Finally Transferred! A Bitter Sweet Thing.

Mami Esi and Mami Abbina

As a Zone, we went to the Cape Coast Castle. This was my second time, but most of the group had never gone before. The tour guide was a lot better than the last one. After, as a district, we went and talked and played small on the beach. A sneaker wave came up and totally soaked 2 of the sisters...... oops. :)

While we were out trying to buy food, the rain just... appeared. Like Bah! There it is. So we ran for cover at Josephine's house. We got there just a little bit dry.... :)

Cleaning the font. :)

Two sister companionships instructed at District meeting: one was on Talents and the other on Humility. Quite lovely. :)

Teaching didn't really happen. Only Agnes and Josephine gave us time, but both of those lessons were stellar. Coordination meeting was nice. Anthony our WML (Ward Mission Leader) is becoming a lot more likable now that he's getting involved. :) He's a really cool guy. I like him a lot.

She loves me and I love her. :)

Wednesday, before we left, in our departure prayer we asked Heavenly Father to help those we've planned to see give us time and be free. 6 out of the 8 gave us time! God really does answer prayers when the desire is there.

Finally met with Ruth. She's a young mother of 17 years with a 7 month old baby girl. A drop-out of JHS and has rough English. But she has a sweet sincere desire to draw closer to God. She loves us missionaries and I know the Gospel will help her life in so many ways.

Sharing is caring ;)

It rained so heavy during the night, and then again in the morning. So everything was nice and cool all day. :) Simple mercies! Sister Barbara invited us to a young womens Stardards Evening activity. The focus was on the Sabbath Day. It was a nice activity and was good for the youth.

Castle tours

Friday began fine, by teaching lessons with Josephine, Ruth, and Emmanuel #3 -- there are 3 Emmanuels in the same house, and so we've decided to number them. :)

Oasis Beach

At lunch time though, it became less fine. We had fufu but the Mami used the same ladle to serve Groundnut soup and Palmnut soup, so.... unawares, I began to enjoy my little bowl of happiness when my body started telling me that it wasn't so happy.... eish. So we quickly finished and booked it to the house, where I took some meds, felt terrible, and stayed by the toilet the rest of the night. WOOOO! I love Peanut Allergies!!!! Eish.

Gotta love cannons :)

Just skipping all of Saturday day and going to the end. Transfer news!!!! I'm going to Asebu in Abakrampa! Yamoranza Zone. To be with Elder Kazimoto! He is actually Elder Masendi's TC. So that'll be interesting. :) The Yamoranza Zone comes to Cape every week to email though, so I'm not going too far. I'm going to miss everyone in Cape so much. I've grown so close to all of them that it'll be hard to leave. I especially love my converts. I will never forget them. :) Mission is short, so you need to cherish every moment while you're here.

Happy Easter! Holidays don't feel like holidays. I gave my farewell testimony in church. The way people were looking at me almost made me cry. Gahh, they are my second family in my second home. Mami Supa fed us Geloff for my last meal. We sat and visited with her for some time. Man, she'll be one of the ones I miss the most. She is my Ghanaian mother. I would like to adopt her and bring her home. :)

Beat by the Rain and a visit from an Apostle of the Lord

A long lost Friend :)

Bright and early we went and played football with the sisters at the Fifa pitch. The Sisters actually participated! Which made it a lot of fun. The Elders wouldn't score, we would just assist the Sisters in scoring. :)

On the way home, the skies just opened up and sheets of rain began to pour. So we ran for the market. We were soaked before we even got there, so we just continued running, from shop to shop, getting what we needed while dodging little rivers and roof-made waterfalls. We couldn't get any more wet so we decided to just run home. :) Memories. We got home, got dried off and then took a nap until the rain stopped. And then the day continued normally.

Love the beach

Elder Lukhele, my TC and District leader, is a stud. He gives powerful mind-pondering instructions each and every Tuesday. We ate Konkonte with fish, super nice.

