Dear Family,

Man this week was crazy! Actually these past 2 weeks were crazy! I slept in 3 different places last week. We went to Accra to have a mission tour with Elder Sitati from the 70. He is an African, one of 2 in the 70. He is the only black one in the 1st quorum so it was really cool to hear him speak. Before I get to what he said let me back up.

We traveled down to Accra on a 3 and a half hour tro tro ride to Kwame Nkromah circle (a tro tro/taxi station with a round about) where we make an exchange from a tro-tro to a taxi. Kwame Nkromah circle, circle for short, is an interesting place. They have all sorts of people hawking stuff at you and you just kinda keep looking forward haha. It is a place where you don’t want to look lost or confused so I just walk really fast and act like I know 100% where I am going and where I need to change cars, done it a thousand times… At Circle there are a lot of gypsy looking brown boys, like Aladin. They are from Chad. I guess Chad might be fighting right now or something so a lot of them have run down here to Ghana with their families. The boys are cute little pickpockets and the girls are just adorable with little dirty faces and a little African dred-lock hair. If Britt were here she would like to put one of them into a big purse and take him or her home because they are so cute.

Their parents are always a little afar off sitting on a carpet, I swear it is magic, with some Arabic looking garb one. They have a Jafar little goatee beard thingie. I hope the gospel goes up there one day.

Well we got to the mission home. Prior to arrival I came up with a master pie obtaining plan with backups (1st pie no go, repeat no go, operation Mallam commence!) The Terrys were driving to the Accra Shoprite with the Zone Leaders, Elder Farnbach and Elder Dominic, and they were going to pick up 4 apple pies and bring them to the mission home. Just in case they were out I called the Oda Elders, who come to the mission home by way of the Shoprite near McCarthy Hill and Mallam junction. Luckily the Zone Leaders got the pies so we didn’t have to use our backup Mallam pie plan. We got to the mission home and I started immediately washing my clothes, which I packed down with me in that ginormous carry on bag mom bought me, in the office Elders washing machine. Holy easy! They were done in like 15 min and they were clean!

Best part is that my hands didn’t hurt at all. I washed my sheets and put them in the drier. When the sheets were done I picked them up and they were nice and warm and I held them up to my face. AH, couldn’t beat it.
Well at night time President Smith ran into our apartment and said, “Boys we got some extra food inside, grab your plates!” So immediately all of us ran, pushing and shoving, to get some plates in the office Elders kitchen. I guess they were having a big get together with all the head haunchos of the church in Africa or just some friends. Elder Sitati was there. We got catered food leftovers with ….wait for it… Broccoli and cauliflower and zucchini with carrots! Ah man. It was the best! I could taste that it was really good for me. We can’t really eat vegetables out here much because it has stuff living in it, including typhoid. You gotta bleach your vegetables or else you end up like our investigator Eko Prah. Plus 1 carrot is like 1 Cedi, can’t afford it. We stuffed our faces with as much nutrition as we could then moved on to the pie. I microwaved them, that’s right. The office has a microwave! We all sat down to eat them and the insides were not apple… Well it might have been…we all thought it was chocolate because it looked like chocolate. I found some raisons in ours. So it was like a chocolate/apple/raison pie… Very interesting. We still ate it though.

Well after being spoiled rotten with vegetables, washing machine and a hot shower with warm sheets and pie…oh and an air conditioned room for one night. We left to the real hot and sticky, vitamin A lacking world again; however not before we listened to Elder Sitati. He used to be a mission President in Nigeria so he said almost the exact same stuff that President Smith had been saying. “By the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses” right? Man it was cool. Our new thing has been giving baptismal invitations sooner, probably on our first visit. Elder Sitati said that was a great thing to do and taught us how to do it.

