Merry Christmas

Hello everyone! How is the other side of the world? Are you comfortable? Do you have a hard time sleeping at night because the heaters or the airconditioning work too well? Is it hard to mow the lawn or weed or do your laundry or take a shower or do the dishes or to drive across town or to get clean water? Well i'm sorry about how comfortable you are! Where I am in Ghana has absolutely none of that at alllll. haha but its all good; i am enjoying how people do things here, a little... This week we have had no electricity anywhere in my village for four days. so no light no fans no water to shower (pumps not working). i'm getting used to that though. I learned how to take a bucket bath and i've had to do that a couple times. We have light now thank goodness.

So on tuesday we did futball training in the afternoon. Man i am so out of shape and i cannot compete with these Africans. This friday we are playing another branch close by in a futball match. i'll score three goals. We are doing major work in AkroFufu. twice a week we get in a trotro and drive ten mins to that village and go on splits there. There are tons of people that are ready to accept the gospel and it is such an amazing experience to teach and get to know the people.

On wednesday, we did not teach as much because no one was home and people were too busy so we did a lot of contacting. We have bikes but we dont ever use them because it is hard to talk to people and greet them on bikes. So we walk and my legs are getting super big and strong.

We had a baptism last sunday. A 12 year old girl named Stephanie. It was a great feeling. I actually got to help teach her every lesson and i was so happy to see her progress and find joy learning the gospel. There are so many reasons why we should keep learning and accepting the gospel and following the example of Jesus Christ. It just makes me happy when i live righteously and am bringing other people the knowledge and happiness that i have.

My favorite food is rice now. I buy 3 cedis (that is the Ghana currency) of rice every day for lunch and then i go and cook more rice at the apartment for dinner. I ran out of stew the other day and had to experiment on different things to have with rice. Please do not put any drink mixes in with your rice. you will end up throwing it away and wasting rice and a drink mix.

The Elders in my zone and i went hiking in this place today. We hiked up a mountain for about thirty minutes to see a big huge waterfall. I was so excited to see it. The hike up was exhausting and so beautiful. We were in the rain forest and man it was an awesome experience. We got there and the waterfall was DRY! no water flowing at allll. Man that was a bummer but the place was still breathtaking. Ill send some pics. I didn't know africa was this beautiful and stuff.

This week we will teach the last lesson to a girl named Esther. she is 26 and has an adorable 5 year old daughter and a baby boy. She will be baptized this sunday.

The work is great and God loves all of his children so much.

Merry Christmas

Elder Green

Elder Cameron Green...One Month

I am now one month on mission and i am doing great. I had a very fun week this past week because on wednesday and thursday i stayed at pres hills house and then the next day went to the temple and also had a cool christmas conference with all the other missionaries. The temple is beautiful and i know that Heavenly Father is there in the temple when i go. I feel at peace and am always at peace. We had amazing food for lunch and it felt like i was back in america haha. We then watched meet the mormons and i wish i watched it back at home. But it was so cool and very touching to me. It was a lot of fun to be with the other elders and just relax a bit. We went and got pizza on our way home and it was soo good. the trotro ride took about five hours tho. We fit 20 elders in a van that should only fit 12. it stunk and was so uncomfortable.

i have been teaching this guy named francis when i go on splits. I know he is totally ready to receive the gospel. He went on the church site and watched videos and then he called us and said he is convinced and wants to learn more. The next visit he told me he wants to be baptized. i hadn't even talked about baptism yet! hopefully he comes to church so we can baptize him soon.

I look forward to sundays because i can just relax and sleep and maybe write in my journal during church. But yesterday we got to the chapel about 10 mins before church started and the branch pres told me i was going to give a fifteen min talk during sacrament meeting. WHAT??? Man i had no idea what to talk about. ugh so i just wrote a few scriptures down and i about fainted when i walked up there having no idea what to say. I ended up giving a great talk about our purpose on earth and what we need to be doing to prepare to meet God. It was about twenty mins and everyone said they loved it. I know that the spirit was with me. We all need to make sure that we have the spirit with us. Read Book of Mormon, pray, be nice to people. 

I can't wait to call and talk to y'all. Elder Green 

Pics from Kwabeng

I don't have a lot of details of what these pictures are of so I will do my best to describe as best I can deduce--Dad

Beautiful village of Kwabeng

Cameron eating a local favorite...
this is eaten with the hands

Mosquito netting and fans make
sleep possible

Cameron's companion removing a palm
fruit from the front yard palm tree

Missionaries, including Cameron,
do their laundry by hand

On the road to Kwabeng

Happy as usual, but why the
Netherlands futbol jersey?

