I wanted to share a story with you and your family:
As we were doing some finding and contacting as one of our appointments fell through and the back-up also we stumbled across a compound with the gate open, we actually thought it was the compound of someone we had previously contacted and we wanted to follow up. Inside we met a man named Patrick. It was pretty funny as when we went in, we knocked on the door and nothing, no answer, then from around the side we saw a man peep around the corner, he saw us see him and called out "wait i'm coming!!"
So we waited.... he came back. And immediately sat down with us and motioned for us to sit too. He told us that just that morning, he had got into an argument with a close friend because he had gotten drunk. When he sobered up a little he asked himself what had he done? He then said he prayed, for the first time in a long time, that God would help him, that he wanted to stop all these bad things that he had been doing. Some few hours later we knocked on his door. He received us as servants of the Lord, as messengers coming to help him become converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
When our appointments fell through, we could have been discouraged, we could have lost hope, we could have said, well this is a great day isn't it... but instead we used that time to do some finding. It was a little slow to start with, (i think that was a little of the discouragement) but we followed the spirit, and it lead us to where we need to be.
well this week has been great!
a lot of sickness as my companion has a cold and runny tummy! for 4 days straight
i had it for one day, some super spicy rice topping!!! makes you go
that is all you need if you are blocked it will clear you in no time!!!
sorry that is kind of gross
Ghana is still hot, east africa is in a terrible drought and west africa had terrible floods!!! i will send you some pics if i have time
loveelder anderson
Saturday, November 12, 2011
KFG?
had some KFG today, and it was pretty nice!
( they usually don't fry the goat but fried goat is actually pretty good!)
they do fry a lot of chicken but!
SOOOOOO MUCH FRIED CHICKEN!!!
we ate Thai food last week and it was really nice!
i got thai green curry so that was cool and some thai fried rice which was also very nice!
well ghana is still sweet, we are still working hard and got at least another 6 weeks together!!!
i wanted to share a little experience we had this week that opened my eyes a little! This week i re-realized something. As we taught an investigator for the second time, we finished teaching about the restoration and introduced him to the Book Of Mormon. We had asked him to pray about the things that we had taught and about Joseph Smith. As we asked him if he had prayed he said that he had, and that he was still waiting for an answer. As we taught about the Book Of Mormon and why we wanted him to read it. About how he will come to know it is true by the power of the Holy Ghost if he would continue to read study and pray about it. He said to us, "I am beginning to feel that it is true"
Then we waited, we could see him thinking, then he continued "because if it wasn't true, then you wouldn't give me the opportunity or tell me to ask God for myself if it is true... You would be trying to convince me." And it made me think, how important the spirit is, we could visit someone everyday and tell them the church is true, they may even believe it, but they will not have their own spiritual witness and it will be harder for them to endure to the end. I love the way the Lord reminds us of our own personal strengths and weaknesses. Without his help we cannot succeed, even we shall not teach.
It is great to be home, but it is greater to be out here doing to lords work!
i love it
and will definantly miss doing it full time when i get home!
lots of love elder anderson
( they usually don't fry the goat but fried goat is actually pretty good!)
they do fry a lot of chicken but!
SOOOOOO MUCH FRIED CHICKEN!!!
we ate Thai food last week and it was really nice!
i got thai green curry so that was cool and some thai fried rice which was also very nice!
well ghana is still sweet, we are still working hard and got at least another 6 weeks together!!!
i wanted to share a little experience we had this week that opened my eyes a little! This week i re-realized something. As we taught an investigator for the second time, we finished teaching about the restoration and introduced him to the Book Of Mormon. We had asked him to pray about the things that we had taught and about Joseph Smith. As we asked him if he had prayed he said that he had, and that he was still waiting for an answer. As we taught about the Book Of Mormon and why we wanted him to read it. About how he will come to know it is true by the power of the Holy Ghost if he would continue to read study and pray about it. He said to us, "I am beginning to feel that it is true"
Then we waited, we could see him thinking, then he continued "because if it wasn't true, then you wouldn't give me the opportunity or tell me to ask God for myself if it is true... You would be trying to convince me." And it made me think, how important the spirit is, we could visit someone everyday and tell them the church is true, they may even believe it, but they will not have their own spiritual witness and it will be harder for them to endure to the end. I love the way the Lord reminds us of our own personal strengths and weaknesses. Without his help we cannot succeed, even we shall not teach.
