Motivational Nurse Practioner

The apartment

Monday was sweet. We had a District activity at the Takoradi Stake Center. We played sports and ate some good food. :) Elder Talamoni  prepared some nice chicken. :) Leave it to polys to make the best meat. We went and emailed and then went to the Chapel Hill apartment. There, Elder Taleni gave me and Elder Williams a hair cut. He did a super good job. After, all the Polys (Taleni, Talamoni, Tauveli, Apelu) plus comps and us went and played volleyball at a Tech College. We ended up playing a legit team. Yes they beat us but we nearly got em twice. If we were in practice we would have smashed them.

Mpintsin Zone

Tuesday was my last day with Elder Williams. Which was kinda sad, I've come to love that kid so much, but life needs to continue and so I have to let him go. I gave the instruction at combined district meeting and the zone loved it. I feel like my motivational tapes are starting to rub off on me. A lot said that it was a motivational pump up of sorts. Elder Adams said that my life purpose was to be a motivational speaker..... Maybe I'll be a motivational Nurse Practitioner ;) We spent the day visiting everyone Elder Williams wanted to see.

Polys!!!! :)

Wednesday was long. It began by me running down a tro, convincing him to come inside and pick everyone and their bags.... We all got to Takoradi and Elder Williams left right away. Elders Bay and Green and I chilled all day. Roaming Tadi and throwing a frisbee. Elder Rugundana finally came around 2:30. We got home and went out small, but came back early so he could un-pack. I gymed and then the whole apartment played Uno. :)

Togo!

Thursday was sweet. Elders Iumalo (Samoa) and Swartbooi (Namibia) are sweet sweet dudes. They're so energetic and comical, the opposite of our last crew. I'm so stoked to have them in our apartment. I showed Elder Rugu some members and investigators. WCM and PEC were standard. In the evening we cleaned and played more Uno.

Friday was way long. We got bounced all day. Plus the sun was scorchingly hot.... eish. We chilled with some members but no teaching leads to a long day. :/

Last Pic!

Saturday was better. We had chapel cleaning in the morning. Came home and got showered but then left right away to go meet a GC that didn't show.... We got bounced most of the day. In the evening we picked Kathrine to help us go teach Mary, and she did wonderfully! Mary is also good friends with Kathrine. :) Kathrine is one of our best member missionaries, I don't know why we haven't been using her.

Elder Rugundana

Charity came to church, which is always nice. After church we waited small for Samuel Sagoe to go with us. He showed us some less active homes and some potential investigators. He's such a stud. He should be our ward mission leader. We arrived at the Owus just as the skies started dumping basins..... Like straight basins. Soooo much water. It just ruined everything. All gutters and ravines were rivers.... Going home was a beast with all the mud, but we made it. :)

A crazy exchange!

Beaver Dental

Monday we went to the Dentist nice and early. He did a phenomenal job. He did his schooling in Massachusetts. Sweet guy. We did our normal things and then played Spar in the house until 5. Then went to the Owu's for FHE. We ended up playing Jump rope with all the little kids for most of the evening, and then we shared something with the rest of the family.

Shower water....

Tuesday was a little ish. District meeting was good, but once again, when we went to eat at the chopbar I had a small reaction, nothing serious but we still went to the chapel hoping that I would throw up. After I was good, though, we went and got Judith and went to see Comfort and Mary. They were a little busy but it was still good to see them. We went back to the chapel because it was mid week.

Got her with a pole :)

Elder Tauveli was with me for exchange. He's such a sweet kid. He's Tongan but from Arizona, I love the kid. :) We talked all day, unfortunately we got bounced aaaaaalllll day. We enjoyed some sobolo at Millicent's and then went and ate some Fufu. Charity was home so we spent some time with her. We had her teach us the Restoration to see how much she actually knew. It was nice. Then we taught her how to play Spar. She beat us the first 2 games. Talk about beginner's luck. We went and taught Comfort and then went to the Chapel to swap companions back. When we got to the house I did a new intense leg work out, I'ma be hurtin....

Togos!!!! (Brothers!)

