Ask the Assistants- 9/18/17

Dear America,

One of the things that isn't fun about being in the office is that you never get time to prepare on preparation day. You're always running errands for other missionaries. So today is another one of those days where my emailing is late and last-minute and short.

We met with a recent convert family that was baptized at the beginning of the year. Elvis, the father, told us about how the gospel was helping his family, especially his little boy named Kofi. In Kofi's school, they have a mandatory religious service on Wednesday and afterwards the teacher takes collection from the children. She was dismayed when Kofi wouldn't put in his coin. When she called his father to inform him about it, Elvis was pleased and told her that his son attends the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and we don't believe that we should have any paid ministry. When the rest of the class stood up for a good old "praise and worship" dance in the service, Kofi remained seated. His father again explained that we believe in being reverent. Elvis was so happy that his son was only three years old and already free of many burdensome traditions that are a part of most religion here. Kofi also enjoys praying at home. It was sweet to be with them and hear their testimonies.

We met an unusual number of people that speak French this week, so we took time to print off the pamphlet about the restoration in French. I don't know if that will help them, but if the really want to know more then at least now they can. Pertaining to office work, we also made huge strides in the realm of area maps for the mission. Each companionship is supposed to have a map of their area that they can use to mark members' houses, important locations, landmarks, and things like that. For my entire mission, we've been suffering with inadequate area maps. They just aren't good. I've always had the desire to make a better system. Well I got my wish and now we're overhauling mission maps that haven't been updated since 2013 and the best part is that it's working. 

We had our own zone conference this week, where we were instructed in portion about using the Book of Mormon effectively. When we were in Tamale, the assistants made the bold invitation to proselyte without the Bible for a week. I don't recommend this in every situation, but we felt that it would improve our work by accepting the challenge. The Bible ends up dominating our teaching here because everyone is so rooted in it. We've spent most of our teaching this week trying to pull every answer out of the Book of Mormon, and it has really helped us feel the Spirit, if nothing else. I'm noticing things inside that I've never considered before.

We also got custom football jerseys to play in. We play every Monday against a different apartment in the mission. Missionaries relish the chance to beat Daban FC. The front of the jerseys is a clever play on a common frustration that we always refer problems to each other. Missionaries will come with a question or problem or complaint and they consistently ask those whose jurisdiction it does NOT fall under. So we are forced to redirect their concern to the other companionship and it becomes frustrating for those who lack patience. See attached pictures. 

Love, 

Elder Nelson

We also had some awesome adventures when we went to pick up luggage from the missionaries that will be departing tomorrow. It had just rained pretty heavily and the road that we were planning to take got swallowed by a river.