Baptisms…

Last weekend, I had a great time on an exchange in Oda area with President. Then on Sunday, we got to witness two women getting baptized into the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We find, teach, and invite to see if people will choose to follow Jesus Christ.  We are good at teaching people, but they have to make the choice to follow.  When they accept and follow Jesus and enter into the covenant of baptism, it’s a celebration.  When you have been able to teach them and see the progress, it’s even better.  It makes this all worth it…

Baptisms are special times!

Augustina and Sara were baptized last Sunday at New Wieja ward, a converted house that we use the upstairs for a chapel.  Sister J and Sister B were both able to teach her when they were out with the sister missionaries, so it was a special day to share this time when they took a big step to follow the Savior.  The women both have different backgrounds, but the important thing is that they are coming to Christ and following him into the waters of baptism and committing to take upon his name and to do their best to be disciples of Him. (follower)

“And he commandeth all men that they must repent, and be baptized, in his name, having perfect faith in the Holy One of Israel, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.”

-2 Nephi 9:23

Up Next:  Easter, we will go to Domeabra to see Emauael get baptized.  I sat next to him the first time he came to church many weeks ago.  I was so happy that he has been progressing.  The Tuesday lesson under the mango tree will be a great memory for me.  Also, the missionaries that I was teaching with are so good.  They all get along and support each other.  They are also all part of the not-so-secret brotherhood of the bracelets.  I noticed this week when I was looking at a bunch of paintings from religious history that all the Nephites and Lamanites and all the big buff warriors in the Friberg pictures wore bracelets!  Balance: Hope and Humility.

Patterns:  I have been listening to General Conference again.  I heard that the parable of the 10 virgins (Matthew 25) was referenced 5 times/talks.  There were 5 virgins (Church members) with no oil and 5 that were wise and prepared and had their oil.  The ones without, of course, asked for oil from the ones who were wise.  Unfortunately, they were unable to share their oil.  Their oil was built one drop at a time over time. Each good deed, each spiritual experience, each time their faith was strengthened through their action, each time they gained knowledge through scripture study and built a relationship with the Savior through prayer, their lamp was being filled. The light that is given off from the oil in the lamp can be shared.  It was a great reminder to me that we need to be constantly looking for opportunities to add drops of oil into our lamps so that we are ready at any time to be a light for others.

“Keep your flame burning.”

-If you have oil and faith in Christ, it keeps burning.

“Use your resources to serve others.”

-advice on what we can do…

“Lengthen your shuffle.”

-counsel to older missionaries

Mix-ins:  Steve’s Ice Cream in the ’80s was really good ice cream.  It was like Cold Stone with ice cream that you mix with other candies and flavors.  Great for dessert, but not great for your faith.  The scriptures of God intermingled or mixed up with the philosophies of men have a way of taking us away from God and Good rather than coming unto the right flavor of Christ.  Sometimes plain, pure organic Vanilla Bean is so good and so normal.  You don’t have to mix in bubble gum and jalapenos and make it mysterious and hard to swallow (with the spirit).  The Gospel is simple.  Keep it simple.  It was not made for the smart people or the not-so-smart…it is a gift for ALL people.  All are alike and sons and daughters of God.  The plan of happiness is to return to God…believe that He loves us and let him guide us through this life to be safe and protected. Don’t let other people mess up your faith in vanilla (the Pure Doctrine of Christ and the foundation for all flavors in life) with impure, man-made philosophies and bad mix-ins.  Keep it simple and look to God and Jesus, the Doctrine of Christ is simply beautiful and beautifully simple…

Patrick’s Birthday:  Our driver and supplies guy is Bishop Patrick. He is the mission mascot because he is always doing things for the mission.  He was on contract, now he is full-time (Mission Miracle from the fast). We took him and his family to dinner.  It was good for his family to hear us all say nice things about him.  After dinner, there is a gelato place at the restaurant.  As I was looking at the bill, I asked their daughter, “Did you have TWO scoops?!” She was caught off guard but smiled.  Surrounded by good people.  We would love to take him back home with us.

New Leader Training:  If you are a new District Leader or Zone leader, you come into the mission home to have a half-day training on how to lead and what is expected.  Sister Bertha gives them a good start with chocolate chip pancakes!  President does a great job of rotating people into leadership positions, giving more people leadership opportunities. 

Oda District:  3.5 hours drive away is a cluster of small towns that have groups and branches that are not large enough to be a ward, but there is growth, and they have good missionaries there.  I drove the President out there.  After this transfer, the President put some first-round draft picks out in Oda.  An Assistant is training a new missionary who came in this week. He is also one of my favorite elders, and also went out there to train another new islander.  I drove the president out there so he could work on the phone (He reads over 100 missionary letters every week!). We went out to deliver bikes, and while the Mission President was doing “presidential things” like interviewing a couple to do a senior mission like Sandy and I are doing, I went out teaching with these great missionaries…

Tuesday born.  They make a big deal about what day of the week you are born.  Reidhead, Anderson, and I are all called “Kwabena” and went first to teach “Abena” (Tuesday born for a woman).  “We are all Tuesday-born”.  Abena was so happy, it was like being born under the same zodiac sign.  She was a grandmother, and we “learned small” on her front porch about the restoration and the need for a prophet.  Fun lesson.  She is so receptive and smart.  She had three grandchildren running around…her daughter left them with her…4 years ago!! And she is in America.  There is a culture here of taking care of your extended family, but that is rough…She is absorbing the lessons well and is such a sweet mama/grandmama…we just call her Abena or Mommy (because she is of a certain age).

