6/26/2017

Um…Well….

I probably put that subject like 12 times by now and it’s always because I never remember the week when I start, but as I write it comes back to me….

So, an Elder in my apartment is going home next week after 2 full years so it’s exciting for him and distracting me.  haha.

The Week was good!  We finally got our new meeting house and so we had 6 investigators come to church!  5 to Sacrament and about 10 or 12 people we haven’t taught, but were invited by members to come!  Among them were 4 of the village Elders (The villages here have Chiefs and Elders.) (The Chief wasn’t able to make it so he sent his Elders.)  As you can see, MEMBERS ARE HOW MISSIONARY WORK MOVES FASTER!!  It was a cool time. The Sacrament Hall reminds me of a prison. It is a church built facility that we are only using for a small time so they didn’t put full walls up.  It is just 2 full walls and 2 half walls with a roof.  But people could hop in and steal the chairs so they but metal bars up to fill the half walls, so it reminds me of a prison.  It’s a HUGE place!  We can fit about 100 people in there if we use the chairs right and our branch only has about 20 people and half are children (actually more than half, but still!)  We are expecting and hoping for growth.

And then we come to today! We had a zone activity at the beach. We played beach football--2 hand touch. (the real football) and it was great.  I felt like I was all grown up playing in the turkey bowl--but on sand that is hard to run on!  Kyle and Jordan, you'd be proud of me!   I got a pick (almost) 6.  It was a fun time.  We also got zone shirts that are really tight!!!  So, I look like a buff guy, but I’m not.

Also, during study this week (or maybe it was last week) (or maybe it was when my companion was sick--I don’t remember!) I was singing hymns in the apartment alone and I sang hymn 97 (one of the best hymns ever!) I just love it!  Especially the last line in the first verse. “One step enough for me.”  I don’t need to know everything, just enough to keep going.  I just need to know where next to step and trust the Lord that I’m going the right way.  Of course, I know the destination I want to go, but when you look at the whole road you really don’t need to see where you will step 45 steps from now,  just where you will step the next step.

Alright I think that’s it.  I hope everyone had a great week!  I know I did!

(this computer has a virus so I can’t send pictures.  Sorry!)

love you all!

-Elder Ellsworth

6/19/2017

We got the General Conference Liahona and it says only home can compare with the temple in sacredness. That is so true! My Home is amazing.  I’d invite you in but, you’ll need to ask my parents :).

This week was good.  It rained heavily this week so we didn’t get done as much as we would have liked. The rain tears up the roads here and there are so many pot holes you just have to not fall!

The branch is doing good.  There was a lot of problems this week with money and stuff and gossip and it’s just sad, but hopefully we've passed over that bump in the road. If everyone understood 2 things and applied them the world would be a much better place.  1:  Is D&C 121: 41-42. and 2:  Just try and be like Jesus in all that you do and say! Christlike attributes can save any relationship.  Jesus Christ Literally set the example..... Please follow it.

The members here are great and I have to say they are very sweet.

So I saw white people on Saturday.  White girls and boys here to touch my teeth for free! Some members came to do dentistry for free for the people of Ghana so they allowed the missionaries to come, too.  I won’t lie, before I got there I really hoped Chelsea would be there and just not have told me.  If she was there I didn’t see her. But of the experience all I have to say is it was really scary! White people are scary! Even if they are members! I just kind of stood there doing nothing and talking to either the Elders or one of the returned missionaries who served in this mission who came back to help them out.  They all stay in Nevada, in the Las Vegas area.  They said Henderson.

I have pictures this week:

the week was good:)

I’m still white

this is fufu and yes I eat it and it’s my favorite food here.  As you can see no spoon. I get to eat with my hands and it’s okay!!

There was a face somewhere here but I forgot where

... they probably do some great laptop formatting

this is my face

this is my kitchen

this is something?!  I think it’s the road. I think I was trying to take a picture of my shadow... flash didn’t help

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--

-Elder Ellsworth

6/12/17

I've been sitting here for 2 hours and I almost forgot to write my weekly!!

Well this week was good, but I can remember too much.  I’m sorry, mom.  I didn’t get a picture of me and my companion yet! But the week was good we went out to what I think is the farthest part of our area.  It is a village and we taught some really sweet high school students and a man named Christian. They all stay in different cities and they are only there for schooling, but the fact that we introduced the gospel to them is sweet! They seemed to accept the message of the restoration really well, even if we didn’t teach it formally, but our testimony of what we would teach really seemed to get their attention.

