From Mar. 5, 2012: Liken Scriptures to Ourselves; Stanley; Ghana Bread;

Tuesday we were told that Elder Cooley and I were to stay together for
another transfer where I will complete his training. Elder Cooley also
hit his second month mark as well as time is flying! With Wednesday
Elder Cooley and I went to the ward's institute where I wrote down a
few things that I liked. One thing I liked was how I came to a more
complete understanding on how to achieve goals and such.  I need to liken
all scriptures for myself. They don't do any good if I just read them
and then not internalize them. I also learned how the spirit won't
prompt our investigators for baptism if we are not living worthy to
teach with the spirit.
 Thursday was the first day of March!
 Friday Elder Cooley and I went for a training where we were
instructed to use the Book of Mormon more effectively. Elder Cooley and
I have been much better at using the Book of Mormon in our teaching
and it is clearly helping. We are working for three persons to be
baptized by the end of the month and just like last, we are going to
have to utilize the Book of Mormon and utilize our faith to accomplish
this goal. We were able to have all our lessons have members present, and
it is one factor for success here.
  Saturday we had our highest quality lesson of the week with a man
named Stanley. When we went to his house we walked to teach him with a
member, but as it didn't work we introduced him to her and then taught
him under a tree. Trees are great places here; the people use a good
tree to socialize and relax under where it always seems like there is a
breeze too. For the lesson Stanley had many quality questions like how
he can know he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit with a
prompting and not Satan. For all of the questions we were able to
answer them with the Book of Mormon and we could feel the spirit
strongly in the lesson. Later in the day Elder Cooley and I found this
crazy short cut to a newly baptized family. We rode by this huge
Muslim university. I'm enjoying finding new areas and roads to travel
on with Elder Cooley. It makes things fun. I also wanted to also
include another cultural thing from Ghana; this time being the bread.
All of the bread is fantastic. It's all produced how our home-made
bread is. It's great.
 Sunday we were able to get Stanley to church where we found out that
one of the adults in the ward also plays on the football team that he
coaches. We were also able to have two part member families come to
church and a guy named Michael that is related to a member in the
ward. With Michael he has several family members who attend the church
and decided to visit one Sunday when he was late for the church he was
attending. He loves it and we are working for him to be baptized this
month. Michael used to be in the Ghana Army. He currently works for the
National Security Service and literally takes up an entire doorway
with his head at the top and his shoulders just shy of taking up the
whole width.

From Sept. 24, 2012:The Best Week With Elder Bladen; Crazy to Think My Time as a Missionary in Ghana is Over; Priceless Time for Me and My Salvation; Can't Find Words

This past week was the best Elder Bladen and I had together. I felt
that we had the mindset to hit the ground running hard. We didn't have
any issues that kept us inside and generally the days this week were
all the same which basically followed this pattern: we wake up and
feel more tired than we were when we went to bed, went out and were
able to see many of our inviestigators and if we weren't, we were
working to find new investigators while dealing with the ridiculously
blazing heat which was only comforted by the wind from the sea. When I
came to Ghana it was really hot every day with the heaven sent wind
and I'm grateful I won't be here for that. I can say that I am saddened
that I have to leave these people that I have developed true
friendships with. I have made a lot of choices as a missionary, most
good, but some not the best, however I can say that I have always
tried to be imporving on myself and I am grateful for the growth I
have seen in my life.
 Through the week we were blessed to have the members offer their
assistance to us and the most noteworthy member present lesson was
with the bishop's younger sister who went with us to an investigator
nearby and translated the lesson so our investigator, Sisi, was fully
able to understand. While Sisi has dificulty expressing herself, she
understood okay with us, but with Sister Lucy there, it helped us really convey
the message and I reflected on my relationship with the members and what
I have done here in Nugua 2. The bishop said he had never worked
closley with missionaries until Elder Bladen and I, and that was a
wonderful compliment at least showing me that from when we came into
the ward, they have developed trust in us and I feel that I have been
able to lay a solid foundation with Elder Bladen. The bishop's family
also invited us over on Sunday and I was touched with hearing their
expressions of gratitude.
It's crazy to think that my time is over here as a missionary and it
has been priceless for me and my salvation. Aside from this we were
able to have god continue to bless us by bringing four investigators
to church and I'm hopeful for this area when Elder Bladen's new
companion comes. It has been a real blessing to serve with Elder
Bladen, while we didn't really have "number" success, I can say that we
have been able to have much success and I feel that I have developed
Christ's attributes the most this past six weeks.
 I wish that I could have more to say, but I can't put into words
all of my feelings and everything has already been said.