Pound it.  We then walked over to a couple of women who were busy (it is Saturday), and I took the big stick and started pounding her palm nuts.  They said they were too busy to learn now, but I was the new guy, the gray-haired guy, and I was holding a big stick.  I was pounding the stick and doing her work, pounding the palm nuts for the palm nut soup.  I felt like I had the “talking stick” and was pounding it for emphasis…”Do you know who we are!?”  “We are God’s chosen servants sent here by a prophet of God, save you!”  That would be nice if that is what I said, but it wasn’t. I told them that “these young men had sacrificed 2 years from their country to share a great message, and I am only here today to be with them. Can they teach and you can prepare at the same time…I will help?”  They said yes, and we had a good lesson.  Cooking, laundry, reading of scripture, breastfeeding, throwing the kid on the back, fan the fire, reload the palm nuts, and get in some gospel learning and prayer all in 25 minutes…amazing.

What not to do.  I should not be playing soccer.  REM tells me that all the time.  I wasn’t.  I was playing catch, but the ball came to me on the ground, and I (tried to) kicked it back.  I planted my left foot on loose gravel, went straight up, and landed on my “keester”. Hard!  Brushed it off so as not to show any pain and suffering.  I really think it was worthy of Kookslam…I will be more careful.

… Whitenwashing “Aboabo”.  After the two lessons in Asene, they put me in a cab to go to Aboabo.  Alone!  Not more than a mile down the road.   Two elders went home, and the president needed new blood in the area…I went out with these two new elders.  They call it whitewashing when two new elders come in and have to start over.  They had some information, and that was our first appointment…Patirica.  She had us out on her front porch filled with palm nuts.  She was really soft spoken.  After the previous elders met with her, she told us that she had a dream.  “The spirit spoke to me and said that what you had brought to me was good, that I should listen to you”.  Wow.  Then she said she would be baptized in our church after she learns more.  She was baptized as a little child and did not remember it, and doesn’t think that one counted as much as one that she chooses.  She was right on that.  One of the doctrines that is different in our church is that children are not baptized until they are at least 8 years old…the age of accountability…you know what is going on and can answer questions about your belief.  Before that, a child is innocent. That was the only lesson scheduled…

Finding: “let's go finding…” Elder Albrecht said after the lesson.  I have been spoiled and mostly been teaching, so this should be fun. We do not talk to everyone, because everyone will talk to you.  I learned that from Elder Adams when I first got here.  We walked a while, and then there was a compound of maybe 8-10 families.  4 families were outside doing laundry and were busy doing the Saturday chores. Elder went with the lady back to us in the middle that looked like she was the busiest. She had pain nut soup boiling in front of her; she was washing her dishes in the big bowl: and she had two rambunctious boys right next to her. I don’t remember what Elder Albrecht said, but she kind of looked back at us and said, “Do you want me to join your church…?” in a sarcastic manner and I thought it was over. He kept talking, and asked if we could have a short discussion…she looked at him and said she was busy…"but if you give a few minutes I can finish this and we can talk.” I was blown away. She put the bowl with dishes to the side. Let the soup rest on the side so it was not too hot and then retreived some chairs from the Nieghbor. We sat outside and had a discussion and talked about the restoration and the new building we were open the next Sunday. It was a nice 15 minute lesson and she even prayed and said come back Saturday….crazy that I thought we had no chance and we actually were able to talk to her. Crazy that out of all the families in the compound, our elder goes up the busiest and she is the one with the soft heart that listens. Thank you Anita, hope we see you again…

Hot and Thirsty:  Water is in a sachet like a zip lock bag with water.  Bought a watermelon that we ate at the apartment.  Yes, it is hot here and I sweat often, but I am used to it and I like that I NEVER think about a coat. 

“I would do anything to be back in Ghana again teaching the gospel.  Don’t let it slip – the time you have here”.

-An Elder to Sister J

“We need missionaries to master technology, so they can master their lives.”

-A General Authority (not fact-checked)

“I made ‘Auntie’ Status!  ‘Mummy’ is like old like a grandma”

-Sister B at church when a person called her “auntie”. She always gets called mummy

“We are buying chips from Nigeria??  No can do…”

-Sister J

Viva La Mexico.  Once every 6 months, after Sister J and Sister B have forgotten how much work it is, they cook Mexican food for the MLC meeting (Mission Leadership Council).  This is a big deal, so big that a friendly General Authority in the Area Presidency had us deliver some to his home.  The Ghanaian lived in the USA for 3 years and now likes our food better than Ghanaian food.  He was, no doubt, happy with the offering given.  The missionaries ate a ton of food and really enjoyed the feast that was laid out for them.  Great young missionaries!

