A sickla unto vulcha- 19 June 2017

Dear America,

This week we went to up in the mountains to Mpraeso to do a baptismal interview for an investigator up there. While we were there one of the missionaries told us about a funny experience. His name is Elder Boyce from Montana. While they were visiting a member's house, a man confronted Elder Boyce and said emphatically while pointing at him, "A sickla... unto vulcha... unto you! Obituary." The loose translation of this is that the man was cursing Elder Boyce that he would contract a vulture's sickness and die. Both missionaries laughed and now we all joke about it. So if you ever need to curse somebody, that's how to do it.

On Tuesday we went to zone conference in Kumasi. Elder Wood and I were asked to present and instruct about our zone's efforts last month. We took careful time to prepare for it and did our best to receive inspiration. It went very well. We solidified the trust of many missionaries by the way we taught. Life is good right now. We are surrounded by a lot of hard working, dedicated missionaries who we trust and who also trust us. And that means that the Lord can hasten the work here more easily.

During the zone conference President Cosgrave talked about the importance of faith in planning. Then he said, "I hope you all use faith in your planning. But I also hope that you have plans to increase your faith. Write them down." That struck me. Have I written down goals and steps to develop my faith more? Or do I expect it just to happen while I'm busy doing other things? A quote from Neal L. Anderson says, "Our faith will increase not by chance, but by choice." So that's something I'm working on this week.

I gave a talk in sacrament meeting about the importance of strengthening our families through daily prayer and scripture study. I'm grateful to my family for doing those things in my youth. It really makes all the difference.

On my birthday Elder Erickson and I made bread and gravy (substitute for biscuits and gravy) and crepes. Other than that, it was pretty uneventful. It rained a lot on that day. So I was happy.

The family looks wonderful! Keep up the goodness wherever you are.

Love, Elder Nelson