Thursday morning we had a one-week celebration for one of our members who died last week, then we helped clean the font. After we went home to do our normal routine. Mami Esi, Charity, and Mary all gave us time. It was way nice. And members actually helped us which was even nicer! WMC started late which pushed PEC back which means we got home way late. I jumped in the shower and the water was brown.....

African Tie Selfie

Once again we got bounced nearly all day. We chilled at the Owu's for a bit since the sun was way hot. Judith went with us to go teach Mary though, and that lesson was great. Mary talks a lot but that's because she really wants to understand. :) Then we went back to the Owu's because they wanted to feed us. I love that family. We went to go wish Ophelia a happy birthday. While we were there, Elder Masendi started the soakings, which led to Elder Williams getting more soaked than Ophelia, and it's not even his birthday! I managed to stay dry because I'm too speedy and field aware. ;) When we got home we ended up killing a stupid big mouse. That thing was massive.

Mission President's Blog Photo:
Straw-Colored Fruit Bats
in the center of Accra

Saturday we cleaned the chapel and then did our normal things, only, the route that we normally travel we did backwards. We went and saw Jessica and Janet first, it's been awhile since we saw either of them. It was nice. We went to our best rice joint and enjoyed there, then went to the chapel because Kojokrom and Nketsiakrom were both having a baptism. Transfer news came! Elder Williams is going to Asebu to be with Elder Harward!!!!!! He's going to be in my last area with my last companion! How crazy is that?!?! I'll be receiving Elder Rugundana from Uganda. My third Ugandan. I'm stoked out of my mind. :)

Sunday was pretty chill. After church we just visited with Missionaries and Members. Since Elder Williams is going we just spent the day going around and saying goodbyes to all of his favorite members. We finished at the Owu's and once again they fed us. This time it was a massive plate of Jolloff rice. SOOOOO nice. :) Apparently that rice we killed earlier had babies.... we found them in the evening, so we put em down so they wouldn't starve and suffer.  But that was my week!

The bitter comes, so you can enjoy the sweet :)

Tubby tubster babies :)

Monday was a stake activity at Sofokrom. The missionaries played American football until the festivities started. Then the wards had a football tournament. Nketsiakrom ward had few players so we jumped in and played with them. Considering that we're white and haven't played, we did phenomenal. The stake was thrilled that Obrunis would play.

After we enjoyed food and watched the rest of the games, visited and mingled with members. Some small boy kifed our phone from my bag though, so now we're phoneless.... Which is super rough for missionary work.

At District meeting, we reflected on what our goals were at the beginning of mission and the ones we have now, either the original or new ones. And were reviewing and then asking ourselves what our Why is. What drives us to achieve those goals. I loved it. :)

Nketsiakrom Football team!

After, we played Spar at the chopbar as we were waiting for our food. Went to Takoradi to do our emailing and then came back and saw Janet, which was a nice surprise since we thought she would bounce us.

Wednesday was long. Elder Williams' knee was giving him fits. He was limping big time and so we didn't go out. I tried to fill my time with stuff. I hate being in the house. I also broke my back molar. It was the same one that needed the root canal in Cape last April. So there was no pain, but still, a broken molar makes eating difficult.

Thursday morning starting at 2am I was sick. I was on and off the toilet ever hour and a half or so till 7 in the evening.... I spent my time in bed or in the bathroom. Which made for a long and uncomfortable day.

Friday we went to get my molar fixed, but the dentist wasn't in, so they gave us an appointment for Monday (the dentist did a phenomenal job, he got his degree/certification in New York. So, he's legit.) The rest of the day was normal.

In the evening though I got a massive feeling of dread in my heart.... It came to the point where I needed to stop and address the issue. I asked my companion if he felt anything upsetting. After asking, the feeling hit him too. We decided to travel another route. Shortly after power went out, our original route would have been super super dark. We said a prayer and continued home and all was well. We don't know why and probably won't ever know why. But we should always listen and follow the spirit when He speaks.

Past fillings.....

