Finally, Rain!

This week I had the opportunity to instruct in district council about how we can better invite the Spirit into our lives and into our lessons. My teaching wasn't really that inspirational, but I have been learning this week that repentance is for everyone every day. The really great people in this church are the ones who are good at repenting.

Speaking of the church, I'm not sure that on my mission I've been able to convince anybody that the church is true. But it sure has convinced me.  I feel I can strongly identify with the song "We'll bring the world his truth" (Armies of Helaman). And I'm really grateful for that, especially how I was raised.

Here's a short fact about pounding fufu that I've learned: The heavier the pistil, the easier the pounding. If the stick is too light, it's really hard to pound effectively. Your hands get blisters and eventually calluses and they hurt for days. But if the stick is heavy enough, gravity does most of the work for you. If you think about that in relation to "there must needs be opposition in all things", I'm sure that you can pull out some sort of spiritual parable.

The weather is changing! It rained for the first time in months on Monday night last. It was so wonderful. I've been missing overcast weather. It's been so hot and scorchy lately. But hopefully the rainy season comes in full force quickly and gives me some relief.

We made some nice ampesi in the apartment this week. It's boiled yam (NOT sweet potatoes) dipped into a stew of some sort and eaten together. Elder Antwi likes a lot of red pepper in his food, so I've quickly built up a tolerance for fire. But I'll bet that Pace has me beat in that department.

On a scale of one-ten, last week was about a three. I was also kind of seeing exactly what I would get if I asked for advice. I'll include a number with my future requests for advice.

On last week's questions:

Really HOW HAPPY are the Ghana people?

They're....... happy. As a disclaimer, anything I say is limited to the Ashanti tribe because I haven't been anywhere else yet. They don't like education. Or English. Or understanding things. They're totally proud to sit in the dirt for their whole lives. So we have the monumental task of changing the way they think. Not just what they think, but the way they think about things. You have no idea how ridiculously hard that is. They are really good at accepting "the word of God". It's easy to get numbers here. But it's hard to get powerful converts.

Have you faced the "superstitious" part of the culture? What are 2 or 3 examples? How do you differentiate between gospel and cultural traditions when you are teaching people. 

Yes, we've had a few funny experiences. I told about teaching in the home of a fetish priest a few weeks ago. Elder Antwi's father used to be a fetish priest. There are some weeeiiiiiirrrrrdddd things that happen with that stuff. But generally not around us. And people's poor understanding of English leads them to believe that Latter-day Saints perform blood rituals to summon evil spirits that give them money. Which is funny because everyone wants money here, so why not come and get money? But apparently we worship mammon and we call evil spirits in our funny-looking churches. You just have to teach them what the English words "saints", "mormon", etc... mean.

Have you gotten past the overwhelmed/stressful feelings of doing something new in a new place and felt the joy of being a missionary in Ghana yet? When and where?

There are still things that I don't understand about the culture, but I'm getting better every day at being charitable and Christlike. I love seeing people progress and have their lives lighted by the gospel. It's really wonderful to see.

I had a good week this week.

Elder Nelson

Missionary Broadcast

Dear America,

On Tuesday we got to watch the special two-hour broadcast for all of the missionaries in the world. I think that it actually happened on January 28, but we had to wait for them to send it to us through the mail. It was really nice. I liked a quote from Elder Oaks that said, "You are not just called to proclaim the gospel, you are called to establish the church." That's especially true in this part of the world. A lot of the work I do is focused on strengthening the members of the church. We were also instructed repeatedly to "teach repentance and baptize converts." So it's been neat to pay attention to that this week and begin to realize how central repentance is to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everything we teach invites others to repent. And if we take the hint, we apply it in our own lives, too.

This week I also went on an exchange with Elder Sibiya from South Africa. He's a really fun, friendly guy.

The Young Single Adults joined us on Saturday to go proselyting in the morning. We split up into groups and went to visit investigators and members. One woman we saw was a little surprised to see us, but I could tell that it brightened her day. She was really happy that the YSA would come visit her. It's more meaningful when members come. As nice as visits from the missionaries are, we pretty much have no lives outside of our work. The YSA made all the difference.

In answer to Dad's quesions:

Are you eating well and staying healthy? Yes, I'm eating a lot of fruit and I haven't been sick for a long time now.

 What does your typical day consist of? Missionary work......

 What kinds of things do you do as personal or community service? Clean the chapel, clean burned apartments, help members landscape the dirt plots around their homes. Basically a lot of cleaning up.

How far do you travel each day, and by what means of transportation? We walk. Only walk. Miles and miles. But I don't mind at all. Occasionally we catch a tro to go in to zone councils, district councils, and such, but that's it.

 What does your P-day schedule look like? Wake up, study, eat (unless we had four dinners with members on Sunday, like today), wash, email, teach, eat fruit for dinner, sleep.

Sorry I didn't answer those questions very well....

