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Monday, May 27, 2013

Tons of PICTURES!!!!!

The traveling man sent tons of pictures!!!! YAY!!!!

 
Me and Elder Moleme were so happy to get real ice cream!!!

 
I miss pizza so much!!! This was SSOOOO good!!! me and elder dalton

 
I was so happy to see the ocean in Axim while I was on splits friday with elder cardon.

 
This was way sweet! A palm tree hanging out about 10 feet
 above the water!! We had to try it out but it was also
 scary! We didn't want to fall in! Hahaha!



 
While we were in Axim, we taught a lesson right here.
This was our view. It was so sweet! Can't wait till I'm in
 an area on the coast!!!

 
Okay. This is just before the baptism. This young man's
 name is Prince. He is 26 and he is awesome!
 I know he does't look happy but after we
 took the pictures he was all smiles!

 

 
This was how we had to do the baptism since
 there was low water. It was still great!!!!
They are sending someone this week to come work on the font.
 
 

Traveling!

Bradley's had a busy week, just like us! He's done some traveling! Here's his letter! :)
 
 
Dear family!!!
It sounds like everyone is doing great back home!!! i totally forgot that today is memorial day!!!!! i hope you told grandpa bradley and stephen hi for me although i do that often myself anyway. the week for me has been great!!!!!! on monday night after we emailed we went to a part member family's home and the wife is cuban so she made us this amazing cuban food!!!! it was the closest thing i have had to food from back home ever since i have been here which is pathetic but it was amazing!!! then for desert she gave us real strawberry ice cream with sprinkles on it!!!!! i was so happy i almost started crying hahaha.
Tuesday was district meeting in nkroful and we had alot of fun together and also learned a lot. we then came home tuesday evening and taught a few good lessons. it was a pretty typical tuesday
Wednesday was way sweet because i went on splits with the zone leaders. i went with elder dalton who is a sweet guy from moab utah. he has about 4 months left on his mission and is getting transferred wednesday. anyway i went on splits with him in takoradi which is the huge city where our zone starts. it was awesome to learn things from him about teaching and see how far i have to go. wednesday night we were hungry so he took me and 2 other elders and we went and got PIZZA!!! yes real pizza!!!! i was soooo happy it wasnt exactly like american pizza but it was really close and really really good!!!!!
Thursday i came back to tarkwa and elder moleme and i went and met with our baptismal candidates and made sure that they were ready for their interviews and they totally were. well one of them was the other one was out of town but we called her and went over the stuff on the phone with her.
Friday our district leader came out to tarkwa to interview our baptismal candidates so i went to nkroful where he is from and got to do splits with elder cardon again and it was sweet. they have an area about 40 minutes away from nkroful called Axim which is a town on the coast!!! it was the first time i had seen the ocean since i got here!!! i was soo happy and we even taught a sweet lesson right on the beach!!! i really just couldnt believe my eyes while it was happening cause it was so awesome!
Saturday i came back to tarkwa and my comp told me that one of our baptismal candidates didnt show for her interview. it was the 14 year old girl she had traveled with her mother to their village pretty far away so she missed the interview. that was sad but the interview with the young man Prince went awesome! for the rest of saturday we taught some good lessons and just did work and it was great.
Sunday was INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!! we had our first baptism since i got here!!!! it was great and i was the one who did the baptizing!!! it was very special for me because i have really connected with this young man ever since we met him the week i got here. he was so solid. one thing that was bothersome was the fact that our font is still broken and leaks but we had enough water and we were authorized to do the baptism sitting down. i didnt love that part but his sins were still washed away so i was as happy as could be. afterwards when we were changing he told me that he really enjoyed it and that he felt so clean and was happy that he had met us. i connected with him so much that i gave him an extra quad of scriptures that i had brought with me. they were actually ones you and dad gave me after my baptism. i told him how special they were and wrote my testimony in them and he was so happy for them because he has really wanted one ever since we began teaching him. so basically this week has been the best yet!!!!! i cant wait to help bring more souls unto Christ and to help them see the light!!!!
So that was the week for me!!! i hope you guys are doing good!!! i love you all!!!!
Love, Elder Bradley McGuire

Monday, May 20, 2013

Big Post (Continued...)