Funny story: Ishmael, a less-active, promised to come with us to Institute. So we told him we would pick him by 4:30. So we get there and he starts giving us excuses like needing to bath, so we told him to bath and we would wait for him. While we were waiting he jumped the back wall and ran! It's like he's a fugitive! Some people you just can't help until they are willing.

We gave Mary's sister a blessing. It's amazing how the Spirit always gives you what to say when you need it. :)

Relief Society Anniversary

Wednesday we finally got my Book of Mormon fixed! The back spine glue had decided to quit, so my search was finally finished when a Catholic book press helped me out and got it squared away for free! There are kind people in other faiths too, just fyi. :) I also got dashed my rash cream from a pharmacist that loves me! Small and simple blessings happen each and every day. :)

Taught Felicia for the first time in ages! It was nice to re-teach what we had covered and answer some of her questions. We are teaching quite a few people, but the problem is is that very few of them are actually progressing. Yes, they all give us time but then none of them ever come to church! Gahh!

The 6 Elders from Mankessim stayed the night so that way they won't need to wake up killer early to make it to Takoradi Friday. 12 Elders in the same house = no sleep.... for them! My companion and I went to bed early and locked our door. :)

Friday. Happy birthday Coulter! Baptism is sweet and I'm excited for you! :)

At the beach with my son :)

A nice present for me was that the whole mission went to Takoradi for a conference with Elder Ronald A. Rasband. They are splitting the stake there and so President Monson has sent him to do it. But he spoke to us for an hour and a half. You know that he's an apostle of the Lord just by looking at him, and then when you get to shake his hand you know even more! I am so grateful for the leaders that we have. Their wives are just as powerful. Sister Rasband bore a beautiful testimony which caused me to ponder and smile. Something she said was, "I did not marry an Apostle. I married a righteous, worthy return missionary." The lord will turn us into who He wants us to be, if we are worthy and willing. :)

Our best lessons are always with Josephine. The last 3-4 times we've taught her, the lesson we've prepared are what her questions are on! The spirit of inspiration is real!

Mama's helping hand :)

It was also the Relief Society Anniversary! Sister Nancy invited us in the evening and they fed us nice things like Benku. :) I love the members so much!

Palm Sunday/ children belonging to apostate churches everywhere dancing around waving palm leaves. Woo!

3rd week means it's a missionary Sunday, so my companion and I passed the Sacrament. Shortly after church Mami Supa had us come and help her pound Fufu and then of course enjoy it afterward. ;) It was soooo nice. We finished the night by talking with Jacob Andoh-Keson about his mission in Nigeria. I love speaking with RMs and learning from what they've learned. :)

Apostasy and Babies!

Cape Coast vs. Elmina

Monday morning Football! I've come to love playing soccer. Especially with Africans because they actually know how to play, these Obrunis can't play worth squat. So I should be a wizard when I come home and play all of you. ;) We played for a straight 90-minute game. Got sun-burned pretty good though, but only on the places that only see the sun on Mondays. :)

Mami Nancy invited us to teach "a few" of her friends for The True Church of Christ. So from 6:30-8:30 we discussed with 13 "evangelists". In reality only one of them was the spokesman and the rest were quiet listeners. The whole time he was just trying to cross our statements, but when you're filled with the spirit and you bear your testimony, you shall not be confounded. We gave it to him and told him what the truth was. When you treasure up the words of Christ, the spirit will call on them in the very hour in which you need them. :)

That tan line though....

MLC report lasted until 2, which was a bummer because that ate proselyting time. Enjoyed Banku and had a good coordination meeting with our Ward mission leader. We talked for 2 hours mainly about the previous night's event since he lives just above where we were discussing, so after ward he called them aside and blasted them with wonderful truths of the gospel. :) Gotta love Returned missionaries. :)

Fufu, first thing in the morning. Kweku promised us for Monday afternoon, but it got delayed to Wednesday morning, don't you just love eating super heavy food in the morning? ;)

Under the sun :)

Met Tony, a referral from Josephine, but he lives outside of our area which means we will have to refer him. He's a sweet guy and I know that he'll progress.

