Air Conditioning

Dear America,

Good job on focusing on the prophetic priorities. In 3 Nephi 18, Christ teaches the Nephites about the sacrament and then tells them that if they continually participate in this ordinance, they are built upon the rock. Out of everything in the scriptures that makes you a wise man built on the rock, it's the sacrament. And again in Ezekiel 20:18-20, God basically tells us to stop following the foolish traditions of our fathers and start following gospel traditions, first and foremost of which is the Sabbath day. I thought it was cool that it's His number one tradition for us to follow.

The email was obviously from Elder Duaryenneh. I'll be able to use Facebook to talk with them after mission. I still haven't gotten the conference SD. I've given up on that. Thanks for sending the questions. I was wondering what I would write about this week.

Tell us more about your new companion. My companion is Elder Nuamah, a native Ghanaian. He isn't a Fante, but he is from Takoradi. He likes cooking and we never eat food that we didn't make. We work hard together and talk to A LOT of people. He isn't afraid to walk up to anyone on the street and start talking about their salvation. He likes to play the guitar and was in a band prior to his mission. He makes Jack-Johnson-esque songs. He's a good teacher and definitely pulls his own weight.

Who are you teaching? We teach a lot of people, but one of the characteristics of this part of the mission is that people are willing to listen, but not act on what they're taught. So we go through a lot of uncommitted investigators. One neat guy we're teaching is a pastor, but he's the most humble pastor I've met so far. He was so excited to learn about the Book of Mormon and start reading it. He can't read English, so I gave him my personal Twi copy. He said that if he finds out where the priesthood is, he will drop everything and follow the path that God wants him to. 

What is primary like in your branch? I actually haven't visited the primary in our branch yet...I've mostly been working with the youth class and the Sunday School. The primary is the only class downstairs, so they're really isolated and it seems a lot more controlled than any branch I've ever been in on my mission.

What hymns do you sing the most? Probably 194 There is a Green Hill Far Away and 193 I Stand All Amazed because most members don't know how to sing a lot of sacrament hymns. Those are the most widely known ones. 

Do you see any white people, apart from the missionaries? In Tamale I saw an unusually high amount of white people, but they don't really come here at all. I've seen one Chinese since I came down, but apart from that, no. If you're in the cities that have small airports, chances of seeing a white person go up dramatically. Like Kumasi or Tamale.

What is the predominant religion in your area? "One-man" churches. Basically "I need money, so I think I'll start a church!" and then people follow them and go and clap and dance and pay collection and call it church. There are a good amount of Presbyterians here as well. And an occasional JW.

Do you have any problems sleeping on your mission? No. The only thing that sucks is if the power goes out and your fan stops. Then you have to face the mosquitoes and the heat. It will wake you up in the middle of the night just because it's so hot. Lately I feel like pretty pathetic because I'm getting used to turning the air conditioning on for a little while before I sleep (we have air conditioning in our room). It makes it so easy to go to sleep if the room is cold. I'm really going to suffer when I go back to Kumasi.

Love, Elder Nelson