He is the man. He is very smart, he joined the church after reading some of Joseph Smiths writings, journals or something. He thinks a lot. His wife gave a good talk as well. They are a good example for Africa. The wife is right by his side. She is a good person. They are the ones who are against the bride price. Great couple. They opened up the last 15 min for questions. One senior couple asked how people could stay retained and active in the church. Elder Sitati said that if the gospel was not practiced in the home, family prayer, family scripture study etc. then they will fall inactive. The key is the gospel in the home. I then asked him a question. “It is essential to have them practice the gospel in the home, however a lot of people are sending their children away to boarding school (even in the same town in which they reside) thus keeping their family separated and not being able to have family prayer, scripture study, sacrament attendance. What can we do to remedy this?” He told me that we need to teach them and then it is up to them to exercise their agency. They will one day be held accountable before God on how well they carried out their parental responsibilities.

Man my patrirachial blessings states that I need to know that “Proclamation to the World on the Family” very well so I will know my duties in the church. Man I know that thing well and think about it every time I enter into a Ghanaian home. We have taught a couple people about it and they give excuses like, “well you Americans don’t understand. You have different traditions, she still is attending Seminary.”

I have come up with a scripture chain of boarding school destruction!

• “Pray in your Family” – 3 Nephi 18:21

• “Always observe to do” to take the sacrament – 3rd Nephi 18:6

• “they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt,

God would deliver them” – Alma 56:47

• “Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them.” – Alma 57:21

• “I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father” – 1 Nephi 1:1

• “And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers. But I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth. But verily I say unto you, my servant Fredrick G. Williams, you have continued under this condemnation; you have not taught your children light and truth, according to the commandments; and that wicked one hath power, as yet, over you, and this is the cause of your affliction. And now a commandment I give unto you- if you will be delivered you shall set in order your own house, for there are many things that are not right in your house. Veriily I say unto my servant Sidney rigdon, that in some things he hath not kept the commandments, concerning his children; therefore, first set in order thy house. – Doctrine and Covenants 93: 39-44

Even after the chain of boarding school destruction they still don’t listen. I asked one person why I just met his daughter at church recently and I have been there for months now. He said that she was back from boarding school, in the same town in which they reside, for 2 weeks. I then asked him why she was boarding if she lives so close.

He replied that he didn’t want anyone to interrupt her studies at home by sending her to buy stuff etc. I then asked him if he could try and get her an exit pass or something so she could at least take the sacrament on Sundays. He said that they wouldn’t allow it. I then told him that I had called and got someone an exit in the Lebanon ward by simply having the mother call. They are not willing to try. Well I did my part I tried. I’ll be there in heaven going like, “I told them! I tried my best to convince them.” The Apostles just gave a talk on stuff like this a couple months ago to a whole continent wide church conference, the scriptures testify of it, the proclamation to the world as well. I think they are waiting for a definitive “thou shalt not send them, your children, to boarding school.” This of course will never happen. Maybe for a person who lives on a remote island and there is no electricity, books, opportunity, then sure go ahead and send them to boarding school. But for here in Ghana, Forggettahboutit!

Anywho, I’ll step of my soapbox for a moment. Just to step onto a smaller one. After church on Sunday I almost saw lots of members go to a store next to our church and buy stuff. (smacks head). Then a nice woman, sister Tetteh, contacted us and gave us referrals. It was great. Sometime they will contact us though while selling on Sunday… Man. Sometime I think we need to reteach the basics again in all the branches. Okay, off the soapbox.

We are hopefully going to baptize a lot of people on Sunday. Hopefully 8. It was going to be 9 but some people didn’t come to church due to sickness, children having runny tummy etc. Also a 10 year old, Emmanuel, and his mom didn’t come. The mother is a member and didn’t know that 8 is the age, however she couldn’t remember her phone number so I just know the neighborhood she lives. She was supposed to call us but did not, also our branch president said he would get her number at church but she didn’t come. I might just go to the area and start yelling, “Emmanuel! Emmanuel!” haha. I’m sure he will turn up.

