Week 24: 4,800 Miles on a Two Year Mission

Well this week was fast and good.

First lesson on Tuesday was with K. I felt impressed to talk to him about Jesus telling the disciple to let the dead bury their dead. I was like okay here we go. I didn't straight up tell him that he needed to drop everything else in his life and join the church hahaha but I did say that maybe he needed to get a little more serious about the reading of the Book of Mormon in his own time. He was like, yes I agree, so that we can see improvement and progression, I said, “yes exactly.” So I challenged him to read 7 chapters in the Book of Mormon by next week, ambitious i know but I believe he can do it.

We had a lesson with M about the Godhead. People here have no idea who God is. Some people think that He is their father and that He is everywhere and nowhere... (doesn't make any sense) others think they are all one person or thing... or like M. They believe it’s a combo of the two. So we were like, “ok, this is how it is.” It's really interesting here. Everyone goes to a church but they aren't serious about religion. Church to them is just a fun thing they do on Sunday where they get to go and clap with all their friends ha... as we learned with M, he opened up and told us that he has a drinking and smoking problem but that he knows that it will destroy him and so he wants to change. We offered help of any kind whether it be taking his stuff form him right then or having him call us whenever he wanted it so... yeah hopefully he is doing good with that one.

The weekend was a long one. The closer we get to preparation day the slower time goes hahaha but its cool.

Sunday we walked what seemed like years. Elder Bawden has a fit bit and so we track our miles. We walk about 50-55 miles a week. Which is about 2,400 miles a year which is 4,800 miles a mission. Wow… lot of walking. I’m just about 6 months on mission but my legs feel like they are 5 years on mission haha we freaking do a 50 miler every week. And its that kinda terrain to man, Straight hiking!

Nsawam is great and I love being here. This is my 4th transfer in my first area. I’m happy though haha this place is booming! We had 11 investigators at Sacrament Meeting so that was cool.

Twi language is coming along it’s such a simple language hahah

The food here is so spicy haha they literally take peppers (hot hot hot) and grind them up with water hahaha then  you dip your banku in it and swallow it whole. It burns your throughout as it goes down but... hahahaha so food back home that is spicy is like mild compared to this stuff. Hahaha I’m thinking about entering a spicy wings contest when i get home cuz I’d have no problem eating it haha.

Alright, I’m out for today.

Week 23: Teaching in the Bush

So this week was another fast week. The week overall was decent to be honest but it's okay, we will hopefully have a better one next week.

We saw D (who was recently baptized) on Tuesday. D has been over-stressing himself. He is always so worried that he isn't knowing enough or that he isn't doing good enough... So we were just like, “D, don't worry so much! The gospel is huge, eternally huge! Everyone is growing and learning and nobody knows everything. You're doing great, keep up the good work.” One of my favorite things to do as a missionary is to pray for the investigator while sitting there with them. If I pray at the beginning or end of a lesson I always pray for them by name. I always plead that they can feel the Spirit and know that it's true. I really enjoyed doing this with D. I feel when I pray in that way that there is a more real connection with God. It really feels like I'm speaking with Him about this person. I really enjoy it.

Then we saw K. Oh man, the guy is passing through such a rough time. He assured us that he was still 100% committed to the gospel and that he is trusting that very soon the way will be opened up to him. He relies very heavily on James chapter 1 and draws a lot of strength from it.

Then we met this guy J at the chapel. He told us that he learned with the missionaries a while back.

We had a "mentibrofu" (can’t hear english) lesson. This is kinda hard. Twi is such a simple language that it's hard to teach in. Like if you don't have a translator with you, you suffer out here. I've been working on my simple English. If you don't conjugate any words and simplify they seem to understand better. For example: instead of "so where are you going now?" you have to say "you go where?" or "God call prophet not man". Kinda funny, but there is still power in the words you speak even if you sound like you are learning english as a toddler. I’m serious, the power in the lessons and the Spirit is still there even though the language barrier is really hard.

We met E on Wednesday. We were just walking on this bush road on the way to meet some peeps and we had an extra hour so we decided we'd walk on this back road. We just happened to bump into E on that road. That is definitely an intervention from God. We saw him and at first he was like just feeling like okay whatever. My comp was talking to him and told him that our message was special and then invited him to church. E said, “Well, I don't think I’ll be able to. (no)” Then my comp said, “Well, we will see after we finish teaching you.” :) And guess who showed up at church on Sunday... E. The lesson was really good and he understood really well all that we taught. It's my testimony that the message of the Restoration is true. You could tell as we learned that the message was really working in him. You could see that he was feeling it. Not just hearing it.

