See my sister's mission blog here!

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Christmas!!!!!!

Dear Family and Friends, I'm SO SORRY that I have been so slow in updating this blog the last couple weeks! It has been crazy! Here is the letter from this week, and below it I will put the letter from last week. Once again, there's no pictures. Sorry! Elder McGuire told us while we were on the phone with him (Which was FABULOUS by the way), that in his area of Ghana the internet is so ridiculously slow because they only have one internet network and the whole village could be on the internet at any given time! That's what makes it so slow that he can't send us pictures!

Dear Family!!

This week was amazing!! i loved being able to talk to all of you and hear your voices! Im glad to see that everyone is doing well! The work this week was awesome too!

Christmas was Great we spent most of the day in praso for district meeting and calling home. We made it back to nyenasi just in time for Midweek to start. We werent expecting anyone to come but a lot did. Elder bannerman and i ended up teaching and it was an awesome lesson. A lot of people called it Xmas here instead of Christmas, so we talked about the difference and about how important it is for us to have
christ in our lives.

Thursday was a sweet day we were able to have a lot of great lessons and one very interesting one too. We showed up to teach a guy named Michael and before we started teaching he said he wanted to tell us
about a dream he had. We said okay. He said in his dream he saw our apartment, he said inside he saw that there was a whiteboard with his name on it and next to the whiteboard was a table where me and elder
bannerman would sit and discuss about him and other people on our board. Now this guy has never stepped near our apartment or the church before. He came this sunday and got lost on his way so he had never
seen our apartment or anything but he described our study room in perfect detail.....So yeah that was a little weird! hahaha the lesson went great and he is progressing well.

Friday was basically the same, great lessons and we were able to accomplish a lot. The sweet thing for friday was we had a chance to sit down and talk with a disabled man named brother Baidoo. He can barely walk or talk and is old. His impediments are a result of a car crash he was in some years ago. But he bore his testimony to us that because of his garments he survived the crash. He also talked about his years of being a soldier and how he felt protected because of the covenants he made in the temple. This man had such a strong testimony of the temple and he also told us of how he was sealed with his wife and with his family. The Really cool thing thing about this whole experience was that he was saying everything in Twi, but i was able to understand everything! So that was fridays highilight.

Satruday morning we woke up and went to farm with a guy that we were friends with but hadnt had the opportunity to start teaching him yet so we decided to do some service in order to break the ice a little. It worked and we'll be teaching him this week. Also we were able to find a guy that we have been looking for. His name is Edward, he has come to church twice and is friends with one of our investigators. He is really smart and earnestly seeking for the truth. So we found him but he was busy and said he would try to meet us later. He was unable to make it later but that night we were having coordination meeting at the church house. All the sudden edward walked in....hahaha needless to say we were surprised. we talked with him for a while and gave him a restoration pamphlet and a book of mormon.

Sunday was sweet too! hahaha we had a lot of people come to church this week and we had 4 investigators come to church too. After church we were able to go to edwards house and really sit down with him to have a lesson. We shared about the restoration of the gospel and the book of mormon. He loved every second of it and he committed to be baptized on the 18th of january! We are so pumped because its been a while since weve had anyone with a baptismal date. Things are moving again! We also had another good lesson with michael that night. We sat down and asked him if he had recieved an answer about the church or not, he said that he hadnt. So we started talking about his prayers. We discovered that he wasnt asking specifically about the truthfulness of the church. we then asked him that if he did recieve an answer that everything was true, would he be baptized? he said no straightway. He said that he really liked the church he was in and it would be too hard for him to leave it. We then helped him understand that in his search for the truth that god was not going to answer him if he is not willing to act on the answers he would receive. So he promised to change and committed that he would listen to the answers if god gave them to him. So yeah sweet lesson! We could have totally lost him there but thanks to the spirit he is still around. The spirit is so essential in this work and has been helping us so much! I just have to do my best to stay worthy of his companionship.

Today has been a good day, weve done our washing, relaxed, and went to a field and threw my football around a little bit. So yeah its been an awesome week!

I love all of you guys and i was soo happy to talk to you this week! i hope you have a great week and ill talk to you soon!
love you!

love, Elder Bradley McGuire




Dear Family!!!

Afishia pa!!!!! thats merry christmas in twi! so ive been saying it to everyone the last few days!! It sounds like you have been hit by a lot of snow! hahaha it just gets dustier and dustier by the day out here but its okay im still loving life!

My week this week has been amazing!!!!! i will try to explain everything but if i miss it i guess ill just tell you tomorrow when i TALK TO YOU!!!

alright So monday after i emailed you last week we did some shopping and then we did our best to catch a tro tro back up to praso. it took us forever to get one so we didnt get back there until late and we had to spend the night in the praso elders apartment.

Tuesday we woke up in the morning and went to nyenasi, showered, and cleaned up and packed a few things and came back for district meeting. It took us forever to get back to praso because tuesday is market day and everyone wanted to go to praso. And when a taxi or a tro tro pulls up and says hop in! everyone just mobs it and its ridiculous to fight for a tro. so we didnt make it back for district meeting until the very end. After district meeting elder bannerman and i did some shopping. then at 3 i left elder bannerman with the elders in praso and traveled by myself to cape coast. It was so weird being alone! so i made it to cape coast and the APs came and picked me up and took me to the Office Elders place.(its right next to the mission home). So i spent the rest of the night with the office elders and we proselyted and had some fun.

Wednesday i woke up and got to the mission home by 8 to meet up with president and sister shulz. Now the reason i was able to come to accra with them is because they were taking some elders to the airport so they could get home before christmas. Now in this mission when elders go home they all wear the same tie to match. Its always one of the ties that we get from our christmas present from president and sister shulz. So we just barely all got new ties for this christmas. I forgot that the elders that leave always wear that tie when they go home. I just wanted to show sister shulz that i was wearing the tie she gave me. SO i like the elders going home wore the tie we got for this christmas.......hahaha i realize what i just said doesnt make a whole
lot of sense but if you could get the just of it....so i was wearing the same tie as the elders going home hahaha. Anyway....So we left for accra around 8 and its a 3 hour drive plus traffic so we finally made it to the Accra temple around 11:30. we had a lunch of pb&j that sis shulz made us and it was sooo good! then we finished just in time to make the 12:30 session. I have needed to go to the temple for some time now! i have missed it so much!!!!! they didnt show the new film but i still loved it!!! i received some much needed guidance and it has helped me so much!!!! So after the temple session we walked across the parking lot to the area office where the area doctor is. So i went and visited him, he just numbed up my toe and cut out the in grown part of my nail and it was super easy, it only took 5 minutes!! and it is so great now! After the doc fixed me up, we took the elders going home to a mall in Accra that was sweet! it was just like a mall back
home! and inside they had KFC!!!!!!!!! so President shulz took us all to KFC!!! this whole time i thought i was dreaming! hahaha sister shulz also likes to take pictures. everytime she would want to take a picture of the elders going home and i would be with them, she kept getting confused cuz i was wearing the same tie as them. So we finally dropped the elders off at the airport and then drove about 45 minutes to the MTC and we spent the night there. it was weird to be back there but it was fun, i got to talk to all the new
elders there.

