From December 20, 2010: Well we found out that Elder Boyd would be leaving Teshie to become a Zone Leader in Adenta. He left the following day. The missionary who came to replace him is Elder Seroka from South Africa. He is really western compared to the majority of the Africans because he is used to the Western culture more than other Africans here. He said that they have the same fast food places and businesses we have in the states. While Elder Boyd will be missed, Elder Seroka is very easy going and wants to work hard.
On Tuesday we had the mission Christmas conference. All of the missionaries in Accra (~150) came to together. It was nice to see everyone I know notably Elder Berry and Elder Cosper. Basically the conference consisted of some mission business, eating food, and a talent show. At the end is when Elder Boyd left and Elder Seroka came.
Wednesday we met with Sammy Adje who works at a paint shop and was scheduled for baptism on Saturday. We were talking to him and he mentiond how his brother didn't want him to be living with him if he will be getting baptized into the church. He said he would talk to his brother about it and that we wanted to resolve the confusion by talking to him too. Later in the week we got a call from him saying that he wouldn't be getting baptized because he doesn't want to anger his brother. While it's not what Elder Orchard and I were expecting, we can't force him so we are hoping one day it will work out.
On Thursday We met and taught a lady named Grace, her three children, and several other neighbor children. It has been great to meet some families and teach them how the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring them closer and how they can live together forever. Though the mother can read and speak English her children are much better than her so we are using them to help us. They are really smart and it was great to see them come to church on Sunday with everyone. Elder Orchard and I were talking about our goals in life and plans afterthe mission. One of the things we plan to do is go to some undeveloped area (natural forest, park,. . .) and just conect with ourselves. I want to bring some stuff to write on, my scriptures, a water filter, some food, a tent, and sleeping bag and just relax for a few days and then reenter society.
On Saturday the apartment went to Mama Os and helped her paint her house. It was nice to change up the routine of our day, and she was very happy that we helped her. There was a baby naming party at the house during the time we were there so we got some food and drink as well.
On Sunday there was a talk given on how we need to achieve financial freedom and how when we have money we become truly happy in life. I can see how the people feel this way, their lives are more challenging than the majority of first world citizens and with money they would be able to buy privilege like a house maid, a bigger house, a couch, carpet, a sound system, or tv. There were a few more educated people at the church that didn't agree because they see more of the bigger picture. Money does bring an ease of life, but the things bought only create a temporary happiness and when the high fades, the person is left wanting more. The reason the people lack what they desire is that the majority of people are satisfied with any little gain they make. What separates them from the truly successful people here is that they are always striving for more. When the people do make money they tend not to save and instead work for the weekend and funerals. I was talking to someone about this and they agreed that if people would be more conscious about moving forward and striving for greater things aside from their provision store, then the condition of Ghana would be higher. They mentioned that the people in power are more interested in their own interests than others which keeps the poor poorer and the rich richer. These themes can be seen in our culture as well.
After church we visited Grace and her family where they fed us bonku, pepper, and fried fish. We also visited a man who we have been teaching named Samuel Adjete. He has been coming to church and knows people there, so it's a good sign.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
From December 13, 2010: Elders Quorum Move Ghana Style
From December 13, 2010: On Tuesday the Nungua zone met for a meeting. There were 14 of us there. After, we all went to buy some pizza costing us $8GC. It was BOGO so Elder Orchard and I split the cost, (normally it's $16GC for one).
On Wednesday we met with Prince and he started fielding some anti LDS questions he looked up online. We answered him and we eventually closed the lesson. He met with us the next day as well, doing the same thing so it was really frustrating. He came to church again though, so it's confusing.
On Thursday the Zone went to help a family move their house. By this I mean we were going to pick up this house and move it several feet because it was on a small hill and the rain water comes up into the house. When we got there, we discovered that we had to dig the supports out from the ground in the mud. Our feet got really muddy with this mud that smelled like poop. Because the wood was rotten, the beams holding up the house kept breaking so we had to place cement blocks to get the house up. We eventually got the job done, but it was a lot harder than we thought it would be.
On Friday we had Zone training. It was good to see the Zone again and I recevied some packages, one of them being a camelbak. I'm happy to use something of quality because all of my Ghanaian backpacks break after a few weeks.
Saturday was a day where we had two meals given to us. The first came from a former investigator named Sister Charity. She searved us foufu with willie. Willie is somehow meat from a cow, but in reality it's just a slice of fat. After that we went to visit a member of the bishopric in Elder Boyd and Silika's ward. He searved us kenke which tasts like malt, which tastes like crap. In addition to that mixed with his pictures of the temple and church things we found porn next to his DVD player in which he responded to saying it was just a romance film.
Sunday was really draining. Thankfully I had some water in my camelbak to drink from. The member Mary who fed us bonku a few weeks ago prepared it again with the money we gave her. She only gave us three small servings from the amout of money we gave her and we realized that she pocketed the money and took the extra food she didn't serve us and saved it. We later got ripped off taking the trotro home because they gave us a higher rate. Was more annoyed with Mary ripping us off though, because I would think that the members would have a little more dignity with us because they know us personally and know why we are here.