One of the lessons I've really been grateful for on my mission is my testimony of Joseph Smith. I know that he was a true prophet. Before, I just believed it... but now I know it. His words about the first vision bring me to tears when I say them. It is real, it happened. My testimony of that event moment is solid. I'm thankful for that testimony that I've received on my mission.

So Friday, we walked out to C’ house which was a beautiful trek through the bush. It was so cool. I'll send a vid. C is so solid. He came to church again this week. We sat next to each other and I asked him how he comes to church. I asked him if he walked or... he said yes. I was so impressed. This man is converted. He walks a 2 hour walk to get to church and he has been one hour early the last two weeks. Pretty cool. We had a lesson with him after church where we just read Chapter 1 of the Book of Mormon. We read it in Twi first but then realized that us obrunis reading in Twi is not the best approach hahaha, so we read in English and then had a member translate for us. I remember sitting there and thinking, this is not ideal. So I prayed and pled that God would allow the spirit to touch C’ heart and that it would be in the lesson even though the circumstances weren't ideal. I then really tried to look for it and feel it and as I did, I felt the soft almost unnoticeable presence of the Spirit. C was eager to continue whenever we paused for translation. I asked him if he believed the things that he was learning and he immediately said, yes. He was even going to ask us to baptize him if we hadn’t asked him. I love Collins. He such a humble and calm bush man. He always smiles big when he sees us.

So things are just moving along. I turn 6 months soon which is crazy... new members are doing well.

Ate some delicious fufu a couple times. Ate rice ball and pepe soup and fish, it was nice. I enjoy eating these crazy things hahaha its fun. It's always like all right stomach, you ready for this? Here we go! Hahaha so funny.

All right peace out from Ghana.

Week 22: Sharing the Gospel

Well, another week flown by. Times flying right now!

So first thing is that my comp is a master with a cam. The guy loves photography. So we have been finding all of these cool cool spots and taking foto shoots. Which is dope. So I have like 200 pics from this week alone. I ll try and send as many as I can but...

So first off update on K. He has experienced a lot of opposition in his life lately. So we met with him and i didn't know what to really do to help him to feel peaceful so i did what i did when i was struggling. We read from Doctrine and Covenants 122. I said, so as you know I love Joseph Smith (he laughed hahaha) So i told him about Joseph and his trials and we read from his account in Doctrine and Covenants 122. The spirit entered as it always does. We read and then I testified to him about how the Savior walked our path before we did and that no matter how deep we sink, we don’t sink lower than the Light of Christ shines. It was powerful and I could tell that it really hit him. I could see it in his reaction, he felt it. K then opened up to James 1 and bore his testimony of how God is with us in our afflictions. It was pretty powerful. So then we read from the Book of Mormon because doing so brings peace into your life and thats what he needed. We read chapter 1 Nephi 4-6 with him and it was amazing. The spirit was there as it always is when you open that book. It was a great visit.

So we met Prince K again. So he told us last time that he wanted to be a great member of the church so by the promptings of the Holy Ghost I taught him about the organization of the church and how the prophet was at the head. We told him about all of the wonderful opportunities and calling he could have in the church and that he would be able to hold the priesthood of God and influence so many lives. He was happy.

So then we went out to contact a referral form the Amasaman elders. The guys name was C. Turns out he lives flipping out in the middle of the bush on the side of a mountain. It was a freaking 16 cedi moto ride to his house!!! So expensive hahaha... but it was sweet. We get up there and he is a Menti (cant speak english) so we are like hey moto drivers pachew bra (pleas come here) and we had them translate. So we begin this lesson and the guys are flipping awesome! They were all three golden investigators! They understood everything. It was cool too because that was the first lesson in Twi I've done in a while so it was cool to see that my Twi is improving really well. I can almost teach a lesson in it which is cool! So C came to church on Sunday and loved it.

After that we went and saw Is who was recently baptized. He has been struggling with financial stuff for the past 5 months. (hasn't been paid for the work he has been doing...) So I felt prompted to talk about how maybe the Lord was testing him to see if he would stay faithful to the church even in rough rough times. Is comes to church at least every sacrament meeting when he can. He is so devoted to the gospel. He is one of those recent converts that really understands his spiritual life. He knows that the gospel is more than just a church.

