Another week in Africa

Study Time!

Tuesday morning Elders Bwambale and Bassey left early and took our bikes because theirs were broken. As they left they told us to go get their bikes fixed for them because they didn't want to have to deal with it. So we had to take their bikes to get fixed so that we could go to our own appointments. They are becoming more and more difficult to deal with but that's all part of the mission. We then saw a member in our area on our way home from the bike shop. President changed weekly planning to whenever we can fit it in instead of Sundays. It's been hard to find a time that works so usually it's Tuesday afternoon. That was where it fell again for us this week so we planned. After that we visited our recent convert Kofi Asare. He wanted to come with us to teach one of our investigators and it turns out that they have known each other for twenty years or so. Kofi bore testimony to John for over an hour and during it, John was intently listening and is now much more serious in his investigation of the church. After that lesson we went to visit another recent convert, Josephine. We sang hymns with her and her little sister most of the time we were there. After her we didn't have anymore appointments so it was back to the apartment for bed. 

Wednesday was District Council Meeting day and we were having a combined meeting with Elder Kamisese's district. We got to meet his new son (the elder he is now training). His name is Elder Reeves and he is from Idaho Falls. He's really cool and I was excited to meet him because he's new, and because to him I look and act like a really old missionary. We then went home to find that we were locked out so instead of relaxing inside, we went to go get some fried rice at Lapaz. We then spent the day cleaning out our really cluttered phone by calling every number in it to decide if it was a number worth keeping. That took us a couple hours to do. As we were out teaching we ran into the only other man in our ward who isn't black. He even gave us a referral for a business partner of his. Later that evening was coordination but the ward mission leader canceled on us so we just practiced the piano and ate dinner instead. 

Thursday: We have been having some great companionship study lately and today was no exception. It was another very enlightening day of study for us. Again we spent a few hours cleaning out the phone even more. It's not hard work, but it is very tedious. We spent more time contacting than we did teaching today. We taught a lady who was almost American in her mannerisms. It was really odd and almost hard to teach her, especially after I've just gotten used to the way I need to teach the people here. After her, all of our appointments fell through. It's normal for that to happen here but it's still discouraging. We ended up visiting a member in our area and visiting with him for a while. 

Friday was the Book of Mormon devotional day so Kamisese and Reeves came over. Elders Bwambale and Bassey left really early for an appointment so it was left to just the four of us to have the devotional. After the devotional we didn't have any appointments so we were just hanging out with Kamisese and Reeves. Reeves' MTC companion really wants to go home and we don't want it to effect him in any way so we decided that our time was best spent making him feel at home and like he had friends here in the mission. After we spent time with them we went out teaching. We taught an investigator named George and his twin brother. Both of them are so ready for the gospel to bless their lives. We are excited to see what the future brings with them. After that we met a young man who told us he has questioned everything about his church since age 12 and that he believe God has more prophets that have written more words for us to follow. He was so excited to see the Book of Mormon and we were excited when he wanted to have a return visit from us. We also had a ton of contacts for the day which is good. Contacting in our area is kind of difficult. All in all it was a great day to be a missionary. 

Saturday we got up early to see off our most recent convert since he was going to the temple for the first time. He was super excited to do baptisms for the dead and finally be able to go inside the temple. After we got him off, we cleaned the baptismal font in preparation for the baptism Bwambale and Bassey were having. It took us forever to clean and fill but we got it done. After that we stopped at a shop on the way home that is run by a Lebanese man. He invited us in for coffee but we told him we were satisfied and didn't need any. He talked to us for well over an hour just telling us his story and how he came to be in Ghana. Turns out he was a freedom fighter and a journalist in Lebanon but now he is wanted by a terrorist group so he's hiding out in Ghana. There are some pretty crazy stories that you hear here. We got out of there fairly late and it was almost time for the baptism. We got in one lesson and then had to run to find some baptismal clothing. We got it all sorted and and then, for the first time that day, at 5:00 in the afternoon, we ate some food. Then the baptism happened and it was somehow a disaster because the other elders never planned it. We felt bad but still there was nothing we could do about it. We then visited a recent convert before heading back to the apartment. 

Sunday we finally started the ward choir we have been talking about for weeks now. For it being the first day we had a really good turn out of people and some great participation from those not planning on being in it, but that were there anyways. Church went well and our investigator, Peter, has become a better member than 90% of the actual members in the ward. He is ready to be baptized, we just have to teach him everything first. After church, all of our appointments fell through so we basically wandered aimlessly until Ken called us and wanted us to go home teaching with him. After we went with him, we went home and packed to go stay the night with Kamisese and Reeves. We went over and watched a movie and ate some delicious soup made by Kamisese. It was a total blast and we got to learn more about Reeves and even about Kamisese. 

Repair work

Today we got up early so that Kamisese could fix my haircut from last week. I put my full faith in him as he told McConkie to go buy a razor blade and then started to shave some parts on the side of my head. After he cut my hair, the older missionaries decided it would be a good idea to send me and the new guy, by ourselves, into the heart of the city to meet some other elders to play basketball. We made it no problem and had a total blast. I met up with a couple guys from my MTC group, Barr( and Wallin(Enterprise). When I walked in Barr almost tackled me and told me that he had missed me more than he had missed home. We haven't been able to call each other at all lately because we didn't know the numbers. I forgot how much I missed those guys until we were there together again. After basketball we went back to the Kamisese and Reeves' apartment. We ate peanut butter and jam sandwiches with some papaya and coke. It was so great to have a normal PB&J sandwich even while in Africa. After lunch we decided to take some cold and refreshing showers before going out to look for an internet cafe. We walked all around Lapaz looking for one before coming back to the one right by our apartment. And that is where we are now. It's been an awesome week here for us and I couldn't be happier with life than I am right now.