Mice, Dogs, and Antelope

Wonderful reunions. :)

It's routine: every Monday we have lights out, which kills all major activities in the Apartment. Layed on the coldish floor until we decided to go out.

We all cruised the market and got everything for a huge 3-man stew (my companion doesn't like stew....) Emailed and went to Melcom to get a few things. Bought some Mangos. Strangely, the ones that are picked off the tree just hours earlier taste way better than the ones back in the US that are imported.... :)

On Tuesday, Elder Machaka had a UTI.... I diagnosed him last week and he didn't believe me... went to the clinic and they told him he had one. I could work in a Ghanaian clinic with my ity bitty bit of education that I have. ;)

Wedding at Aunty Alice's farm

But I had to conduct District meeting in their absence. It went well. After we went into the area, and the sun was hotter than all outdoors. Lessons were good though. Granted they are better when we have a translator.

Wednesday was so nice. Elder Vinson (Africa West Area President) came on a mission tour and came and spoke to all of the missionaries in Central region. He's such a wonderful man and has spent so much of his life dedicated to the Lord. His instruction and advice is so beneficial for us all. His wife also is so wonderful. She has her own way of inspiring, which just makes me want to get my life started when I return home. :) Our leaders are called for His special reasons. :)

Can I help you? :)

First time going to Aunty Alice's farm. It was honestly not as bad as the other Elders made it seem it would be. Although, she did feed us some sketchy Benku and FanteFante. She gave us tons of Oranges which is so nice of her.

Lessons were sooooo slow. It's always a hit and miss, but those that always do give us time are so nice because they also usually ask wonderful heartfelt questions which bring them closer to salvation. :)

Friday, Derek is finally beginning to see that his church is not Christ's church. I really hope that his prayers are answered soon. He would make a wonderful contribution to the branch and would be wonderful to his family. His sister is already a member in a different branch.

I want to bring this one home. :)

We had a long lesson based on Deut. 22:5 all because some pastors interpret it an incorrect way. So we did our best with poor translators to re-correct this false doctrine, but to no avail because she wasn't understanding us.... Eish.

Taught a taxi driver in Batanyaa. He belongs to SDA (7th day Adventist) but his heart has been so so prepared by the Lord. It'll take time, but I know that he'll accept the gospel. :)

Saturday I was sicker than two dogs.... Woke up and just chilled in the bathroom for a couple hours. After finishing, I made a delicious steak and egg sandwich. Prepped the beef last night and enjoyed it in the morning. It reminded me of Gandolfos and Betos, so nice.

One last one... :)

The Abakrampa Elders had some baptisms today, so we went to Yamoranza to support them. On the way there though, while we were trying to find a cab, a mad man came and just gave me the biggest bear hug. My companion tried to tear him off of me. When he finally released, I beheld that my white shirt was now a half white half brown shirt.... wonderful.

Sunday is a day to remember. The block of hours was normal, only most of the branch came so we had a strong 35-40 members!

After church we blew through all of our possible appointments. However, we were able to watch a member's brother + crew catch and slaughter a dog. This is why I prefer using a gun....

Pricilla made us Rice and stew which was so nice. And also had a nice little photo shoot with Mami Esi. :) I love that little girl so much. A friend of ours shot an antelope in the morning and then gave it to us in the evening, we'll chop it tomorrow.

Professional dog.... butchers?

Bright came with us to Batanyaa to teach Kwesi the taxi driver. I love teaching that man. When we got home, we saw THE mama mouse. Now I say "the" because we've been eliminating the children one by one when we find them. We've killed 4 small ones and have been hunting the big one for 3 weeks now. Well, those 3 weeks ended. We got it under the fridge. I moved the fridge so it would run towards my companion. After he dazed it, we swept it out and over to the cat, stepped away and watched the cat pounce just like they would on Animal Planet. So sweet. :)

Chewing Charcoal

Yamoranza Zone!

First thing of the week, power goes out. Our little tiny apartment becomes a little tiny blast furnace..... So washing and cleaning was slightly miserable, but Jesse came and brought us our supplies, along with a package from home! Woooo! I found a nice little photo album which was my highlight.

Went to Cape and became a tour guide. The other guys wanted me to show them around to all the best places to buy things since I kind of know the town... :)

Got back and gymed small, then talked with Elder Connelly. He's from New Zealand (where Rach served) and chatted quite a bit about the wonderful NZ. :)

We called Semon (our homie of a taxi driver) and he took us to Yamoranza for our combined district meeting. It was MLC report so they went over things which are good to hear.

