Dear
Family,
This
week has been such an incredible week. Honestly one of the most amazing weeks
of my mission. It's going to be hard to fit
everything in. I'll just go chronologically. Ready? :)
Tuesday:
District meeting. Okay, well, the district meeting started way late
because of some issues with the other apartment, but we got it started, and it
went fine! This is miracle number 1. His name is "E2" [same name as the previous (younger) E, so we'll call this one E2. E1 is still progressing]. His story: he has a
friend in Takoradi who told him some things about the church, so he got really
interested. He happened to be driving by when he felt like he should just pull
into the parking lot and see what's inside. So he did. And he met our 1st
counselor! Bro. Hansen proceeded to call us in and introduce us to E2. We
got all the information, introduced ourselves, and we found out that he had
already downloaded the Book of Mormon on his phone! What?? :) So, we gave him a
pamphlet and invited him to the movie night that evening that we have been
planning for the ward.
Things
moved on for the day, and we didn't have too much going on. It really wasn't
that different from usual, but we were really excited for the popcorn movie
night. We organized the whole thing, and we had the ward come to the church for
us to watch the Saratov Approach! Who showed up? Investigators. A couple of
them! Plus a bunch of members. We had a chance to teach E2 before the
activity started, and we learned that he had already read the entire pamphlet
and introduction to the Book of Mormon, the two assignments we gave him. Woot
woot! The activity was a great success, and everybody felt the spiritual
message of it so well! I was really happy with how it worked out, and every
single person there truly enjoyed the evening. All the members have been asking
us if they can get a copy of it. :)
The
night didn't end there. Right as the activity ended, we received a call from
Pres. Stevenson. Elder Halterman answered, and then told me that it was for me.
My first thought? "Crap, Mom/Dad/Rikki/Ryatt got in a terrible car
accident... This ain't good." So I greeted Pres. Stevenson, and I was
called to be a trainer!!! :D :D
And
we had an exchange. Started that night, and went through Wednesday! I went with
Elder Barlow in Sekondi; it was technically my first time to lead in Sekondi,
so I was excited for it. We had an incredible day with eight lessons. Crazy.
It might be my record for a single day here in Ghana. :) That in itself qualifies to be
another miracle. Then we went to the church for some baptismal interviews:
Benjamin and Ekua being interviewed by president Stevenson! It went really
well, and they both passed. :)
[in the past Elder Price has spelled her name Akua, so we have abbreviated as B and A. Turns out she spells it Ekua, with an E.]
It was a really good exchange! After coming back with Elder
Halterman, we finished the evening off by eating caramel corn at the Julanders
while watching videos of Christmas Mormon Tabernacle Choir concerts that Sister
Julander was in.
Thursday
was another good day, we taught E2 again! He's doing great. He is
progressing SO well. :) we taught four lessons, and we had some great times. We
realized that one new investigator who called us over in a "not
serious" kind of way is actually serious about learning and hearing our
message! That was another lil miracle. We mostly just planned on this day.
Friday
was unique for sure... I went to Nkanfoa (by Cape Coast) with Elder Allen! And
some other couple of people. It was the Trainer's meeting!
It was so good, and
I'm glad I was there. They fed us. Normal rice and stuff, but one thing was
better than I've had in a long time: butter. BUTTER. I got BUTTER. :D :D :D I
almost died. I tasted the buttered bread, expecting the margarine that they use
all over here, and it was BUTTER. :D :D Definitely a highlight of my week. Not
to mention seeing Elder Cooper, Elder and Sister Miles, a bunch of former
district members, and feeling the spirit. :) It was a good day. But...The
travel was TOO long. So far. Hours. and hours. We got back after dark, and we
had left at 8:30 am. It wasn't a very long meeting, either. But we made it home
safely, and we visited Abigail, a sweet member who is incredibly talented at
cooking, and she gave us some cake!!!! :D It tasted amazing. She's one of the
best cooks I've met on mission.
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| Trotro to Cape Coast |
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| Trainers Meeting! |
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| Cake by Abigail |
Saturday
was the big day! We went to chapel cleaning in the morning, and we discovered
that the font wasn't working. So we thought about filling with buckets.. Yeah,
no.
 |
| Attempts at bucket filling |
The rest of the day was also perfect. We taught a couple lessons, one of which has a sweet story. We taught a prison guard in his watchtower 30 feet above the ground. He called us up (we had met him once before) and we sat on some benches at the top and taught him about the Book of Mormon! Immediately following that lesson, a random member from Kweikuma ward was driving by and pulled over as we were walking and bought us three fresh coconuts from a girl selling and opening them. And then we went to the baptism. :)
The
baptism went without a hitch. We even started at the perfect time, late
enough that we had people there, but soon enough that the service ended right
as the sun was going down (light [power] was off in the chapel). It was a great
experience. I baptized! Benjamin is REALLY tall, so... After an unsuccessful first
dip, we had Benjamin sit down before I brought him into the water. So
everything went great! :)
That
evening we had a "Ghanaian Food Night" with the Julanders, where we
picked up a bunch of random Ghanaian foods that they've never had and made a
potluck out of it! It was really fun, and I like my killywilly (fried plantain
with some seasonings). :)
 |
| "Ghanaian Food Night" |
Sunday
was great, too! We received several new people to teach! The Julanders joined
us at church for the confirmations of Benjamin and Ekua. Everything went great,
and Benjamin is even a Priest now! E2 came to church, too! :) As well as
a man who is the husband of a member who live in Sekondi but for some reason
attends Kweikuma ward (probably something about the time of the services). He's
apparently attended several times, and now we'll be teaching him! We also now
have a baptism coming up for the 11th of April. Soon, right? Her name is __ [we'll call her M],
and she's the fiancee of Bro. Hansen, the 1st counselor! She's been taught by
the missionaries in Accra, and she's been attending church a bunch! Basically,
all we need to do is double check her preparation, and then she'll be baptized.
Get this though: their daughter is from Philadelphia. With an American accent
and everything! She's going to be around for five weeks, so it's going to be
another unique experience for me! She's been a member for a really really long
time, but her mother hasn't, so, since she's the best English speaker in the
family (American English, even.), she'll probably be helping us out a
bit.
Andddd
transfer news, since I haven't mentioned it yet:
I'M
TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!! (Okay, I've mentioned that already...)
Elder
Halterman is going to Asikuma; far away into Central Region.
Elder
Allen is training!!!
Elder
Wight is going to Kissi (Elmina zone, baby!!!)
Other
things in the district: Kweikuma 2 is being closed, which means Elders Salawu
(who just got there) and Tu'akoi are both going to different places. Elder
Barlow and Elder Ekpo are still around. And the zone leaders are still the
same. The new AP is Elder Halverson, the former district leader of Takoradi
district (not my district, but my zone).
Thanks
for the update from you guys back home. :) I love hearing everything! I'm glad
that things aren't too hectic for the time being, and it's good to see all
those pictures! I'm doing my best out here, and I feel like these two coming
transfers will definitely be a learning experience for me. Even if I'm on the
downhill, I'm not coming down. It's not easy to keep getting up and working,
and I'll admit that I'm far from perfect, but I know why I'm here more than
ever. Training a new missionary will be an adventure. Let's see what happens! :)
I
love you all so much!
Love,
Elder Price
Bonus photos:
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| "view from apartment ledge" |
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| "Random Sekondi picture" |
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