I guess we teach really differently from a lot of other missions in the world. Here is how it normally goes:  First visit: An introduction of ourselves and if we get time talk about God and what he looks like and how he is. Visit 2: Restoration-- either start with God or the gospel blesses families then go to Prophets and dispensations (only we don’t really teach dispensations--it’s pretty complicated).  Visit 3: The Savior’s Church to the apostasy. Visit 4: Joseph Smith and the restoration.  Visit 5: The Book of Mormon, prayer and the Holy Ghost. We don’t take so long because they have questions.  Mostly because it’s a lot for the people to understand in 45 minutes to an hour.  Most of our lessons are an hour or longer because these people love the word of God, but we go slow so they understand it personally.  I’d like to teach it all within 3 visits but 5 seems to work. 

The time is coming for our new chapel to be done.  I really hope it is this week.  We’ve only had 1 investigator that was able to come to the chapel we are at now (we plan for about 7 each week).  They are just waiting for the closer building, so it’s a struggle, but it’s understandable :)

I forgot my camera today so I don’t have pictures, but overall you can imagine I look really good. Especially since I was sick yesterday and this morning so I’ve lost about 10 pounds :) (the benefits of sickness) 

UMMMMMMM what else?  I don’t know.  I’m alive and happy.  Prayers do get answered so keep praying (and look it up in the bible dictionary because it is really interesting)

Love you all!

--

-Elder Ellsworth

6/5/17

This week was a good week. Like every other week. My mission is just great! I can’t remember too much, only the bike ride home every night.  I’m starting to remember the road so I can avoid the pot holes, so that’s cool.   Soon I will be able to do it with my eyes closed! (I won’t, don’t worry Mom) Not like it matters anyways, it’s so dark.  Luckily, I can really see the blessings from on high. We go down this one rather steep hill and it has a pot hole about half way down.  I always know it’s there, but I can never see it with my dim bike lite.  But every time I’ve gone down that hill a taxi "magically" shows up behind me, with super bright lights, so I can see right at the moment I need. Small blessings build strong testimonies when acknowledged. It’s also crazy that that happens because right before that downhill, there is a steep uphill (now that I think about it the road, if you’d look at it from a side view looks like the little animation on the big screen in Autopia  "Don’t bump the car..... in front of you" it looks like those hills) I hope that’s the words, it’s been a long time since I’ve been to that attraction and last time I did it I drove and broke my mom’s back (sorry mom).

But yes, my point? I forgot! But this week was good. We had 1 investigator at church, so that was a disappointment.  It’s understandable.  Family issues come up and it is an really expensive thing for some of these people.  It costs about 3 cedi for the round trip (75 cents).  But still they have big families and so 2-4 people coming costs about 6-12 cedi.  That can feed them for like 2 meals. Some people are just lazy too and honestly, I understand that as well. I was the same back home, but I also didn’t fully understand everything I understand now so it’s a good starting point to know how to work with them :).

We have a lot of great investigators.  They keep us busy into the night.  We normally come home around 9-9:30 (something I’m not used to).  Most Elders and other areas come in around 8-8:30 to take dinner because no one really wants to see us that late.  The sun goes down at 6pm and we aren’t supposed to travel after dark, but now we have people to teach so it’s all good and keeping me working.

I was sick on Saturday so I slept until about 2 (I did wake up at 6:30 to follow mission rules).  I was feeling well enough to go out at 3 so we saw a few people and had good lessons with them.

We learned about listening more and it was cool.  On Tuesday, we had an investigator named Faletia and her husband Aggruy (I can’t say it so don’t ask me how).  We were teaching Faletia while work was being done on her house.  During the lesson on the plan of salvation she said "I’m 50 and no children and plenty of miscarriages, how disappointing" (or something to that effect) and I heard it but my companion and I just continued teaching.  But then I thought about it and was like wait a minute.... I don’t know this doctrine perfectly but I know things will be made right so I was hesitant to share that we will be able to raise our deceased children later because its labeled "deep doctrine".  But as I pondered it more I felt that if she understood it, it would bring her peace.  That is the purpose of us being here right?  To be representatives of Jesus Christ. So, I did tell her and I hope she understood. We will go back and teach her the restoration because we started with the Plan of salvation because she asked questions pertaining to that.

A good week and more to come

Love you all keep smiling and sharing what you hold dear.

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​Last thought and only picture this week is a part member family we were working with.  All the family, except the dad, were members and the father was having some troubles that caused a lot of problems with the family.  He was baptized yesterday and IT IS SWEET.  He lives in Kasoa so I, unfortunately, wasn’t there.  But now their whole family is active. The mother was less active before I got there and only the children attended regularly and they were valiant in attendance going to seminary and passing the sacrament. The example of the son is really what brought his father to come. One day they were talking and his son quoted a scripture which led the father to truly start to investigate and now, 4 months later, after his trip to South Africa he is baptized and to be confirmed a member next week. The Gospel truly blesses families and is truly found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (I’m working on my story telling).

-Elder Ellsworth