Thursday we woke up and i went with the APs to the south african embassy. Our new AP is from south africa and he needed to get a drivers license, it took forever but eventually we finished and left. So we started our way home to cape coast. On the way we stopped at a city in the mission called Swedru and we went to an Orphanage. We gave all of the kids Some stalkings that our aps grandma made and sent to him. The kids were so happy and it was an awesome experience. This was probably the biggest christmas gift that these kids have ever gotten in their lives and it was amazing to see the joy come into their countenance as they each took one. I was really lucky to be a part of this all. After that the aps dropped me off at a tro station and i came back to praso, picked up elder bannerman, and we went home to nyenasi. Then we had some talking and planning to do and we are picking up our act. Its not like we have been being disobedient or anything but just havent been doing effective work, so we talked and made some changes and everything has just gone up from there.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday were pretty normal days except for the fact that our work has been improving every day.

Monday wasnt pday for us because christmas is wednesday and was supposed to be transfers that day. So they did transfers on monday and we proselyted. IT was a fun day because everyone is happy and thinking
about christmas. We had FHE with a family in our branch and i brought my guitar and we sang christmas songs and hymns and it was a blast. So today is pday for us and we are all getting ready for christmas. We
have district meeting on christmas so we are kinda havin a party. We are also staying in praso so that we can call home and actually hear you! so 9 sounds great! i will be calling then.

Also While i was with president shulz this week he asked me to ask you to get me an international drivers license. You have to go to www.idlservice.com. and just follow the instructions. then once you get it i need you to send it to me with my drivers license(my new one that shouldve come right after i left). If you could do that asap for me that would be great!!! Thankyou so much!

Anyway thats my week!!!!! i hope you guys have a fun time at grandma and grandpas tonight!!! ill talk to you tomorrow!!! i love you!!!!

love, Bradley

Monday, December 16, 2013

A GOOD WEEK!!!

Hey FAMILY and FRIENDS!! Here's another update from Elder McGuire. Can't wait to talk to him in NINE DAYSS!!!! SO close!!!! And, no pictures this week... So sad....

Hey Family,

it seems just like yesterday i was getting ready to call you guys for mothers day and now its time to call again! im so excited to talk to all of you and i cant wait!. it sounds like you guys as usual had a great week. the fact that it is cold there is still a foreign concept to me hahaha. but i guess it wont be so foreign in 2 years haha. We had a sweet week here and life is good.

So tuesday to thursday were pretty typical days and they were full of good mission work. Thursday night we went and stayed over in praso. Friday morning we all woke up early and we went down to cape coast for the mission christmas conference. it was sooo much fun! we started by hearing a few really good talks by elders about christ and the true meaning of christmas. After the talks we got to watch FOREVER STRONG! hahaha i love president and sister shulz! even though ive seen it like a million times it was still sweet to watch again. We watched it because the mission motto is forever strong so they talk a bout it a lot. After the movie we had a really good christmas dinner of Rice and chicken (hahaha yeah im in ghana remember?) but it was nice and we were all stuffed! After we ate dinner we had the talent show and it was awesome. all of the zones had a talent so i played my guitar and everyone sang along our own version of angels we have heard on high. it was sweet and everyone loved it.  After the talent show we all piled into a tro and headed home. when we got back to praso the zls had a box with them and they didnt know what was in it. we opened it up and ALL of my PACKAGES were in it with some letters too!! so i got 3 packages and 3 letters on friday too!!!!! so yeah friday was incredible!!!!! thankyou so much for everything!!!! i put all of my presents under our "tree"(a previous elder had a tree made  out of fabric so we got it and hung it up in our apartment) so it feels like christmas!!!!! thankyou so much!!!!!

Saturday was another good day and we taught some good lessons. I also pounded a lot of fufu and got some nice blisters on my hands. its alright though my hands are getting their callouses back finally. There was also a big funeral this weekend so a lot of people were out and about and it made it easier for us to contact and to find people.

Sunday was also pretty typical and nothing out of the ordinary happened. We went and picked up Brother Baidoo again(the blind man) and i love just walking with him in the morning to church.

So yeah the work is going on like normal this week. Our branch is struggling and the area has its challenges but we are working hard to help it and we are staying positive about it all!

I didnt get to watch the christmas devotional but i have been able to listen to half of it. i was able to hear president Monsons talk and also the primary presidents talk...It was a red jumper!.....hahaha i love them. I loved in president monsons talk how he mentioned that if we drop the last syllable in the spirit of Christmas it becomes he spirit of Christ. Having the spirit of Christ at this time of the year is soo important! he also talked about the importance of giving gifts not just getting gifts. Never once do you read in the scriptures about how christ recieved a large gift from someone.Its all about how christ gave and served others and we should all be working our hardest to do the same.

So what are the plans for christmas????? are you gonna go to bear lake again?? i know im gone but we need the tradition to continue so in 2 years we can still be doing it!:D

Anyway thats me for the week! i hope you guys have an awesome week and have some fun! oh yeah what time do you want me to call on christmas?? im 7 hours ahead of you guys so  whatever works!

Love you!!!

love, Bradley


Oh yeah!!! hahaha i forgot to tell you guys! so I got an ingrown toe nail about 2 months ago, i cut it out and it was fine. but i was walking around the compound of our apartment and i tripped and kicked a brick with it. i kinda mashed my toe and things started growing back wrong and it got infected. so im going to accra this week to see the mission doctor at the area office and he is gonna fix me up! some elders are going home this week too and before elders go home they are all allowed to go to the temple right before they leave, so i get to go with them and i am soooooo  excited!!! i miss the temple so much and i cant wait to see and be there again! and here are some pictures for the last lil bit okay sorry its not working...next time! i love you all

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Investigators and Christmas Season

Here's another email from Elder McGuire! His English is starting to slip a bit! haha! You can tell that his grammar is kind of going a bit! :)


Hey Family!!

