So I'm staying in McCarthy Hills District this transfer. President called up my companion Elder Yahaya and told him that he was moving him over to Ashaiman (my last area) and then President told him to give me the phone and he asked me to "take the responsibilities of District Leader." So now I am District Leader and have (shudders) responsibilities and I gotta look at the numbers on the white board and go "hmm, aha! I see" and talk to the Zone Leaders all the time on the phone and stuff. What is sobering is what President said, "you are the gatekeeper to the straight and narrow path." (gulp!) No worries though, all will be cool.
My new companion is Elder Bobareh from Sierra Leone. He is a small guy, smaller than Brit even. He is easy to get along with. He doesn't really understand me when I talk though... I have to use simple language and speak slow for him to understand all that is going on. It is tricky. Eg. At church we had some new investigators there and I had to run one down to schedule an appointment and I asked Elder Bobareh to "schedule a return appointment with Comfort, I'm going to schedule a return appointment with Phillip. Okay?" So I came back but he didn't understand so I had to go run Comfort down as well etc. Don't worry, we'll figure out each others accents...hopefully haha.
So Elder Zadi (Frenchy) is still there with me and his new companion is Elder Nkemoklam (in-ka-mock-uh-lawm) from Nigeria. So I'm the only whitey around. Don't worry. All will be okay. It is tricky because the communication is low and some are recent converts, now missionaries. Elder Zadi is really picking up his game and is a big help. Both of us seem to be running our companions around and are a little stressed. I think it will be easier for everyone once they build their mountain goat physique from riding their bikes up and down the "McCarthy Hills" haha.
Well anywho most of my email today will be from some journal entries of mine. I'll just transcribe them over.
June 11, 2010 -
President called me and asked me to take on the responsibilities of district leader in the McCarthy Hills District. I felt that something was coming. I know that I can live up to these responsibilities but it is somehow scary. I just went to a "leadership training" meeting and they talked a lot about numbers and stuff. They also used a lot of words like "focus" and "direction" and all those suit wearing people type of words. The meeting felt a little like a CEO business meeting. All that was missing was a pie graph, a big oak table and we should have been up at least on the 2nd floor vs the ground floor haha.
In the meeting, some of the missionaries try to out do each other in CEO speak, but most everyone just graduated from High School. It is funny. I don't even try to compete. I'm all for teaching using paper cut outs and family home evening props but you do need all the business and order folk in there to have to work progress and succeed. I'm trying hard to understand what is going on in those meetings. I also fail in the President style of answering questions. E.G. He has you "define ____" using words like "accountability" or "outline" or "moral authority" or whatever. He has a certain answer in his mind and no matter if you give a correct answer, you still can be wrong because it wasn't the answer he wanted. I never seem to be able to give the "right" answer haha. oh well.
I am the only American in my district.
Elder Keeng, my Zone Leader from Botswana (south africas little brother), did something really nice for me today. It was a simple little thing but it just was really nice. I have never been to the tro-tro station "circle" before and caught a tro-tro home. Elder Keeng must have sensed that, he walked with me and my companion and helped me find a tro-tro going to our destination. He then called later to make sure we got home safe. He is a good dude.
Also our former AP Elder Barnard car pooled with me to the leadership training meeting and made sure we got there alright. I have some good friends and leaders watching out for me. I hope one day I will be helpful like them. I know that God is watching over me. I feel somehow connected to the missionaries here, we all must have been foreordained at the same pre earth life meeting in heaven and ate fufu together or something haha. The church is true.
June 12, 2010
I will entitle this journal entry "The Joys of a District Leader"
Today we finally baptized Edwina! Lots was working against baptizing her, but we succeeded!
The day started by having a coordination meeting with our new ward mission leader, Brother Albert. The meeting was supposed to be at the church but we called and found out that they have not given him any keys to the chapel. It was supposed to start at 10 and Elder Zadi forgot to tell me that an electrician was coming to fix our electricity box so we get our own pre-paid power meter and own bill instead of sharing it with our land lord. (worst idea ever! Sharing bills. COME ON!!!) The electrician came at 8:30 and was taking too long and I didn't want to be late, I still thought at this time that we were traveling to the chapel. So my companion and I collected all of the valuables in the apartment and put them in our rooms so we could lock them up safely and leave the electrician to work in our barren house alone. I went to lock our bedroom, with the goods now inside, and the freaking bolt deelie was to big for the hole in the door frame so we couldn't lock it. (actually if you think about it, really the hole was too small for the bolt deelie) So we didn't leave the house.