It is great to be home, but it is greater to be out here doing to lords work!
i love it
and will definantly miss doing it full time when i get home!
lots of love elder anderson
Saturday, September 24, 2011
New Companion and the work is 'sweet' in Christianborg!
My new companion is really cool, His name is Elder Cserepes, (Sara-piss) from Kanab Utah... tiny tiny town, in the southern utah desert with a population of 5000!!! i couldn't even imagine! his name is from hungary and most ghanians have a really hard time saying it!
He wants to get a guitar so that will be cool for the apartment! guitar and ukulele!! Together!! hehe
In our flat it is just the 2 of us! so it makes it nice and clean!!
we have had no water since wednesday till today!!! but them the water came back on and them power went out!!!
so we just cannot win!
We had a baptism on saturday, it was someone that president and the AP's were teaching, His name is Eric.
And he is a Magistrate Judge in Ghana!!! So that was quite an experience, i had to interview him for baptism!! how crazy is that... i was his his judge! (in a way) but he is a surprisingly humble person and loves the gospel! We sang nearer my god to thee with the ukulele at the baptism, (Elder's Afu, Tuisavalalo, Thompson and I)
It was really sweet! and we sounded pretty good too!!
The work is so sweet here in Christiansborg!
The member's really helped us out this week! We received 9 referrals from members and had 6 at church on sunday!!!
which was just wonderful!
We are planning on having a baptism this saturday!
For 2 of our investigators,
Elizabeth Aryee and Dan Ossom.
They are such great people!
When we met Dan, he had heard of Jesus Christ but had never gone to church, never read from the bible and only know what he heard on the streets!!
It is so great to be able to teach his the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then how is was restored in the latter days through a prophet called of God! He is very excited for his baptism!
He wants to get a guitar so that will be cool for the apartment! guitar and ukulele!! Together!! hehe
In our flat it is just the 2 of us! so it makes it nice and clean!!
we have had no water since wednesday till today!!! but them the water came back on and them power went out!!!
so we just cannot win!
We had a baptism on saturday, it was someone that president and the AP's were teaching, His name is Eric.
And he is a Magistrate Judge in Ghana!!! So that was quite an experience, i had to interview him for baptism!! how crazy is that... i was his his judge! (in a way) but he is a surprisingly humble person and loves the gospel! We sang nearer my god to thee with the ukulele at the baptism, (Elder's Afu, Tuisavalalo, Thompson and I)
It was really sweet! and we sounded pretty good too!!
The work is so sweet here in Christiansborg!
The member's really helped us out this week! We received 9 referrals from members and had 6 at church on sunday!!!
which was just wonderful!
We are planning on having a baptism this saturday!
For 2 of our investigators,
Elizabeth Aryee and Dan Ossom.
They are such great people!
When we met Dan, he had heard of Jesus Christ but had never gone to church, never read from the bible and only know what he heard on the streets!!
It is so great to be able to teach his the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then how is was restored in the latter days through a prophet called of God! He is very excited for his baptism!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Transferred Again!!!
So a little piece of interesting news for you.
No more Kasoa..... NOW its Christiansborg!
Yep! I got Transferred, Again...
This was the first transfer that Pres Judd and he made A LOT of changes.
So i am now in Christansborg. Back into the centre/heart of Accra, with the busiest street, the most white people and a KFC (yes a real one) that opens on Saturday!!!! (super excitement on my face!!!)
I am in the same district i was in when i was in the Office.
My Ward is nice, the members are cool and surprisingly the work is still sweet!! But then again that comes down to individual perception and desire... But so far I'm loving it!
Christiansborg one of the oldest wards in Accra and one of the oldest chapels.
It is very strange.
You walk straight into the chapel, and then the classrooms come off all the sides of the chapel. The Bishop's and Clerks office's are in a separate building across from the main chapel as well as our small (but nice) apartment.
BUT!!! The whole chapel, including our apartment has..... A/C
and they use it every Sunday! They kind of need it in the main chapel as there are only windows at one end!
It doesn't look like a typical chapel but it is still nice. We are about a 5 minute bike ride from the mission home and temple, both however are in another missionaries area.
If you find a map of Accra look for OSU, ACCRA and the chapel and apartment are on 17th Lane off Oxford street.
http://maps.google.com.gh/maps?q=osu+accra&oe=utf-8&rls=com.yahoo:en-US:official&client=firefox&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0xfdf907a07106513:0x4c5d573d71893771,Osu,+Accra&gl=gh&ei=buc_TueZEoib-gaQ--CmAg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ8gEwAA
it has a dark red roof.
