New area and already baptisms

I think i have a new faviourite, Cadbury Mint Bubbly!!!! they were in the faviourites box and were just great!!!!!!

We have recently been teaching a family.  Bro Gabriel, His sister Patience, his wife Forstina and their children, Aseye, Shepherd and precious.

They also have children 7, 5, 3, and 1 years!
Patience also has a 3 year old.

But they all stay in the same house.

Gabriel has been coming to church since July. But had a sever problem with the word of wisdom, which has been preventing him from being baptized!  His sister and oldest daughter shepherd were baptized in September and on Christmas day he was baptized having been freed by the gift of repentance,
Similarly a week later his wife too Forstina was also baptized.

My second Monday here, the Lyons gave us a FHE lesson manual to give to them, so we decided we would go their to show them how to hold a family home evening.  It was wonderful, my companion and i taught the 1st lesson in the manual about families are strengthening them and helping them grow and one day going to the temple to be sealed.
It was just wonderful, you would feel the love.  We enjoyed some pineapple together afterward and made assignments for the following week , the week before Christmas.

Again the spirit was there and the whole family enjoyed a wonderful evening!
Then the following week boxing day, we took our christmas present one of the FHE charts from my package and it was just overwhelming.  We also gave those book of Mormon for toddlers to precious and Aseye and they just loved them!!!!  After explaining how to use the chart, they all wrote their names on one of the sticks and arranged who is doing what for that day.  And hung it in their room where everyone that enters can see it!

A similar event occurred with another family we have been working with.  The wife is a Less-active recent convert and the husband was baptized also on Christmas day.
He was in prison for almost a year (during that time the wife Doris was baptized)
For drug dealing and abuse.  He had a big struggle to give it up.
But every time we go to visit them, they pull out the FHE chart and we begin with an opening song, prayer, scripture before we share our message. It is a really nice atmosphere.  She has been coming to church for the past 3 weeks strong with her newly baptized husband and their 3 children.
The oldest of which will be baptized this coming Saturday!
He was at boarding school when she joined the church and when he returned Doris was becoming less-active.  However when she was baptized, she took her husband Mike a copy of the book of Mormon and D&C.  He is very smart. He read and understood most of it while he was still in prison and as you can say received his conversion.  It wasn't very hard teaching him as he already had a testimony of the keystone of our religion.
Even the prison staff saw a change, and he was released 6 months early without parole or anything.
They continue to grow and strengthen and right now we are helping them set goals so in a year from now they can be sealed together in the Temple.
WHAT A BLESSING IT IS TO HAVE A TEMPLE SO CLOSE!!!!

At our Christmas conference President admonished us to Work harder, smarter and to be more pure. that we may magnify our priesthood and be an ensign to the nation of Ghana.
He quoted Boyd K. Packer when he said "Your authority comes through your ordination [or setting apart]; your power comes through obedience and worthiness"

It was really great instruction, then Elder Curtis of the 70 spoke about the effects of this life namely Physical death and spiritual death and suffering/hurting.
He talked about the 3 pillars of eternity, Creation, Fall, Atonement.
How the atonement covers the fall and counters and effects of physical death by resurrection.
It reminded of a lesson that we had with one investigator Hasia.  She is a Muslim so we had to get permission before teaching her.
Her main and first concern about christinaty is "how does a God that loves us, allow so much suffering!!" and "Does he even really love us?"
A very common question.  However as we continued to teach her about the plan of salvation and the 3 pillars of eternity it just hit her.
As my companion and i bore testimony that our saviour died for us, he suffered for us, even though we are in this fallen state, he lifts us so, to make us at one with god again.
She started to cry.  She expressed the feeling of love she felt in her heart, and knew it was the love of Jesus Christ, She could not deny that feeling.  She told us that now she knows that God and Jesus Christ really do love us and are their for us.  It was a testimony builder for both me companion, myself and Hasia.

Recently the Area president came to Ho to look at land for a chapel.
(He commented it was a little small as they want to build a stake centre)
but i think they will go ahead and build a smaller one first and continue looking for another place to build the stake centre.
He said as he was up on the hill around Ho he saw a vision, of multiple wards and stakes of Zion here in Ho.
It was really inspiring and really helped the members, i have never heard them sing as loud as they did that day, truly singing a prayer unto their father in heaven!  He admonished them to be more unified, talked about how Satan would try them, to bring divisions among the branch to bring them to destruction! But they must not let contention come among them!!!  It was wonderful!

News years eve here was a little bit of a crazy day!
People setting off fireworks, gun shots, shouting, chanting, marching and everyone went to church for the year changeover!!!!  It was really cool, while everyone at home was partying, here, they went to church and prayed for the new year to come!
I had a little stout of upset tummy on new years ever and new years day but by the end of church is was all fine! and no runny tummy or vomiting with this one so no need to fear!