From Sept. 17, 2012: Mission Tour With Elder Dickson, Africa West Area President; The People Are Great - I Will Miss Them

Well these past two weeks haven't been great for progress in the area due to sickness and body issues, but I can't believe that my time is over. The mission doctor looked at my leg and he concluded that it's just a bone bruise and the are no issues, but as it is bruised, it will take at least 6 weeks to heal. My knees had inflamed and he said that this was due to how my body shifted it's weight to deal with the injury, but it's not bad now. He said I should get them checked out. 

I'm excited to see how life is. The top of the list is for me to get fit, find a job, and support the family at their events. 

For this week Elder Bladen's back had been acting up and my legs were flaring up, but it is okay now. On Thursday we had our mission tour with Elder Dickson, who is also our Africa West area president. I felt invigorated and it was my last mission meeting.

  Saturday Elder Bladen developed some complications to eating some bad food like vomiting, fever, headache, chills, runny tummy, and upset stomach while I only developed headaches, body aches, and having my stomach run. We also had the baptism of Jason Allotey (9). Apparently he was never recorded as being baptised so we did that with the family present. 

  Sunday we were able to have a person we met a few days before come to church. Aside from that we had three Nigerians come; one with a friend, and two came separately by themselves. I also went on a split with Elder Littlefield to church and covered both services as Elder Bladen was still sick and stayed with Elder Indrya. There are two returned missionaries that came home two weeks ago and it has been fun to talk to them. The people are great here and I will miss them.

From Sept. 10, 2012: Blessed to Serve with Elder Bladen; Sprained Shin

On Monday Elder Bladen and I went into Accra to the art center before I go home. It was the first time Elder Bladen had been and he enjoyed it. The last time I was there was just under a year and a half. 

  On Tuesday the APs and zone leaders came to our district meeting and it was to help our district improve its current low performance. Elder Bladen's back had acted up frequently which hindered us, but other than that we did fine. After our meeting we had a great day meeting our investigators, Jonathan, Awudu, and Frances. Awudu was able to read many various segments of the Book of Mormon and after trying several times, we were able to meet Frances and he had read the first 10 chapters in the book. 

  Wednesday we contacted a bit and extended several dates. I have recently been thinking a lot about how I am blessed to be able to serve with Elder Bladen before I go home. He is a real friend. I feel that I had overlooked this blessing while serving in a difficult area. 

  Thursday Elder Bladen's back started to act up and we called it a day after the first lesson. I was able to study a while and at the end of the day we went to a program at the church supporting the youth to serve missions. 

  Friday we went to get my leg checked out at a medical center. My shin has been giving me issues from two Mondays ago after a sports activity for the zone. Basically I was told that I have a sprain and I have to rest my leg by staying inside keeping it elevated. As a result Elder Bladen and I were only able to go out Monday-Wednesday with a lesson on Thursday. We were able to have decent numbers at the end of the week in relation to what happened this week. It was a shame though because Elder Bladen and I were working hard during the week and we were hoping for a good end of the week.  That's basically it.

From Sept. 3, 2012: Power Went Out, All Is Well

All is well. We had lights out so I'm just writing this to let you know
that I'm okay. 