It is still a little cool here in Accra, thankfully, and i am right on the beach.. about a 5 minute ride from out apartment as you can see on the map.
One of our investigators lives pretty much beachside... in the least beach side property i ever did see!
It is fun to be back in Accra but i miss Kasoa, and I'm now on to companion # 7 and area 5 and i'm not even one year on mission!!! anyone would think im a problem missionary.
But i guess i went to Kasoa for a purpose and fufilled it!!! and now i'm here in christiansborg for the same reason.
I'm still DL and now have the office elders and Jamestown, my former area in my district!!
Also we will be coming to the cafe a little earlier as well!
The lady, Mummy Hammond, who is on the cover of the Ghana Ensign, that wayne showed me is now in my ward, and we are going to her house for FHE tonight, so that will be fun, with our district and the AP's. Both her and her daughter play the piano really well, and they take turns playing.
Hey so i heard something about julia gillard and some new tax that is going to make flights more expensive...???
or something like that.. but then again, i have no idea!
life is fun, the work is sweet and the field is surprisingly white and ready.
the people are everywhere. you just have to find them!
Let me know when the other letters arrive, they get more and more interesting!
:)
Love Elder Anderson
No more Kasoa..... NOW its Christiansborg!
Yep! I got Transferred, Again...
This was the first transfer that Pres Judd and he made A LOT of changes.
So i am now in Christansborg. Back into the centre/heart of Accra, with the busiest street, the most white people and a KFC (yes a real one) that opens on Saturday!!!! (super excitement on my face!!!)
I am in the same district i was in when i was in the Office.
My Ward is nice, the members are cool and surprisingly the work is still sweet!! But then again that comes down to individual perception and desire... But so far I'm loving it!
Christiansborg one of the oldest wards in Accra and one of the oldest chapels.
It is very strange.
You walk straight into the chapel, and then the classrooms come off all the sides of the chapel. The Bishop's and Clerks office's are in a separate building across from the main chapel as well as our small (but nice) apartment.
BUT!!! The whole chapel, including our apartment has..... A/C
and they use it every Sunday! They kind of need it in the main chapel as there are only windows at one end!
It doesn't look like a typical chapel but it is still nice. We are about a 5 minute bike ride from the mission home and temple, both however are in another missionaries area.
If you find a map of Accra look for OSU, ACCRA and the chapel and apartment are on 17th Lane off Oxford street.
http://maps.google.com.gh/maps?q=osu+accra&oe=utf-8&rls=com.yahoo:en-US:official&client=firefox&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0xfdf907a07106513:0x4c5d573d71893771,Osu,+Accra&gl=gh&ei=buc_TueZEoib-gaQ--CmAg&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ8gEwAA
it has a dark red roof.
It is still a little cool here in Accra, thankfully, and i am right on the beach.. about a 5 minute ride from out apartment as you can see on the map.
One of our investigators lives pretty much beachside... in the least beach side property i ever did see!
It is fun to be back in Accra but i miss Kasoa, and I'm now on to companion # 7 and area 5 and i'm not even one year on mission!!! anyone would think im a problem missionary.
But i guess i went to Kasoa for a purpose and fufilled it!!! and now i'm here in christiansborg for the same reason.
I'm still DL and now have the office elders and Jamestown, my former area in my district!!
Also we will be coming to the cafe a little earlier as well!
The lady, Mummy Hammond, who is on the cover of the Ghana Ensign, that wayne showed me is now in my ward, and we are going to her house for FHE tonight, so that will be fun, with our district and the AP's. Both her and her daughter play the piano really well, and they take turns playing.
Hey so i heard something about julia gillard and some new tax that is going to make flights more expensive...???
or something like that.. but then again, i have no idea!
life is fun, the work is sweet and the field is surprisingly white and ready.
the people are everywhere. you just have to find them!
Let me know when the other letters arrive, they get more and more interesting!
:)
Love Elder Anderson
Sunday, July 17, 2011
New Area and New Mission President
Ghana is sweet as usual!!! yesterday at chuch I met the new mission president, he came out to do some interviews for us! he is really cool. his wife too is really nice and i can tell that the mission is going to have some changes!!! He has a degree in counselling Psychology and Ancient Scripture! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
The ward is doing well... however ghanians are scared of rain!!! and yesterday it rained from 7-8-15 (on sunday) and as a result we have only 56 people at sacrament meeting!!!! pretty poor effort!! they are just scared it will come back... that is down alot from last weeks 120!! the ward its self has 400 members just 120 active and 9 full tithe paying priesthood holders!!!