So the time is far spent but I hope you have enjoyed my simple email.

Oh yeah one last thing is that we had a big multi ward thing where we played sports and stuff haha so fun.

So closing testimony. I love Joseph Smith as I said. I have a burning testimony of that man. He truly was a prophet of God. He did see god and Jesus Christ in the sacred grove. I know it as he did and I can’t deny at just as he declared. My mission experience has solidified that testimony. I know that those things happened. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Love you guys.

Week 21: I'm a Barbarian

Well, to start off this email I’d like to describe myself to those of you who aren't around me, which is all of you.

I have become a complete animal. Like I eat anything, haha. This week I ate a fish head, snails twice, swallowed some more fufu whole, I've begun eating the bones of chicken to get calcium, I eat eggs and bread and bread and eggs, I eat indomie (ramen) straight out of the bag uncooked, etc... all eaten with my bare hands. The funny thing about all of this is that I actually enjoy it somehow... so that’s the food side of my ruffian living.

Next is my english: I walk around talking small small in the language I've talked my whole life. I can’t remember any words bigger than one syllable (which that word is like 3... so I'm over exaggerating small... but still) and I completely drop middle words like “the” and “at”… yeah, I’ll get back and be talking at the same level as Miles. Actually, he will be able to out english me probably. The language I'm beginning to speak more an more is Twi. Twi sounds like a gorilla who is a wizard from Harry Potter. For example : "fa cane na bra, nti u be woo! kwasia!!!!" means: "go get a cane (beating weapon) and come, then you will die. FOOL!" Now if you say the Twi version, you sound like you are casting a spell in Harry Potter. The word ‘kwasia’ can be said with a Voldemort like voice and sound like the torture curse in Harry Potter. Yeah, it’s fun, hahaha.

Next is that I have become a hairy beast. Like Gaston, every last inch of me is covered in hair hahahahahhahahaha.

The collars of my shirts no matter how hard you wash them are looking more and more yellow and so is my missionary tag, haha.

I have a ratchet farmers tan haha. Gratefully I will be getting home in the fall time so no one will see, but I think that even by the summer after, I’ll still have hard cut tan lines on my neck and arms.

So now you know who I am becoming... I feel like kinda a Han Solo - Bear Grylls combo. Beast. :)

Yeah, so weird food for this week was snail. We had some crazy rain this week so big snails came out. So on Sunday we were at K’s house and we went out to the forest near his house and caught a bunch of snails and then smashed them on the rocks, cooked em and ate em. Yeah... like I said, barbarian. But they were actually good, hahaha! Like I’d eat it again probs. Haha, funny stuff.

The great young man we have been teaching, K, was baptized yesterday. I was blessed to be able to perform the baptism which was such a privilege because I love that kid like he is my own brother. When we met with him Saturday night to make sure he was all ready and stuff, after we finished, I showed him how he would be baptized. When we finished, he grabbed me and hugged me, haha. I love that kid. It made me miss the hugs Miles would give me, haha. I took a bunch of videos of me hanging with him so that you can see what he is like. I’ll try to send one in a minute. He has one of the most solid testimonies of all of our investigators slash recent converts slash members. He knows the church is true.

On Wednesday, we met a referral from the zone leaders. His name is Prince K. He is actually a prince in his tribe, so that’s cool. So his story is that he learned with the missionaries years ago. So after 7 years later, he is living away from home and is doing his own thing when he sees the zone leaders and then says to himself, “Now is the time, finally.” He just breathe in deeply and said “Wow, finally.” Then we handed him a Book of Mormon and his face lit up and he said, “I’m home.” I couldn't believe that it was happening. I was in awe. What an amazing turn of events?! I couldn’t believe it. Usually you are the one who teaches and then the guy gets his books burned but to be on the other side of it was cool. So hopefully he will be baptized in the next few weeks.

On Tuesday my journal wrote: “Today everything has been of the most spiritual nature”-President Monson. And it truly was! We saw K again which was amazing and we read the first 3 chapters of the Book of Mormon with him. (He is so smart.) I could have read all day with K, no problem. The second we read, “I Nephi…,” the Spirit entered the room palpably (big word, clap for me). Such a powerful lesson. He is so spiritual. Every time the guy opens his mouth i feel the Spirit.  I love K and I am so glad that I get to stay in Nsawam for another transfer. (p.s. I’ll turn 6 months in my first area, crazy!)