We received a bit of praise and thanks for the Branch  council last Sunday.
It started with the relief society president, the one we helped prepare all the food for the christmas party with, (facebook picture) lady in green and black when i was holding the baby.  She said that in her 2 years in the branch, that we are the best missionaries she has even seen, (the 4 of us).  After which the 1st councilor in the branch presidency added his own thanks then every one of the members in the branch council thanked us for the great work we are doing!

Ghana is great.
Ho is wonderful.  We are working really hard right now to build out teaching pool and really find those people that are "kept from the truth because they know not where to find it"

I have been collecting some favourite quotes from people here in Ghana and wanted to share a couple they are pretty funny!

"The government is my very close friend.... is name is Kofi" Drunk on street.
Upon enter the compound we are teaching, and seeing us he stops, takes a second looks and exclaims "JOSEPH SMITH.. IS A PROPHET OF GOD!!!!! ....... I love the Book of Nephi" (pronounced nef-fi) Then points at me and asked "Are you Joseph Smith???" Drunk Man.

The closing prayer of the Christmas Day Baptism, "Dear Heavenly Father, Happy Birthday Jesus"  Sister Mary
Our recent convert talking about the new year church meeting in her old church.

"We go church all night... we go fight for Jesus into the new year.. We dey fight Jesus... I mean We dey fight for Jesus!"  Sister Antoinette

Well another week has come and gone!!!

Lots of love Elder A. Anderson!!!!
and its only 7 months and 6 days!!!!!!!!!!!!
no need to make it longer than it is!!!

ELDER ANDERSON IS COMING HOME THIS YEAR!!!

Morning!!!

There was so much wonderful stuff in there! It was great!
There was only 2 pairs of socks and my mum said there was more than that,
I wrote everything on down as i pulled it out so i will sent it next week as i forgot this week! 

I was able to skype, they figured it all out on the ipad so that was cool as i got a walking tour of the house!!! 

It was really great!!!

Not much to say. but i did post a bunch of pictures from christmas and a picture is worth 1000 words!!! so hehe they are pretty funny!!

Piece of exciting news!!! Elder Holland and Elder Snow (from presidency of the Seventy) are coming to visit the mission in february!!! so that is very exciting!!!! pretty chill!!!!! gonna be really really cool!!!! I am so excited!!!

I AM COMING HOME THIS YEAR!!!!

Lots of love elder Anderson!

Merry Christmas

 just wanted to send a quick one to say Merry Christmas and a Happy new year!!

No package yet, but i spoke to Bro Nicolas in the Area Office Mail Room and he is going to track it down for me!  SO hopefully by friday, when we go to Accra for the Christmas Conference, Testimony Meeting talent show and Pancake Breakfast at the mission home!!! CHRISTMAS IS SWEET!!!!

We are also having a "White Christmas" This year
Hopefully with 4 people being Baptized on christmas day...
get it "white christmas" cause they will all be dressed in white!!!!
hehe

But it will be great!!!!!

Merry Christmas and email you next week with the pictures from the conference!!!

Another new Area HO

This week was very wonderful, i had a little stout of runny tummy on wednesday, but that was all okay.   I packed up and moved on from OSU and the Christiansborg ward, it was honestly a little sad to move, but that is the work i guess!!!!

So i am now in an area called HO, it is the capital of the Volta Region, so basically i am teaching a whole different group of people.  The people of the Volta are Ewe, (Air-vways) and that is the language the speak, it is very different!

The City of Ho is pretty small, reminds me a lot of Koforidua, but a little better laid out, it was planned by the germans during colonial/slave trade times, and is very close to the Togo Border.

My new companion is Elder Anderson from Twin Falls, Idaho.
It is pretty funny when we introduce ourselves! Nearly everyone has to take a second look!
Especially the Branch members.

The Ho branch is a lone branch on its own, and it comes directly under the mission, the goal is to make a district up here in the very near future, there are some little towns with members in them all around Ho, but first we have to strengthen the members to make sure they will be able to have a functioning district.   The chapel also is a small rented building the 170 people that come to church on Sundays, don't even have room to fit in the chapel!!!   They have got a piece of land that the church is in the final stages of purchasing so hopefully by this time next year they will have their own church owned chapel to worship in!!  I know the members are super excited about getting a chapel.

There are also some couples up here, Elder and Sister Lyon from Arizona, they are also really nice and so generous, it is strange to have people just buys some food, or invite you for something...  I know how much the missionaries at home are enjoying!! hehe

So my apartment was absolutey horrible, we spend nearly all morning cleaning it!!
Sister Lyon took all our curtains to wash them in her washing machine, so we cleaned all the window, they were that black with dust that you couldn't even see out of them!!!  Elder Anderson and I also re arranged our room to make it more function-able.  Elder Makandangwe, my companion from Kasoa is also in the same apartment!!

There are also some really cool waterfalls around here and also a monkey sanctury, so we are going to see if the couples will take us up there one P.Day, so hopefully some really cool pictures to come!!!!