First Transfer

Dear America,

It's been a good week for me. Last Monday, the elders from Offinso came to stay in Kronum overnight so they could come to zone conference the next morning. We put all the mattresses in our apartment on the floor together and had a big sleepover. It was pretty neat. They enjoyed the rice and stew that I made, which I'm pretty proud of. The zone conference the next day was good. I learned a lot, but none of it came from what was spoken. The Spirit impressed me with some unrelated things that I can improve on while I was listening. So I just need to work on putting them into practice.

On Thursday, Elder Akpan came on an exchange to be with me in Kronum. He's from Nigeria and he's even newer in the mission field than I am. It's strange to think that I'm not the youngest one here anymore.

Well, transfer news has arrived. Elder Antwi and I are both leaving Kronum. We are being replaced by four sisters. A lot of sisters came to the mission this transfer. Elder Antwi is staying pretty close by in Boukrom, but I'm going all the way to Techiman in the Brong Ahafo region. That's pretty far away. I'll be with Elder Khumalo from South Africa. I'm not sure what the area is called, but I think it's Ptumadwo or something like that. I've heard some interesting things about the area, but I'll wait until next week so I can tell you what it's really like. Since it's in the Brong Ahafo region, they'll hopefully speak more English. There'll also be more Muslims. President Cosgrave has really shaken up the mission this transfer, doing things that we've never heard of before. He isn't afraid to take a risk and try something radical and learn from it. I admire that about him. I just hope it pays off for us.

I've enjoyed my time here in Kronum. It's been a great place for me to get the hang of missionary work. I feel like I've been able to learn to be more patient with people here. I've also become more humble and less impulsive. This Sunday it really took a lot of control for me not to chastise some people in Elders' Quorum when they were trying to disrupt the class with stupid questions. It's something that I've been working on, and I was kind of surprised that I managed to keep my cool. I've learned a lot, and I'm grateful for the people here.

I don't know what this transfer is going to bring. I don't know if I'll be able to send pictures or write letters or anything, so we'll see what the future has next week. At least I'm not in Bolgatanga. 

Love, Elder Nelson