No longer a teen!

Elmina Castle

Monday, we went to Elmina for a spur-of-the-moment Zone activity. We went to the castle and had a tour. It was pretty sweet, but the Cape castle is better.

Elmina Castle

After we ate food and the sisters soaked us.... because they could.... We bounced to cape and did our usuals. But we got home late because of the activity which ruined our plans...

Elmina Castle

Tuesday morning we went to Alice Gate and threw the disc and did some sprints, it was nice. Elder Andreasen gave a good instruction on conversion as well. He did well. :) After, we chopped fufu. Kojo and Felicia were the only ones that we were able to see. Martin has Malaria and all our other people didn't have time for us. We did spend the evening with Gladys, though, and had a good gospel conversation with her. When we got to the house we killed a mouse. :) They are plenty in the house. Then cut Elder Owens' hair.

Reunions!
I left her 3 weeks into her training,
and now I'm back!

The Germans invited us over for breakfast in honor of Michael and Dorcus' birthdays. It was nice. They even made me my own cake thing because they remembered that I'm allergic to peanuts. Caring neighbors. :)

Breakfast with the Germans

We saw a few non-serious people and then taught Phillo. I love teaching Phillo, she's such a sweet gal. The Germans invited us over for dinner as well and I had a super deep and intimate gospel conversation with Christopher. He feels like he's missing something in life and wants to know what.... That's why we're here. ;) We'll begin the lessons soon.

Sister Sarah,
I LOVE her smile. :)

Thursday, about half of our appointments bounced. Mami Esi fed us some rice and cartilage.... It took me about 10 minutes to chew and my companion 15.... Love it. Taught Emmanuella and then Georgina. I love teaching both her and Phillo. The spirit is always so powerful and they are always so engaged.

The average spider size

Friday started out with Felica and Kojo. Taught them about where we came from before we were born. They respond wonderfully to our message. Had a so so lesson with Josephine and then a wonderful lesson with Martin. We are definitely here to find those that are ready, because some aren't. Had a long visit with Stephanie. She's curious which leads to nice conversations about the gospel. From her we went to finish the night with Phillo. She's so intelligent. :)

Happy birthday to me! I'm so happy! :) I don't feel any different, though. Felicia and Kojo had us over for my birthday and fed us some wonderful Geoloff and chicken. Man it was so nice. Most of our people were busy or not home, so we didn't really do much all day. We visited Stephanie and then Phillo again. We love spending time with them.

I don't know why Ghanaians
have struggles at looking at the camera...

Sunday, Mothers Day! We tried to get everything ready to go for the call but couldn't due to technology having attitudes. So we went to church and found Felicia and Kojo there. I'm so excited for them to progress in the gospel and draw closer to God. :) After church I tried getting the computer to work but it wouldn't go. So we used Michael's phone and I was able to skype for an hour but then the battery died and I wasn't able to continue due to complications and stuff. But it was so nice to see my family and even part of my family to be! Life is good and I'm so happy. :)

Old Women deserve Windows

Football, Frisbee, and Rugby

Monday morning we all woke up early to go to the training college field to go and play sports as a district. We're only 6 so we tried to invite some members but only one came. It was still super sweet though.

When we went to Cape, the cafe was filled with children wasting their lives away, so I bribed one 2 cedis to go home. He did and I was able to email on time. It was so nice. On our way home the skies just started to pour. I was in the back seat corner. There are supposed to be 2 slider windows but there was only one..... there was an old woman in front of me, so I gave her the one slider and got soaked, but only half of me. Only my right side was soaked. I'll get soaked for an old woman. :)

Right side soaked!

Tuesday was awesome. We talked with everyone. We saw Dorcus and she wanted me to hold her baby. In 6 minutes her baby was out. I am too good at putting babies to sleep. :) Went and taught Emmanuela and then worked our way over to Martin. In the evening Gladys had us over for food. Plus it was Elder Manyayi's birthday!