From August 27, 2012: 23 Months!; Becoming More Steadfast

This week we have been working to improve ourselves and the area. While
we are working hard and being obedient, we have not had much success
for several weeks and I wonder if I'm missing some magic answer as I
feel that if I was doing that "one thing", things would be a lot
better. Elder Bladen's back issues do interfere, but I can't blame on
that at all.
 We have taught a few good people this week. Jonathan was very
receptive this week and we reviewed what he had read of the plan of
salvation. He is well versed in scripture and we gave all of our
teaching from that. This week has been good with being able to see the
growth I have with the knowledge of my scriptures which is really
nice. KB (Akos) was also able to meet with us. She is smart, and like
Jonathan, wants to know the truth. We also happened to teach some senior
Jehovah's Witnesses (they live in a church sponsored mission home).
Elder Bladen and I were able to keep the lesson under control by
answering from the Book of Mormon and base this knowledge from reading
and praying. The spirit helped us answer their questions and it
worked.
 Friday I hit 23 months and I feel that this past few weeks I have
made a lot of growth in becoming more steadfast against temptation so
I don't backslide on the progress I have made. I think that this can
be credited with reading numerous church magazines when Elder Bladen's
back is acting up. I have more seriously taken the church leaders
as my role models and I feel that this gives me strength as I strive
to emulate their desires and actions. While things aren't carefree
with the area and it's success, I feel I know that I'm not slacking off
and while I know the missionaries directly around me can see this, I
hope that others around me are able to see me as an example.
 Saturday Elder Bladen and I had the baptism and confirmation of
Dickson Osabutay which was preformed by his father who is recently
coming out of less activity; we hope that this will strengthen the
father in addition with his new calling as a young men presidency
councilor.
 Sunday there was a party directly outside our house for a woman who
graduated from her hairdressing class. The music was started around 3
and the several concert size speakers didn't stop until 10:45 pm- it
was a great cultural experience sitting inside hearing the house
shake.

From August 20, 2012: All Africa Service Project, Cleaning Out the Open Gutter; Three Nigerian Sailors Come to Church; Dinner at a Parliament Member's Home; Working Hard But Not Seeing Results We Want

On Monday the district went to a fancy art gallery in a place close by
called La. it was basically all sorts of art that was for sale, but
as it was free to enter it was fun to look around and feel
sophisticated.  The vast majority of things there cost over 1000GH and
reached to around 16,000GH. On Tuesday we were told that Elder Hurley
would leave to a place called Momponse and an Elder Littlefield from
Standsberry Park, Utah, he will hit his year mark this month. I also
picked up some sandals that are made from car tire; they are a lot of
fun.
 Wednesday Elder Bladen wasn't feeling well so we spent the day in
the apartment, but all is well. Thursday we spent a lot of time
contacting and we came across a Muslim man and his family (their
house). The man was friendly and had done all of his university
studies in the states and it was an enjoyable lesson for me as we
expressed different religious views.
Friday we spent the majority of the day contacting and were only able
to teach one lesson from a man named Jonathan. Jonathan is 25 and has
heard all of the negative things about the church and wanted to know
what our say was. We feel that there is potential. Jonathan is willing
to learn for himself and read what we leave him.
 Saturday was the All Africa Service Project where the church
throughout Africa preforms a day of community service. For the Nungua
and Baatsona wards, we cleaned the gutters and entrance to a market in
the area. I took the opportunity to get some rubber boots and getting in
the open gutter clearing it out with a few others. It was a lot of
fun.
 Sunday we were blessed to have three Nigerians here for a university
course that felt to walk into the church on Sunday, teaching them as
well. They are sailors which makes them sound really cool. They will
be here for a month and apparently the church is well established in
their home area. We also went to eat at a members house that is a
current member of parliament it was a nice place. For this week we
mostly found and we feel that our results are not corresponding to our
efforts. Oh well, we are doing our best. I hope others can see that
too and not assume we are not doing well because I'm going home soon
and they think I may be getting lazy.

From August 13, 2012: Discussion with JWs; Pushing Tro Tro Uphill; Area Getting Stronger

For this week Elder Bladen and I were hard working and stayed

optimistic, but even though we did this it felt like all of our

efforts' results were slipping through our fingers. We contacted the

majority of several days this week without much avail on certain days.

The late president has his burial this week and that kept people busy

too. Elder Bladen's neck and back flared up this week and it was

quite bad on some days. Saturday our baptism fell through because the

father didn't show up and he was to preform the ordinance, and we

wanted to honor his privilage. The bishop said that it would go on

this Saturday regardless if the father arrives with the family (they

are members too). Becuase of Elder Bladen's pain, he slept the majority

of the day and I left Elder Hurley's companion, Elder Ndarya, with him

as he was having serious stomach issues which we later identfied as

sertious constipation. Elder Ndayra is a quiet person. I joined with

Elder Hurley for a split to try and acomplish what we needed to do

before Sunday. Sunday Elder Bladen gave a talk on the Second Coming of

Christ, and it helped force him do things not normal with him to

help him grow. He did quite well. Elder Bladen was then followed by

Elder Dickson, the Africa West Area president, who came to visit the

ward.