Met and taught a Muslim woman, super nice person, but also a super devote member of her faith. Apparently women aren't allowed to pray vocally in the Muslim faith, so when we asked her to pray we sat in silence for 2 minutes while she prayed.... sweet man!

When the sun is up, you NEVER stop sweating... Ever. Teaching was nice, we got dashed 2 huge loafs of bread. That's what happens when investigators love you. :)

Sister Josephine

I love my recent converts. The spirit of Missionary work is in all of them, they all give referrals and actively help us teach them. They are always helping us find opportunities to teach. :)

On Friday we gave Tony the the Green Hill sisters: Sisters Ngalamulume and Danga. Since our area borders theirs, hopefully they'll give us all the people they are teaching in our area.... ;) We had a wonderful lesson on Eternal Marriage with Josephine. The spirit is always so strong in her house, and I hope that she finds a sweet heart soon.

My convert crew! :)

Grilled a sausage over an open flame! Creativity is a necessity in a world of few conveniences. Chopped Emu (rice) and got dashed chicken! Life is sweet! Had a comical encounter with a drunk man, they are so much fun to mess with, and at the same time, you hope that when they become sober, they'll read the pamphlet you gave them titled the Word of Wisdom. ;)

Baby Porche

The Abura sisters had a missionary Sunday. So we went and helped them with their sacrament service and then rushed back to bring our people to church. People spoke English for a change in church, which just made my day. :) Janet had her baby on Thursday! But we found out on Sunday! So we went and saw her beautiful baby boy that has a full head of hair. She is always so happy and I hope the best for her.

Mami Supa adopted a 2 year old girl named Porche. She snuggled in with me at dinner, which reminded me of Emma, my best baby sister. :)

Cheap Entertainment

Lunch with Adjua :)

Wooo! Leap year! Gotta love an extra day in February. :) The day was good. Did the usual washing and cleaning. We went to the market and then took a nap. Tried to email but the cafes were packed and so that didn't happen.

Mami Nancy invited us over to teach some people she met that had questions about the church, so we waited and waited and waited.... and they never came, oh well. FHE was nice. A day without a handkerchief equals a day of suffering....

Rainy days are here at last! The temperature has been coming down which feels good for a change. Zone Conference was splendid. I always learn so much from President Stevenson. He explains and expounds doctrine in new wonderful ways. He's just a powerful man. Clouds just appeared right after the meeting, it was clear skies one minute and the next a dark grey sky. Before we knew it it was a soaked-to-the-bone rain. In seconds you are soaking wet and have stopped running because now there is no point to hurry.

Chewing sugar cane

Elder Masendi's first normal day with no training! The extra hour is so nice, because it allows us to see all of the people we want to see, and not restricting our time to see the people of a higher priority. Josephine has now come to the point where she is requesting to learn about certain topics or scriptures. She is so wonderful and her strong testimony is getting stronger and stronger each day. And it was Christian's last day in Cape Coast. He is leaving to Tarkwa for work. I'll miss him paah!

Thursday was good, chopped fufu. When we strive to do all that we can to reach our goals, we find that we actually make them happen. :) interesting huh? Joseph, the owner of our favorite internet cafe became a new investigator. He is super interested in the church and is accepting all of our teachings. It's nice because he sees so many missionaries each Monday who share little bits with him too.

Pounding Fufu! :)

Friday was super long, every now and then you have a day that is just like that. The sun just drains energy. By 3 you're tired and want to nap, but work is work! So you can't sleep! You can sleep in 2 years! Sister Kubra was a little bit of a battle today. She was being so stubborn and frustrating that we had to come out and tell her straight that if she wants to learn anything for herself that she has to take it up with her Heavenly Father. Man can tell man anything, but God will only let you know of the truth, so ask Him. :) (James 1:5    Moroni 10:3-5)

Janet and Samuel just broke my heart. Samuel hasn't eaten since Monday and Janet has only been able to provide for her smallest daughter. So we took him and got him some rice, but the African life is not easy at all. I'm so grateful for all of the wonderful blessings I was born into at home.

