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
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
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
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
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!!
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
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