Here are the beloved pictures! He even sent captions this week, so we actually know what they are pictures of! haha!



I found a twix here!!!!!! it was good but it wasnt american made so it didnt quite taste the same but it was still great!!!! i also got famous amos cookies and frosted flakes!!!!!:D




 
This is the layout of the area that were trying to get a unit going in

 
okay this is what fufu looks like this is fufu with palm nut soup, goat skin and hard boiled egg, it was actually really good i can eat fufu just fine now:) still prefer rice a ton more though hahaha
 

 
hahaha okay this is a funny story we were getting out of a taxi and i was first so i was getting out and my feet were stuck so i grabbed onto the top of the door and lifted myself out. but all these taxis are old and rusty so the door broke a little and it shattered the window and glass went everywhere!!!!! i felt bad and said sorry a ton but in the end the taxi driver just drove off and didnt say anything so this was what was left of the window!!!
 

 
this is our church building/apartment its pretty nice when the power is on but it hasnt been for the last few days and it has been hot!!!! its okay though. so this is home for me right now. the apartment is the bottom left.
 

 
So this is raymond he is a guy we have been teaching ever since i got here, and my comp was teaching him for like 2 months before that. He struggles but is a way awesome guy. He loved hearing me play my guitar, especially dream big! Everyone loves that song out here.
 

 
Ok this old woman is so awesome we are teaching her. she was batized 15 years ago in ivory coast but between her bap and confirmation her mother died so she moved back to ghana and the church wasnt here in tarkwa yet so she stopped going to church. she calls me elder MAGOORIE and its hilarious but i love her to death!! she had a problem with tea when it came to the word of wisdom but she stopped after we taught her about it and hasnt had it since so she rocks!!
 

 
So, this is a scarab beetle.
 
 

Big Post This Week!

Hey Family!!! Elder McGuire sent us a HUGE email this week! And (my favorite part) he also sent 9 PICTURES!!!! I can hardly believe it! I am the happiest little sister EVER! Enjoy!

