Big Launch

Dear America,

This week was a really free week for us. We were actually able to proselyte for a lot of time. It was so nice but also hard at the same time because our schedule is so random. We have weeks when we have no free time and weeks when we're in our area every day. So we find investigators that we can't maintain as well as we should. And then when we have a bunch of time we don't have anyone steady to teach. But we've arranged to share areas with the Assistants so there are two less-effective companionships sharing investigators. It works out.

We spent much of the week just trying to find new investigators and following up on some potential investigators that we found before. It was full of disappointments. People lied to us, ran away from us, insulted us, and failed us. We had an unusually long string of those occasions. But Heavenly Father always knows what we need to keep going. At church on Sunday we met a man named Fred who had come by himself. We followed him home and taught him right after church. He was an apostate pastor for some time and he's been involved in a number of different churches but came to a point about three years ago when he felt like something was missing. He wanted to attend a different church, but didn't know which one to go to. So he prayed to ask God and spent a while without any apparent answer. He knew about the Church and was interested in it, but it wasn't until he found out that one of his friends was a member that he really started his research. After a while he showed up to church. And we met him and taught him what he was missing and now we have a sweet investigator. Just what we needed.

While I've been in the office I've discovered and renovated the "MY MISSION" section of the missionary portal, which has been neglected up to date in our mission. It's basically news and documents posted online for missionaries. President Cosgrave and the assistants have been trying all different ways and means to get news out to missionaries, none of which have been very effective. We've started using it and we have our" big launch" (for Dad) today. So we'll see if missionaries use it or not. We're a technology mission! Haha yeah right.

Stay out of trouble!

Love, Elder Nelson

This is the Rogers' family who live in Kumasi. They txt home this picture as a surprise one day.

Nicodemusly

Dear America,

For reference, I've included this entry from the Ghanaian missionary's dictionary of common vernacular.

Nicodemusly: (adjective) describes an action performed in an inconspicuous, secretive, surreptitious, sneaky, or otherwise shifty way.

Life moves fast at the mission home. Whenever we get a spare moment, the members of our apartment joke around with each other to release stress. That joking has started into practical jokes this week. The latest happened this morning when we nicodemusly snuck some water balloons that Sister Schow gave to us into our car. The Schows are the couple in the other office. We planned to ambush the assistants while we were washing our cars after playing football. Unfortunately, they were nicodemusly snooping around in our car and discovered said water balloons. So we all ended up getting soaked and washing our cars about three times after the other companionship got it dirty again. 

We had the mission leadership council again this week, which is where the mission leaders come from all across the mission to council. Makes sense. But it means that the office elders have to distribute supplies and orders for the whole mission on that one day within about two hours after the meeting closes. We have a sweet system going, though, so it happens. We also got our supply delivery from Accra on that day so we were carrying and organizing boxes all day. I love being busy.

We also have a tradition of making a mission newsletter for everyone to read and feel unity. It gives updates about the mission, inspirational messages from missionaries, jokes, and we even included a gospel-themed word search this time. Elder Ayim was going to school in graphic design and all of the things that Dad ever taught me are coming in useful. We made it look pretty nice.

I also met a less-active woman who the missionaries have known for a while. We're helping her to read the Book of Mormon every day. I think that it will really help her regain her testimony. She's willing, so we'll give it everything we've got. She's done a good job of reading so far. We've met a few families who seem prepared to receive the restored gospel, but everyone who is super prepared seems to have a big challenge to overcome before they get baptized. One of the most difficult and rewarding things about missionary work is helping resolve people's concerns.

The best thing about being in the Daban apartment? We have a big fridge, a microwave, a toaster, and a waffle iron. I have been craving waffles so badly for the past few transfers. This week I made chocolate waffles in the waffle iron and they were beyond fantastic. I wish I could send pictures, but my camera is broken.

Enjoy a wonderful week!

Elder Nelson

In the Office

Dear America,

Apparently not everyone knows what office elders do, so let me clarify: the mission president assigns two assistants, who usually solve 90% of missionary problems and run the mission when the president is worrying about other things. In many missions, this is all. But the Ghana Kumasi Mission is extraordinary. It's bigger than Idaho or Utah and has tens of millions of people and a lot of work to do. So the mission president has divided the load between one companionship of assistants and one companionship of office elders. The assistants take care of most of the "spiritual" matters like instructing and training missionaries and directing the mission; the office elders take care of more "temporal" things like supplies for the mission, phones, incoming and outgoing missionaries, and RUNNING EVERYONE ELSE'S ERRANDS. Seriously. 50% of what we do are just the things that no one else at the mission home has time for. So it's a lot of driving and coordinating with the assistants. Our apartment is just us and the assistants and it's so chill. We work hard and we sleep hard. If we ever get time to play then we play hard, too. All in all, I haven't gone to sleep before 10:30 one night this week.