Wednesday morning I made a double batch of Japatis (I'm going to make them when I come home.) Making them in Ghana, though, makes you sweat so bad. Man, I was just soaked and dripping. "By the sweat of your brow ye shall eat bread" is no joke here. We went and had a wonderful discussion with Felicia and Kojo. They are such wonderful people. Went and taught Martin and then just wandered visiting with people. We finished our evening with Phillomina and Georgina and visited with their grandmothers. I love that whole family. :)

6 and done :)

Thursday, Happy Birthday Rach! :) The day started out terribly. I woke up just after midnight with a terrible ear ache that wouldn't quit. It finally subsided enough for me to sleep around 4. We had Zone Conference. So I was just wrecked for it. I wish I could have been more alert. We got home late ish but we were able to see Emmanuela and Mary Asma since they're close the the house.

Friday morning we went running. We went to the top of the training college and saw a wonderful view of the beach and coastline. Beautiful. Then we gapped it home. It felt so nice to be huffin and puffin small. :) We went to see Felicia and Kojo. I love them and we have good discussions, but they can talk. Too much. We often spend a lot more time there than we would hope. We saw Martin and he gave us a Sweet Apple (some big green ridged fruit with a white meat) and some mangos. Sooo nice. :)

Elimina Zone
(I'm looking almost brown....
The sun is too much)

Saturday morning we all went and helped Mami Esi with her farm. She didn't plan very well so a lot of us stood around a lot. She didn't plan for 6 elders, but it's all good. Mary Asma fed us 4 fufu and light soup afterward. They were having an engagement so they invited us to come and eat. Man she can feed. We were all full. We went and taught Elizabeth and Hannah, new investigators. And then went and saw Dorcus along with all the neighborhood kids. We finished our evening with Phillo and Georgina. They are such wonderful young ladies and I feel like both will progress. :) Life is soooo sweet. :)

DCA school,
where we worship :)

Brother Kojo came to church and he came early! It was fast Sunday and he even bore his testimony. This man has never gone to church in his life. He wanted nothing to do with religion. And now here he is: first time coming to church, bearing testimony about the message we've been sharing with him. He contributes in class and then shares it with and invites all of his family members. Powerful guy. :) I love him. Mary Asma fed us the same thing again. Man, she's spoiling us. :) Went and taught Matilda and Grace (New investigators). Then we spent the rest of the evening with strangers and finding new people. :)

I don't do round 2....

Round 2 crew

Monday morning was super productive. We did everything and then went to Cape. We got there pretty early so that we could beat the rush of emailing. After, we stopped by the castle, and it was awesome because my main guy that I always bought from remembered me and didn't even have to look at my name. It's nice making good relationships. Went to the market and then went home, relaxed small, and then had a great lesson with Martin.

Tuesday we went to Kissi for district meeting and this time we had no visitors. ;) After we went to Felicia's and Kojo's for Fufu. They didn't prepare much, so the pounding was easy. From there, we went and taught Helina. I love that woman! She's in her thirties and is just a delight to visit with. I just hope that she'll keep the commitments that we give her. Then we ended the night with Martin again. Man, I just love teaching him. He ends the night on such a wonderful note.

Grinding the Ghanaian way

Wednesday we went farming for a woman named Grace. Man, did she work us. Eish. When I stop, I'm done. I'll go until it's done, but if you stop me... uh... Nope. I'm not doing round two. Well, she had us do round two. We were all so wrecked. I was getting hand cramps from the cutlace. We worked from 8-2:30.... wrecked.

Thursday was a little ish. The whole morning and weekly planning was great. I even made an awesome curry, but Elder Owens had roasted his feet yesterday in the sun since apparently it's better to farm in sandles.... Mistake... His feet had swollen from the burn and so I stayed with him and played nurse while the other two went out to see people. Since we had some and they had some that needed to be seen, we split so that we could get them all. Next time, wear shoes. :) It helps I promise. ;)

Pounding with
Eder Manyayi

First thing Friday, we saw Felicia and Kojo. They always praise our teaching, which is so refreshing. Then we went and talked to everyone! We met tons of awesome people. 2 families. Fausty and Dorcus plus a big family with all the women named Mami Ama. Hopefully something will come from that. Had our standard powerful lesson with Martin and then went to see Gladys. Her and her husband are so sweet. I love spending time with them.