Next Tuesday experience was with recent convert D. We went and D confessed that he had been feeling extremely incompetent and un-good-enough (idk the word). He told us that he felt like he didn't measure up. I testified with all of my force that he was doing wonderful. I praised him for reading the scriptures, and writing down questions he had, and words he didn't understand. I told him that there was rejoicing from on high for his efforts.  The Lord is so happy for how you are doing, keep it up!!!! D is so good. He has grown so much since he has been baptized. The gospel and the Book of Mormon is truly changing and improving him. Yeah, Tuesday was a good day.

So comedic brake: I was at the mall and there was an iPhone store so I went in and was looking at it. It’s so fancy... I didn’t even know what to do with it... I just kinda looked at it and poked it. This must be how old people feel...

Okay, let’s continue...

I've really been feeling the spirit in lessons recently which is wonderful. We had a lesson with Dl and her family about the Atonement and sacrament and church attendance. I read Isaiah 53:4-5 and Alma 7:11-15 or so and then testified that the reason we don’t have loud music and stuff in church is because the sacrament is a sacred time to remember his sacrifice. I then read in John with them how before going out to the Mount of Olives, Christ and his apostles sang a hymn. I asked them if you were with Christ, right before he was about to go out and suffer for your sins, what kind of a song would you want to sing with Him? Would you want loud rock music and have a party? Or would you want to sing a reverent soft song and try and comfort Him before he went out and died for you? And I leave the question at the rest of you readers. If you were with Christ before He was about to perform the Atonement, what kind of attitude would you have? Would you be talking with friends in the sacrament hall, or would you be sitting reverently and preparing to receive these sacred emblems. What would you think about if you were there in the upper room with Christ? Can you center your thoughts and hearts more on him for that short hour? Or can ye not watch with him one hour? I testify that if we are centering our minds and hearts on Christ at the time of the sacrament, we will be blessed with inspiration, guidance, comfort, and the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Your Sundays will be so much more spiritually uplifting and you will feel closer to him.

Ok, enough preaching. :)

We played volleyball on Saturday with the ward and that was fun. This Saturday we will be competing in the stake games in volleyball which will be fun hahaha. Being an obruni is fun haha cuz you can rage at games like that. So fun.

Also there is a really fun card game that everyone plays here called Spar and I wreck at it. I’ll teach all of you when I come home and we will enjoy papapapa (very much) hahah!

Also my fav thing that I'll miss so much is snap shaking. Every time you shake someones hand, you finish it of with a snap. Like you use your middle fingers and pull off of each others fingers to make the snap against your own hand... like yeah... it’s so fun cuz your fingers hit and the same time and it makes a loud snap. Yeah, I'll definitely try to keep that one going when I go home with you peeps.

So yeah, that’s about it for this week.

Haha love you guys, take care.

Week 20: Loving the work. Loving the people.

Ghana, the land of bad haircuts. Because obibinis (Africans) can’t cut obruni (white men) hair. Hahahaha!

I'll begin by saying, that was literally the fastest week I’ve had on mission so far. I don't even know what happened... Every Friday when you call on the phone, the ringtone lady always says, "Thank God it's Friday!" so it felt like I heard that last 2 weeks and then all of the sudden again last week... like five seconds apart... woah!

A boy we have been teaching is getting baptized!!!! My favorite little kid I've met in Ghana! He is the one in the tree with me in those pics a couple weeks ago. Man, I love that boy. He was supposed to be baptized last week but we had to move it. So I’m pumped about it! With God as my witness I love him. I'll miss him so much when I leave Nsawam. He has such a strong testimony. In one of our lessons I asked him if someone came up to him and offered him marijuana what would he say? He stood up and starting yelling “No no no no no no no no no I won’t, I won’t, I won’t!!!” Hahaha. I love that little kid so much!

We’re teaching a Nigerian and the guy is a sweet, sweet guy. We have been teaching him for a while,  but he just has a hard time coming to church recently. He is awesome. I love him. Whenever we hang up the phone he always says “Ciao!” haha and he always tells us that he loves us and doesn't want to disappoint us.

