nearly every morning, and especially so on Thursday. A killer study session took place along with our weekly planning. The day was normal except for a freak rain storm at 5 which came out of the blue and soaked everything, it lasted for an hour and ruined the chances for appointments....

At the Chop bar
with our boy Christian!

Friday the 13th woooo! And it was a good day indeed. Only good things happened. Christian came with us to go proselyting, we fed him lunch, and then went teaching. He caught on really fast to how we teach and contributed a lot which was good for him. Only 1 appointment fell through which never happens! I'm so glad we had that kind of success with Christian.

Jesus the Christ is one of the best books I've read (I'm still reading). It's filled with so many amazing thoughts and facts that it just overloads your system with wonderful knowledge. :) So Saturday had a great start because of personal study. Elder Holland said you'll make or break your mission during the hours of 6:30 and 9. And that is so true. Every day's quality depends on the quality of your morning preparation. The day overall was a hit and miss. We went to a baptism for the other Elders. The water was a nasty brown. I couldn't see the bottom or even their knees. "That's nasty dude." So that was good though. It's always nice to see people ready to follow Jesus Christ. Even if you're not the one responsible for their conversion.

The normal leashed up monkey
on the street.... ;)

We fasted on Sunday for the Sister who had that emergency. Hopefully this problem will lessen as she's on her mission. They showed the Sunday sessions of General Conference finally Woohoo!!!! Only.... it was in Twi.... So it ended up being 4 hours of noise with familiar faces. While we were out and about, several drunkards (all at different times) came up to us and asked us to share with them our message from God. We politely gave them a Word of Wisdom pamphlet that they'll hopefully read after they come off their hangover. Nearly all of them, however, kept talking over us telling us they wanted to convert us, saying our church isn't true and that they themselves were prophets of God.... Clearly. Mami Sopa fed us small small, so Elder Tom and I made some lovely Indomie.

So that was my week! Be grateful for constant power! ;) It really is a simple blessing I didn't realize back home.

Emmanuel, my main man :)

At times we may feel that we are reading the scriptures and learning a lot, but our testimonies don't seem to be growing. We might ask ourselves why? Testimonies are founded on the simple basic doctrines of the Gospel. Sometimes, too much knowledge will begin to push out our Faith in those simple things, and we begin to rely on the knowledge. My reminder is, Everything needs to be in balance. It's good to learn new things, but we need to remember that those extra, complicated, deep doctrines aren't essential for our conversion. The Lord delights in plainness. The Gospel is meant to be simple and easy. :) Don't make it complex.

Life is great! During this time of gratitude especially, remember the gifts our Savior gave to all of us. :)

Harassment, Mind Games, and an Aye Wee

The sun was bright.....

There are just not enough hours in a day when it comes to Mondays. There is so much to do and so little time to do it! We went to the Gym first thing in the morning, which felt really good at the time being. But I haven't worked out that hard for a long time, which resulted in the both of us being sore till Friday.

We went to the Market and I got things for Vegetable stew. I used to be such a picky eater, but in Africa, you learn to enjoy anything in front of you. The stew took a lot of time to prepare so I didn't get time to wash or clean. :/

Gyming like.... :)

On the way to emailing 4 guys boxed us in, I got a nice spit wad on the side of my face, and then pushed around while they cussed me out. All because I was a "Whiteman" in a "Black country" teaching a "Whiteman's Gospel". The people here are just wonderful, but just like in any culture, there are always those few that are less wonderful. And with them you just have to show them extra patience. Afterward we had a lovely time with the Andoh-Kesons at Family Home Evening. It's amazing how the spirit can bring such comfort after an episode like that.

Tuesday was quite enjoyable. I had been asked to give the instruction for District Meeting. I decided to instruct on the Holy Ghost. I opened the lesson with Mr. Barth's (my psychology teacher from Timpanogos High School.) 9 box psychology game, which totally tripped out everyone, everyone that is, except me and my companion. :) It got everyone engaged and we had a great discussion.

My Fav

We taught Suzy afterward and refreshed on the restoration. We want to baptize both her and her husband together, but the husband is the only one really progressing. Hopefully she'll start to as well.

The Andoh-Kesons had us over for Fufu, and I ate way to much..... I felt ill for the rest of the day. After we went and taught Edward and the Appiah children about the Book of Mormon. All with the power being out, Yay!.....

Don't you hate it when your favorite pen finally dies on you? Well, that's how Wednesday started. The day was still productive even with there only being 1 successful appointment. We managed to see 2 other people we hadn't planned to see. PEC is becoming slightly frustrating, our Ward Mission Leader has been MIA my entire mission all except for the first 2 weeks. So we're essentially on our own when it comes to the work. Hopefully it'll improve soon.

My very own Dictionary!

The sun is SO hot! Thursday's sun was especially so. Within 30 minutes my shirt was completely wet..... That's nasty dude.

Disappointment filled the day as well. Everyone told us to either "Go and come" or "Tomorrow" and that's what they tell us everyday. We did have a few back up plans which had some success. At the end of the day we were so tired from walking all day in the oven of the sun. My skin is changing so much it's crazy! I'll be nearly black upon returning home. ;)

Friday was exchanges! So Elder Tom spent the day with me and my investigators. He's super funny and has a really strong testimony. He's a convert of only 4 years and is 26 years old from Nigeria. I am 2 transfers ahead of him so hopefully I'll spend quite a bit of time around him.

Exchanges with this boy!

Success was small, but that success was very sweet. :) Emmanuel told us straight up that he wants to be baptized and join the Church. That's something you wish you could hear every day. :) In the evening we answered lots of Christian's heartfelt, spirit-prompted questions. One of the lessons I've learned so far on my mission is - When you're selfish, you're lonely. When you're generous, you're happy.