This week has been busy. On Monday I came to Kumasi alone (!) but it wasn't too bad because the office elders met me on the side of the road and picked me up after an uncomfortable wait. We drove some missionaries around that night and got to the apartment late. On Tuesday morning we drove homebound missionaries to the airport and took care of all of their flight stuff. Then we prepared hard for the transfer and got to proselyte for a whole hour (pathetic) in between errands. On Tuesday for dinner we ate pizza in celebration of July 4th, although none of us actually realized that it was July 4th. We enjoy relative luxury because we have cars so we can go places and do things if we have time. 

On Wednesday--transfer day--I drove. A lot. Like I said, office elders do errands. And when someone needs to go somewhere, we are the preferred method of transport. We got everything done in record time. Success! Since then we have been able to spend more time in our area seeing members and investigators and meeting new people. It's great. It feels weird to proselyte with a car, but also pretty awesome.

Driving is not nearly as terrifying as I thought it would be. As long as you pretend like you're in a video game, it's normal. Elder Lindley (in the apartment) explained to me that there are four rules on Ghana roads: 1) don't kill anyone 2) don't stop at stop signs 3) don't use your blinkers correctly and 4) if you ever see a speed limit sign, don't slow down because people will get angry. Don't worry, I don't always follow all four of those rules. You just have to drive really defensively. Everyone makes up for someone else's mistakes here. It's so cool. If you do something dumb, the other drivers will compensate for your stupidity. If they do something dumb, you do the same.

These are pictures from last week that I couldn't send. My camera is coughing out its last breath right now. I haven't been able to take a picture on it for weeks so I'm having other missionaries take pictures for me. You can pray and fast for my camera or else the number of pictures is about to go down really quickly.

Have a splendid week!

Elder Nelson

The Lone Ranger- 3 July 2017

Dear America,

This week has gone by quickly. We decided that we need to drop a lot of our investigators. They won't be happy about it but they aren't serious about learning the gospel. They just want us to come and talk about our homes with them and be their friends. We can be their friends, but we can't let them waste a lot of our time. 

We got transfer news! I'm leaving Nkawkaw to go to Daban in the heart of Kumasi. I'll be one of the office elders, which basically means that I'll have a lot more stress and a lot less proselyting time. I'm not sure what will happen, but be ready for much shorter emails. I'm excited but nervous at the same time. I'm excited to be busy busy busy. I like being pushed a little bit. I'm nervous about working with so many people and trying to be patient with all of them. I'm also nervous about driving in Ghana. Super nervous. This place is a madhouse and I haven't touched a steering wheel in almost two years. I'm also nervous because the travel plans have fallen in such a way the mission president has asked me to travel to the mission home on my own. On my own. Without a companion. Solo. In a city with millions of people. It's a trip that I've made many times before but it's got my nerves on edge right now. But it's all part of a big adventure! So I'm happy to do it. It will be good practice for when I get home.

Elder Wood wrote this while I was typing a financial report:

Hey this is Elder Wood, Im Elder Nelsons companion ,Transfer  news has come and sadly Elder Nelson will be leaving me ,It was a pleasure serving with your son he is a great missionary I have learnt a lot from him he truly emulates Christ like leadership,He truly loves the Lord I know that because I have seen how he has serves the Lord and His children.

Do you miss anything about home? It's not too bad, but while I've been with Elder Wood I've realized how fast time has passed. He came on mission just before I did and now he's getting ready to go home. Ahhhh! It's made me small nervous to come back.

What is one thing you are praying for? I've been praying for help with Christlike attributes a lot. 

What are you reading in the scriptures? Right now I'm reading in the beginning of Alma with a focus on characteristics of the Godhead and also in the book of Revelation with a focus on getting as much out of it as possible. And I've also been finding scriptures about missionary work throughout the scriptures to help motivate me every day.

Love,

Elder Nelson

Late Nights- 26 June 2017

Dear America,

I'll try to find something that would be good for Sadie. In answer to Tad's questions about roasting pigs, yes. But we only do it because there are Polynesians in the mission. Ghanaians don't really do that. Except for one food where they take cow skin, burn it, soak it in water, bury it, allow it to ferment, dig it back up, and put it in soup. It's not that bad unless you've ever seen how it's made. Then it's really bad.

This week we had some pretty late nights teaching investigators who could only meet us in the evening and getting stranded in Konongo until past our bedtime. Usually we skip lunch or dinner or both and come back to the apartment at 8:00 instead of 9:00 (which are super useless times of day in Ghana). But this week we ended up skipping lunch and dinner and still coming back late. We were working.

I saw these questions last week but didn't get the time to answer them.

Have you met the new senior missionaries yet? Tell us about them. Yeah, we met Elder and Sister Dearing when we went into Kumasi the last time. Elder Wood had to go to the dentist, so they drove us around Kumasi. They were extremely nice and just a few days fresh from the land of white bread. They even took us to the brand new mall (!!!) in Kumasi and we got french fries (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), which I've only had when I chose to make them. 