IT sounds like you guys had a cold week! hahaha for me its just getting hotter and dustier! Hamattan is in full swing and its crazy! i thought i got away from the inversions of utah hahaha but the dust here is about the equivalent. so now i dont have to ride in tro tro's to turn orange i just have to walk outside!(its not really that bad but its more than usual!)

Christmas decorations? they dont have much up here but down in cape i have seen tinsel, fake trees, and other things, but its not quite the same hahaha. but it is still nice to see a lil bit of christmas!

So for my week this week. Over all it was pretty standard. On tuesday we had district meeting and taught some good lessons. On Wednesday we went on splits. Elder bannerman stayed in Nyenasi and i went to praso and we had some fun. Thursday we had some great lessons again and we are soooo close with people! to describe them i will use the words of daniel from one of his emails from when he was in brazil "you can lead a horse to water, and then shove its head under until its about to die, but you still cant force it to drink!" hahahaha thats how i feel with a couple people but we just have to be persistent and go as the spirit directs.

Friday was a great day. President shulz came up to praso and we had interviews with him and received instruction from the aps. We were instructed on the importance of working with our stake and ward leaders and its so true!! as much as missionaries can do, we cant do everything and we need the help of our leaders! my interview with president shulz was great and i love being able to talk to him about anything and ask hiim for advice.

Saturday was a little different than usual. We woke up and went to farm with a less active member and weeded her cassava and cocoa. dont worry ive got it down with the machete so no blisters this round! After working for a few hours we came back got cleaned up, studied small and then went out to teach. the rest of the day was a little rough because some of our people werent ready for us when we came to them even though we set appointments with them. we had to wait for a few of them and because of it we were delayed and missed a few appointments. The people werent happy that we missed either and i felt really bad. Its best not to step on peoples toes! especially in this work! so we asked for forgivness and everything is better now.

Sunday was an amazing day as it typically is. We woke up in the morning and got ready and quickly left the apartment. We went to pick up a blind member so he could come to church. He is extremely old and frail, he is the only member of the church in his family. Because he is the only member in his family they refuse to bring him to church. So now we are going to pick him up and bring him. The only way to get him to church is to simply take him by the hand and lead him a long. because he is old he can only take small steps and it takes some time. As i was leading him a long i realized that in affect that is what i am doing with everyone that i teach about the church. People want to "come to Church" or find christs true gospel. But because "they know not where to find it" they need someone to come and take them by the hand and lead them along, taking small steps because at first its difficult. The difference is that graduallly the people we work with eventually take bigger and bigger steps and eventually can make it on their own. But for this man we will never give up on him. So that was my first great experience of the day. Church was great and some good
lessons were taught! After church we had one lesson that stood out among the rest. We have a new investigator named Michael. We have only taught him once so yesterday was our second lesson with him. because it was our second lesson we taught him about the book of mormon. During the course of the lesson he asked all the right questions and even accepted and invitation to be baptized! When we left we gave him
a few assignments to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. After the lesson we visited a member that lives right behind michaels house. We were there for about 45 minutes. to leave we had to pass by
Michaels house again, when we walked by he was in the same place that we had left him reading the book of mormon. I was sooo happy and it was great to see someone who is actively seeking to know the truth!!
So those were my awesome experiences on sunday!

Yesterday we washed, practiced our song as a zone for the talent show on friday.(im playing my guitar and the zone is singing), and relaxed. We tried to email but the power was out! So yeah friday is the mission
christmas party and im super excited! i get to play my guitar for everyone and we get to have some awesome instruction from our mission president and others. Thankyou for the christmas packages and im sure i will get them soon. As far as calling goes it will be just like last time. All you have to do is talk to me and tell me everything!!!! im so excited!!!

Anyway family thats my week and i hope you guys also have another
great week! i love you!!

Love, Elder Bradley McGuire

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

A Lesson in Culture!

Here's a new email fro Elder McGuire! Enjoy!!!

Hey Family!

Wow it sounds like you guys just had a big party this week!! im glad you guys had an awesome time and i hope all of you were thankful for what we have, we truly have a lot and should be sooo thankful for it!

I had an awesome week too! on tuesday after district meeting we went home and taught some good lessons but by the time we got home i was sooooo tired! so i went to bed early to catch up on some sleep.

Wednesday was a day that tests missionaries. All of our appointments fell through except for 1! so we ended up walking around a lot and just contacting people. its frustrating when you set appointments and people dont show but all we can do is just keep trying! Mid week was awesome though. me and my companion taught and we taught on families and i thought of you guys a bunch. i was able to share a lot of family
experiences and i was so happy to be able to share that with others.

Thursday was a good day and we were able to make up for lost lessons. we also have been preparing this Sister Elizabeth who is 55 for baptism and we answered all her final questions and she was ready! So friday came and she was interviewed for baptism and passed easily. Also on friday we got a bunch of referrals from members that were sweet! can i just say that one of the things i love here are member referrals. when members refer their friends to us it makes it so much easier for us to teach and to have success because we have support!.

Saturday was sweet! we woke up and we went to the taxi station to meet our baptismal candidate to travel to Nyamakrom for the baptism. She didnt show up! we went to check to see if she was home and she was. She had misunderstood us and thought she wanted us to meet here at the church at 7. she came and waited for 2 hours but got tired of waiting so she went home. soo we clarified everything and she came with us. the baptism went great! elder bannerman Baptized her and she was really happy. On the way back from the village the road is terrible and the taxis are even worse. the one we were in i could see the road through the floor boards. and its super dusty so by the time we got back we were ORANGE! literally we were soo dusty! so we got back to nyenasi and changed and then went out and taught for the rest of the
day.

Sunday was an awesome Fast and testimony sunday. Church went great, we had 3 investigators come, and a lot of good testimonies were given. After church we taught some really good lessons and one of our investigators mentioned his desire to be baptized but said he had a few problems he wanted to take care of before. so we offered help and he told us that his Wife of 10 years wasnt legally or traditionally married to him. Here in africa they do traditional marraige and its a huge process that can be a problem but this man is smart and well off and is working hard to fix things before he will be baptized. So we were really happy he told us so we can work with him on it.

