Monday, June 22, 2015

Transfer notice to Laterbiakoshie (still in greater Accra)

Week of June 15-21

Tuesday- For district council meeting we talked small about extending commitments. What we are teaching is no small thing. If the investigators are not keeping the commitments, their salvation is at risk. 
We followed up with a lady named Victoria. It was a GREAT lesson! She is very humble and listens great. She told us that before we came, she thought Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are the same but now she knows that they are different and Jesus Christ is His son. 
We saw a lot of our recent converts today. They are all doing great. Isaac is so excited to come and help us teach a couple of people. It'll be good to have him share his testimony that he now has. Nothing exciting happened this day. It was just a good day. 

Wednesday- In the morning we met with akweah. She disappointed me today :(. We have been trying to get her to pray and read and come to church. But it doesn't look like she will do those things. We have been doing our best to show her the importance of all that. We are giving her one more week. Then we had a good lesson with Nana Yaw. He is very smart and we had a very intelligent lesson. It was weird and I'm not used to those things. But we did good and answered all his questions well. 
There was this small boy that was insulting us so me and my companion started to chase him on our bikes. Right when we almost caught him, he tripped and fell. Sorry kid. 
Wow I just had a once in a life time experience. Elder Carson and I were at the church for a meeting and then this guy comes in and invites us to talk at their church. They had like a big conference and all these bishops were there from different countries in Africa. The church is called The Brotherhood of the Cross and Star. I don't understand them at all. But we just sat in there and we couldn't wear shoes. And everyone was wearing white robes. They did some cool dancing and singing (my favorite part). Then we introduced ourselves after they introduced themselves. They talked about what they believe and we talked about what we believe. I got kissed on the cheek from five different grown old men. That was pretty cool. 

Thursday- For the morning I went out with a ward missionary. He has his call to Nigeria so he wanted to come and get some practice before he goes I guess. So I showed him around my area and we first met with Cama. I like going to see her because she is somehow new to Ghana like me. Right now she is having a hard time being in this country. So we can relate. It makes it easier to teach when I know the person well and we have things in common. She and her boyfriend are progressing very well and will hopefully be baptized soon. Then we went to my recent convert Godwin. That guy is the most stubborn person I know haha. He won't come to odorkor ward again because someone asked him to give the tune for one of the hymns in elders quorum and he didn't know it. So he got offended. I tried to talk to him about it but he wouldn't listen to me so i'll let the elders quorum pres know. Then we found a new person to teach. I saw a lot of kitties by this woman and I wanted to go pet them. We sat down and I pet them while I talked to the woman. I know that those kitties were sent from God so I could talk to mommy. 
After lunch we saw Nicole and Harry. She fed us catfish... With all the guts... And bones... And poop... I ate it... Blechhhh. But Friday she is feeding us hamburgers and French fries. For my birthday. Then we went to Henry and Jessica. They are my recent converts too. Ages: 13 and 11. It was light off so we just told scary stories. And then talked about alma and amulek. 

Friday- there was this old guy by a gate that we were knocking on and he was rude and told us no one was home. But we just wanted to mess with him so we kept knocking and asking him if they were home. Then someone actually came. Haha 

Saturday- I love Saturdays because its the day that we get to teach savina and her family. They have a nice house and they feed us banku every time we go over there. I also like them because I get to teach them as a family. I don't really get many chances to do that here. We contacted a lady and she welcomed us into her compound and we had a nice lesson with her. It was funny because she told us all of the things she hated about Ghana. She was definitely born in the wrong place. We'll definitely follow up with her. I think she'll accept everything well. 

Sunday- my last time to worship in the odorkor ward was today. I bore my testimony and I told them I love them and I'm going to miss them. But the best part of Sunday was when Isaac finally got confirmed. He got baptized about one month ago! But finally things were successful and done right. It was sweet. Right after church, we went to Sam's house. He fed us some amazing fufu and fish head. I ate the brain. Then we had to rush over to the first councilor in the stake presidency. We got fed tons of rice and beans and more fish. I was soooo full! It was so hard to finish. But we finished. One thing that I don't like about eating at people's houses is they always give us the food and then they'll go to another room to eat their food. There has not been one time that I have eaten with a family here. 

This was a good week. I'm getting transferred to Laterbiakoshie. It's right where kaneshie is. There's an amazing race episode where the people had to sell some things at the market in kaneshie. That's my area I think. I'll be serving with Elder Okwu. He is Nigerian. I don't know who he is so i'll find out on Wednesday :). 

Week June 8-June 14

Week of June 8-June 14

On Tuesday we had zone training meeting. It was fun to have the whole group of missionaries together. We talked more about how to achieve our mission goal every month. Each month our mission is pushing for 2 baptisms, 2 recent converts going to the temple, and 2 less actives returning to church for each companionship. The baptisms are coming and recent converts have temple experiences but its just challenging to find less actives. There are tons of them but its hard to get a list from bishop and stuff. Last month if my companion and I go one more less active, we would've achieved the goal. 