Luckily the ward mission leader didn't have keys to the chapel so we called him to come to our apartment. I tried to direct him here but nobody understands my American accent on the phone so Elder Zadi directed him. Finally, after the meeting we went and found 1 cool new investigator.
THEN we went to the chapel on our bikes. By this time we had already gone up and down the monster hill to our apartment multiple times because Elder Zadi forgot a pair of extra underclothing items for after the baptism. (he was the backup baptist, which is 90% of the time needed). We were tired small, my comp isn't used to the hills and he is still building his mountain goat stamina.
At the chapel, there were a buncha people. They were having a civil marriage outside. YES! YAHOO FOR CIVIL MARRIAGE! I usually avoid large groups of people because people act stupid. Lets just say that they gaze at me like I'm King Kong, talk in funny voices AT me and yell "obroni" or other obroni related stupid stuff; most of all that drives me nuts is when they run up to touch me because their friends dared them to do it... Anywho I couldn't avoid it because the baptism and the wedding were at the same church so whatayado? Even though I was harassed small, a guy offered me a pepsi and I accepted. Any Ghanaian getting married civilly, with a written document as proof, I'll drink to it. Heck i'll drink to anything that is distancing people away from the demeaning bride price.
WELL at the baptism the presiding bishopric member didn't show up, neither did our baptist. We didn't even have enough priesthood holders to perform the baptism. I called our backup, Elder Zadi (the missionaries are not allowed to attend the baptisms unless one of their own candidates are being baptized), and he rushed over to the chapel so we could perform the baptism. The Bishop gave our ward mission leader permission to preside through the phone. All the frantic phone calling was done from my missionary phone because our ward mission leader ran out of credit on his phone... I felt like that hindu picture/statue, ya know the one with lots of arms who is acting like a 1940's telephone operator.
Well our ward didn't have any towels for the baptism even though they promised they would purchase some especially for this baptism and they committed to have them there...Luckily I am a boyscout, I packed a spare towel and committed (we do that whole committing thing a lot haha) Edwina's mom to bring an extra towel for Edwina. Anywho we had to wait for about 30 min for Elder Zadi to arrive because there was this traffic jam. During this 30 min I was pacing around the church and then to the front doors and then would gaze towards the front gate as a dog does when waiting for his master to arrive from an absence. Then I would return to pacing and repeat the process until he came. FINALLY we started the baptism.
During the baptism, while we were hoping it could be reverent, the people from the wedding outside started bringing in the chairs and doing what I call yellspeak (it is talking meets yelling, they do it when they are happy or warning someone of danger) and started slapping around the hallway wearing little noise makers, also known as flip flops. The rooms all have ventilation on the top of the walls, the walls are open on the top, so you can hear everything. The walls do nothing as far as stopping sound. So I went out and tried to silence them. Moot effort.
Then they finally left and there was almost a sense of reverence until these little girls came around. They must have been some daughters from some attendees of the wedding, they might as well be called orphans because their parents don't care about them or at least don't care or know where they are ( I even questioned them later on who was over 9 and was not yet baptized and their parents were members of the church. Most of them raised their hands so I took down their names and found out that they are in Odokor ward; the Odokor missionaries will enjoy baptizing them). Well these little girls started yelling in the hallway, I guess some ants ran down the girls dress and they were looking for water to wash the ants off. I escorted them to the furthest bathroom away from the baptismal room and had some girls hose her down. THEN, the baptismal room has the only faucet in the church building and the ants-in-the-pants orphan clan came in and were wanting a drink of water. It isn't purified water and they could get typhoid so I tried to nudge them towards outside so they could buy some safe water from a lady selling some on her head or something; but alas they wouldn't listen. Finally ants-in-the-pants drink time was over and it was time for the actual immersing part of the baptism.
Edwina got in the water and her foot popped up so I (who was witnessing) had them do it over again. Then Edwina's mom came up and said, "I want you to use her full name". So I had her write down this freakishly long name "Edwina Nana Afua Ofosuaa...it went on" MAN! So I held the paper so Elder Zadi could read it and perform the baptism. Finally she was baptized. The Holy Ghost was there for a moment. THEN during the hymns while Edwina and Elder Zadi were changing, Elder Nkemokolam started trying to play the piano. Only problem is he doesn't know how to play! I gave him the evil glare but he kept doing it. It sounded like 2 boxing gloves punching the piano. He was as jolly as could be with my companion sitting right by his side enjoying the boxing glove rendition of the hymns. I finally looked at them, staring into their souls and gave them the universal "cut" sign. Still they persisted. Finally I mouthed silently "stop!" and gave them the "Adang?" or "why?" sign, made by clapping once (silently in this case) and then rolling your palms over so they face upwards with your hands open. They finally stopped.