 Thursday We contaced a lot around the bishop and at the end of the

night we ended up contacing a mission or church house for the Jehovah's

Witnesses. We were suprised to have them welcome us in, but we could

tell by the look of their faces that thay were JWs as they have a

certain countenance and as we taught our message their questions were

leaning towards that. It was an interesting experience, but we did our

best and we learned that we can't teach from the Bible like they can

so we are utilizing the restored truths we have.

 Friday we were biking home for lunch when Elder Bladen pointed out a

tro tro that was broken down and suggested that we help push the 23

seater van. Pushing from the back were two boys under twenty five and

an older man over 60. We later found out that they had been pushing for

several miles to a repair shop and had hit the uphill part of their

journey when we came to help them. We pushed that van at least a mile

uphill and it drained us. It was a lot of fun and the highlight of the

day by far.

 On Sunday I saw an old missionary, Elder William Acquah, who I used

to live with in Alajo about a year ago. He has wanted to visit the

ward I'm in and it was nice to see him and to talk for a bit.

This upcoming week we are going to continue our finding where we have

an appointment with a father of a child of record who was baptized on

Saturday and another member's friend. All in all we hope to find

around members' homes that we will identify this week. We will see

what this transfer brings and I'm working to complete the few weeks

honorably. While I wasn't expecting the current missionary results,

now as I close I feel that the ward is trusting us more and we are

working to leave it stronger that we found it.

From August 6, 2012: Alligators; Wise Counsel From President Judd About Our Challenges; Pictures!

For this week it started off by having a very well off member give us an akai berry. Basically it made everything else we ate taste very sweet. Also a few weeks ago Elder Bladen and I saw a small alligator. A member named Prince told us that they are around in the river/ gutter we saw it in, but people eat them so they don't grow very large. This week we also went into the Nugua market and while it's not very large; I really love the cultural environment of them, and as it was Elder Bladen's first time in a market, he really liked it. We also had a day where Elder Bladen and I took the same member named Prince to teach with us, and Elder Bladen stepped on some human feces, and we also learned that a specific building we often pass daily is a brothel. Friday Elder Bladen and I split and I took Elder Naison from Zimbabwe while Elder Bladen went with Elder Anifousie from Nigeria. Elder Naison is 25 and just shorter than Elder Bladen. That day we worked hard and were able to locate several members' homes. On Saturday we wanted to see one of our baptismal candidates, but when we went to see him his brother said he wasn't in the house while his friends said he left the house at a different time, and Elder Bladen also saw a person hiding in the house. When we called on the phone, the same friends answered, and after we left we saw and noticed how there was another person with them.  Dare I say that we were like secret agents following them to see if that extra person was the man we were looking for. After stealthily tracking them, we concluded he was the man. The event was fun, but we don't know how this will turn out baptism wise now. We have to talk to him face to face about this. On Sunday an Area Seventy, Elder Curtis, and his wife came to visit the ward and brought a referral for us who is a security guard for the area they stay in. The woman lives in the neighboring area and by the end of Sunday, Elder Bladen and I were watching our high hopes for this month get taken out like bowling pins. We will have a baptism for a member's son Saturday and we are counting our blessings. I know we are working hard and we are obedient, I just hope that others watching don't draw false conclusions in relation to our success. I have mentioned before how I feel that in this companionship, while we get along great, the work is hard and one of the things we are learning the most is to have a positive attitude and to not give up pushing. We are becoming better people and when this rock does move, it will be replaced with a larger one, but we will have the ability to carry on. President Judd had a very good letter about our challenges. I figure I will copy it here too. 

Dear Elders and Sisters:

Thanks to each of you for working so hard and doing so much good. We are making progress as a mission and are moving the right direction. 

Even though we are experiencing success as a mission, sometimes we will be given assignments where it appears we are having little or no success. Even though we are working hard and smart and are striving to be obedient, there will be occasions when we will not see the success we hope for. The following story illustrates that there are often reasons for the problems we face even though we may not be able to understand them in the beginning. To my knowledge, the author of the following story has never been identified, and the story is obviously not scriptural, but I believe it contains truth that can be helpful during difficult times:

There was a man who was asleep one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man He had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock pushing with all hismight. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

         Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture placing thoughts into the man's mind such as; "You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn't budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it? Etc." Thus, giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man even more. "Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough."