Give us the recipe of one of last things you made on your own. 

No-effort stew: oil, onions, tomato paste, assorted vegetables to taste, tomatoes, canned sardines, stew seasoning, curry powder, powdered red pepper, salt. Basically just add those things in a pan in the order listed. Then put it on rice or eat it with yam or cassava or plantain.

Does the rain smell the same as in Menan? Nope. Not at all.

Do you have a mirror in your apartment? Yes, depending on which apartment you're in. In some there are big mirrors and in others there are none. So I bought a small mirror that I take with me whenever I'm transferred.

Do you pray in English or Africanese? If I really want to make a point, I'll pray in Twi. But usually I don't do it because I'm expected to pray in English and it's irreverent and distracting for me to pull the Twi card.

Do Ghanians ride horses? What is the equivalent of a cowboy in Ghana? Horses don't exist here. At all. When we went to Paga, all of the whites paid to touch a crocodile. The west Africans paid to ride a horse bareback in circles. So that shows you where the interest of each is.

When is the last time you had a hot shower? bucket bath? I had a hot shower about a month ago when I went to the mission home. I haven't had a bucket bath in a while because the water is pretty good in our apartment.

Do you have any fun activities planned as a ward, zone or district? We played football this morning with some of the members. We do that every Monday morning and it's pretty sweet. It's hard for our zone to have a lot of activities because we're so spread apart that it gets expensive to all come together in one place. But we're managing and we had a nice activity as a district a few weeks ago. We made fufu. I drove the fufu while Elder Wood was pounding. It's unheard of for a white man to drive the fufu in the mortar. People don't believe that I can drive until I show them pictures.

What is your favorite gospel principe to teach? I think that one of the most misunderstood principles here that I like to teach is the difference between the power of the Holy Ghost and the power of the priesthood. People would resolve a lot of their concerns if they understood that one thing. 

What is your favorite way to meet new people? To do service for them. Usually when we meet somebody new, I'll jump in to help them wash or cook or whatever they're doing while Elder Wood talks to them. It's a good system.

Have you discovered a talent you didn't know you had? Apart from being a missionary.... I'm getting a lot better and being friends with people. I also learn things really fast (probably because I hate being wrong), but maybe just because life in Ghana really isn't that hard.

It's been raining a lot, which I love. I don't mind proselyting in the rain.

Enjoy the week and greet the other Elder (Challin) Nelson for me when he gets home! That's crazy!

Elder Nelson

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

Three-Hour Lesson- 12 June 2017

Dear America,

This week I'll just answer Dad's questions:

Have you had a recent teaching moment where something went well… or not well? Well this week we taught a few lessons where I had the distinct impression that the investigators didn't really comprehend everything we taught, but they definitely felt the Spirit. Ghanaians are funny. They aren't really good learners, but they're happy to sit and listen. We had one lesson where we took a return missionary member with us and he talked for three solid hours while we sat. The family that we were teaching probably doesn't remember anything, but they loved the way that he answered their questions and preached to them. They came to church on Sunday, so it all worked out for good.

How do you work with members? Do they open homes for discussions, join you at discussions, invite investigators, or any other support unique to Africa? We usually don't take people to a member's house for a lesson, but we can take them with us to visit an investigator if we plan it. Sometimes we can get them to bring the investigators to church with them.

How many people live in your area? How many members in your ward / branch? Active members? How many youth aged 12-18? Active youth? I have no idea how many people live in my area..... you can access Google maps, so you can probably get a better idea than I can. Just search Nkawkaw. We have an average sacrament attendance of between 30-50 people. 20 at the beginning of sacrament meeting and 50 at the end.

Have you had Malaria? Have you had other illnesses you’ve been advised not to tell your mother about? Are there monstrous bugs, snakes, spiders or other that would be shocking? I still haven't gotten malaria, and it's been a long, long time since I really got sick. The last time I threw up was about a month ago and it happened because I didn't eat enough food with my doxycycline (malaria prevention pill). Yeah, there are weird bugs here. We saw one last week that looked like an alien. It looked like something from a movie.

Have you felt answers to prayer, or seen the hand of the Lord in someone’s life recently? Sometimes when you feel really discouraged as a missionary, something small will happen that is just enough to keep you going. After many failures, you'll be ready to give up but then you get one small success. Often it feels like we don't make a difference in the big picture but then God reminds you that His plan requires simple things. It's like the talk about the currant bush who the gardener cut down. "I don't want you to be a shade tree, etc. I want you to be a currant bush." It's enough to just do what you can.

Any advice for Pace who is living with other teenage boys away from home in primitive conditions? Keep good habits. Things can get sketchy when guys room together away from home, especially when they aren't mature. So don't compromise your habits. Read your scriptures. Say your prayers. Go to bed at a reasonable time. And feel free to tell them when they're being stupid. They probably just need a reminder.

Sorry for the slightly lame email. I'm working on writing better ones.

Love, Elder Nelson