Service baby!

Lessons were low due to no translators. Enjoyed some fufu, but eish... since coming to Asebu my stomach has not been the happiest camper. It's the ever-present wanting to puke feeling just below my sternum... but life is life, so we deal with it.

Wednesday, we went out a little earlier since we were going to do some service in the evening. And then when we finished we would close for the day. We began teaching a few people, but then my stomach was not having any of it. So I knelt down and rested on a stool, to elongate my abdomen and align my insides, but to no avail. My companion fed me charcoal, because, apparently that works.... (#african remedies.....) it didn't. Went back to the house and chilled in front of the toilet for the rest of the night.

Thursday I still felt sick. Tried to have studies, but I ended up chilling in front of the toilet for a couple hours. Watched some Mormon Messages since that's more entertaining than a motionless porcelain bowl of water...... Mary called (an investigator) and asked to see how I was doing. She ate charcoal with me the day before and was worried with my condition. She's such a sweet lady, and needs to be baptized. ;)

Stayed most of the day in the house, but being sick and having nothing to do makes time just creep by. Eish, so boring. So boring that we decided to go out for just a little bit and suffer, but it was worth it because it was so much better on the mind.

The classic shoe picture

Friday was finally like a normal day. My stomach was strong enough to go out. We went on a small exchange since we needed to have some people interviewed for baptism. 3 of them live in another village 30 minutes walk from Asebu. So Elder Connelly and my companion went to get them, and then Elder Machaka and I stayed in the area and tried to teach, but unfortunately, we couldn't get a translator.

Stomach returned on Saturday..... you know it's not good when you are praying to puke just so you feel better after. Eish, stomach problems.

But we went out in the afternoon because we had a baptism. And so we needed to go and collect our candidates and shuttle us all to the Yamoranza chapel where they have a font. We baptized 4: Grace, Godswin and Godsway (they're twins), and Lucas. It was so nice, I love baptisms so much, especially because my little bro slice Coulter just got baptized too. :) And all of them are youth, which is nice, because now they have a full life of gospel living and blessings ahead of them.

Such wonderful kids. :)

Sundays in Asebu are slightly harder. The only English is the hymns and the sacrament prayer, and then the rest is strictly Fante, woooo..... Teaching is also hard, especially with a Royal funeral in session. So we went to Bantanya to check on 2 of our members, but they weren't home, so we made the 25-minute trek back to Asebu. Got back and we were just famished. That's the biggest problem we have, is once we are in the area, we need to stay in the area. They only give us enough money to get to and from our area once a day, plus small emergency. So we can't afford to go back and forth just for food. But we were so hungry that we had to. Nearly every Sunday is a fast Sunday. Or so it feels like. But weeks like these make you appreciate the outstanding ones, where life is just dandy. My stomach is improving, and I hope it will continue. :)

African Root Canals

An innocent-looking
trouble maker :)

Our zone decided to have an activity in the morning. They decided to play basketball in Cape, so Elder Connelly (from Hamilton New Zealand) and I went since our companions didn't want to go. It was nice to see everyone in my new zone and see some familiar faces. After, we showered at the old apartment, then met our companions at the cafe and continued on our day.

Had to take a Trotro home, they jam 15 or so people into a van and then drive like they're on something... then again all Ghanaians drive that way. Gymed in the evening with our neighbor who is big into gyming. A good first P-day in the new area.

Black Emma ;)

My district has 3 of my TC's, so 4 of us are together, which is pretty sweet. We went to an orphanage in our area since we were invited by one of the volunteer workers there. It's a nice little place and they do a really good job with the kids. One of the workers is actually from Berlin Germany, Marie Wiedemann. As a side note, we have some Wiedemanns in our family tree way back when (on my Grandpa Helmut's side). :) Then again it is a small world.

Wednesday was pretty standard. We found another Jehovah Witness :) and had a nice little discussion with her. It's interesting to see how all of them defend their bible, even after you show them that they have removed verses... Eish, they're so argumentative and just ready to pick a fight. But it's okay because we know we've already won. :)

To Esimekrom

Thursday had one big event.... The dentist. That word is just bitter to say. They gave me the maximum dosage of Lydocane and still I wasn't very numb. So what's their response? Just bare with it for 10 minutes or so until we get the nerve out..... WHAT?!?! 10 minutes of head-racking pain?!?!

But it's okay, what has to be done needs to be done... And before I knew it, the painful part was over and then began the time consumption. After they were all finished, we went home and I crashed until the next morning.