Oh yeah, with the weather in the dry season all the Africans think it is cold, I’m actually kinda chilly too, yes I am a wuss. So everyone is coughing and yes most of us missionaries caught a cold. I have been a running faucet with my nose. I have a massive sinus headache and the pressure was so bad that I thought it was causing my teeth to hurt. I then thought maybe I was having a cavity in my back teeth. Turns out, while I was taking a recovery nap this morning, I found myself biting down really hard when I was sleeping. Remember I asked the dentist before I left about it and he said I was biting down when I was sleeping because of stress. Well these past weeks have been freaking stressful! Being sick, going on splits to Oda where there are some struggles. Traveling on billions of tro-tros, people not coming to church. Gotta keep track of the traveling money, also schedule our baptismal interviews with the zone leaders and office couple who live 3 hours away. My companion has been out 6 months, he is fresh from the office, so he's learning. So I gotta lotta load on my back. Well I’ll keep pulling and heaving and shovin’. Don’t worry about my teeth, I’m almost better from my sniffles and I’ll get it all worked out. I think the remedy is more coke and I’ll try to take a snooze for the rest of today to get better.
Man we are getting more missionaries up here in a couple of weeks.
There will be 4 missionaries now in our apartment vs just us 2. I’ll write President and ask him to send up somebody really strong to help out. I think all the travel makes it feel all helter-skelter and less organized. I have hope that everything will be alright. I think I need to let others do some stuff.

Kinda like when I did the Prince band, people didn't show or practice too much so you gotta put on the makeup and glitter and do it yourself. You can quote me on that one. “Sometimes you gotta put on the makeup and glitter and do it yourself.” I’m still trying to find my posse of dudes I can count on here in the North Zone. Elder Farnbach and Elder Dominic are part of my reliable posse. I know that more will become reliable soon and maybe a couple will get shipped in.

Thanks mom for all your nice words. We really are blessed to be here.
Isaiah would jump on a tro-tro with me and start handing out pamphlets along with me, the sons of Mosiah would be downing all sorts of unknown meats and taking freezing showers. We would all have massive headaches and would all go, “dude!” and give the thumbs up sign like Evil Kanevil does in a stretcher after he biffs it on his motorcycle jump across 52 cars and a ring of fire. “He’s okay everybody!” (thumbs up and big smile here from stretcher.)

Well I talked with President Smith about when I go home and he thinks I go home the “July” transfer so I can make it home in time for college in the Fall. This means late july or some time August I’d be going home. I’m supposed to call him tomorrow morning though to double check exactly when he has scheduled me to go home. If you could mail me the byu form I’ll try to print it out and have him fill it out for me sometime. Then he can mail it to provo or something eh? So if I go home to start Fall semester that means I got only 6 months leftish. Weird. I don’t like to think about it. I’ll talk to him soon and I'll know more.

Well glad Britt is doing better. Glad the little puppy is busy.

Grandpa dad always loved dogs. He is a good doggy person. He can get them to instantly love him. Well sorry about the pee. Get used to cleaning it up, I think when I come home all the new food will get me sick and I’ll have a couple accidents…

If we pull of this week then It’ll be amazing. We are having a baptism in Kade at 8 am, should baptize 5, then we will have one in Asamankese at 5pm where we should baptize 3. MAN! CRAZY!

All is cool. The church is true. The work out here is so important, it brings the families closer together and helps them know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Even though we are tired and stressed, wouldn’t rather be anywhere else right now. This is the place I’m supposed to be. Going to keep on rockin’ till the sun comes down, the ever so constant 6pm sun goes down. No daylight savings time here.

Constant 6 up 6 down. Love you all.

Oh one last upper of a story. We were riding home from Kade, I was all huddled in the back of a tro-tro having no leg room because the spare tire and I shared a seat. I managed to get somehow comfy and hunkered up into a little ball and was taking a nap. Well the transport money wallet fell out of my pocket. The tro-tro dropped us off and then I noticed. I prayed that we could find it again. We walked to the final station stop. We looked and no tro-tro. Then feeling defeated we were walking to a lesson and I spotted the tro-tro parked on the side of the road. I asked my companion if that was it, he said he didn't think so. I decided to check anyways and found the dude and he opened it up for me and viola!

I found the money in the back next to the spare tire. Heavenly Father does answer prayers. He loves us. His work will continue. It can’t be stopped.

Love you all. My family rocks!

Love you mom, dad, britt, dave, big dave, grandparents. You are the best.

Elder Bills