Working Hard out in the Bush

Well hello everyone from the other side of the world! This has been an amazing week here in Ghana. I am working extremely hard out here in the bush. It is so dang hot all the time and i am getting plenty dark. But mom don't worry my sunburn is turning into a pretty nice tan :)  So me and my companion have taught over Forty lessons this week and we have about twenty something new investigators. This means that i will get a lot more experience teaching the first lesson. Me and my compainion decided that i will take the lead in all of the lessons about the restoration. I am learning how to teach people in ghana style. They have a totally different way of thinking over here. My twi speaking is bad, i only know a couple greetings and responses but i will definitely learn more here. I learned this week to eat breakfast every morning and when you don't eat, don't take your doxy. I only threw up a couple of times though :)  Anyways, I ate fufu for the first time and it was delicious! Really spicy though. Every tuesday and saturday we go on splits and teach in acrofufu which is a village about five mins drive from kwabeng. There are lots of people ready to hear the gospel. When we go, i have to actually teach and not rely on my companion. I am getting better and more confident. Working with members is great and a huge blessing. They bring the spirit and testify so strongly of the truth because most of them are converts. also, i want to talk about faith. faith is an ACTION word. If you don't read the book of mormon, pray, and go to church, you have no faith. its so frustrating when someone doesn't do those things because i know thats all they have to do to become converted. Just three simple things.

Well kwabeng is strengthening me and i know this gospel is true. Have faith and you too will be strengthened. I love you all.

Elder Green

First Area in Ghana: Kwabeng

Wow okay i have soooo much to tell you!!!!!!!!! The field is nothing like the mtc. I am so happy to be out here doing real work. So first of all, i am serving in this village called Kwabeng. Kwabeng is the BUSH. its actually the bushiest place in my mission. poor poor poor. i kind of feel like im at scout camp because im outside the whole day. ive never been inside anyones house. we just teach on the porch. all the houses have a mud interrior and some have concrete outside walls. the roads are all rocky and muddy and stuff. i am in the mountains so it is cooler than accra. but still extremely hot and humid. 

my trainer is elder Kirkland. yes he is white. hes from az. he is very understanding and helps me a ton. me and him get a long very well and i feel very safe here. he has been on his mission for 13 months now. 

people here speak only a couple words in english. This is definitely not an english speaking mission! everything is in twi. i hope and pray to learn fast and be able to understand the people here. i know a couple greetings so far and am no good at them. it is super important that i greet everyone i walk by. they will get extremely offended. i'm sure i have offended plenty of people so far haha but oh well. at church they only speak twi so i'm sure i won't learn anything on sundays for awhile. i bore my testimony to the congregation because i'm new here and the branch pres made me. i also sang with my companion and other return missionaries. pg 136.  

I have noticed that the investigators that we have to have a translator for progress a lot faster than the ones we don't have a translator for. because the spirit is the only way they can know that what we are teaching is true. The only way we can progress in life is by keeping the gospel of Jesus Christ. please make sure we are still learning and repenting and praying and doing our best to progress and do the right. 

i love you 

Elder Green

Supper time

           

Cam with companion Elder Kirkland
from AZ

 
    Cameron always has friends

These are water satchet, like water bottles but in a bag

Sightings of Elder Green at the Ghana MTC

What surprised Cameron upon arriving at the Ghana MTC (all U.S. missionaries were asked this question): "Africans eat everything, even the bones on chicken."

Slide show of the November 14 Ghana MTC Group (Cameron's Group). Can you find Cameron among all the missionaries?

MTC Temple Trip in Accra Ghana

Hey everyone! I have so much to tell you and i dont know how much time i have. The mtc here is so so awesome! i am learning tons and it is so spiritual. there are tons of pioneers here with me. my roommate is the first person to serve from his country Zambia. there are 19 countries represented in this group which is like the most countries here at one time ever. My companion is Elder Eybio. (eh-e-bee-oh). he is so amazing. he is 23 years old and short. he is the only member in his family and just joined the church three years ago. he is from nigeria and speaks english. i am just now starting to understand what he says. the nigerians are the hardest to understand. me and him like to laugh and play jokes on each other. here in the mtc, is very hot. i never stop sweating because there is no air conditioning in most rooms. i stay very tired because i have lots to do and study for. the food is not what i'll be eating out in the field. for breakfast we have a boiled egg, lots of good yummy bread, and oatmeal. lunch we have rice, chicken or fish and fruit. dinner is the same kind of food as lunch. they feed us so much here so don't worry about me going hungry. all the africans don't understand why i am not green. they are seriously so confused that my name is green but i am white! its funny here because most africans dont know how to pronounce other african's names haha. 

i had the opportunity to go to the temple today. it took about an hour to get through accra and tema. i saw some interesting things on the journey. chickens roam around everywhere. lots of dirt and unfinished buildings. everything is sold on the streets. i saw two dogs trying to create life with each other. all of the police officers carry ak-47s with them. signs that say"ignorance of the law is no excuse". i am so ready to get to my area because it is so so so cool!!!!!! most of the americans are serving in accra west mission. i guess its because its the safest. the temple is absolutely beautiful and its so cool that the church here is alive and strong.