Dear family,
Wow another week has come and gone!! the time seems to be flying by! it felt like just yesterday i was talking to you guys on the phone!!! okay so i guess ill start with tuesday. On tuesday we went to takoradi for combined district meeting it was really good and we learned alot about how we should try to find more people to teach, also tuesday we taught a couple good lessons.
Wednesday was a regular working day it was great and we got to meet with all the people that we needed to see. then that evening we had Midweek. elder moleme taught and we discussed about how often we are called to do things in this life that we dont understand or dont necessarily want to do but the lord has a plan for us and we will learn and grow from the experience.
thursday was a good day but a hard day we have been teaching this young girl who is 14 and reminds me alot of kaitlin. we have been teaching her in the evenings and the last couple nights we have been able to tell that something wasnt right with the father. we asked him about it and he told us that he didnt like that we came over so often in the evening to teach her and he was worried what people would think if we kept coming so much. it was soo frustrating. he told us we could only meet with her on saturdays and sundays now. thankfully she is going to be baptized on the 26th this coming sunday so that is going to make things a lot easier for us.
Friday was also a good working day and we decided to get a little adventurous and explore some parts of town that we have never been before and it was really cool and we found some nice people.
Saturday was a really busy day we had something planned for every hour of the day whether it was a lesson or a visit or something but we were going to be busy!! then we remembered that president Bybee the 2nd counselor in the mission presidency would be coming to our apartment to do a cleaning inspection. so we had to cancel a lot of things and fix things up and then wait for him for a while. it was good to see them though because they are almost like the parents of this side of the mission and they are way awesome and we got to talk to them alot which was. good. we spoke mainly with president about setting up a unit in one of the areas of tarkwa called layout. its alot of work but we are going to get it done. a unit is where members meet everyweek in their home for sunday school and that is their church for a while. we are setting it up so eventually they can be authorized to administer the sacrament and then when enough people attend there it can become its own branch. One reason we are doing this is a lot of missionaries are coming in july and president wants to send more missionaries to us!!! so we are working as hard as we can to get this unit going.
Sunday was just AWESOME church was great and we heard some awesome talks about family and about marriage in the temple. then i had to teach gospel principles one of our investigators goes to this class so i taught one of the missionary lessons and he understood it great and he really is enjoying church a lot now. his name is prince. he is so awesome we met him the 3rd day that i was here and now he is going to be baptized on this coming sunday and i am going to baptize him!!! and it was so awesome because after church he told me about how when we first met him that he didnt want anything to do with us but he was being polite and listening anyway then after a couple lessons he decided to pray about what we had been teaching him and when he did he felt the spirit so strongly. Ever since then he has been on fire and has born testimony to me on many occasions and he is so powerful!!! he has also become one of my best friends here. this is what missionary work is all about!!! i really hope i get to meet more people like him!!
As far as food went this week i was sooo happy. i had watermelon and a ton of fruit!! i also found frosted flakes and pringles and a twix at a store in takoradi so i was super happy. they were all expensive though so they will have to be treats for me for the next while. mom could you send me some recipies??? hahaha i had an idea of which ones but now i cant remember so anything you think i would like please send some:)

anyway thats me for the week i hope all is well with you guys at home!!!!
I love you!!!!
Love, Elder McGuire

Monday, May 13, 2013

No Pictures! :(

Instead of Bradley's usual picture email, he sent us this instead.

Ok, once again, sorry these computers are being super slow and not working, so no pics this week sorry:(

-Bradley

Oh, so sad! I'm a little depressed, but it's okay. What we missed out on pictures, he made up in calling us! Love you Family!

A Mother's Day Treat!

It was SO awesome to talk to Bradley yesterday! I know that it made mom's day perfect! Anyway, here's his email, and there will be pictures soon to follow!

Dear family!!
 It was so great to talk to you all yesterday!!!!!! it helped me in ways you cant imagine!!!!!! i loved being able to talk to all of you. sorry about the call cutting out at the end i wasnt paying attention to the time but luckily we were saying our goodbyes anyway. i hope that all the family is doing well!!!! i was thinking of what you guys would be doing with the family for the mothers day party and it was fun cuz i could just see it all happening in my mind. all that talk of watermelon got to me and i went out and bought one today it is sooo good!!! i have missed watermelon!!! i also found pringles at the store we went to today so i was also way happy for that.
            As far as this last week has been. it was great!!! we taught a ton of lessons to people and all of them were great!!! we are becoming better at teaching together and the spirit is growing between us. so i found out that the song "dream big" is super popular out here in ghana and we were with one of our investigators today just hanging out and i started playing it on my guitar and he freaked out!! he instantly took out his camera and recorded me playing it and every friend he knew that would pass by us, he would stop and make them listen to me play it. we had a good time today and i bought a lot of fruit so i am super happy. talking with everyone yesterday has made me forget alot of what happened last week.
            One of our investigators named Prince, he is soo awesome!!!! we met him the 3rd day i was here and we have been teaching him almost everyday since!!! he is so strong and receptive when it comes to the gospel. we presented the word of wisdom and the law of chastity to him the other day and he already was basically living it and he already knew how bad those things were. he is so cool!! he is looking for a job though and the places he is interviewing at are all far away, out of our area. we are praying that he finds a job close by so we can finish teaching him. he is supposed to be baptized on the 26th of this month and i cant wait for it. im so sorry you guys but thats all i can really think of this week, i do have a bunch of pictures i want to send though. But just know that i love you guys sooooo much and i pray for you guys all of the time. keep going strong and working hard!!!!. i love you!!!
Love, Elder Bradley McGuire

Monday, May 6, 2013

Things are Looking Up!