Today was a nice day and we were able to get our washing done and relax a bit.

You asked about african traditons for christmas, its actually not any different than at home. Every one eats a ton of food and gives gifts. its not quite as big as back home and not too many people believe in santa clause here which is sad, its okay ill teach them about him! hahaha. there are a lot of interesting african customs that i have glossed over though. when you enter someones house, or compound you should say AAGO! which means "entering", if you walk by someone and make eye contact you MUST greet them or its very rude! NEver use your left hand for anything!(its because they think thats the hand you wipe with and if you eat or shake peoples hands its and insult). When you welcome someone into your home, you first offer them water, then food(if you have the means), and then state your mission or reason for coming. that one is nice because it keeps us hydrated, fed and lets us get to the point, haha but most people dont usually feed you. the few that do expect you to wait for them to prepare food and if you refuse, it is extremely rude. so thats what i got for now! ill write more next week!

I want to thank you all for everything that you do for me and i want
you to know how much i love you guys! i couldnt do it without you!
HAve an awesome Week!!

love, Bradley

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thanksgiving Week!

Sorry that this letter is late! Today I am grateful for letters from Elder McGuire!!! Here's the latest!

Dear Family!

So i feel a little sheepish after mistaking thanksgiving, i thought it
was always the third thursday of november?? oh well i get to celebrate
it twice now!!! hahaha! It sounds like everyone had a good week. i was
laughing so hard i was crying when you told me about preston and his
shoes, but at the same time a little angry at the teacher, hahaha but
it wasnt her fault just lack of communication. But lack of
communication can cause huge problems everywhere! its a big problem
for missionaries and investigators, if proper communication doesnt
take place, we miss out on a lot of important things and it ends up in
someone getting hurt. Communication is KEY!!!

My week was a good one and we were able to get some really good work
done, and we have some awesome investigators. We will even be having a
baptism this coming weekend so i am excited! itll be our first one
since i left tarkwa. Thursday was a funny day for me because i kept
thinking of all the things the family would be doing for thanksgiving!
hahaha whats even worse is that it wasnt thanksgiving!!! hahaha its
okay now i can focus better this week;)

This week there were also 2 funerals in nyenasi which made things
ridiculously busy. Ghanaians and Funerals are like byu and utah fans
gathering to watch the rivalry game. Everyone comes and it is just
mayhem. The funerals are just giant parties that go on for like 3
days. But despite the music and the dancing and the alcohol everywhere
we were able to still have some really sprititual lessons and we were
able to make some good progress with our investigators, hopefully
we'll be having a couple more baptisms next month.
on Friday and Saturday the power was out and lets just say its much
better to have the power on! hahaha

The candidate this week is a woman named Sis. Elizabeth. she is in her
upper 50's and she has been around the bend when it comes to churches.
She has been in them all but she says that she never quite found what
she needed to fulfill her. She already has a testimony of the gospel
and a determination to follow jesus christ to the end. A lot of time
people treat baptism as a small thing, but it is no small thing. Not
only does it allow someone to experience the full blessings of the
gospel, it qualifies someone to enter into the kingdom of heaven, the
thing we are all desire. Baptism is NOT a small thing. Baptism is
huge!!!!! i am so happy to be able to be part of such a wonderful
thing here in nyenasi.

Today in district meeting we were all trying to decide on something we
would do for the mission conference christmas party talent show. itll
be on Dec 13th. We decided that we would sing angels we have heard on
high as a zone but we would change it to PRASO we have heard on high
and have some fun with it. (praso is our zone) They want me to play it
on the guitar so im gonna be practicing, im so happy that i can still
play all the way out here in the jungle!! hahaha

Anyway thats my week!!! i hope everyone has an awesome thanksgiving
and i hope we can all avoid problems with our shoes too!! haha I LOVE
YOU ALL!!!

Love, Bradley

Monday, November 18, 2013

BACK TO WORK - Pictures!!!

We got TONS of pictures from Elder McGuire this morning! hahaha! This is better than Christmas day for me! I'm in heaven!
Here they are!

This is Kakum National Forest!









These were some awesome sunsets!



Cool Storm Cloud


A Friend in our apartment! EW!!!


My new kitchen!


Fisherman on the beach


The castle



Me and Elder Bannerman


Me and my package! Thanks boys!!!!


BACK TO WORK!

One of the most used movie quotes at our house is,
"You know what my grandfather says? GET BACK TO WORK!!!" - Cool Runnings
 I feel like Elder McGuire had a week like this! haha! :D

Dear Family

This week has been quite eventful and i am happy to say that i am back in my area and back to work! Im glad to hear that everyone is doing good and that everyone is staying busy. in case you guys didnt know Its Thanksgiving this week!!!! you all better eat your hearts out for me!! hahaha and dont forget to be thankful for everything god has given to us;) ive come to appreciate the statement that "you dont know how good something is till its gone" hahaha but really we should be thankful and show are grattitude for all that god has blessed us with. He didnt have to bless us with everything that we have but since he loves us he chose to do so. so Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful this week for the following:
On tuesday it was the final day of the trio, we had fun and taught some good lessons and then that night all the elders that were leaving packed up their things. Wednesday morning we woke up and the elders who were transferring left and we stayed and studied. then we went out and proselyted till around 3. Then at 3:30 our new companions came! The new elder that i am training is Elder Bannerman. He is a Ghanaian and is from Accra. He is really great and we are gonna have a lot of fun/success together. So my new companion came and together we went to Nyenasi to move back in......When we got there there were people at our apartment working. I knew that people would be doing a couple things at our apartment to fix some stuff but nobody told me just how much! They cleaned up our cabinets and put new covers on them, they tiled the floor, and painted. but they werent done when we got there. so we couldnt stay. So that night my companion grabbed a change of clothes from his bag and we had to go back and spend the night in praso.