Wednesday- We decided to find some more people and tried to sit down and teach them. We found a guy living in the biggest house I've seen here. His name is Elvis but he is not aware of who the king of rock and roll is. But he's a cool guy. He actually has a desire to know the truth so we'll keep working with him. We talked to the bishop and his counselors at pec and now I feel like the ward is progressing and is becoming better. It's sweet. 

Thursday- Elder Beacom (my zone leader) and I went out in my area. First we went to Aquia. She is doing good but she didn't read and pray about the Book of Mormon. So we read some with her and hopefully she will pray and come to church. Then we helped a lady wash all her clothes. Usually when we ask someone out we can help, they don't allow us to help. But this time this lady got us both a chair and said yes. Haha it was good. We talked to her while doing our service for the day. When we went to Godwins house, I found out why I haven't seen him in three weeks at church. He's been going to another branch! The other one is actually closer to his house but I think he's in my ward boundaries. Haha that guy is a funny man. 

Friday- Elder Carson was back with me. We accidentally biked out of our area while we were contacting. This was a HOT day and I was wearing my least favorite shirt that was too small so I was uncomfortable the whole day. We were passing by a street and two small kids stopped us and made us follow them. They took us to their mom haha. So we sat down with her and got to know her and she wants us to start teaching her. Later in the afternoon I went on an exchange with Elder Chatterley. He is going home next week. He took me to his area and we introduced the Book of Mormon to a couple of girls. For some reason, every time I talk about the Book of Mormon, I know that it is true and I feel good inside. I love it! Then we met a lady that had a nice house. We got her to let us inside and to our surprise she had AC! That felt sooo amazing! We tried to make the lesson as long as possible. But we only stayed for about 20 mins and then we were back under the big hot sun again. When we got to the apartment, there was another big party outside our house. Idk why but the landlord just likes parties I guess. So we ate some nice grilled chicken and some banku with hot hot hot pepper. I couldn't sleep well because the party just got more and more intense and louder as the night went on. 

Sunday- Right when we got on our bikes to go to church we noticed that it was starting to sprinkle. As we were riding up the hill we saw the huge black clouds that were coming our way. We peddled as fast as our strong, muscular, hairy legs could go!! But it was not fast enough... The rain beat us so bad! When we got to the church our whole body was just soaked head to toe. But it's okay because I'm used to it. It's just a normal thing now. But I was freezing during church. Despite the rain, we had four investigators come to church. One guy looks just like a member but he told us that he hasn't been baptized and the missionaries taught him everything in his old ward. WHAT?! Okay so now we have a guy to see this week. It was a good church day. 

Love you all. 
Elder Green

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Flooding in Accra

Africa is not all desert. Here in West Africa, there is a dry season and a wet season. During the wet season, it rains pretty much every day. All of the gutters are above ground and are not covered. So when it rains, the water will run to the gutters and it empties into a main gutter or the river. 

Wednesday- It started to rain. I just thought it was going to be a normal rain storm. At the time, we were at the chapel to get out of the rain. Then both me and my companion decided to go home about 2 hours later. It was still pouring down rain at the time. We start to bike up to where the apartment is. We notice that the traffic is the worst we have ever seen it. We got to the top of the hill and there are cars all stopped and lined up for miles. So we start to ride down the hill and then as we are going down, the puddles get deeper and deeper. The big gutter is filled all the way up and it's running into the main highway. There is no place for the water to drain anymore. As we kept going, the water gets as high as our waist. The current is too strong to bike so we got off our bike and tried to walk straight. We knew if we accidentally step into the gutter we are dead. The current is too strong. The cars on the road are flooded and water is getting into all of the cars. We reach the house and drop our stuff off there and then immediately go out to save lives. 

I've never saved a life before this day. There were hundreds of cars that wouldn't start and they were just floating in the water. Me and my companion pushed cars to a safer zone and cleared out as many cars as possible. Crossing the road was impossible for some people. Old women and children were trying to cross the river in the road. As I saw that, I ran over and helped. I carried the small children on my back and got them across the road safely. Then the women I also carried across. After the people were safe, more cars came into the side that was the most flooded. We then had to push more cars out of the way. 

That night at least a hundred people died. Everyone's house is now flooded and most of everything is spoiled. If it rains again tonight, we are all screwed. 

Thursday- all we did was go to every members house to make sure that they were okay. There is a lot of damage. Everyone's homes got flooded and lots of their stuff is ruined. It's a sad sad thing to see. The reason why everything flooded is because everyone throws their trash in the gutter. And because of that, it gets clogged and it can't drain. I'll send pics of everything. 

Friday- It rained right when we were going to go out. So we got stuck in the apartment for a bit. Then I went out and crashed in a puddle. Then we got locked out of the apartment because we couldn't unlock the lock. So we just broke it with a hammer and bought a new one. We were locked out for like 2 hours. 