MAN! It was then I realized that I was the only guy around for miles who had a lesson in primary on "reverence" and am the ONLY one who could sit through a whole sacrament meeting, musical performance, ordinance without talking loudly, texting or answering my phone or being a nuisance.
I now need to somehow get a baptismal certificate made by our unknown ward clerk as our usual one got released last week and nobody knows who the new ward clerk is. AH!
Well I bought a big bottle of coke and am going to eat a hershy bar that mom sent (squished, but they still get the job done. Oh it is frozen too! YUM) and eat my stress and headache away.
Bottom line is that Edwina is finally baptized!!!
oh. p.s.
Elder Zadi didn't pull the plug from the font so all the water was still in there. If left in there it starts to smell and it makes the whole church smell. So Elder Zadi left, wearing the extra pair of backup underclothing items that we rode back to the apartment to get for him. So I changed into a baptismal gown (dress) and jumped in the font and dove down and released the water. (haha that sounds wrong) I pulled the plug (also sounds wrong haha) Well we had a lesson to run to so I just put my clothes back on and rode our bikes to the lesson, still wearing my now wet underwear from the water releasing adventure.
Ah the Joys of a District Leader.
END OF JOURNAL ENTRIES.
Sweet that Stevie got married! Glad you went to eat with Grandma and Grandpa. Man with grandpa bob the food doesn't have to be super good for him to love the place. You just gotta make it seem cool. Like I woulda bragged about the pistachio pudding and the mashed potatoes that make you instantly get fat. He woulda loved it. Just hype it up before you go and he will love it.
I got your packages. Thanks for the Hersheys! Hey my card reader broke. Or the usb cable to it broke. One of them. Could you send another one? Sorry. It is just hard to find that kinda stuff around here unless you travel around, which I don't wanna do. During summer all the tourists are coming and that means all the beggars are coming out as well. They have all these little gypsy kids (they look like little Aladdin's, they are adorable but watch yourself) running around that will latch on to you and not let go until you pay them something. They also pick your pocket etc. I don't know why there are brown gypsies here, don't ask me why.
Also 2 of our African Missionaries got arrested Saturday. They aren't telling us why, all they told us is that we 'always need to stay with our companions and never for any reason leave them.' They are still in prison, so they have been there for 2 days. They weren't in my district. I know one of them who is in prison and he is a great guy. They will let us know what is up soon. It is really sad.
Anywho sorry to leave ya on a downer, don't worry about me all is super cool on my end.
We will baptize Comfort in 2 weeks. Gotta go find some more people.
Oh the world cup is going on, during the Ghana games president usually texts us and makes us go inside for the rest of the day. People freak out with football. Forget about proselyting during that time, nobody will listen or they will yell at you because you disturbed the sacred game. We have a member that stay close to our apartment so we can watch the game there. It gets interesting when Ghana plays white teams because to the fans, all the white missionaries start to look like the nationality of the opposing team that Ghana is playing. President makes us go in during the games. It is crazy that something as small as a football game will totally thwart the work. Oh well.
Well I'll letcha know how the district leader-ing stuff goes. I'll do a good job...I hope just kidding. My blessing says that I'll do a good job at it if I just keep the commandments.
Well love you family.
I like hearing your voice in your emails mom. Love you.
The blog wasn't updated today. This is unusual for you. You okay? I feel somehow prompted to have someone get you some chips and salsa from betos and then plop you down in the upstairs room and have you watch one of your weirdo documentaries. Don't ask me why, just do it. Get some rest.
Love you mom and family. Talk to you later.
Here are some photos Elder Chamberlain emailed me from my last area.
The first one is John and Portia, who we were teaching and didn't quite have a baptismal date. Elder Moa and Elder Chamberlain ended up baptizing them! Ka pow!
The second one is John K, standing next to Elder Chamberlain (the guy in the back row, 2nd on the left). We had his good friend/fellow-shipper baptize him, I can't remember his name. He is the big dude next to Elder Moa.