One thing that I've learned this week: cans of soda pop explode in a fantastic way if you leave them in the freezer.

Love,

Elder Nelson

P.S. I'm getting emails from Elder Neville! Eye paaa. Medasi y. Thanks.

It's really great to hear about him. I agree, sugar cane eye di pa. It's like celery, but sugar. And washing fruits or vegetables is a rare luxury. Don't tell the mission nurse I said that.
It's neat that he's almost been robbed, too. I had an experienced companion who knows what to watch for, but I still came close also. That was my first few weeks here. 

It's so awesome to see his letters.

Funerals

Dear America,

Thanks for all the advice and support from last week. Lynette's mission call (Guatemala) is super neat! Tell her that fufu is better than Mexican food, hands down. Whatever fufu I ate in the US before I came wasn't nearly as good as the stuff here. I'm going to have to make some when I get back and see if I can get it right.

Actually, now that I think about it, Mexican food is the only food that comes close to fufu.

Well to start the week off, I made some hot fudge cake on Monday night. In case you don't know, hot fudge cake is like a mix of brownies and chocolate pudding in one. It's hard to make cake without an oven, so I'm pretty proud of myself. It was good, but I learned that I'm losing my natural American sweet tooth pretty quickly. On Monday, I also got a step-down converter so that my hair clippers would work better. Up until this point, I would use my clippers for a minute or two until they overheated, let it cool down for half an hour, then start again. Which made haircuts take pretty much my entire P day. So I was really happy when the converter was a success.

On Wednesday, as we thought we were about to close a lesson, this little exchange occurred:
"So if God answers your prayers and you come to know that what we've taught you about baptism is true, will you be baptized on the 28th of February?"
"Yes, I will--"
"Great! I know tha--"
"--ask my pastor to baptize me on that day."
This is the first baptismal date I've extended for a different church. Haha smooth.

One investigator was totally convinced that you are paid to be a child growing up in the US. You just get money from the government. She was really surprised to hear that our family grew a garden and that I worked as an electrician. She thought that machines did everything in the US. A lot of people, including members, have funny ideas like that. America is a magical land, that's for sure. But we still have to work and pay for food. I just tell people that I can show them how to get to heaven, not to America. But they tell me that they'd rather go to America. I'm trying to help people think a little more sensibly and feel comfortable being my friend.

We just got back from attending a funeral. It was one of the most interesting experiences of my life. Funerals are a huge deal here. And there are several repetitions of the same person's funeral. When I die, my funeral won't be huge like this. The one this morning was actually a one-week celebration to announce to everyone when the actual funeral is going to be. Hundreds of people came. They advertise someone's death with big posters, posted all across the city. And then pretty much everyone who ever associated with that person shows up to the funeral(s). Everyone wears black and red clothing, some of which is traditional robes. The clothes are really neat.

Well that's all for this week.

Elder Nelson

Kwasi Gyata

Dear America,

Well, transfer news has arrived. I'll be staying with Elder Antwi in Kronum. Which I'm grateful for because everyone was saying that I would train this transfer. That kind of stuff happens here. President Cosgrave is unpredictable. It's a relief to be able to be a new missionary for a while longer. But my training is over. The Ghana MTC has gone back to a three-week training schedule. When I went, I stayed for less than two weeks. Eleven days, exactly. But I guess that things were only that way for a short time. It's back to three weeks, so our transfers have been weird. Instead of being a uniform six weeks, they've been going 4 weeks-- 8 weeks -- 8 weeks -- 4 weeks. And some new missionaries have arrived in the middle of the transfer. But it's all cool.

The quote of the week this week from Elder Antwi was really powerful: "The gospel is here to afflict the comfortable and to comfort the afflicted." I laughed for a long time. I can't say it better. Ponder that little gem of inspiration.

We were in the home of a member when some Reverend Doctor Professor guy came on the television and started talking about Moses' Hebrew mother. He credited her with making good use of the materials she had to save Moses as a child. She got a basket, lined it with some plastic, made the child comfortable, and sent it down the Nile. He kept emphasizing how she really worked with the few resources she had: a basket and some plastic. I'm sure he then continued to spew false doctrine, but frankly, I was kind of overwhelmed by what I had just heard.

If there's something that really gets to me, it's false doctrine. Whenever someone brings up some funny idea about the trinity or the Fall or our spirits, and they want to contend, I get worked up fast. Which is probably the reason why Elder Sutherin has started calling me

Kwasi Gyata (Sunday-born Lion). Looking back, the day I went on exchange with him wasn't my most patient day ever....well......I'm working on it.

It's been another great week in the life of Elder Nelson.

Elder Nelson

PS Aunt Brenda mentioned Elders Lund and Sutherin. Yes, I know both of them. Elder Sutherin is in our district and I went on an exchange with him last week. He's a really nice guy from Shelley. Elder Lund is/was a zone leader for the zone next to us. So yeah, there are a lot of people from our area here.

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).