Elder Price in West Africa: Light On!

Dear Family,

Hello! Happy Monday! It's going okay; this cafe has been pretty frustrating. But it's okay. The cafe guy decided that he could give me his admin code, so that's nice. :) I don't know what the implications of that code are for me, seeing as these are strictly linked up in a network, but who knows. If I ever have extra time I'll explore. ;)

Elder Allen and Elder Barlow both got crazy excited about Elder Latu. They both said that they knew him--really cool stuff! [Elder Latu served in Sierra Leone and was evacuated in August at the same time Liberia missionaries were evacuated from that country. He is now serving in our ward in Utah. We met him on Saturday and when we realized "the connection," we took a picture to share with Elder Price.]

Interesting stuff about new missionaries being called to Liberia. Thanks for the info! Also that's crazy to know my talk date. Ahhhh. Sept 20th. Just (not really) enough time to recover from jet lag. Again, not really. [He arrives in SLC the evening of Friday, Sept. 18th and is scheduled to speak on Sunday the 20th at 11am.]

So, this week!

"Week 11 of training: he leads it all!"

Tuesday! I successfully forgot that it was the mark of 100 days left! I remembered a few days later, and then I made a note of it in my planner. So that's how I remember that it happened. It was a good day, with a really good district meeting! I enjoyed it, and we talked about developing Christ-like attributes, with a presentation of the talk "Beware of Pride." It was a good instruction, and we had a couple good lessons. We have been teaching one investigator named J. for quite a while now, and he's really knowledgeable about the Bible. He's also blind, and we've been trying to find ways for him to read the Book of Mormon more. Finally we have decided just to read it with him, during the lessons, starting from the beginning. The lesson was great, and so was the one we had with An., later!

Wednesday was a day full of teaching. We first visited Akua (she likes Akua, and it's only technically spelled Ekua) and we helped her prepare for her talk on Sunday. It was awesome, especially because we had to teach her how to use the Gospel Library app! I enjoyed that. Then we went to teach Br.; another amazing lesson with her. We taught a couple more lessons that day, and it was a pretty simple day, to be honest.

Thursday (haha, I have a few attempts at drawing Donald duck on this day in my planner) we got a new/old investigator! One guy who we haven't met with in a long time we finally saw again! It was really awesome to see him, and the member with us, Georgina, thought that he had been taught for a long time! He's doing good; we just hope that we'll be able to see him more often. After that really uplifting lesson we taught N. and her husband! That wasn't as productive, unfortunately. Maybe one day.

Friday: a repair guy came! Not really a repair guy, but a guy who wasn't with the same group as the other inverter guy came. He knew what he was doing, and after some troubleshooting he figured out how to fix the [solar panel] system. So that was sweet for him to do! We stayed in the apartment while they were doing that. We then went down and helped those guys get a room at a local hotel, and then we finally went out and tried to teach. Too bad our appointments all cancelled. But on the way home we were given some beesap from someone living around where we live. She was really awesome about giving it, and gave it to us for free! She's really nice, and I hope that we'll be able to teach her one of these coming days. Beesap is a local drink that is made from hibiscus petals and some other stuff, and normally having ginger. I like it. :) When we got home we had fun pretending that it was alcoholic, Elder Allen playing along, and Elder Johnson saying "you told me it wasn't!" while we were trying to have a convincing act enough to fool Elder Hanson. Too bad Elder Hanson had some on an exchange once.. Otherwise it would've been awesome. :)

Saturday had a couple things to mention! We helped Alice prepare for her talk and then went and taught Br. That was a really great lesson, she has a baptismal date now!!! June 25th! :D We're so excited for her, and she's loving everything. She wants her niece to be baptized, too, and it was just a really great lesson. :) We also taught that guy who talked to us last week about the "light" and everything. He's cool! We haven't really gone too deep with him yet, but we have high hopes. We spent the rest of the evening waiting for our appointment at the chapel. and power went off! So we had fun being scared in a big empty dark building. I'm more comfortable on the dark streets than in a dark building! ;)

Well, during all of this, the repair guys came again, installed new batteries, and a church employee came and changed all our lightbulbs to energy saving lightbulbs! from 85 watts to 3 and 7 watt bulbs! Plus, he installed a ceiling fan. And.. Now everything is working. We're so grateful. Light on! :D

Sunday was great. Again. We had seven investigators at church! several of which was their first times! Plus, Akua and Alice gave talks. Great talks, if I do say so myself! Akua's was LONG! I was smiling throughout the meeting. It was a great Sunday. After church we did splits and I taught Br. while Elder Johnson taught Em. (basically) all by himself. He had a member and stuff, 'cause it's splits with members, but still, it's unique! I enjoyed that lesson. :) We went home and ate, and then studied, and then went out to proselyte! After we made our way messily through some mud, we started to get rained on. Then our appointment cancelled on us. And then it started pouring! And then we got stuck in the rain. And we got soaked. It was an interesting night. Ending with a wonderful dinner from the Julanders. :D They fed us taco soup and Doritos and baked potatoes and apple crisp. It was such a good dinner.. Mmmmmm..... I never expected a dinner like that on my mission, and it was even kept on the down low amongst missionaries because it was just for the Sekondi apartment. :D I loved it. Elder Johnson fell asleep on the couch, so we hid behind the countertop, turned off the lights, changed the clock to two hours forward, and Elder Julander came out saying "Elder Johnson, what are you still doing here??! I thought you went down with the others!" It was so funny; Elder Johnson legitimately believed it until he saw our slippers and coats outside the door when we were walking out. DOH! It was funny to see him try to comprehend all the implications of us going down without him and everything, especially in his dazed and sleepy state. Awesome evening. :D

Today we had a district activity with our district and the Takoradi district. We started with making doughnuts which took a really long time, but then we went up to the Julanders and ate them while we watched Ephraim's Rescue! It's still a pretty strong movie, emotionally, to me, so that's cool that it hasn't lost it's touch even though I've seen it several times! I was freezing in that room... But it was a really fun activity. :)

"Uh... too much yeast. Yeast Monster."

Making Doughnuts

Everything is going well here, and I'm trying to finish strong. It's weird to see the time drawing nearer and nearer. I'm really nervous for this transfer news. It comes on Saturday. We'll see what happens; it will determine what the rest of my mission will be like. This work is true, this church is true, and I'm still changing. I'm glad I have more time. :) I'm excited for things like being with you guys again, playing sports (especially with Ryatt) and all those kinds of things, but I'm grateful for the time I have left. It's always comforting to think "God's will be done" with all things. I'm learning a lot. :) Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Price