“Are you sure?”

“Are you serious?”

-To tell someone they are “not serious” is to say that they cannot be trusted

“Black Keys and white keys all needed”.

-Piano player at church who also taught the priesthood lesson.

"You must always have faith in people. And, most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself."

-Elle Woods

“Keep Driving…don’t make eye contact”.

-Sister Bertha was at an intersection where the light turned red, and they were the last car in a funeral procession of cars. Sister Bertha, out of the corner of her eye, saw the policeman motioning for them to pull over.  The policeman was on foot, and Sister Bertha said, "Keep driving, keep driving".  (When you are pulled over here, they just want bribes.) 20 seconds later, Sister J says, "Oh no, he’s on a motorcycle coming for us".  Sister Bertha goes into deep prayer, pleading with God that they won’t get a ticket or get in trouble. The police pulls to Sister J’s side, and she smiles and waves, as if she knows nothing of what has transpired, and continues to inch forward in traffic. Then the police comes around the back of the car, right up to Sister B’s window. She chose not to look at him, but then Sister J said he wants you to put your window down, so she turned her head and acted surprised to see him and threw up a big smile along with Sister J.  He asked them if they knew they had run a red light, and Sister J. responded that she was just trying to get out of the way of the funeral procession and that she was so sorry.  He said our lives were important and that we needed to be careful.  Sister J. said “Thank you, we will be careful. We are on our way to teach with our missionaries. God bless you!” They didn’t want to continue the conversation, thinking it could have an unfortunate ending, so Sister J. continued to move forward and Sister B. started putting up her window saying thank you so much, have a wonderful day. God bless you. Making the assumption that there would be no further conversation, ticket, or bribe.  Apparently he was OK with that. PRAYER answered! They were on their way. Nothing like smiles, kindness, and the help of the Lord!

Comprehension is so good: Sister J and Sister B went to teach three lessons with the Sisters.  Sister B. said she continues to be amazed at their comprehension and retention of what they are learning.  Several of the investigators had watched the conference and told them what they learned from various talks. Sister Bertha said they remembered more than she did!  They loved conference! One woman was so busy hand washing piles of laundry and hang drying clothes, but stopped to talk for 10 minutes. They are gracious people and sincerely want to learn and better their lives.  They see that the church offers plenty of opportunities to build their faith in and their understanding of Jesus Christ. One older man, they call Grandpa, said he’s been searching for truth his whole life.  He has been to many churches.  He said he has found it.  Finally.  He will be baptized at the end of the month. She taught in her 3rd hair place.  The Sisters teach, the hair people listen, respond, and ask questions while they braid. It’s nice because the customer is hearing everything as well! All great experiences, Sister J and Sister B are having on these Saturdays with the Sisters!

President Robinson:  Stake President in Park City and another BYU Alum is the Mission President in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), which is just west of Ghana.  All the mission presidents get together every 6 months for a meeting of the minds of sorts for Western Africa.  A lot of smart and spiritual people.  Good to see them, but Sister Bertha is missing her college roommate in Sister Jacobsen—they only left for 3 days for a Mission Leader Conference (a lot of consecrated lives!)…Sister J. had to make a quick stop at her house before returning to the conference, and she briefly and unexpectedly came in with a “Hi Ho!” and Sister B jumped up from the kitchen table and excitedly ran to give her a hug like a family member who’s been gone forever! They love each other! They are sisters in the true sense of the word!

Rats and Bats:  Good News & Bad News.  First, the good.  The bats are out of an elder's apartment, who had struggled with them.  Second, the Bat. Sister Van der Tough was having a nice dream and woke up to a rat cuddling up to her head.  She felt something up by her face and went to wipe it away, and ended up grabbing a full handful of its fur as she tossed it from her, not knowing where it landed. She turned on the light and lifted a shirt from her bed, and a huge black rat was under there.  She screamed and left her room and went to sleep in a chair in the other room. She was not happy!  It was a fun story, but she said that was the closest she ever got to calling the president and asking to go home.  Van der Endurance!

Good Friday:  So much to study and think about this weekend.  It is a good day to go about doing good.  We were at the central market today to get luggage for missionaries who don’t have solid pieces.  I also bought a big Ghanaian-made bowl to practice walking with gear on my head.  As we were returning with all our stuff, a woman wanted to carry it for me.  Patrick said we could carry it, but this woman is trying to earn a little money.  As a missionary, we aren’t able to give to beggars, so I need to find a way to be a stimulus program for my community.  I hired both women to carry our stuff to the car.  One had a baby on her back.  I paid them both and gave extra for the baby.  Easter should be like Christmas in our charitable giving. 

Happy Easter.

Elder and Sister Bertha

Ghana Holy Week, April 2025