Thursday we woke up and studied in praso and we really got to know each other. So after studying we went to nyenasi and proselyted all day there. We taught some really good lessons and even though Elder Bannerman is new he is a great teacher we just gotta work out the kinks and we'll be awesome! so we were there all day and the apartment still wasnt done, so we had to go back to praso again. Friday we did basically the same thing Except we got to stay!!! and i got the Package!!!! from the time it left bountiful to the time it was in my hands was only 14 days! i was soo happy. Thankyou parker and preston for the halloween candy!!!! i have been loving it! i haven encountered a problem though. i can only eat about 1 or 2 pieces before the sugar becomes too much for me hahaha. but its good because i can enjoy it for longer. Yes elders do get envelopes and packages. The boxes just take a little longer and you have to pay duty on it but its really not to bad at all. So i got my package and i was soo happy!!! Even though our apartment was nice and new, it was dirty from all the work, so elder bannerman and i cleaned for about 3 hours for friday night and called it a day. Then Saturday morning we spent about 3 more hours cleaning and our apartment is amazing now!!! haha i can actually keep food in the kitchen! can you believe it?! So now that all this has happened we could really get back to focusing on the lords work. So the rest of saturday we were able to teach some good lessons and also commit and investigator to baptism for next month so that is exciting!

Sunday was just awesome! we had good attendance at church, my companion bore his testimony and taught an awesome lesson in sunday school. We had 5 investigators come to church and all of them are progressing! After church we taught some nice lessons and we got fed by one of our investigators and it was just a good end to this crazy week.

Today has been great! we woke up this morning and we came in to cape coast for sub pday. we played some basketball and it was right on the beach by the castle! i finally got to go to the beach and play in the sand and stuff! i love the beach so much so i guess its a good thing im up in the nyenasi hahaha.

So that was my week! the lord really has blessed me a lot this week and i cant wait to continue on in the work! I hope you guys have an awesome week and an awesome thanksgiving! when you go around the table asking for what we are thankful for tell them that elder McGuire is thankful for the Best Family in the World!! and the opportunity to share the gosple with the people of ghana!

I love you all!!!

love, Bradley

P.S. i would love timtams, cocoa, beefjerky, music, a memory Sd card for my camera, pictures, letters, a head lamp(mine broke), maple flavoring, peanut butter, peanut butter m&ms, and really anything you would want to add, these are just some ideas

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

A Crazy Week in a Trio!

Here's the latest from our Mowgli a.k.a. Elder McGuire! (hehe)

Dear Family,

This week has been kinda crazy and all over the place. But the work is
still the same and still amazing.

So tuesday night Elder Atila packed up his things and i packed a small
bag for myself and we spent the rest of the night talking and having
fun for our last time.

Wednesday we woke up in the morning and came to praso. we sent elder
atila off to his home town and i went and put some stuff in the praso
missionaries apartment. i have been in a trio with my district leader
and his companion all week. lets just say i love missionaries but
trios are hard!!! hahaha it has been fun though. the district leader
was in the mtc with me and we are good friends. so wednesday we
proselyted in their area and taught a few good lessons and just did
work.

Thursday Elder Egbert(my DL), Elder Lucas(another elder in my
district), and me all went down to cape coast to the mission home for
a training meeting because we are all training this transfer. IT was
nice to get some instruction again although it was much the same as it
was last time. I really like the instruction though and it really puts
emphasis on the importance of being a good trainer. I hope i can do it
again! haha so after the meeting we all came back to praso and
proselyted for the rest of the night.

Friday we actually got to go back to nyenasi which was nice because we
actually got do some work in my area and teach some of my
investigators. We have some really good people we are working with
right now and i think we will have a baptism at the end of this month
so thats exciting. I also picked up a cold friday and its been with me
ever since, its funny, i got a cold right before i trained last
time!!!! its alright though it hasnt hindered the work and i think is
breaking today:)

Saturday was awesome! we did a service project at a members shop in
praso. Poured a concrete pad in front of his little shop. it took a
long time because we had to haul sand and dirt from far away to build
it up and then we had to mix about a yard of concrete by hand! i loved
it! its been forever since i mixed concrete and it gave me a chance to
show ghanaians that white boys can work! hahaha they think we arent
strong and dont know manual labor so much. lets just say i showed them
otherwise. it took up a lot of the day, but we still had enough time
to teach a couple lessons and get some good work in. But by the end of
the day i was SOOO tired! being sick didnt help either so i just went
straight to bed when we got back.Right before i went to bed we got
transfer news and found out that a bunch of people in our
zone/district are getting transferred. with transfers and people going
home, 1 person from each companionship is leaving so this next
transfer should be interesting. We did find out Elder Moleme is coming
up here to be the district leader so it will be fun to be near him
again!

Sunday was nice, we woke up and went to the praso elders ward so my DL
could bear his testimony one last time, then we went to nyenasi. It
was branch conference this week so we had the district president and
his counselors there to speak and instruct and it was nice to have
some leadership helping out. there were a lot of good lessons and a
bunch of people came to church. i hope we can keep it that way!

Monday was pday and it was nice to have time to relax, i slept, and
wrote letters and we played some games. We tried to email but the
power went out so we couldnt. One of the Elders brought monopoly so we
played all day yesterday, haha i forgot how fun board games were!!!
then monday night we went and visited some people but it started to
pour rain so we went back to the apartment and were in for the rest of
the night.

Today was district meeting and we had a great lesson for our last time
with everyone in this zone, im gonna miss some guys but thats how
mission is. My new companion will be here tomorrow and im way
excited!!! not only to get my new companion but to get back to my
area. As much as i like to play third wheel, im ready to get back to
work.

Altogether a great week! im glad to hear that you are all happy and
are having fun! The weather here is still the same hot and humid. Soon
we will be in Hamattaan which is the dry/dusty season and its gonna
get hot so we are all gearing up for it!. My clothes are holding up
well so far and im getting good at hand washing haha.

I was sad to hear about the Philippines and the hurricane. i hope that
the spirit can be working through people so that the help that is
needed may be given. i hope and pray that the missionaries are okay. i
know one of my friends(Caleb Eliason) will be there in january so he
will have his work cut out for him!

Also i like what you said about we need to put in our work to expect
blessings. We talked about prayer in district meeting today and a
missionary shared a sweet quote "Pray like it all depends on god, Work
like it all depends on you" i like that a lot! so i hope with all our
prayers we can also work hard to fulfill our responsibilities and do
our best.

I love you all!!! have another great week and dont forget to keep smiling!!!

Love, Elder Bradley McGuire

Monday, November 4, 2013

Rain and Snow!

Here is Utah, the snowy season has begun! And in Ghana, it doesn't snow, but it does rain! And it rains a LOT!!! It's comforting to know that wherever we are right, it will feel like the sky is falling! haha!