         And that he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. "Lord" he said, "I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock a half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?" To this the Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when long ago I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me, your strength spent, thinking that youhave failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled; your hands are callused from constant pressure; your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom. This you have done. I, my friend, will now move the rock." (Author Unknown) 

I once had a calling in the Church where it seemed to me the harder I worked and the more carefully I tried to live a life worthy of the Spirit's guidance, the more difficult things became. Sometimes it felt like the rock I had been called to push was rolling backwards and crushing me. It was a very difficult time in my life. Nevertheless, now that I look back on those challenging years I understand the Lord's wisdom in allowing me to have such a difficult experience. Many of the lessons I learned during those difficult days are helping me in my present calling in ways I didn't understand at the time. 

We are serving in a mission where we are blessed to see many people baptized, but each of us has or will yet face difficult times. During these times it will appear the harder we try, the more difficult the work will seem to become. Please do not become discouraged and give up. There are better days ahead. I promise. Ammon, the great Book of Mormon missionary, recorded the following words of encouragement given to him by the Lord Himself during a time when Ammon and those with whom he was serving became discouraged:

"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give thee success." (Alma 26:27)

It was also during this same time that Ammon learned what the Lord would have him do to be a successful missionary:

"Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing--unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance." (Alma 26:27)  

Sometimes the "rock" you will be asked to push will be your companion. Other times the "rock" may be yourself or difficult investigators. You may have to deal with difficult health issues or problems in the ward or branch where you serve. You may even find that your family is having difficulties at home that make it difficult to focus on your work here. You may have other times when even though you are working hard you can't find seem to find the "elect" spoken of in scripture.  

Some of us could push a little harder than we are pushing. I have been disappointed at such things as the number of unauthorized phone calls I observe on the phone records provided by our cell phone company that lead to being out of credit before the month ends. Others aren't working in the evenings (including Monday). Some are being disrespectful to leaders, listening to unauthorized music, etc. I am happy to say that we don't have a lot of such things going on in our mission, but even a little disobedience hurts the mission as well as the missionaries and the people we are called to teach.  

While the examples of the various "rocks" we are called to push are numerous, we have and will yet be asked to push different sizes and shapes at different times during our missions and during our lives. When you do, I hope you will remember the story and the scriptures above and they will help give you the strength to "bear with patience thine afflictions" with the knowledge that in the end, God "will give thee success" (Alma 26:27) if we are faithful.  

With all of this said, it is also important to remind ourselves that success as a missionary should never be defined solely in terms of the number of baptisms we have as individuals or as a mission. In Preach My Gospel we read: 

"Your success as a missionary is measured primarily by your commitment to find, teach, baptize, and confirm people and to help them become faithful members of the Church who enjoy the presence of the Holy Ghost.  Avoid comparing yourself to other missionaries and measuring the outward results of your efforts against theirs. Remember that people have agency to choose whether to accept your message. Your responsibility is to teach clearly and powerfully so they can make a correct choice." (p. 10). 

We will continue to have success as a mission, but the more "successful" we become as individuals and as a mission, the greater the opposition will become as well. Don't let this discourage you. I have learned a great lesson over the years that even though success often bring greater opposition, the Lord gives gives us greater strength and ability to deal with the problems that arise. This is one of the reasons men and women of God learn to find joy in the problems they face. One of my favorite examples of this is in the 17th chapter of Alma where we find the account of Ammon helping guard King Lamoni's sheep.  Ammon's fellow servants began to weep when the wicked Lamanites came and scattered the sheep, because they feared that losing the King's sheep meant they would be killed. Ammon's response to this life-threatenting situation was very different:

Now they [the King's servants] wept because of the fear of being slain. Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words." (Alma 17:29)

Ammon's companions were full of fear, but his heart was full of joy. He saw this as an " opportunity to use his priesthood and his preparation to bless the people---- including the King. I believe that Ammon had pushed a lot of rocks as the Lord prepared him for such a day as this. Similar accounts are found in Alma 32:6 and Alma 8:31. 

