Week 21: Interview with Prez, I Met Americans, and Exchange with Zone Leaders

Yay for Dr. Pepper!

Questions/Requests

1.      What are the names of the other gingers near you?  I might be friends with their moms on Facebook. 

Elder Hon and Elder Skog are in my district (I AM friends with their moms on FB.  LOL)

2.      Please take pictures of your apartment (inside and out) and your church building (inside and out).

Matisay (I see what you’re saying)

3.      How long do you travel to get to your church building?  Do you walk, bike or take the trotro?

We usually ride bikes to our church building; about 10 minutes

4.      Tell us about who you are teaching.  What lesson topics have you been teaching this week?

Well, we don’t have too many investigators but for sure we will baptize this lady named Janet. She has come to church two weeks in a row and loves the church. People don’t understand the Plan of Salvation very well. So we have been going around teaching that to less actives and members.

5.      How are you feeling?  Are your hands all healed?

I feel fine. The rash is back but I have been treating it all week so it’s going down.

6.      It is funny that we sent you to Africa and just got an African elder here!  He's from the Congo. 

I bet he went to the MTC and learned English because I think that is a French speaking country.

KFC in Ghana!

Cannon

Well shoot! This week went by super fast. I am beginning to get the hang of this area! I also cannot believe I am 5 months on my mission. Seriously that is a long time. But I have a long ways to go haha. So i got my bike fixed and I got it centered and got a big seat because the bike seat I had pretty much bruised my butt. So yeah, I’m happy the gears are fixed and everything. So life is good right now except for the fact that my bike burned a hole in my wallet haha. Of course I am the youngest missionary in the apartment right now as always and companions with a district leader haha. So I get some of the stress that each of my district leader companions have haha. But yeah, I guess I’ll tell you about the week now.

So we have another problem. That stupid rash is back. It is a fungal rash, which is normal to have here if you have sensitive skin and for all of you wondering it isn’t a hygiene issue haha. It is just something that happens because it is so humid here! 

I don't know it is weird. I all of a sudden am starting to miss Oda. Each day I work here it gets more and more like Oda haha. But yeah right now we are really putting our focus on this woman named Janet. She is about 30 years old and is well educated. She has come to church 2 weeks in a row, has met with our branch prez, and told him how great the church is. She especially likes how nobody puts themselves over anyone and how everyone gets an equal chance to contribute in lessons and stuff like that. The branch really needs her to be baptized and she will definitely receive a calling after she is because the branch needs help. The branch is doing a good job of fellowshipping her. That’s pretty much it investigators wise. Like I said, the branch wants us to be reactivating less actives for them so we are doing that.

So we had a surprise interview with president this week and it went really well. We talked about some different things. He said something interesting. I was talking to him about the companions I have had and what I have learned so far from each one and stuff and the point was brought up that all my companions have been district leaders. Prez said something that was interesting in that interview, that I am probably the most important person in the district because it is important that I am always trying to encourage the district leader and help him to become the best leader that he can be and to keep them motivated. I guess I have done a good job at that, but yeah that was cool. Everyone keeps saying that Lewis-Reese will be my last DL companion and I’ll be one next transfer, which I don't believe because I’m only 5 months on the mission. But you never know with President Snow. He took someone who is 6 months on the mission and made them a zone leader. So we will see.

So this was a little bit of a surprise too honestly. I went on exchange with the zone leaders this week. I went to stay the night in Ofankor which is seriously one of the nicest apartments in the whole mission. It used to be the sisters apartment. But now it is for the zone leaders. It used to be a 6 man apartment.  On our way up there we stopped at Pizza Inn and enjoyed pizza haha. I enjoyed the exchange. I went with an elder named Elder Tohouri, this guy is from Ivory Coast. This guy knows a lot and he is a good missionary. I think he might be like 14 months on mission. I’m not sure. But he has been in that area for a while. Other than that I had a really good time with him haha. We have this joke on mission where the higher up in ranks you are the faster you walk. So yeah I got my zone leader walk on when I was with him haha. It was fun. But it’s always interesting going to a different area haha. In one day I taught a guy how to do math. It had to do with the elimination method or something but he was having a hard time and I helped him. This is a member and he is thinking about going on a mission so that was fun. I was surprised I still knew the crap haha. But I was shopping for lunch and I start to talk to the owners of the store because I am a friendly person right? So literally I’m not joking these people who owned the store were Americans. It was finally nice to meet an American besides a missionary haha. But yeah, the guy was from Louisiana and the lady was from Alabama, who had this deep southern accent. I thought it was kinda funny.  But I just explained I was neighbors with both of them technically because I was born in Tennessee, then lived in Texas.  So it was cool. I enjoyed that day a ton.

Eating Kokunte From the Same Bowl

Our branch loves doing missionary work and it is so cool! So on Saturday they had a young single adult activity where they went out to teach people with us. They decided a good lesson to teach was the Plan of Salvation. So we went around to a ton of less actives and investigators. It was a pretty good day. They introduced us to people that we never even knew. So honestly that's why it is important that the ward or branch helps out with missionary work; even the smallest things help. For some reason the Plan of Salvation is a lesson here that people really don't understand and that is one of my favorite lessons to teach besides the Law of Chastity so all is well.

A Rather Large Jumping Spider

At church this week we had 3 investigators and 1 less active at Sacrament Meeting. So things are picking up for us.  I would enjoy if everyone continued to pray for me and my investigators that they may progress and please pray for this branch because they are struggling. Thank you!

Elder Skog and I

Elder Lewis-Reese and I