Blessings of Old are Returning

Dear America,

This Sunday marked the second, third, fourth, and fifth baptisms of my mission. It's really wonderful to see our hard work paying off. Even though I feel like I did practically nothing, these people are just prepared. But the girl that I felt was the most prepared for baptism wasn't able to be baptized because she's under 18. And minors have to either live with a member or come to church for six solid months to qualify for baptism. Her name is Rebecca and we've been meeting with her for a little over two weeks now. She's one of the smartest investigators we've come across and she's totally ready for baptism. But we're doing everything we can to find a way for her to be baptized. She's in one of the worst home situations that I've seen. But she's really humble and seems a lot older than she actually is. Sometimes these rules bug me, so if you have any suggestions on how to get around six months of waiting, I'm open to suggestions.

This week I've been working on the Christlike attribute of virtue. I've had some interesting thoughts come on the subject of faith, hope, and charity. Which are gyidi, anidaso, and ado e, respectively-- in case you were wondering. The scriptures talk about these a lot, even if they aren't always called by name specifically. They're always present. So why are they so important? Out of all the qualities to seek after, why faith, hope, and charity? Here's how I've started to think about them: these three are kind of like the primary colors (red/yellow/blue). Any artist knows that you can create any other color on the color wheel out of a certain mixture of red, yellow, and blue. Likewise, I believe that any other Christlike attribute can be made from varying parts faith, hope, and charity. It's interesting to think about. All other characteristics are based on these three.

This explains why you can't just improve one Christlike attribute at a time-- they grow together. Virtue will surely affect diligence, humility, patience, etc. Obedience is closely tied to virtue and diligence. It's because they're all made of differing amounts of the same ingredients: faith, hope, and charity. For example, obedience might involve mostly faith, some hope, and a little charity. Virtue is a lot of hope with some charity and faith. Patience and humility are the closest to involving all three in equal amounts. I've included a picture of a chart I made to illustrate my point. It's a work in progress, but it helped me to organize my thoughts.

Elder Antwi gave some really good instruction in zone council on the subject of diligence. They like to pick on him because he doesn't talk much when the other missionaries are around. Transfers happen next Wednesday, so I'll have p day like normal. It always works that way here.

I need recipes. Like pancakes and rice pudding and dumplings. They have a lot of ingredients here, I just can't bake. So I'd rather have too many recipes than not enough. Thanks. I've started eating fruit and Milo for dinner. It makes me feel a ton better because I'm getting the nutrients that only a good pineapple can provide. Rice every night wears you down really fast. Elder Neville likes Milo in the morning, but I really love it right before I go to bed. I'm staying really healthy.

Peace.

The one and only,

Elder Nelson

Election Year

Dear America,

Thanks for the news. I'm really proud of Pace. You know you're really worth something when you can see your own flaws and have the courage to do something about them.

Weeks are melting away. Time never ran like this when I was at home.

Every week on Sunday evening, we are fed dinner by a member named Osei Bonsu. He's almost fifty years old, with a really gravelly voice and a hard body that makes him look older than he actually is. He works by selling foam for sponges along the roadside under the scorchy sun for only a few cedis a couple of days out of the week. He's also theSunday school president. He has a really simple, solid testimony that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church on the earth today. He feeds us every Sunday and always wants to help us do missionary work while members with a steady income and a comfortable lifestyle won't even show us where their house is, much less the houses of their nonmember friends. I believe that if the church had more members like Osei Bonsu, it would be better for it. There's a powerful lesson to be learned from his simple dedication to the gospel. He isn't really a whiz when it comes to doctrine, and he doesn't know much about the finer points of membership in the church, but he holds as tightly as he possible can to the what he does know: that the church is true. He strives to magnify his calling and his responsibilities as a member of the church.

And he feeds us fufu, so of course I like him.

2016 is election year here in Ghana. My companion explained that things are going to get a lot better this year because President Muhamma wants to be re-elected. The light will be consistent, the prices of items will go down significantly, and life in general will just be easier. Ghanaians have a short memory, so everyone will be happy with him by the time elections come around in December. So far, Elder Antwi has been exactly right. The light has been on in our area every night since the end of 2015.

.......But we've been having problems with our electricity meter, so we haven't been able to enjoy it. Hot, sweaty nights filled with mosquitoes. Ha life is funny.

I spend last week working on the Christlike attribute of hope. I listened to a conference talk once where the speaker went in-depth on faith, hope, and charity. I would love to know the name of the talk or something. I don't think it was given by an apostle. Probably within the last four years.

Well life is great.

The one and only,

Ellllllddder Nelson

I knoooowwwww about the pictures. I really thought I would be able to send them today, but the world has combined against me. Ahhhhhhh I'm trying. Sorry. I'm also failing. They will come. 

Random Facts About Ghana

• Ghana was once known as the gold coast, as the country is the second largest producer of gold in Africa.
• Ghana is the world's second largest producer of cocoa beans, but they don't eat chocolate
• Is the closest country to 0 longitude and 0 latitude.

• Accra, the capital, is a large city with a population of 4.1m.
• Lake Volta is the largest artificial lake in the world. It extends for over 320 miles and can be seen from space.
• Life expectancy is 60yrs
• Half the population is under the age of 20
• Ghana has a population of 27 million people. Idaho has 1 million in the same space. 
• Ghana has a space program and plans to launch a satellite in 2015!
• Malaria is a major disease carried by mosquitos which thrive in the warm wet climate.
• The colourful national costume is made from hand woven cloth called 'kente'.
• Ghana has two climates, really hot & humid/rainy, and hot,dry & dusty (sand and dirt blowing off the Sahara Desert). 