Saturday we helped clean the chapel, and got to help move 200 metal chairs. They made the train and I stacked them all, my back is going to be feeling it.  The day was normal, we did some more finding around Zongo (Muslim communities are called Zongo) We are finding a few people here and there that seem promising. :)

Sunday, we begin church at 8am now. It's easier to remain alert at that time. Fast Sunday was good too. After church we went and saw Linda, a less active. She's the one the delivered about 2 weeks ago. In the evening we helped Charity clean and fill water jugs and then Millicent invited us over for Fufu with Light soup. It was soooo nice. :) And as it turns out, I've got a gnarly knot in my back from the chair moving. It'll be good though.

A Nurse in Ghana

Sorry, I'm terrible with my camera, nothing interesting is happening...
He peed on my leg just after the picture....

Monday was so so. I washed to the point where my fingers were raw... Which makes eating Fufu a pain. All the places in Takoradi were closed due to the Christmas holiday so we proselyted instead so that we could go and email Wednesday. Jennifer and Ophelia gave us Coco (porridge) which was way nice compared to other porridge's, but neither of us are porridge dudes. The Kenyas had us over for FHE, we taught about how we can be teachable like King Lamoni and strive for knowledge. Then they gave us some nice plantain and beans. :)

Tuesday, Elder Bay gave a nice instruction which he titled Love One Another. I had some good notes and will be sure to apply them. We also had a sweet day for teaching! We had 3 lessons! Janet, Jessica, and Charity. :) No effort is wasted. Elder Masendi also had a baptism so we went and helped out with that.

We finally saw Comfort. It's been weeks since we last saw her. She's always been super busy but she finally gave us time. After we went and ate Fufu at our best chopbar with our left over Christmas call money, 2 cedi Fufu, 3 cedi chicken. So nice. :)

We went and emailed since Monday didn't work out and then we went and saw Jessica. Charity wasn't home, so we went to Jennifer and Ophelia's place and visited with them small, just as we were about to leave Faustina (a friend of theirs) fell and sliced her hand just below the thumb super deep. You could see the 3 layers. Skin, facia, and muscle.... Eish. They knew I have medical experience so they just handed her over to me. We got the bleeding to stop and then cleaned and sanitized it then let it dry. Bandaged it and got her squared away. Elder Williams, on the way home was wondering what they would have done if I hadn't been there. I just pray they wouldn't have gone to the hospital.

Cleaning crew

Thursday just cruised by. We had our weekly planning, but then we had our interviews with Mission President at the Chapel at 3. When we got there though they were kind of behind. When they finished it was nearly time for WCM and PEC.

On Friday all of our plans crashed and burned and then blew up. We eventually wandered our way to Judith's house (a member) and asked her to show us some Less Actives (like legit ones, not the ones that didn't come last week). She showed us a girl named Linda and her mom. Linda is 17 and just delivered a handsome baby boy. So we'll be seeing her and doing our best to strengthen her. On our way home Elder Andreasen called and needed to be guided in to our house. So we gapped it clear across a hill or two to be able to direct him to our road. End the day with an uphill sprint....

Considering that it's New Years Eve, we saw more people than we would expect. Teaching Charity was refreshing. We taught about temples and just had a good conversation. After she fed us rice and light soup. Her light soup is just divine. We saw Janet and Jessica. Jen and Ophelia had us over for Fufu -- the only catch was that we had to pound it for 14 people.... Gotta love those blisters. They gave me a massive bowl and I just destroyed it and still had space. I can eat Fufu all day. :) We all went to the chapel for watch night (an entirely new concept for me) and we sat and watched the end of the Testaments video and then listened to a bunch of people ramble Fante.

New Years day was nice and sweet. Our combined sacrament meeting was smooth and well. After though we went to Hagar Bossman (a recently returned missionary) house, because she had invited all of the missionaries in the area to come and enjoy some food. She gave us a massive tray of rice for all of us to share, we barely managed to finish it and she brought a massive bowl of Wakye. (Wachee  the ky combo makes a 'ch' sound) Eish. I tried to leave a little room because the Owus also had invited us over. When we got there they gave us a big bowl of Fufu with light soup since they know I can't eat the groundnut soup. So thoughtful. :) It tasted almost Hispanic, like something you would get at a Latin restaurant back home. So nice. :) A good way to celebrate the new year. :)