We are suriving this rainy season... i put mud flaps on my bike... best invention ever!! and they water we have here turns yours shirts yellow!!! no matter how much soap or bleach i use they still retain a yellow tinge.... i think it is because the water we use comes from a lake.... the lakes and oceans here are just not the nicest in the world..... at all.. but we manage!
this morning we (all 4 of us) spring cleaned our apartment (it was raining out so we couldnt do anything else and had already washed) so that was exciting and it is now clean and ready for the inspection which is sure to come!!! we made a roster to keep it clean so hopefully that works!
i don't know what type of okra you had but the way they have it here is not the nicest... its not bad but it just makes the stew like gooey and sticky and stringy!!!! and you eat it with your hands to it is just awkward!!!! and not fun at all!!!
its cooling down here as well mostly due to the rain which has come upon us but its nice at night... i hardly use my fan and its great...
There are so many wonderful experiences that i have had and so many amazing stories.
We were recently teaching a husband and wife who because they was not married correctly were kept from their baptism. However for more than 3 months they continued to come to church while they saved money to do their marriage. Traditional marriage in Ghana is very costly in excess of often more than $400 (that is for the bride price) then the actually ceremony where 100's of people come for the free food!
At this point in time the church was not able to perform the civil marriage and although it was possible to get a civil marriage through the government in included numerous trip to their office in accra, a small fee (less than $50) and a waiting period before you have the ceremony and celebration.
This faithful couple and their young child of 6 years worked all day 6 days a week to save for the marriage. They didn't miss a sunday, they paid their tithes and fast offering's weekly and they fasted. They continued to bring their friends to the church, many of whom were baptized shortly after thru their example and fellowship. After continuing for more than 3 months, the Sister was distraught, she desperately wanted to be baptized, she blamed God and the church for not allowing her to be baptized and on several occasions told us to "just baptize us, you know we have a testimony." She was about to give up, she was discouraged and didn't what to do. In a FHE we taught about God's time and the need for paitence, and i believe it really helped her. They knew they had righteous desires and that God would make it possible for them to be married.
Just 2 weeks after this, a mini-miracle occurred and the stake, the ward was in was granted permission by the government to perform civil marriages. (In Ghana, a building in which a civil marriage is performed must be registered by the government)
This meaning that they could now be married for free in the chapel not to far from their meetinghouse.
They were the first couple to be married after the permission was granted and on that same day they were baptized. It was a marvelous day. I had been transfered the week before and was not able to attend the baptism, but i hear that the spirit was in attendance and the joy they shared with the ward was wonderful.
They are both strong and active in the church, and when i saw them last week, he told me that it is never to early to start preparing Davie, their son for a mission.
I know the church is true, and that we are on the Lord's errand, he will bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. I am so grateful for the opportunity and privilege i have to be his servant here in the Ghana Accra Mission.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Runny Tummies, Light Out and being eaten by Mosquitos once again
I gave some sausages to the new missionary in our district. He liked them but got a runny tummy the next day!!! I think my stomach has become an iron cage since I've been here!!! lol
We had light off again today... 3 times... it comes... i log on, start to write... and then off again....... on/off/on/off/on but no bother its a part of life! i didnt even remember it was the 4th of july!!!! no party herebut the 1st of july is ghana independance day so big holiday here!!!!
Apples did write me a letter.and the MTC president told me about how he got sick in the mtc.... a record for non Africans actually!!! and i met that other aussie that went home... he was my companion for a day before his plane left for melbourne! In his mtc 6 people got malaria, 4 got swine flu, 3 had some other disease and 10 got some other African influenza. And yes there are now 2 more aussies here in accra!!! that one from melbourne and now one from perth.... (actually philipeeno) elder nicomedes.
Kasoa is great.. i'm loving it back to knowing what it feels like to get eaten by mosiquiitoes (still sickness free) not that i would tell you even if i did get sick but anyway... lol it is the rainy season so the weather is actually somehow nice at the moment... the mail is very slow (maybe every 3 weeks if were lucky)
i actually think that the bishop likes me... he was sick on saturday so we went to visit him and see if there was anything we could do, and he invited us to stay for dinner (we had banku and okra stew with tiny little fish... it was pretty nice! but my companion said they have been plenty times before around dinner time and they never invited them to stay!!! so its a start!
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