It is my prayer each of us will prepare ourselves well and will perform effectively when called upon to push the various rocks we are called upon to push. I know that as we are obedient and put ourselves in the position where the Lord can bless us, not only will rocks move, but mountains will be removed and hearts will change as well. 

I also pray we will not allow any success we have to create pride as these rocks and mountains move. We must never take personal credit for the miracles the Lord performs through us. We must always be sensitive to the dangers of success. Pride as individuals, companionships, districts, zones, and even our mission as a whole will lead to failure. President Ezra Taft Benson warned that, "the hour of a man's success is his greatest danger" (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson , p. 465).

From July 30, 2012: Make Every Person and Every Discussion Count

Well this week was okay. We struggled getting lessons. We can't use
the excuse of the zone conference and a carpenter being at our place for
four hours, but I feel what got us down was our self created lack of
optimism. It was identified how the situation is like quicksand, where
the more we spend our effort fighting our discouragement, we become further 
overwelmed and sick. This Sunday was optimistic regarding our
church attendance and the baptism of Margarete Neglo. We have set a
goal of four this month and in order to acomplish this, we are
implementing Elder Cooley's goal acheiving method (get multiple goals
to acheive the goal of four.) We are more optimistic with this and we
are focusing on not letting ourselves become disscuraged, removing
the thought when it comes to our minds and counting our blessings like
Margaret's baptism. In addition, we are going to further our member
involvement and to develop a more quality lesson plan in order to help
us mentally prepare for each lesson, so we can make them really count.  I
feel I struggle at making the investigator feel that I really am
connected to the message I give.  I feel I am learning to keep
optimistic and hardworking for an extended period of time, and I'm
grateful for this. I feel that this sums up our week. There is a lot of
refining going on.  I feel that we are working to our ability, but I
don't want/ like to use the phrase that we are working to the best of
our ability because I feel that there is always more that we can do
and more growth to be made.

 For the people we were able to bring to church, they all were
brought with members and we are grateful for their willingness to help
us. We were hoping for another member to bring her cousin, but it
didn't work out, but we are optimistic with our potential for next
month. We have a few leads as well, which will help us continue to
extend dates for the next month soon. We had our zone conference and I
was able to see many other missionaries from my former area, Adenta. I
know that it would be the last time I would see many missionary friends
that I have made here. At the zone conference I was intriged about the
word bridge "nevertheless" (it was pointed out by president Judd) how
it can take two points and highlight the latter. An example of this is,
"I like you, nevertheless, I won't marry you." I have previously noticed
how the word "but" does the same thing as one can give a brief
compliment, but when they include a "but" into the thought it is a way
of showing what a person's true thought is. I found it interesting. I
also liked having the reveiw of my will compared to God's as I have
mentioned this  previously how God's will always ends up much better
than how I pictured my will to be. As I have been thinking about life,
I'm striving to develop myself in a way that I won't backslide when I
return home for if I do, in my mind, I would be a falure with where I
have gone. As I have thought about this, I feel that what I'm going to do
is pour more effort into developing the ability to repel temptation
related to media (movies, music, and the like) with mantaining
virtuous thoughts. I feel that I do a good job of this now, but I want
to reinforce these traits for when I go home so that I won't let temptation
linger. I'm working to utilize the Book of Mormon more to aid in this.
As I said before, I feel that what I need to work on most this week
with teaching is to make everyone count and to convey unto the people
we teach that I'm excited to have the opportunity to share the message
I have.

