From June 25, 2012: Long Days But Calendar Numbers Moving; Kenya Stories Told by Kenyans; Striving to Improve as Companions

 For Monday evening Elder Achola and I split with Elder Sacket Ross and Elder John, Elder Ross from Colorado and Elder John from Nigeria. I took Elder John to Adenta and it was a good time with him. He is going to hit his six month soon and was in the same MTC group as Elder Cooley, the missionary I trained. He is from a place called Calabar in Nigeria, he is almost 23, a spunky, happy and generous missionary a head shorter that me. 
  Wednesday Elder Achola and I were back together and it was a long and hot day. The individual days are long, but the numbers on the calender are moving. Elder Achola also shared stories about leopards. antelope and Hippos from back home along with these people called night runners where it's apparently a group of people bewitched at night where they develop super human strength and vandalize homes at night. Stories about Kenya told by Kenyans are my favorite. 
 Thursday Elder Achola and I were talking about our companionship and it really helped open my eyes for how we have to improve. I felt like our companionship was one where we had lost our spark as missionaries and this conversation helped open understanding to what has happened. For the remaining days of the week we were able to make progress in our teaching though we have a long way to go as companions. We are learning and growing by the Lord's refinement process. I include a portion of my weekly email to President Judd 

"One blessing that is in the companionship is that when we do have our disagreements we always talk about it rather than just keeping it in. For us the week started off by us both lackluster, and while I feel we both knew it, it didn't hit me and rekindle that true work as a missionary until Elder Achola said how he had lost motivation in the area from when he had first come. Thankfully that conversation was at the beginning of the week giving us time to work for something better by the end of the week. All in all for us I can say we are both being tested striving to learn, but not really knowing what we are here to learn. I can say that this past week I have taken more effort with my prayers and that action I feel helped the progress this week. I do feel that everything I want to do or how I do things is the wrong way which quells my talents, but I know Elder Achola feels the same way. I was thinking of your email about a certain gift of the spirit called something along the lines of the gift of working together with those who have difference, I figure this is something I can learn from this companionship. Ultimately things will pick up when we are able to unlock the spirit in out companionship. We were talking about all of this yesterday and we know the potential of the area here and we have the feeling that once one of us leaves, the area will pick up. Now this is not a good thing to think about and I can say that this isn't what we are looking for (the easy way out) but we do see where we have to improve and we haven't given up hope and effort in making this area an example for out zone. One strength our area has now is that we, with the vision of Elder Achola, have been able to bring ward auxiliary members to our coordination- such as the relief society president. One thing I feel I am starting to enhance in my teaching from Elder Achola more is more of teaching people not lessons by not working to adapt the preplanned lesson to their individual needs, but to forsake it all together if that is what the spirit directs me to do so we can touch the investigators' hearts."

On Sunday we went to do a baptismal interview in New Legon for Elder Cosper and it was nice to see people from my old area. President Judd was also there to visit the ward and gave edifying remarks during sacrament meeting.