Dear Family,
It sounds like you guys had quite the week all around between working
and halloween and everything, i guess there is never a dull moment
for anyone in our family!
this week was a great week in Nyenasi. We taught a bunch of lessons
this week and our investigators are really starting to progress. We
committed one of them to baptism this week too!
The rain has picked back up again and it rained everyday this week. on
friday it rained harder than i have ever seen it rain in my life. the
only thing missing was the 80mph wind and it couldve been a hurricane.
there was a ton of lighting too and it was loud! it was so cool! i
loved it! Also as far as cool things in nature this week go. There was
a solar eclipse on sunday! it was sweet and we could see it really
well. from where we were the moon didnt pass completely in front of
the sun but a lot of it did! its so cool to see all of the amazing
things the lord created for us to see. Every clear night i can see
more stars than i have ever seen before and i love it! it reminds me
of being up at the west fork looking up at the stars. hahaha i liked
how you said it probably seems like a camping trip sometimes. you
would be suprised just how much it does, but its okay because i love
camping!! haha
its so true about the work in all of the church hastening. i have all
of the conference talks on audio and i listen to them over and over
again and every time i seen new things that i can be doing and the
members as well to further the work of the church. it just goes to
show that the "stone cut out of the mountain without hands, rolling
forth to fill the whole earth" is really picking up speed! and i know
how much the missionaries appreciate it when members help in the
missionary work too. Elder cook gave a CES Fireside this year and it
was also featured in the ensign for october, and the talk was entitled
"What 'ere thou art act well thy part" and its so true! Where ever we
are assigned we should all be fulfilling our duty so that we can
better serve the lord!
In other news my companion elder atila is leaving this wednesday but
the transfer isnt for another week, so i am going to be in a trio with
my district leader and his companion for a week. I also found out that
i am going to be training again this transfer!! i am excited! i loved
being with elder keetch to train him and im up for round 2! hahaha
my Snow day is going to be on the 8th! this friday! haha i hope no one
else has picked that day! also thanks for the package! i cant wait to
get it! another thing i wanted to ask for was a flash drive with music
on it. president shulz allows us to have any music that teaches
doctrine and is spiritually uplifting. so firesides, efy music,
joseph, trek, recordings from family, good christmas music;) anything.
i would love that!
I love you all so much and hope that you have a great week!
love, Bradley

x

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Halloween In Ghana (Kind of haha!)

Here's another dandy and exciting letter from yours truly! I can't tell you how happy these emails make me!!!

Hey Family!!!

Im glad to hear that you are all doing well and i hope you keep it
up!! so ill answer questions first, No they do not celebrate
halloween, they have witch doctors and juju and superstitions 24/7 so
that tides everybody over on that point and its really really annoying
sometimes. but we just stay away from "all appearance of evil" so were
okay. They celebrate, christmas, new years, ghanaian independance day,
mothers day, and some other obscure holidays that i dont know about.
Yes i wash my clothes in a big basin by hand, actually my favorite way
is to put my soap in with the clothes and i walk in place on them with
my feet. we call it stomp washing and it works really well haha.

A typical day would go like this. wake up at 6:30, shower, make
breakfast and get dressed and ready for the day. 8 is personal study,
scriptures, missionary library and the church magazines, 9 is
companion study, share what we learned, share what we learned, talk
about our investigators and plan who and what we will teach. i also do
a little training with my comp since he is new. we leave the apartment
at 11 to go out and teach. then we work all day teaching and
contacting and doing our best to further the work of the lord. then we
come home anywhere from 8-9 we talk about the day set goals and talk
about things we could do better, then from 9-10:30 we eat dinner,
write letters, write in our journal, shower, and go to bed. and
through out all of this we have as much fun as humanly possible. If
your on a mission and your not having fun, your not doing mission
right.

Okay so here is my week! Tuesday was district meeting in praso and it
went well. we were instructed on the power and authority of our
calling and how we should take our calling as a missionary seriously.
after we shopped a little and then went back to our area. we taught
some good lessons and a member gave us some sugar cane, i love eating
sugar cane! haha its basically like a sugary tooth brush and its
really good! you bite and suck on the fibers and the sugar comes out
and its really nice. Also that night i spoke with president shulz and
we found out that my companions mission call came! he is going to the
Benin City mission in Nigeria and he leaves at the end of next month,
so he is actually leaving me next wednesday. So i might get another
stake missionary as a companion, or i will be in a trio for a week and
then i will get a missionary from the mission at the transfer so
we'll see about that.

Wednesday we taught some good lessons. We tried to do a service
project but when we went to do it the people never showed up so we
didnt do it. Wednesday night at midweek i taught the 6 members that
came some new hymns, haha most of the branch only knows about 5 hymns
and they are as sick of it as i am so im teaching them more so we can
have a bit more variety haha.

Thursday and friday were both about the same, we worked hard and
taught some good lessons and then we also taught seminary to the
youth. Then on Saturday after teaching a couple lessons we went with
the youth to praso where everyone in the zone brought their youth
along with their non-member friends and we played football. it was
youth vs missionaries and it was a lot of fun, we lost 3-2... also the
field had about 7 big mud puddles and anytime i slipped or fell, it
somehow always ended up sending me into the water and the mud. haha
lets just say i was dirty. we played for a while and by the time we
got back it was late so that was our day. it was good though because
we got some good referrals from the youth.

Sunday was great and church went well. we had 4 investigators come to
church so we were stoked! also a few members gave us food and it was
all good! it rained a ton after church too! and since there are no
paved roads in Nyenasi everywhere was muddy!

Monday was sweet! we woke up and did our devotional, then we did our
washing. AT noon we went to KAKUM national forest. its a sweet place
that has giant Rope Bridges from tree to tree through the canopy of
the african jungle. We were about 80-100 feet off the ground and it
was sooo cool! the bridges are made out of nothing but rope, ladders
and 1 wood slat to walk on and needless to say i loved it! i will send
pictures next time, bad network today:(

So thats my week! we have some great investigators finally and
hopefully we will be having a couple baptisms next month! keep having
fun and working hard! i love you all!

Love, Bradley

Monday, October 21, 2013

The Pictures of the Jungle!

Here they are! (I swear that these are better than Christmas!!!)


Okay first things first, this is Elder Atila and he is awesome and he works really hard!