Mail from US

Dear America,
I got to go on exchanges again this week. Elder Antwi is the district leader, so I get to go on exchanges a lot. It's fun to see how different missionaries go about the work. This week I was with Elder Lawson from California. Being with another American is always interesting. I think that two white men are more intimidating than one. Little kids aren't nearly as quick to call us out for being freaks. Haha it's kind of refreshing. 

This week was also the first baptism of my mission. Raymond Sekyere is a young man that was taught almost entirely by the missionaries before us. But I got to baptize him and it was nice. I know I should be sending pictures of stuff like this, so you'll get a whole bunch of pictures when I'm able to go in to Kejetia (hopefully next week).

I got some mail this week from friends and family in the US. It was really fun to read their letters and be reminded of home.

 I didn't hear about Martin's cove until now! But that's neat. (Keith and I got called as Ma and Pa for our Stake Trek in Aug)

I'll answer some more questions now: 

Plantain recipes: Either you fry them (super unhealthy) or you make fufu with cassava. I recommend fufu in the extreme. (I bought plantains and asked for a recipe)  

Vanilla beans? No. No vanilla at all. I get a lot of red pepper, ginger, garlic, groundnuts, red pepper, shrimp bullion stuff, red pepper, and tomato paste. Mostly food is appreciated for its quantity, which I'm totally fine with. (Wondering whether to send him vanilla beans or vanilla extract that he asked for) 

What impact has keeping a journal had on your life? To be honest, as soon as I came on a mission I started seriously keeping a journal every day. I'm doing my best to write about things that really matter and are interesting, but right now it's basically out of blind faith. I'm sure blessings will come eventually. But I'm probably not the best person to ask about the blessings of keeping a journal. Sorry. Although I have to say that it's been a nice stress relief at the end of each day. It's kind of like I have someone to talk to every night.(Sadie is giving a lesson about journals at FHE tonight. She e-mailed Isaac about his journal keeping. See article in New Era "Holy Smoke") 

Best wishes, Elder Nelson 

 I'm going to give credit to Elder Neville and make a correction to my past letters. "Hammer time" is really "Hammatan", but it all sounds the same when the Africans say it. Either way, it sucks. 

Sorry again about the pictures. They're coming. Eventually.

I Really Like Fufu

Dear America

I was happy to hear from Porter in his email last week. I hope that wasn't a forced assignment;)

This week has been great. The new year is more celebrated than Christmas. People stay up all night partying and going to church revivals. They set off fireworks and play music really loud. Even louder than they usually do. One great benefit of the holiday season is that the power was on every night for a week in between Christmas and New Year. That was super nice.

In other news, I really like fufu. Like more than my Ghanaian companion. It's becoming an addiction or something, haha.

I'm truly grateful that I've been raised to have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. It carries a powerful witness that Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith is a true prophet, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church on the earth today. I love the plain, straightforward manner that it teaches us how to be happy. The Bible can be trippy sometimes, but I can always count on the Book of Mormon to strengthen my testimony. Everyone here believes in the Bible, but very few (including members) have taken the time and the effort to gain a similar testimony of the Book of Mormon. Sometimes I feel like we really have to work to pull pure truth out of the Bible verses. But with the Book of Mormon, truth is sitting there in the open. No weird explanations needed. Elder Antwi loves to use the Bible; I love to use the Book of Mormon. Both of us know that the other guy is right. I'll be pretty good with a Bible when I get home.

I'll have time to answer those questions today, so that's good:

Have you seen any wildlife yet? Yes. Lots and lots of lizards, lots of goats, and very, very few mosquitoes. But the bites are always there. 

Do you always email from an internet cafe? Yes. I think the Bishop has a computer, but I haven't ever seen one in somebody's home. And the missionaries most certainly don't have one. So we always go to the cafe and pay for time on the computers. There's on cafe in Kejetia that all the missionaries call Kofi's place. It's the hub of all missionary activities on Mondays. Missionaries from all over the mission converge there, usually about twenty or thirty on any given Monday. So you can see pretty much anyone except for those in Tamale there occasionally. 

What else do you do on p-day? We soak our laundry, go to pull our sub from an ATM in town, email, finish our laundry, teach a few lessons, and buy/prepare our food for the week in the evening. 

How is laundry? Actually pretty relaxing. I listen to hymns or talks and just sit there and wash by hand. Depending on the week, it takes half an hour, an hour, or more after I've soaked the clothes. My hands haven't cracked or started bleeding from it yet, but I've heard that it sucks. 

How many missionaries are in your zone? How large of an area do you cover? The zone is probably 24 missionaries or so. Our district is really big (5 companionships) and Elder Antwi is the district leader. I don't think our areas are too huge in comparison to other missions, mainly because we only walk. But they're still big enough to keep us plenty busy, considering the way the population is packed in here. Probably five miles from end to end. It takes us about an hour to drive to Bantama, the zone headquarters.

Here's something to be grateful for: the power just went out, but my email was saved automatically. So be glad that happened, or it would only be like a sentence long for this week.

Happy New Year!

Elder Nelson

I was going to take a risk and send pictures this week, but it didn't work. So pretty much you'll get pictures on the occasion that I make it all the way in to Kofi's place. Sorry. But at least I have electricity right now.