Here's the next email family!!!! :D Bradley said that the computers weren't working as great so he couldn't send any pictures this week, but expect lots next week!!!!!


Dear family!!!!
Oh my gosh i love hearing from home so much!!!!! It helps in ways that you cant imagine!!!!!!! Ok so i guess i will start with tuesday since i emailed you monday. So tuesday was just a normal day of work we taught and worked hard and we are getting a pool of people that we contacted that could be potential investigators so we are hoping that something comes of it.
 
When we filled the font on sunday last week it ran out all of our water and it finally came back late wednesday night. Another interesting thing happened too. We came back after proselyting tuesday and found a notice on our electricity meter that our power had been shut off because of an illegal connection we had. It was a hassle and took 3 days but we have power again. I have learned in the last week i would much rather be without power than without water. Without power you can still function, without water nothing is really possible, but we can make it through anything with the help of the lord.
 
Wednesday was also just a normal work day we have been really working hard unfortunately alot of our appointments fall through so we just end up doing contacting and finding which is fine but teach real lessons is so much better!!! Every Wednesday night they do something here called midweek. its where the members come (not usually very many) and just have a lesson on anything in the church really. we got there just as they were beginning singing and i was informed that i would be teaching. thankfully i had been reading an old liahona from general conference in 2009 we went over a talk by President Uchtdorf called "of regrets, Of resolutions" i loved it!!!! The talk is about enjoying the journey of the experience of life rather than looking to the end. it has helped a ton in thinking about my mission seeing that i barely have a month under my belt. I recommend that you look it up!!!!
 
********Here's a link to that talk he mentioned!!!  Of Regrets and Resolutions ************
 
So thursday was cool because we had a combined district meeting with our zone. We all met in Takoradi which is a city about an hour and a half tro ride away from tarkwa and its a really big city. It was fun to see other elders in the zone and some of my buddies from the mtc. So thursday we came for combined district meeting and we also had interviews with president shulz our mission president. It was cool because he talked to me and my companion about working as hard as we can to baptize in tarkwa because he said if we can get a unit established in one of the suburbs he would send more missionaries out to us. So we are really working as hard as we can to find those perfect people to teach, and thankfully with the help of the members we are beginning to find more and more.
 
Friday and Saturday were also good hard working days. I am beginning to pick up on Fante and Tree and can say a few things. Teaching the lessons has also gotten infinitely better; I am learning the scriptures very well so I can answer alot of questions on my own. Sundays are really hard for us because we will have church which is great but when we arent teaching everybody speaks in Fante and its hard for us to get much out of it but we are working hard to learn more. And also since Tarkwa is huge on gold mining everybody works on sundays and those who dont work go to church and funerals and those who dont do that stay inside their houses. We make alot of visits to members who couldnt make it to church for whatever reason and usually that fills our time.
 
Today has been awesome!!! We are having what is called a combined P-day! Any missionaries in any of the surrounding areas come to Takoradi and we all played basketball and football(soccer) and go out and eat and its a blast.  Also once a month we get our money for food and travel and stuff we call it (subs) and for whatever reason when I first got here, me and the other missionaries couldnt get all the money we are allowed so we've really been trying to not spend money on anything, and just becoming creative with what we eat, but today we got the normal amount of money plus the amount that we didnt get last time so we are great now. The work here is so amazing and even though its hard to live and work it really is awesome. I know from past emails it seems like I am having a hard time. and I really am but I am loving every minute of it!!! I couldnt ask for anything less or anything more right now. I love all of you and it sounds like life is great at home. Everyone keep going strong and do all you can to help the work move forward!!
I love you!!!
Love, Elder McGuire