The sun was so bad on Friday, but the Lord answers prayers and so we had a nice breeze for a lot of the day.

Professional Fufu Team

Our members are struggling to help us. We need translators bad, but we don't have anyone to translate. So our lessons have been pretty low.

We started the day by going to Emisekrom, which is a 30-minute hike through the bush. Super pretty, and super fresh. Eish, these people work ahhh. They walk forever, and then do hard labor just to make sure a few plants will grow right. And then get little profit, if any, at the time of the harvest. Life is not easy for people here. To be honest, though, I like the bush more than the city. It's so much quieter and peaceful, as well as clean and fresh. Occasionally we have to jump over and or wade through streams, but all is well in the work of the Lord.

Our little stream :)

I kind of like going to church in a school. It's so hard to teach on Sundays, though. Everyone is never free. But we managed to have a solid lesson with Mary Otu and her husband Yaw (pronounced Yow). My companion and I made Fufu for Grace. He pounded while I drove the cassava. First time driving! ;)

From City to Bush

Gonna miss this crew!

Time just disappeared my last P-day in Cape. Played one last game of Monopoly Deal with the whole apartment. I won. :) It's nice to end on a winning streak. ;) Chilled at the house small doing this and that. Had a lovely visit with Josephine and then went to Brother Aquay's place for FHE. Said some goodbyes and then crashed for the night.

Powerful Elders :)

Last day in Cape..... Eish, time is just not a good friend. Combined District meeting was nice. We took loads of pictures after ward. We ran some miscellaneous errands. Went home for a small water/cool off break, and then went out to begin all of my goodbyes. The Andoh-Kesons fed us because I'm leaving. After chilled with the Agyekums, and then Sister Aqua. Then went to all of the people on Gegem, where I practically lived every day. It's so hard to say goodbye to all of those you have grown so close and love. I will never forget those I've met. Then the apartment had a nice farewell party with sausages and tons of soda. A nice finishing touch. :)

From Old to New

Wednesday was very full, just finished packing the little things remaining and then chilled until it was time to go. Got to the station and met my new companion Elder Kazimoto. He's from Zambia and he's 22. Chilled at the station and visited with people for some time, then decided it was probably time to head to the area. Got to Asebu and unpacked small. Planned for the day and then went out. We have to take a car to our area, and then once we are in our area, there is no coming back until it's time to close. It's super nice and green, the air smells so nice and fresh, we have 4 or 5 little villages in our area, and they aren't really all that close to each other.

The Dentist, Woooo!!.......

Woke up with a killer toothache. The same tooth I broke at the beginning of my mission. Went to the dentist and guess what.... I need a root canal! Wooo! love those!..... The cost is only 250 cedis.... which is about 67 dollars. I hope the quality doesn't match the price, otherwise I'm in trouble. They didn't finish because they have to do it in 2 sessions.

I'll miss my Son!!!!
Love him so much! :)

We stopped in Cape on the way home and met Elder Masendi's new companion. Elder Peterson is a sweet guy. And guess what?! He has health problems too! Only his is at the other end -- he had a double ingrown toenail.... enjoy. So us new companions have had a fun first day. ;) They gave me some meds which made me feel terrible, so we didn't go into the area. We stayed and I suffered on my bed.

Our faithful brother Bright!

No one April fooled. It was a good normal day, still adjusting to everything. New people, new houses, Twi is a new thing. But otherwise it's good. There are hardly any "safe" areas to eat in the area, so I pray I don't get sick too often here.

Beautiful flowers,
the Bush is so fresh. :)

Met our President, Amos Yemoah. He's a super cool guy, a cool fact about him is that he helped translate the Book of Mormon into Fante and Twi! So I'm excited to be serving around him.

Just when I was getting used to 1 village, my companion takes me to another one, about a 25-30 minute walk away, so not too far. You walk all the way there, bang down doors only to find people not home, or sleeping.... Quite a few of our lessons need translators, very few people speak enough English to be taught, so we are heavily reliant on a few members, who aren't always home.

Our Sacrament Hall! :)

Sacrament meeting in a school! That was a new experience, but it was quite appropriate. Sunday school and combined Elders/Relief Society actually felt like a class, due to the setting. :) People didn't really give us time, and fasting didn't make it any easier.

What our Area is like

In the evening a teacher named Janet prepared for us Banku with Okro stew. It was nice, but I know my guts won't be happy. Adjusting is still happening, to both the area and companion, but all will be well. :)

I love you all!