This is also one of the millions of companions I can find in my apartment


Which way should I go?????


This is a small cocoa farm


This is the typical mud house/palm tree roof, most places don't have cars though!



Okay, this is our well and our water tank, the water gets
 pumped from our well into the tank and then into the house.



The well water isn't clean, but we have a filter and it works now!!! haha


This is the main road through town, dusty and sunny!!!


The sunsets out here are great!!


This is our kitchen! It looks nice right?


This is the message that the previous elders left for us.
 I don't even want to show you inside the cupboards! haha


So this is where we keep a lot of our food, along with the fridge, yesterday I opened my bread that was in there and it was full of ants!!! So now bread goes in the fridge!


This is our awesome study desk hahaha, it's really not bad, 
because we can still read our scriptures, plan our day, 
and write our letters on it, so I'm happy!!!


Here is the apartment from the outside, its in the same compound as the church. 


This is just outside our wall

This is the bridge that we have to drive over to get 
back into a normal size town, it was formerly a
 railroad bridge but now cars drive on it and no 
trains come, it goes over the PRA River. 


Same bridge, better view


Nyenasi Train station sign


Just a nice little bridge that we walk over a lot that isn't good. Haha!


This was our nice trail to the cocoa farm on Saturday


Walkin through the jungle


An old rail line light that you could climb, it's a bad picture
I'm really not that fat ;) I promise!!!


My sweet blister from weeding


My bathroom


Me and my comp!



Pictures and Stories from the Jungle!

We got a great email from Elder McGuire this week!!! I love his stories of the new city and I LOVE all of the pictures!! Enjoy!

Hey Family!
wow i seriously dont think that you guys could be having any more fun than you are right now but im sure you'll figure out a way hahaha. Thats sweet that you guys got to go up and see idaho falls! i remember loving goin up there to stay with grandma and grandpa. i think my favorite thing to do was to feed the ducks and to play sega hahaha there are some awesome memories back there.
I am making some pretty awesome memories here though. this week was another good one and the work is great as usual. Tuesdayafter we emailed we made our way back to nyenasi and got home around 8:30. the next morning we woke up and went on splits with the zone leaders. i stayed in my area with Elder Agyare and my companion went to praso with elder Harris. Elder Agyare and i had a good time and taught some good lessons. We were still able to talk to everyone because Elder Agyare is also ghanaian. It was fun to change up comps for a day and learn some new styles of teaching.
Thursday, Elder Agyare and i woke up and went into praso and we switched back to our companions. then elder Atila and i went bought food because we didnt have anything in the apartment. I love it here because Fruit is cheap!!! mom you thought i ate a lot of bananas at home??? haha i eat like at least 3 or 4 a day sometimes per meal. i can buy 10 bananas  here for 1 cedi (about 50 cents) i also eat oranges and pineapple a lot! its amazing! we went back to our area and had a couple good lessons to finish out the day.
Friday was a great day. i actually woke up in the morning and wasnt feelin good at all. not sick but just not happy. but that changed when we got to studying. leave it to heavenly father to send me a message through his ancient prophets to pick me back up. we actually had a great study session on friday and we did some really good planning for our investigators and what we were going to teach for the day.  then something amazing happened. we did exactly what we planned and had some amazing lessons! the lord blesses us so much, especially when we plan. "if we fail to plan, we plan to fail".
Saturday was sweet!!!! we woke up in the morning and instead of going straight to studying we went and met one of our invetigators and and went with her and her family to their cocoa farm and we helped them weed. to get there we had to walk about 30 minutes and part of it was straight through the jungle! we did the weeding with machetes and basically did the work of a string trimmer with them. it was a lot of fun but i got a massive blister. basically ive lost my edge, i havent done yardwork mcguire stile in 6 months and its taking its tole! haha also the bugs were HUGE!!!! i found a spider that was litterally bigger than my hand, and i am not exaggerating, i didnt get a picture of it cuz i freaked out and killed it really fast haha. it was also cool to be weeding while being able to have the smell of chocolate cake around you. so we weeded for about 3 hours and then we went back to the apartment and got cleaned up and went out for the rest of the day and had some good lessons.
Sunday was great simply because we had the opportunity to partake of the sacrament and attend church meetings. the savior has done something incredible for us and i love that we can experience the blessings of his sacrifice and our covenants with him every week and even every day. church was great and elder Atila and i taught gospel priniciples to the adults of the branch. after church we had some good lessons and a member made us some food and i got fufu!!!!!!! i havent had fufu since i left tarkwa and i have missed it so much!!! but i am enjoying other foods. there is one problem with fufu, it is not good for you at all, its a giant ball of starch that you dip in oil. Thats how its possible to have morbidly obease people in a third world country hahaha.  but yeah sunday was awesome.
Today has been really good too. we came into cape coast today and we played football(soccer) with the elders in 3 zones and it was a lot of fun. basically im not good at football but im getting better! now were emailing and after were gonna go shopping and go home to nyenasi later.
so thats me for the week!! im in a nice internet cafe so today im actually going to send pictures so get ready!!!!

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

A Short Message! (And no pictures)

Here's Bradley's tidbit for the week! It was super short, and we hope to hear more next week!!!!

Dear Family,
You already know what im gonna say hahaha. this week was once again awesome! i love that i can say that to you every week and actually mean it every time!
as far as the work goes here everything is just the same as back in tarkwa, we teach lessons and work with members as best we can and try to build the kindom stronger and stronger. Here in Nyenasi everyone is a farmer or they work in the town about 20 minutes away from us so its really hard for us to be teaching people before about 1pm because everyone is busy. we do find ways to keep ourselves busy though and we do a lot of contacting in the morning hours. Thankfully with another week under our belts we are becoming more familiar with people, members, and the area and it has helped a lot. You know once you get over the shock of everything and assimilate the work is still the same and its still of god!.
this week i was studying in Acts and in Chapter 5 it had some stuff that i loved! the apostles were going around teaching and the government officials were telling them to stop! of course they didnt and the apostles were put in jail. the lord released them from the prison and they continued on in the work. When brought before a council of officials the apostles were asked why they were still teaching. they said that they would rather obey god than men. this angered the officials and they wanted to kill them. but one of the officials stood and made the case that if they were of god then their teachings would last but if they were not then they would be scattered just as people who had come before them. but then he asks will you fight against god??? so the officials agree to release them but first they take them and beat them. Then it says as the apostles left they were rejoicing that they had the opportunity to suffer for the lord and for spreading his word!!
hahaha so i took this and i looked at myself and tried to think if everytime something hard happens, every time someone makes fun of me or laughs at me, everytime things dont go right, am i rejoicing that i get to suffer for the lord or am i just feeling sorry for myself? it has really changed my attitude and its great!! im so sorry but i dont have a whole lot more i can think of to say but i do have a bunch of pictures so ill say more in describing them okay?:)
i love you all and i hope you guys have another great week!!!! I love you!!!
love, Bradley
p.s. for my package i would love, beef jerky, cookie dough mix, brownie mix, and anything else amazing that you can think of  hahaha. also maple and ranch mix would be sweet too. really anything!! i love you!