i have only worn two shirts and one pair of pants this whole time because i dont feel like handwashing my clothes. my district has five americans and five africans. i have grown to love them very much and we like to have fun together.

i have been studying and teaching a ton. i teach a couple investigators each day. my companion and i have a hard time since we can't understand each other very well. i don't know if we talk about the same topic while teaching. i will get better so i am not worried.

the mtc is great. the gospel is true i promise. i will endure to the end and do great many things. last year, there were 20,000 people baptized in west africa. we are on track to go over that number this year even without the ebola countries. we weren't allowed to shake hands the first day i got here but now we can.

Love, Elder Green

November 14 MTC Group

Elder Green on the right hand side, fifth row on the end. 95 missionaries in the November 13 Ghana MTC Group. This is the most diverse group to be at the Ghana MTC; missionaries in this group are from Benin, Botswana, Congo, DR Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Philippines, Samoa, South Africa, Togo, Tonga, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

African Statistics: LDS Church

African Statistical Snapshot

Our misssions come to the MTC from the following African countries: 

Benin

• Total Church Membership | 1,439
• Missions | 1
• Congregations | 11
• Family History Centres | 1

DRC

• Total Church Membership | 37,909
• Missions | 2
• Congregations | 130
• Family History Centres | 11

Cote D'Ivoire

• Total Church Membership | 22,576
• Missions | 2
• Congregations | 72
• Family History Centres | 9

Ghana

• Total Church Membership | 57,748
• Missions | 4
• Congregations | 168
• Temples | 1
• Family History Centres | 34

  Kenya

• Total Church Membership | 12,184
• Missions | 1
• Congregations | 41
• Family History Centres | 2

  Madagascar

• Total Church Membership | 9,826
• Missions | 1
• Congregations | 38
• Family History Centres | 1

Nigeria

• Total Church Membership | 118, 139
• Missions | 5
• Congregations | 378
• Temples | 1
• Family History Centres | 45
  

  South Africa

• Total Church Membership | 59.385
• Missions | 3
• Congregations | 154
• Family History Centres | 61

  Togo

• Total Church Membership | 2,307
• Congregations | 12
• Family History Centres | 1

• Uganda

• Total Church Membership | 12,380
• Missions | 1
• Congregations | 26
• Family History Centres | 2

  Zimbabwe

• Total Church Membership | 25,001
• Missions | 1
• Congregations | 60
• Family History Centres | 4

Africa

• Total Church Membership | 421,892
• Missions | 29
• Congregations | 1,281
• Temples | 3
• Family History Centres | 193

Worldwide Statistics

• Total Church Membership | 15,082,028
• Missions | 406
• Missionaries | 88,000
• Missionary Training Centres | 15
• Temples | 143
• Congregations | 29,253
• Universities & Colleges | 4
• Seminary Students Enrollment | 397,007
• Institute Student Enrollment | 359,828
• Family History Centres | 4,789
• Countries with Family History Centres | 133
• Countries Receiving Humanitarian Aid (Since 1985) | 182
• Welfare Services Missionaries (Incl. Humanitarian Service Missionaries) | 11,925
• Church Materials Languages | 189

Made it to Ghana: God Answers Prayers

Well I am here and I am safe. it was a long flight and I was all by myself! -.- All the other seven elders met up in London so they got a nice flight but I guess I was by myself because im the strongest ;)

I was feeling really sad and lonely when i left. but then i prayed the whole way to Atlanta and i read my patriarchal blessing. i have so many good things going for me and i know that my father in heaven loves me. i have never been happier in my life. mom, i am so happy to be here and i hope that me crying at the airport didn't make you worry.

Today, i am checking in and i just got my nametag :) my companion is elder Eyibio and he is from Nigeria. I have not met him yet so i am not sure that he is coming. my roomates are from Zambia, tonga, and samoa. they are so cool and i love them. it is hot in the mtc because we have no air conditioning in most of the rooms. but it is okay i will get used to it maybe! I know that this is what i am supposed to do and it is worth missing you guys for a while.

Much love, Elder Green

p.s. i don't capitalize very often because the shift key is tiny!!!!

Heading to Ghana

Cameron (now known as Elder Green) left Arkansas on November 12, 2014 to report to the Ghana MTC on November 13. His flight took him from Little Rock, Arkansas to Atlanta then to Amsterdam and on to Accra. What an adventure!

This is the place to monitor what is going on with Elder Green over the next two years. As he sends letters and pictures, I (Dad) will post them here for all of us to enjoy.

Cameron in the Little Rock Airport

Cameron waiting in Atlanta for his connecting flight to Amsterdam