No pictures this week. Sorry-o. I forgot my sd card reader thingie so I will send a mega load of pictures to accompany the stories for next week. Deal?
So this week quite a lot happened. The best part of my week was that we baptized 3 people on Saturday. We baptized Enock, Dorah (the girl who we were helping learn how to read) and Paul (I sent you a picture of him last time laughing with his cousin during church). Ah man it was sweet. Paul wanted one of us to baptize him but didn't care who really, so Elder Holt and I solved this the American way; with a good ol' game of rock paper scissors (best 2 out of 3 of course). I dominate at rock paper scissors, I get inside the opponents mind and destroy! So of course I won and I got to baptize them. We combined the baptismal service with the Kaneshi ward so we could get more people at the baptism to support. There was a good turnout. Since it was combined I ended up baptizing 7 people. It was great.
Funny baptism story. People here really don't have an opportunity to completely submerge themselves in the water. There are no swimming pools, the ocean is full of poo and garbage (ALL waste leads to the gutters. ALL gutters lead to the ocean. I give Ghana 25 years until mother nature takes a giant poo on Ghana. There is a ton of pollution here, cars have no emissions laws. Watch out Ghana, mother nature is coming! Save the whales! anywho sorry, just a little rambling) and you usually have to fetch water for a bucket shower. They are not used to going completely under the water. So when I was baptizing, everyone kinda fights back so I gotta push them under the water haha, then they all come up gasping for air as if they have been under for about 3 min. It is funny. I remember how scared I was about being baptized backwards so I asked the bishop if they could put me under the water face first. I sympathize with them, I really do. It still is funny tee hee.
So we baptized Enock, a boy about 21 years old that Elder Riding and I were working with. Man I have been teaching him for 5 months and he was ready to be baptized. But then he kept lifting his head up above the water, so we had to try a couple times. It is okay, a little extra time in the water is appropriate for him haha. I am praying that he will be the gateway for many in his ginormous family to come to the church. Family members are very rarely going to the same church. Elder Holland said that only 25% of the members in Ghana have a priesthood holder as the head of the house. Elder Holland met with the bishops and gave them some counsel on how to help this. Our bishop, bishop bwadie (bway-dee), spoke from the pulpit about how it is a responsibility of the priesthood holders to do their home teaching faithfully and to bring their families to church. It was cool.
So Elder Holland (from the 12) came and visited us this week. Holy freaking cow! This guy is the bomb. I have seen him talk a bunch at BYU devotionals and have read a bunch of his talks, but meeting him in person was awesome. I will never ever forget it. I kept copious notes about it that I will treasure forever. We went to the temple site and met together. He came and we got a group picture with him. He then made sure he shook each one of our hands and looked us in the eyes. Our AP Elder Akomo-mordi (from Nigeria) conducted the session and somehow looked shocked when he said "I Elder Akomo-mordi and conducting this meeting, presiding is Jeffery R. Holland (you can see the understanding hit him right now haha) from the quorum of the 12 apostles (holy cow!)."
Elder Golden and Snow (from the 70 and presidency of the 70) spoke to us as well. While they were speaking, Elder Holland was sitting in his chair looking very very jetlagged and tired. However when it was his turn to speak he somehow gained new life and was running all over the place and speaking with authority and a big energy and spirit. He wore a lavaliere microphone and was very entertaining. He likes to tease the missionaries. During his talk he went and smacked some of the missionaries around and beat up on them (the for-fun kind of beating up). 19 year olds need a good smack.
He talked about how no other organization in the world puts the trust of the church in the hands of 19 year olds and also that we are the most prayed for group of people on the entire planet. He then talked about how we are here for 2 reasons. One reason, and a very important reason, is to spread the gospel to our brothers and sisters and baptize. Secondly is that we are here for ourselves. He explained that every opportunity and every good thing in his life somehow squeezed its' way through those 2 year mission doors. If he didn't go on a mission, he wouldn't have married the same person, wouldn't have the same professional job, wouldn't be an apostle etc. He said that the mission is so important that they let the 19 year olds go to temple and load them up with weaponry, he said there is nothing more to give us and that we have it all. One of my favorite things he said was that if any of us wanted to go home then he would grab us, throw us down and then say, "Lets talk about your mission for a second. You are not going anywhere, you are staying right here." The reason is again because he said his whole life came through the 2 year mission doors and that he can't recall a day that he hasn't thought about his mission for help in his life. He wants us to stay so we will have a better life after we go home.
He also talked about how we are apostles (small a) with him. He is an Apostle (big A). The word 'apostle' means 'witness.' We all need to be witnesses of Jesus Christ with him. He said we are the same, the only difference is that he has more keys than us. It was cool.