We just were informed that Elder Boyd will be moving apartments and another Elder from South Africa will be taking his place.
On Wednesday we met with Prince and he started fielding some anti LDS questions he looked up online. We answered him and we eventually closed the lesson. He met with us the next day as well, doing the same thing so it was really frustrating. He came to church again though, so it's confusing.
On Thursday the Zone went to help a family move their house. By this I mean we were going to pick up this house and move it several feet because it was on a small hill and the rain water comes up into the house. When we got there, we discovered that we had to dig the supports out from the ground in the mud. Our feet got really muddy with this mud that smelled like poop. Because the wood was rotten, the beams holding up the house kept breaking so we had to place cement blocks to get the house up. We eventually got the job done, but it was a lot harder than we thought it would be.
On Friday we had Zone training. It was good to see the Zone again and I recevied some packages, one of them being a camelbak. I'm happy to use something of quality because all of my Ghanaian backpacks break after a few weeks.
Saturday was a day where we had two meals given to us. The first came from a former investigator named Sister Charity. She searved us foufu with willie. Willie is somehow meat from a cow, but in reality it's just a slice of fat. After that we went to visit a member of the bishopric in Elder Boyd and Silika's ward. He searved us kenke which tasts like malt, which tastes like crap. In addition to that mixed with his pictures of the temple and church things we found porn next to his DVD player in which he responded to saying it was just a romance film.
Sunday was really draining. Thankfully I had some water in my camelbak to drink from. The member Mary who fed us bonku a few weeks ago prepared it again with the money we gave her. She only gave us three small servings from the amout of money we gave her and we realized that she pocketed the money and took the extra food she didn't serve us and saved it. We later got ripped off taking the trotro home because they gave us a higher rate. Was more annoyed with Mary ripping us off though, because I would think that the members would have a little more dignity with us because they know us personally and know why we are here.
We just were informed that Elder Boyd will be moving apartments and another Elder from South Africa will be taking his place.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
From December 6, 2010: Cultural Differences, Bonku on Farmers Day
From December 6, 2010: Well on Monday my apartment and the other missionaries in our zone (Elder Edgington, Larson, Maughn, and Farnes) came over to play American football. It was fun, but it was really draining on us. We were sore for the next few days. Our investigator Na is really solid and it's fun to talk to her. Elder Orchard and I have been working hard, but because we are keeping busy we are staying energized.
On Thursday Elder Orchard and I were ordering food and we realized there was this boy who was deaf waiting for a line of 20+ people to leave so he could order. We were able to get him to the front of the line where he was able to order his food. It was humbling to see him because unlike the states where there are people to help people who are handicapped, here they are left to fend for themselves. That morning I woke up around three to people sweeping the compound and our neighbor scrubbing the gutter behind our room. I was talking to Elder Boyd about it and he said that the families in the compound have house servants (one of them was the girl scrubbing the gutter). He said that they are taken from the villages and the families look at it as a service to them because they bring them into the city to live in exchange for serving the family. After hearing this my respect for Ghana dropped a bit. Though people here in general have a harder life than me they spend their days sleeping and give up on projects when it becomes too hard for their lifestyle while they have servants to do their work for them. It seems like the culture is really the thing that is holding Ghana back.
It was Farmers Day on Friday (kind of like Thanksgiving). We had a meal prepared by a family too. It was Bonku, pepper and fried egg with tomatoes and onion. it's my favorite meal here.
On Saturday the two church wards (different meeting times) got together to compete for a Soccer game. Elder Orchard and I brought two investigators Nash and Prince who play football for some club teams. We (Teshie 2) ended up winning 5-2 thanks to our investigators. It was a lot of fun to watch the game and seeing the reactions from the crowd. While that was fun, there was a special needs girl who was there as well. Africans view them as people who did something to deserve their condition so they were bullying her and hitting her. The Americans were really upset so we took her to sit next to us.
In addition to the game Elder Boyd hit his year mark in Ghana. We burned some old clothes of his and lit some fireworks too.
On Thursday Elder Orchard and I were ordering food and we realized there was this boy who was deaf waiting for a line of 20+ people to leave so he could order. We were able to get him to the front of the line where he was able to order his food. It was humbling to see him because unlike the states where there are people to help people who are handicapped, here they are left to fend for themselves. That morning I woke up around three to people sweeping the compound and our neighbor scrubbing the gutter behind our room. I was talking to Elder Boyd about it and he said that the families in the compound have house servants (one of them was the girl scrubbing the gutter). He said that they are taken from the villages and the families look at it as a service to them because they bring them into the city to live in exchange for serving the family. After hearing this my respect for Ghana dropped a bit. Though people here in general have a harder life than me they spend their days sleeping and give up on projects when it becomes too hard for their lifestyle while they have servants to do their work for them. It seems like the culture is really the thing that is holding Ghana back.
It was Farmers Day on Friday (kind of like Thanksgiving). We had a meal prepared by a family too. It was Bonku, pepper and fried egg with tomatoes and onion. it's my favorite meal here.