Lessons were very few, only the first and the last were successful. We did manage to hand out lots of Book of Mormons and talked with tons of people. All work is work, and all of it is productive. :)

While sitting with Agnes, I had 10 peswes and she had some super glue, so I borrowed some glue and covered one side, pressed it down and then let it dry. After, little kids were trying to pick it but couldn't! I thought they would quit after a bit but they kept trying! All methods were used, and I mean ALL methods.

The other companionship had a baptism which was nice. It was a wife. The husband baptized her which was so wonderful to watch.

Children are determined...

Ghana Independence Day! I thought it would be crazy like the festival or something, but it was rather calm. A few people marched the streets with flags and uniforms.

Emmanuel was our only investigator at church. There are some things that you just can't control.

Kweku fed us a big fufu after church. He said I've made you small fufu, got there and Pa! Huge bowl with huge fufu with 4 fish.... eish. But we finished! We chatted for a bit and met a man named Charles who is now a potential. :) Mami Supa fed us Konkonte with Palm nut soup. So much heavy food just can't be good for the body. Especially late at night.... But I love it still. :)

What Goes Around Comes Around

Chapel cleaning crew!

Monday was pretty much my first normal non busy P-day. We took our time washing and cleaning. I made 4 loafs of Banana bread. 2 were devoured and 2 I delivered. Elder Masendi needed a trim. We did some small shopping. Went and made Sobolo with aunty Kate. Chopped Fufu at my favorite chop bar, and then we tried to email, but the power died... So we began proselyting early. :) Taught Elizabeth and picked Emmanuel for FHE.

When things get forgotten
in the back of the fridge.....
(not by me)

The Sister Training Leaders gave a nice instruction on Charity, you can never hammer charity too much. After district meeting, we went and chopped fufu and konkonte with fish. I love those things so much paah.

On a more tasty note

We taught Benjamin for the first time in ages. We've been baptizing all of his friends, so he's taking interest again. Hopefully he'll receive a full conversion this time. Shaibu also wants to make sure that he is dead certain that this church is true, so we told him we'll give him time and keep coming to teach and expound. :)

Chilling with new members!

Wednesday was standard, filled with lessons and visiting. However, we drank 3 minerals! (soda in a glass bottle) Man, people were dashing us like crazy! I know I'm going to suffer for them though.... PEC was nice, and we managed to get Mary's baptismal record filled out. :)

My Ghanaian Head wrap :)

Weekly planning and studies took the full 3 hours, but it was very productive. The sun is getting hotter and hotter I swear. My handkerchiefs are soaked before we even leave the house..... Most of our people were free, which made teaching really nice. We had a 2 1/2 hour lesson with Kubra and Emmanuel joined us half way through. Man, those 2 have questions paah.

Mary's Baptism :)

Exchanges! Elder Tom came with me to my area. Teaching was way nice, at mid day we went to a Nigerian alley bar, he got some 'who knows what' Nigerian food and paid loads for it.... I'm content with simple cheap things. :) Appointments began to fail, but we managed to stay busy. Mary had her baptismal interview and succeeded wonderfully. :) I'm so happy for her.

The Gang

All Saturday I was feeling blah... but the day was filled with wonderful events. We first went and cleaned the chapel, came back and then the clouds opened up and it just began to pour... and, because God is wonderful, he had the rain stop just enough, so that we could leave and make it on time to the wedding at 1. The wedding was.... eish. The Groom's "friends" did a spectacular job of crashing the wedding, to the point that they had to move it to the bishop's office to proceed since it was just too chaotic to continue.... Ghanaians man.... Turns out though, the Groom did that to all of their weddings, so what goes around comes around huh? ;) Mary had her baptism and it was so nice. I love seeing people that are truly prepared, to come and enter the waters of baptism. :)

Sewer diving...

We tried to pick people for church, but no one wanted to come.. :( At church, lately the mentality I've been noticing from members is that they all have "their" way of doing things, which reminds me of Isaiah 55:8 We should try to align our ways, with His ways. Elder Masendi finishes his training! WOOO! We begin the normal schedule on Tuesday. :)