Saturday- we went to a place in our area this morning and it got hit by the flood way worse than I thought it would. Everyone had a big huge pile of clothes and all of their belongings out in front of their house. They can't save any of it. Now a bunch of people are homeless, can't find safe water, don't have any clothes or money. It's just a bad deal. I feel so bad for these people. I think I heard on the radio that the Red Cross is here? But we were able to see mommy aquia. She is doing good. We extended a baptism date to here last time but I don't think she really understands. So we just explained things to her again and I think she understands now. We also saw savina and her family. (The rich family). They fed us AGAIN. I never get tired of their banku and shito. It's amazing. But we had to reteach them the same thing we taught them last week too haha. It seems like i have to reteach most people. But it's okay. We learned about Adam and Eve and pre earth life. They agreed on basically all of it so it was nice.    The Isaac we baptized about a month ago is going back to school next week so we just went over there and we just chilled together as bros. it was a good time to talk about his plans in life and we became a lot closer. I'll be transferred before he returns from school so Sunday will be the last time I see him :/. 

Sunday three of my recent converts received the priesthood. That's the highlight of the week.
 Elder Cameron Green

Week of May 18-23

Week of May 18-23 

Tuesday- For district council meeting we discussed how receiving revelation is essential for salvation. One of the things that I realized is I need to receive revelation for my investigators so they can be blessed and receive their revelation and salvation. But to receive revelation I need to be worthy and always seeking for it. The thing that will bring me revelation and the spirit the fastest is diligent scripture study. That is why I have 2 hours every morning to study and get the spirit so I can go throughout my day. Read your scriptures every day guys and also share what you learn to your friends and family. It'll strengthen you and them so much. 
Now about my day: this morning was another day of finding new people to teach. We are doing everything that we can do to find people that are serious. We found someone about 23 years old who wanted to know more about the church. He is wanting to become a pastor so he was just trying to argue with us. But he is a cool person, just doesn't want to believe in some things that I know is true. We had a very powerful lesson with Isaac. He will be baptized this Sunday finally. We have worked so hard with him and have done so much to get him to this point. We went over the baptismal interview questions with him and my companion and i know he is totally ready. It's awesome. The last lesson of the day was with George and Enoch (my recent converts) and we taught Jennifer. I really like Jennifer. I think she is going to progress super fast in the gospel. She has been to church three times in a row now and is feeling comfortable around everyone now. We taught her about how God answers prayers (Galatians 5:22). That was good and we also talked a little about standing up for what we believe. 
Good day today but we need to be teaching more lessons. The lessons will come eventually I hope. 

Wednesday- I kicked a teenage goat. 

Thursday- I ate an ice cream cone. 

Friday- In the morning we started out with an hour of contacting. It was pretty good. We found six people and taught one lesson in that hour. Then we met with Cama and Christ. They are French speakers and are from Congo. They're really sweet and made us a drink from their country. It's pretty good! We taught them about the plan of salvation but focused it on temples and temple marriage because they want to get married. They liked stake conference and we pray they come to church again. Then we met someone named perpetua. She knows some members and they asked us to visit her. She is cool and wants to make us fufu next week. :)  later in the afternoon Isaac had his baptismal interview so he's good to go for his baptism. I'm so happy for him. I love that guy! We then raced down to the German man and his daughter. We had an fhe with them. It was sweet because he invited his friend to come too. We taught them and the woman he invited. It was nice to be with them in a nice home. We learned about Lehis dream and then played a game. The youngest girl beat me. 

Saturday- Wow Saturday was sweet! We are teaching this family who is filthy rich! Their house is super nice even for a house back home. They always love it when we come to them. They are just a nice Christian family and are being blessed for it. They wanted to feed us this time so we had some nice banku and pepper with tilapia. Then we learned about how to pray and how Christ set the example for us and taught us how. When we got up to leave the mom brought me and elder Carson both a big bag of CHOCOLATE! Wow it was expensive too! They did well :). I feel so happy when I see that people appreciate it when we come to help their family. And then they gave us five gigantic mangos. I was in heaven that day. Later at like 4 it started to pour and it was a huge rain storm. So we got soaked and couldn't really do anything the rest of the day. 

Sunday- Enoch and George received the gift of the Holy Ghost today. We gave them bibles too. They were happy. Chris didn't come. I was upset about that. He is less active and probably my best bud that's a Ghanaian. So we went to his house after church and he told us he forgot to take his clothes off the line when it rained. So they were all wet. He gave us some fufu that his family prepared. I ate a lot. Then we went to teach a girl who stays at the German mans place. They fed us a bunch of rice!! I ate sooo much and was so stuffed! Then right when we finished the rice and right before we started the lesson I went to the bathroom and threw it all up. Rice and fufu doesn't settle very well I guess. But the lesson went well and all is good. It was a pretty good week.

Elder Cameron Green.