From February 28, 2011: Elder Oaks Visits the Mission

From February 28, 2011:  On Tuesday Elder Oaks from the quorum of the twelve apostles came to talk to the missionaries while he spent two weeks in Ghana and Nigeria looking on the progress of the church here, giving a few firesides for the members and breaking ground on more church buildings. For the missionaries he met and talked to us about missionary work and the concept of a commitment in relation to us being blessed for our service here. The high point of his message was when he said a prayer for two two Elders illegally/ falsely imprisoned from a Ghanaian family trying to get money from the church. It was a good experience, building my testimony of prayer. Aside from that I spent some time talking to fellow missionaries after the talk.
  It was Elder Nielsen's 21st birthday on Wednesday so Elder Jones and I went to a Shoprite in our area to buy him a cake. Inside the store is like any normal grocery store in the states so it was a weird experience walking through the aisles.
  Thursday was when I hit my five month mark in Ghana. I know I have a long time, but if feels like time is adding up. I'm sure the feeling will pass and reality will set in. Elder Jones and I had an unmotivational day, we think because of seeing the mission yesterday and the day being very hot. We had fun as a companionship making ourselves laugh and such which helped the day progress.
  Friday was another very hot day and will continue to be until rainy season comes in a few months. There has been some rain recently creating a cooler climate, but resulting in a very hot day after. The highlight of the day was taking Elder Jones' cinnamon and syrup, teaching a woman we buy Bread and Egg from French Toast. It was delightsome and we made some more after church on Sunday. We gave some to the woman as we ate, confirming that they were tasty.
  Saturday was when Samuel Oboagye was baptized. We picked him up at his house with his wife and children who also came to church on Sunday. Elder Nielsen and Elder Withers (from Idaho Falls, Idaho) also baptized two others. We had our recent convert Jonathan Addo baptize, doing a great job. We will now focus on teaching the five others in the family that can be baptized. After the baptism we were walking on the side of the road and passed two white girls in a tro tro. We talked to them for a minute finding out that they are Canadians here going to college. I figure it's a study abroad program. One of the girls knew that we were missionaries from the church.
  On Sunday, in addition to the Oboagye family at church we had Tei Allotei (22), Phillip Antwi (18), Stanley the Ivorian, and Wilfred. We found out that the fellowshipper that first brought Wilfred to the church told him to lie to us so he could come to our ward even though he lives next to another branch building. We talked to the bishop about the situation and we think he can still be baptized here because he is looking for a place in our area to live. He is a great guy.
All is well.