On Saturday the two church wards (different meeting times) got together to compete for a Soccer game. Elder Orchard and I brought two investigators Nash and Prince who play football for some club teams. We (Teshie 2) ended up winning 5-2 thanks to our investigators. It was a lot of fun to watch the game and seeing the reactions from the crowd. While that was fun, there was a special needs girl who was there as well. Africans view them as people who did something to deserve their condition so they were bullying her and hitting her. The Americans were really upset so we took her to sit next to us.
In addition to the game Elder Boyd hit his year mark in Ghana. We burned some old clothes of his and lit some fireworks too.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
From November 29, 2010: Dinner, Baptism and Funeral
From November 29, 2010: On Tuesday the sister missionaries Siter Udoh from Nigeria and Sister Oduro from Ghana got upset because they were told that they can't continue to teach the people they were seeing because they all lived in the other missionaries area (Missionaries are assigned to a designated area and are responsible for the people inside that area. The maturity from them is very low. Whenever something doesn't go as they would want it they pout for days. On Sunday they got upset because the four male missionaries in the district (a grouping of several areas given to a companionship), the ones I live with didn't sign their journal like everyone else. We didn't have much to write to them so we each wrote a few lines sideways and Elder Silika drew some block letters, and apparently this was a no no. On Wednesday the apartment was told that no one would be transferred to another area and will be here for a bit longer (each transfer lasts six weeks).
Wednesday I hit my two month mark. The individual days in the week are long but the weeks in the months go by like a blur. In December the Mission is busy with meetings and holiday stuff so this month will go by fast.
Thursday was Thanksgiving so the apartment made some mashed potatoes from the packaged potatoes Elder Boyd had. In addition we also bought some frozen french fries so we cooked that too. It was really good the first day, but the mashed potatoes the next two days weren't as good. All in all though like any other day here Thanksgiving just came and went.
I feel that my teaching as developed a lot from when I got here and I'm excited to see how it will be when I'm done in Ghana. I'm excited to see how I have changed compared to who I was before I left the states. Anyway, Elder Orchard and I stopped by a members house looking for a person we have been teaching and she served us some fufuo. After we ate she also brought out an unopened bottle of Gin. Elder Orchard and I were a bit surprised because as members we don't drink. We took a picture of the meal, thanking her and left.
On Friday Elder Boyd and I when on a split on my area (I went with Elder Boyd and Elder Orchard went with Elder Silika). We walked a lot trying to find our investigators,but it was fun spending the day with him.
On Saturday Elder Orchard and I baptized Isaac Ofie. When we got to the church the baptisimal clothes were locked in a closet and because no church leadership was there because they traveled four hours to a funeral. (Funerals, weddings and birthdays are excuses for Ghanaians to stop what they are doing and party. Last week a drunk lady at a funeral humped me as I was passing so that was fun). So we didn't have a key. Elder Orchard and I had to travel thirty minutes to the next ward to pick up other baptism clothes. We had the baptism in the end so it was good. Later that night there was a rain storm. Elder Orchard and I ran out of money so we walked/ran up to our apartment. we rapped our things in our bags in plastic bags so they didn't get wet, but we were soaked when we got to the apartment 40 minuets later. The lightning was really close too so it was interesting to see the night light up.
Wednesday I hit my two month mark. The individual days in the week are long but the weeks in the months go by like a blur. In December the Mission is busy with meetings and holiday stuff so this month will go by fast.
Thursday was Thanksgiving so the apartment made some mashed potatoes from the packaged potatoes Elder Boyd had. In addition we also bought some frozen french fries so we cooked that too. It was really good the first day, but the mashed potatoes the next two days weren't as good. All in all though like any other day here Thanksgiving just came and went.
I feel that my teaching as developed a lot from when I got here and I'm excited to see how it will be when I'm done in Ghana. I'm excited to see how I have changed compared to who I was before I left the states. Anyway, Elder Orchard and I stopped by a members house looking for a person we have been teaching and she served us some fufuo. After we ate she also brought out an unopened bottle of Gin. Elder Orchard and I were a bit surprised because as members we don't drink. We took a picture of the meal, thanking her and left.
On Friday Elder Boyd and I when on a split on my area (I went with Elder Boyd and Elder Orchard went with Elder Silika). We walked a lot trying to find our investigators,but it was fun spending the day with him.
On Saturday Elder Orchard and I baptized Isaac Ofie. When we got to the church the baptisimal clothes were locked in a closet and because no church leadership was there because they traveled four hours to a funeral. (Funerals, weddings and birthdays are excuses for Ghanaians to stop what they are doing and party. Last week a drunk lady at a funeral humped me as I was passing so that was fun). So we didn't have a key. Elder Orchard and I had to travel thirty minutes to the next ward to pick up other baptism clothes. We had the baptism in the end so it was good. Later that night there was a rain storm. Elder Orchard and I ran out of money so we walked/ran up to our apartment. we rapped our things in our bags in plastic bags so they didn't get wet, but we were soaked when we got to the apartment 40 minuets later. The lightning was really close too so it was interesting to see the night light up.
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