Bradley also sent me this note:
ok sorry the computer isnt working right so no pictures:(  i promise next week i will send them...haha for reals!!! but everything is really great here and sure things are tough but then lord can help me make it through!! love you!
So, No pictures. :( Maybe next week....

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

It's All New Again!

He's in a new area, with a new companion and a new apartment! Sounds like a crazy chance to start over!!!!!

Hey Family!!

it sounds like you guys have had another great week! i have had a
pretty crazy one myself and ill see if i can remember everything. so
here we go....:)

ok so Tuesday after we emailed, elder keetch and i went and stayed
with some elders just outside of takoradi. we had a ton of fun playing
games and talking. it was a sweet last night with keetch, im gonna
miss him, he was an awesome friend.

Wednesday morning we had to be back in takoradi by 8 so we left early
to be there on time. on our way back into takoradi our cab driver made
some police mad and they pulled us over and the driver ended up
getting arrested haha the police are so corrupt here!! so we walked
the rest of the way into town, thankfully it wasnt too far. so at 8 i
said goodbye to keetch and all of us getting transferred piled into a
tro and went to cape coast.

We got to cape coast and waited for a while so all the elders who
would be moving around were there. eventually my companion came and he
is awesome. His name is Elder Atila and he is a stake missionary from
a stake within the mission, he is 25 and is waiting for his mission
call which will be here any day now so he will only be with me for
this transfer.

While we were waiting for everyone i got to talk to my Zone Leaders
who told me a little more about my area and my assignment there. I am
basically training my companion since he has never served before.
Nobody in Nyenasi speaks english so my companion is also kinda my
translator. i need to learn the language way better. i am also kinda
the unofficial elders quorum president of the branch and i am supposed
to stress home teaching a lot. we have a bunch of less active members!

So it was a 2 hour tro ride to the main city near my area called
Praso. then from praso it was about another 20 minute tro ride to
nyenasi. For Nyenasi its a tiny little village and there is cell phone
service in about 3 places about 2foot by 2foot. hahaha yeah no cell
service, so every night before we go home we have to call the zone
leaders and let them know that we are still alive! hahaha but its
alright:) our apartment is pretty cool. we cant keep any food in the
kitchen cupboards because the rats and the bugs will get into all of
them. so we have to keep our food in our 1 clothes dresser. our study
desks is actually a small skinny table and we are on each end. Our
water comes from our own personal well that is pumped into a tank and
then pumped into the house. the water isnt clean and the water filter
is broken, so we are using a bunch of water satchets instead haha.

So Thursday was our first day of proselyting. our branch mission
leader was supposed to show us around and introduce us to members and
investigators but instead he went to praso so we went solo. we walked
around for a few hours just getting to know the place and talking to
people. we actually ended up teaching a couple lessons to people that
we just met and we just kinda started the work. Friday we worked in
the morning and then in the afternoon we came to praso because we
didnt have any food and you cant buy much in Nyenasi. We made it to
praso just in time for it to start raining harder than i have ever
seen it rain before. it rained for a long time and here taxis stop
going back to nyenasi around 6:30 so that night we ended up staying
over with the zone leaders and it was a lot of fun, but we got
soaked!!!!

Saturday morning we woke up and went back to our area. One of the
investigators the previous elders left behind was being baptized saturday so we picked him up and came back to praso, then from praso
we went to another village called Nyamakrom where the only baptismal
font is up here. the baptism went well, and one of the other elders in
the district baptized our investigator. his name is Awiah Danquah and
even though i dont really know him i was still super excited for him
to be baptized. so the baptism went well and we slowly but surely made
our way back to nyenasi. we finally got back around 3 p.m. and we taught
a couple lessons and talked to people for the rest of the night.

Sunday was a great day. we woke up in the morning and had church at 9.
the branch here is small but it is still good. My companion and i both
bore our testimonies in sacrament meeting, then we taught adult sunday
school, and finally finished off by teaching priesthood. after church
we talked to the branch president for a while about the branch and its
needs. then the Branch mission leader finally came back and he took us
around and introduced us to everything. he showed us a lot of less
active members and i realized that we have a ton of work to do!!!!

Monday was pday, we woke up and went straight to washing. then in the
afternoon we cleaned and relaxed. We didnt email or shop because the
power in praso was out, and market day is Tuesday in praso. so if
we want any good food we have to shop Tuesday
so we just kinda relaxed and wrote letter all day. then that night we
had a lesson with the man that was just baptized and met his whole
family, it was cool.

Today we woke up and came to praso for district meeting. We only have
1 district in our zone and there are 12 missionaries. we had a good
meeting and talked about how we can better help our investigators be
prepared for baptism. now we are finally emailing. i was actually
almost finished with this email and the power went out!! i was so mad!
it came back in a few minutes but i had to re write everything but i
am happy i actually get to send you guys something.

So yeah thats my week! there is a lot of crazy new stuff but guess
what?! the church and the work are still the same. the church is still
true and this work is still divine! were still workin on adjusting to
everything and getting to know people but that will come with time.

im so jealous that you all got to watch conference! i probably wont
hear it for a few weeks but its alright, im just excited!! one thing i
realize more and more out here is just how blessed our family is to be
living in the place that we do. We have so much and the lord has
blessed us abundantly! we should be greatful for what heavenly father
has given us. there are so many people in the world who have so much
less but are still happy as ever!

anyway thats me for this week. i hope i got everything. if not ill
write again next week!!! i love you all!!! keep hangnin in there!

Love, Bradley

P.S. sorry i cant send pictures here because the internet is too slow,
but i will send a bunch when we go to cape coast to email in 2 weeks!