He then chastised us about the need to study and become converted yourself so you can teach by the Spirit. He said that we need to get up on time, it is a very kindergarten thing to wake up late because you are tired, and we need to make sure we study and plan everyday. He then told us to work as if President Monson was watching everyday and that we would be okay.
Man this dude was cool. He presented the message in a way that the missionaries would understand. He chastised when it was needed and was humorous and I don't know, it was just awesome. He definitely is an Apostle of Jesus Christ.
He then said he wished he went to the Ghana Accra mission. He said he went to England (then he yawned.) He said that nobody that goes to England gets any glory from their mission. He said that the kids were falling asleep during his homecoming talk and the moms had to poke them to stay awake. He said, "oh I got my mission call to England (yawn) or hey guys I'm going to Australia (yawn). But when you say Ghana they will be like 'HOLY COW! GHANA!" Then he made his eyes really wide and used his fingers to make his eyes even bigger. He is cool.
One of the best things he taught me was that here in Africa, I need to teach them how the Spirit feels and help them recognize it.
While he was talking and while he shook our hands and looked into our eyes, I knew that he was special. The Spirit testified of everything he was saying. He said so much more, I got lots of it down in my notes that i'll share with ya'll later. Man it was cool.
Cool. On a totally different note, today we met up with the Elders from Tonga and they bought some pigs and dug a pit and cooked them how they do. We ate some. I got some cool pics I'll send ya. It was a fun p-day activity. Some Elders brought some baseball gloves, oh man that felt good and familiar. I played catch with a Nigerian Elder, Elder Takon. He kept catching with his glove faced upward so we taught him how to play catch. He caught on pretty fast, it was fun.
Hey, when I get back, if you ever need help Brit to lay the smack down on your students, I would be happy to help. We get harassed so much for existing, haggling with taxi drivers and food sellers (haggling with anything that involves money). I think that I have the potential to give it to little high school kids. Speaking of laying the smack down, everyone here watches wwe (formerly wwf) wrestling faithfully. I wont spoil it for them haha by telling the wwe secret about the matches Psssst, they don't know.
Hey we were able to have Enock and Paul ordained to the office of a priest and they were given the Aaronic priesthood. It was sweet. I'll continue to try my best to help the work continue and spread this wonderful gospel. Man it is sweet work. Freakin' tiring but sweet. Speaking of tiring, send more cookies! Also could you send me another towel. Mine is hammered and getting all gross. Could you send me one of those quick drying thin microfiber towel thingies. You can buy them at sports stores etc. We dry stuff on clothes lines here, so you can imagine how a towel gets after being wet after a shower and then hanging to dry in this moist tropical climate. The other missionaries are using the microfiber ones and they are working great. Thanks tons.
Well family I have got to run.
The work is good, the gospel is true, this church has the authority to perform the essential ordinances needed to return to live with God. The power of prayer is true. Thanks for all of your prayers. Continue to do so.
I love you all. Talk to you soon.
oh also I like the peace corps messages about the food, especially the ground nut soup one. Africa loves Celine Dion ballads. They make me want to die, but Africa loves them. They also love the "I will always love you" tune, which I very much like. Man those are always playing around. Ghana = non stop Celine Dion.
Cool mah, I love you. I love you dad and I love you Britt butt. You all rock.
Gotta go.
Love you.
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Food quotes from a guy in the Peace Corps living in Ghana
Groundnut Soup: Ah, how delicious you are, GS! Made of groundnuts (that's peanuts to most and monkey nuts to wierdoes) and groundnut oil. Eating this gives you huge pectoral muscles and increases your tolerance for Celine Dion ballads. Easily one the best things in Ghana to eat.
Palmnut Soup: Made with the pulp and oil from the fruit of the oil palm. When cooked right, it's greasy, oily, slick, and viscous- and incredibly delicious. Eating too much gives the average non-Ghanaian a bad case of Kofi's Revenge, so moderation is best.
Light Soup: Made from some a little palm oil, a lot of peppers, water and some canned tomatoes usually. Not the heartiest, but cheap and easy. Sometimes it is so hot and spicy you can hear time and see how you're going to die.
Tuo Zaafi (TZ): TZ, pronounced tee-zed, is almost like banku. Instead, regular old corn meal is boiled into a thick paste. Typically eaten with okro stew. This dish is much more popular in the north of Ghana than in the south.
Okro Stew: The main ingredient is okra (okro in Ghana), which basically turns the entire bowl of stew into a giant pool of mucous. Since it is typically eaten with TZ, which is also a type of slime, it's like the grossest thing you can think of: cat vomit. It's actually quite good, though, and eating it teaches you how to be a forgiving and kind person.