Saturday was super busy. We went to a celebration thing for the Germans since they invited us. They teach students some technical skills like filming, IT stuff, photo, just all of that kind of stuff. And they release a magazine, so we went and spent a little time there. Who knows, maybe they'll look for the missionaries in Germany when they go home. From there we went and visited Agnes and then Felicia and Kojo. We visited with some girls named Phillomina and Georgina and met an awesome guy named C. Martin gave us a referral. His name is John. And he too seems way interested. Investigators that give referrals are so wonderful because those referrals will almost always be serious. :) I love it. :)

Our very own Light Soup

Sunday was awesome! Felicia came to church. And President Stevenson split us from Kissi and made Komenda it's own branch. Members don't really support the number we would like but we'll work towards making it a full branch. :) I'm stoked. At 3 we went to Agnes' house and she taught us all how to make Light Soup, so now, when I come home the 2nd time, then I'll make you all some nice things. :) We spent the rest of the evening trying to seal appointments for Tuesday. I absolutely love this area. :)

Find and go Seek

Coconut Plantation

Monday was super busy. We did our nessesities and ate pancakes. Then we picked some people to come with us to go to the Branch/Group activity for Easter. We played volleyball and football. I love football. I was position 5. Defending is the way to go. We played and just had a good time. The sun is always too much though. :)

Church Children

We finished and got cleaned up, then went to Cape. Emailing was also just terrible. So we went to the market and got there just in the nick of time. It was closing so we barely got everything that we needed. It takes like an hour drive to get from Komenda to Cape. Came home and cooked up a nice curry.

Bro Martin :)

We had a visitor for District meeting. Erica (Branch President's daughter. She's 2.) She was good for most of it, then she started disturbing. Gotta love stubborn little children. :)

After, all 6 of us went to a chopbar and enjoyed. Then Elder Manyayi and I went to Elmina to email but couldn't because power was out..... What is up with emailing.... We called our branch president and he told us we could come and email small at his work place. Such a blessing. So it was a bum day. We weren't able to really do anything. Everyone was busy.

photo from Mission President

Wednesday was Elder Andreasen's and my first full day together. We managed to see one woman named Mami Efua. She's 77. Just meeting a ton of people. We have plenty of promising people. I'm so stoked. :) There are some Germans that live pretty close to our apartment and they invited us over for a visit in the evening. They are some pretty sweet people. They are 6 in total doing volunteer work by teaching children some technical skills. Maxim, Michael, Christofer, Suni, and Julie. (one was missing)

photo from Mission President

Thursday's weekly planning went a little better. We didn't have any lessons but we did meet a ton of more nice people. We went to PEC but after waiting for a while they cancelled it due to the President being super busy with stuff.

Friday was poop. I woke up feeling fine, but then I got super nauseous and sick. So I stayed in the house for most of the day. Just tried to get feeling better. Elder Owens went with my companion to teach a few people, and then in the evening I was feeling a little bit better. So we went out and taught Martin who is the most promising investigator I have ever had. He asks all the right questions and thinks everything through. He's a powerful dude of 24. I'm stoked for him. :)

photo from Mission President

Saturday we started the day by teaching a non-serious pastor named Kofi. Then we met a wonderful woman from Accra. I bet you she'll join the church. So I sent her information to the Assistants to send it to the Accra mission.

We saw Mami Ekua and met a girl named Sarah who just so happens to have the exact same birthday as me?!?!?! Crazy! Day month and year! We closed the day with a phenomenal lesson with Martin. :)

photo from Mission President

My first busy Sunday in a long time. Martin came to Church which was awesome. After church we went to Kissi and I helped conduct a baptism for the other Elders. It went great. :) Came back and taught Felicia and Kojo. Then went to Mami Esi and she gave us small Fufu and then we went to another Mami Esi and she fed us some rice. We were running from place to place. A solid first full week in Komenda. :)