From July 23, 2012: Alex Boye Concert; Elder Bladen Sick for a Whole Week

 The week as a whole was on the average side. Elder Bladen was sick for a full week with strep throat which interfered with some of our work efforts. I was able to take Elder Ndarya (Elder Hurley's companion) on a split to see a few people which was good. Elder Ndarya is adjusting to Ghana and I think the split in another area helped him. He is a good missionary who understands the gospel and who is working, like all of us, to convey his knowledge in lessons. Alex Boye's concert was a much needed morale booster with our results in the area and the companionship's sickness. We were reinvigorated and touched by Alex's powerful testimony.  Alex Boye is a musical artist and also sings in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He came to Ghana to promote the church. The start was not what we were expecting. He was getting jiggy with it, but it turned more spiritual .
   The end of the week proved more fruitful than the start by receiving two part member referrals. Unfortunately they both were not able to come to church. Isaac had his lights out and wasn't able to iron, and Gifty didn't have shoes to wear to church and as a result said she would buy some this week for the coming Sunday. Gifty and her brother live with their father who has them sell alcohol to make some money through the week when he goes to work. It's not a fun situation to be in as Frances was visibly embarrassed with a drunk man interrupting our lessons, but we understand and we tried to show him how there isn't anything to be embarrassed about.
 Aside from all of this, Sunday we were able to bring our baptismal candidate, Margarete, to church. While she is a member's relative and only 17, Elder Bladen and I are able to see her come to love the message we have and the church. We have a few more leads in our area from members as well, and we are optimistic for them next month. The ward is also doing well. I gave a talk on chapter 13 of the Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith, and I feel that it was a sign they are trusting us more. The ward is very good. they just  need to see the missionaries being real and trustworthy missionaries, which Elder Bladen and I are working to do. Elder Bladen and I are getting along well. I think after being sick for a week, he was starting to become overwhelmed and discouraged and I have been working to inspire him.

From July 16, 2012: Hardworking and at my Best; Legend of Mean Kitties

  As I recall this week I feel that it wasn't anything special.  Yes we worked hard, we were obedient, but I felt that we were going through the motions and had a lackluster result at church. I felt that with being sick and various other things on Monday, it hurt our running start for the week. On Tuesday and Wednesday we had a few meetings with the ward where the theme was centered on the missionary work which was nice. I feel that the Bishop here is really blessed by the Lord and I'm excited to see the growth here. Like I said before, I just hope that I will be able to contribute to this and not hinder the work. We have been working with two separate investigators, Margarette (17) and Stephen (21), who both have received answers to their prayers which was motivating last week. We have been working with them and it was disappointing to have Margarette be the only investigator at church and this was influenced because she is from a part member family. Regardless, she is obviously liking the ward and we have been working with the young women to fellowship her too. For Stephen, we had arranged to pick him up for church, but his phone was off and his family said he wasn't there. We have introduced ourselves to the family and we are working to be able to teach them too. One of the elder Brothers has shown interest. There is another man named Ernest (~27?) who is an instrumentalist for his church, but as he lives next to the chapel, he said he would come. We had taken him through the church before and attended institute and a baptism. After we were not able to pick up Stephen. We tried for Ernest, but his brother said he was out of the house. 
  All in all we have been able to identify more members' homes and have coordinated our effort with theirs in bringing a few of them to church. We are hoping for two baptisms this month, but it looks like we will only have one. For Elder Bladen and I, we continued our finding efforts, but it was clear that it wasn't with the same spiritual zeal as the previous week.  The days were long, rough, and empty. We are continuing to work hard, but we need to revitalize our spirits to do effective work. We are continuing to have a few leads on referrals so we will pursue them and we hope this will help revitalize us too. There is a phrase written in our apartment saying, " Are you a hardworking or an effective missionary?" I personally don't like how the saying is constructed as I feel that it implies to rationalize that the two are not needed together, but at the same time I understand the meaning and I feel that this week showed that I am a hardworking missionary, but I am definitely lacking on the fruits of an effective missionary.  As we have talked about, seeing the whole of my mission I am at my best as a missionary with the desire and intention to continue this growth. But while I'm at my best, the results are not mirroring the missionary I have become. Perhaps I will have to recount my blessings and growth. My continual challenge is to help bring progression in our investigators whether it be church or baptism and with reopening Nungua 2,   I feel that I may have some expectations that I'm just flopping at. I guess I can imagine myself on a treadmill while others are actually in a race going somewhere. Having said all of that, Elder Bladen and I are going to focus more on our referrals and identifying those who are not progressing and continue our finding and building of a teaching pool. Elder Bladen is developing more confidence and is a good missionary-great potential. Our desire this week is to be reenergized in spirit. 
  I figure I would also relay that Elder Bladen also developed strep throat on Sunday, but is feeling better now which is good. 

Also according to Kenyans, a house cat can kill a full grown person -  so like a  kitty killing someone the size of Doug Woodard. As this is an unbelievable conclusion to understand, upon further questioning we were told that the claws are poisonous. Other Africans said the size of the claws can, I'm sure in strange occurrences kill.  But they always do serious damage to the face, but to have a reputation to kill a human is a bit strange.