At the end of our lesson on Friday, we got up and were walking out (in Ghana they always escort you out to the tro tro station or something) so we were getting up to leave and he “bro hugged” me haha. I was like, “Love you bro,” he immediately goes, “Love you too man.” Hahaha, then we all just walked out (like 5 of us) like bros, man, it made me miss cruisin’ the town with the guys back home, man! I was filled with so much love. I have moments like that where I’ll randomly feel like an overflow of love for this, for the people, for the place, for everything. I love those moments and wish that they could always be there but...then mission would be too easy hahaha...

Week 19: Trials and Blessings

Yeah, had a great past two weeks so a persecution week is not unexpected. Haha.

Got really bad food poisoning and was out for two days... that sucked...

Fell on my bike and gashed up my leg and ripped my favorite trousers... sad...

To list how many times Ghanaians speak Twi about us thinking we can't understand is impossible. Hahaha. 

Had a wonderful multi zone conference on Thursday. President is so wise. Every time he gets up I'm like, “Okay, here we go! Get out a pen and paper, ladies and gentlemen, cuz this is gonna be good!” It was awesome.

Couple notes from him:

2 Corinthians 3:2-3 — Is the doctrine of Christ written on our hearts?

Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.

The Lord is hastening his work, are you keeping up or are you falling behind?

It was awesome.

Had a wonderful lesson with a new investigator. He is so so so cool of a guy. He always says, "I love you guys" at the end of every lesson and says, “Ciao” when we end a convo on the phone. He is so cool. During our lesson he asked, “Why do bad things happen to people who follow Christ?” This is one of my favorite doctrines to talk and think about. We opened many scriptures and talked about how sometimes it's so that we can say of a surety that the Lord will strengthen us in our trials. I bore solemn testimony of the Atonement and of Christ's unfailing arms always around us every step of our lives. Every step.  

So we had two family members baptized this week! It was awesome and I was so happy. It was a neat experience. I was really glad to be here. I was especially glad to see this family come together in the gospel. With God as my witness, I love that family. They are so tender and so sweet and they understand the need of the gospel. They have true testimonies of it. You can feel it and see it. They're longingly looking at the day that they can go through the temple and be sealed together for time and all eternity. I love it.

Ya micnharyeao (God bless you)

Week 18: Zoo Week

...It is said that a missionary in Africa can survive on nothing but the dew of a single gingko leaf and the energy of the universe…” [Kung Fu Panda]

Had a really good week this week!

So first cool experience: We had an appointment fall through so we were just like, “Let's go contact, I guess”... So we were walking around this village and having no success at all... So we stopped on this road and were like, where are we going now? So I looked down this little road thing and felt prompted small to go down there. So I was like, “Let's go down there!” So we went and then my companion was like, “Let's turn here.” Then we just walked up to this small group of people and were like, “Good afternoon!” Hahaha, so we told them that we had a message for them and that we wanted to share it with them. So we sat down and two women stayed for our lesson... [After a couple lessons that week, one of them] came to church!!! Wow! During church she leaned over and said, “Wow, I like this.” So then later that night, we get a call from her and she is just ecstatic! She said, ”Today I loved church soooo much!” She said, “I felt so so so happy all day about it.” When my comp and I were talking about it after we remembered something she said during a lesson. She said, “I have never felt happy at a church before.” It is amazing to see that God knew exactly how to answer her in the way she needed. Wow, I'm so grateful to be here.

Next we met with another investigator. We go and sit down and then a bunch of old people come in and start getting beer so we were like yeah, we out. But I took small time to testify of the power of prayer. I testified with all of my heart that if she prayed with real intent, God would answer. And to those of you who are reading this, that is factual information!!! Not just wishful thinking. Factual information. I've seen it in my life, I’ve seen it in others. God will answer your prayers. It is in His own time, but the answers do come.

So small break: I’m really lazy with eating nowadays so I just eat the indomie (ramen noodles) raw instead of going through the huge hassle of boiling water and cooking them. So yea, raw indomie is delicious.  Yum, great easy snack.

So yesterday, we randomly had 11 investigators at church... wow. 8 of them we never even met before... Wow. It was a total tender mercy because we have been needing new people to teach. We have big goals but by the grace we can make it!

So all in all, I had an awesome week. I’m still loving this. I am so so grateful for the chance to not only be on a mission, but also to be in Ghana. I’m excited to see what the future of my mission holds and how bad my English will continue to get. I love this truly. Sometimes I’m like I don't want to go home! and then, I’m like.... man, but America is so nice... but I’m happy where I am for now, hahaha.

Ochena wai! (later yo)