Saturday began very abruptly. At 5:30 in the morning, we were awakened with rain coming in sideways and soaking us while in bed. The windows here are just glass slats. So the rain can easily come in. We began a battle which was hard to win, trying to collect the water faster than it could enter. We filled a little over 2 buckets just from our room. The ceiling and walls were dripping as well. I didn't know concrete could drip.....

The flood.... :)

The day went great though. Due to the rain, the temperature was down, which felt really nice. The sea and the sky were both a soft gray and they blended together perfectly. It was hard to tell where one stopped and the other began.

We had moderate success which was good, since most everyone was in the house because of the rain. We did see an Aye Wee (a thief). He had stolen someone's suitcase and some people were harassing him because of it. We didn't stay to watch though, so we don't know what became of him....

We had a gospel conversation with 2 men that were so hammered with alcohol it was almost comical. They won't remember a thing we said, but maybe they'll read the Word of Wisdom pamphlet when they become sober. ;)

My Ghanaian Mami :)

Sunday, we actually had investigators come to church! And several of them are wanting to be baptized! We'll hopefully be able to at the end of the month. I made some banana bread for Christian after church which he enjoyed a little too much. :)

We walked around and visited with a few people, and tried to see those that didn't come to church, but none of them were around. :/

On Sunday, everyone always goes to the beach to play football. Mami Sopa fed us as always. It was Yam and Egg stew. Tasty. :) We had a really deep conversation about God and if everything is "predestined".

My weeks are going by so fast! It's crazy! When you love what you do, time doesn't feel like anything. Enjoy what you're doing since we won't always get to do what we enjoy.

Castles, Halloween, and Officially Trained :)

The Castle!

Training finished Sunday! I am no longer a trainee. :)

Monday was crazy busy as usual, but it was so much fun too! Our day started out with the usual, but for our zone activity we went to the Cape Coast castle! It's nearly 400 years old and it's really cool. We did some service by cleaning and sweeping some places. The owner is a member so he let us in for free and gave us a guided tour. I learned so much about the slave trade that I had never known before, and all of it is really sad. What those people went through was way more than anyone should bare. Aside from that the castle was phenomenal.

The Castle

The activity ended later than we thought it would, so washing and cleaning didn't happen. We changed and emailed. Emailing became a hassle due to the power going out mid-way through. We finished the night visiting and setting appointments with our investigators.

The Castle

Tuesday's district meeting was good as always. We discussed about referrals. That is the one thing we are really suffering with. We haven't had a referral for nearly 8 weeks.... which is kind of sad.

The Crew

After, we went to DIS for my companion's shoulder check-up, and what they prescribed him cost over 100 Ghana Cedis!?! What kind of meds are these?!

Our productivity has been going up. We taught 3 of our recent converts and an investigator.

Prison window :)

The days of mission life are so long.... and yet the weeks just fly by. Same thing as Tuesday, Wednesday our productivity was good. The Lord is answering our prayers for sure. Little by little people are willing to listen to our message. We taught 3 more Recent Converts and Less Actives along with Emmanuel's  family. They are slightly progressing, I think.... It's hard to tell since they are actively engaged when we're there, but they keep very few commitments. :/ The power went out early in the afternoon, which made teaching a bit harder for the evening, but we still had success.

The Castle

Thursday morning I made pancakes for breakfast. Which means the day will automatically be good. ;) We had a really good weekly planning session. I had Kokonte for lunch (aka "face the wall"). It's like fufu, but not....

We were able to teach more of our recent converts and we were able to teach Justice! He hasn't given us time for nearly 2 weeks! So it was so nice to be able to see him.

This is what America should do!

Friday was a really long day, but it was a good day. :) Christian was our first stop, and he had lots of deep questions about the creation and the fall. His testimony grows each and every day. :) We taught some less-actives and they promised to come to church..... Let's hope they come. We had a wonderful discussion about prayer with Emmanuel's family. He's been praying but doesn't know how to listen for answers. So we helped him know how the Holy Ghost works. :)

Happy Halloween!

We had Fufu for lunch. Lots of our appointments fell through, which is to be expected. A tailor named John, so John 'Tailor' is a non-member friend of ours and is amazing with a sewing machine. He made us some African wear shirts that look really good! He's a nice kid. I think I'll have him make some other shirts for me. :)

Happy Halloween! What a good day. Saturday morning we went to Elmina and played football with the other Elders from Bakano and Elmina and their members. I got to catch up with my TC Elder Maendesa. He's from Zimbabwe and a great guy.

This is how we Trick-or-Treat

Halloween-wise people don't celebrate it here. So I did my own trick-or-treating by buying some sweets from a member's little candy stand. Surprisingly, only one person fell through today, so success was amazing for once! My companion wanted to learn how to make Banana bread, so we made some after we got back to the apartment. :)

photo and caption
from Mission President:
"We don't have lions and tigers
and giraffes and hippos in Ghana,
but we do have cute little antelope.
I have never seen one alive,
but the hunters stand by the side
of the road and dangle them for
passing motorists to buy for food.
I'm told they are very tasty."

Fast Sundays are both lovely and slightly uncomfortable. But they're worth it. As long as you have a solid purpose that actually means something to you, then fasting becomes easy.

The weather has been rainy lately, which is nice because it brings the temperature down. We visited every single Investigator, Less Active, and Recent Convert and only got one lesson, which was with Benjamin. We haven't been able to meet with him for almost 3 weeks. So it was good that we were able to see him. Aside from him the day was filled with walking. And then we closed by helping Mami Sopa pound Fufu, which is a lot of work, but it tastes great when you're done. :)