Termites and Derik Returns

September 9, 2013

Dear family,

This was a great week!!  Not an easy one but an amazingly rewarding one!  No wars or robberies or anything like that...so it was nice to get a little break from that:).  Things are going great though.

Anyway some of the highlights of the week: We were sitting on the curb one night at a gas station waiting for an appointment that we were a bit early for...when up walks Derick.  I don'

t know if you remember him but he was the one that said he had the dream about being baptized by the swimmer and then ditched out on his baptism right before it actually went through.  Anyway he came up to us, sat down and we started talking, we talked for about 10 minutes about his life and work and what-not and then we started on the church.  It took some time but he did admit that he had made a wrong decision about missing his baptism and that he had realized that he can't do anything without God.  He told us that he would be coming to church the next day and although I was hopeful I didn't want to get too excited.  He already let me down hard a few times.  We woke up the next morning went to church where we found the entire Ansah family waiting for us, which I will come to...but there on the back row was Derick with his younger sister!!  Holy cow I was happy:).  The members really rallied around him and made him feel welcome and he is already talking about baptism again:)!  

Next we have the Ansah family; you have Blessed Sr. (the father), Comfort (the mother), Blessed Jr/Adjuet (the twins, 17), Clinton (12), and Elizabeth (2).  They are such a golden family!  The twins have been attending seminary every morning at 4:00 a.m. for the past two weeks, where sometimes they are the only students there.  The family went to clean the chapel on Saturday, they hold family Book of Mormon study EVERY DAY, they are just awesome!!  The only thing problem we have encountered so far is that Blessed has borrowed some money from his former pastor and doesn't want to leave and give him the allusion that he is trying to get out of paying him back.  He knows he needs to be baptized and is so excited for it to come but is saying that he will have to wait for some time until he can pay his pastor back.  For the most part Ghanians are big on respect here and he wants to do what he can to leave politely as possible.  He is in the process of selling his car though so he can pay him back.  Pray someone buys it!!  All in all though...this is an amazing family! 

Sunday was just a good day:)!  A very rewarding pay day!!  I couldn't stop smiling the entire time we were at church!  Surprise of the week Mildred our recent convert who was baptized last week was called to be the 2nd councilor in the primary presidency.  It's so awesome to see people you love so much progress!:)  

Next thing on Sunday, the District President was there and called us into his office and told us he had an assignment for us to do for him.  We, of course, told him we would help in anyway that we can and he told us that he wanted us to work with some less actives.  We were so excited!  We have been looking for less actives like crazy!  He then handed us a list which contained the names and information of 384 families and individuals that have been baptized but then fallen less active!  He said, "Elders you have a lot of work to do."  We are so close to getting this district to be a stake!  It's little things like this that will get us there, and its so cool to be a part of it.

Dinner with some Missionary Friends

Okay, and then we have the termites...  Remember that picture that I sent home a while back with all of those bites on my feet?  Well we couldn't really figure out what they were coming from, I was sleeping in my net but I kept getting them.  This week we figured it out....my bed was infested with termites!  We lifted up my bed to clean under it and there was two cups of saw dust.  We took it all apart, washed it and then sprayed it with some crazy insecticide so hopefully that works:).

That was about it this week, kind of a boring week compared to getting robbed and all that...but it was an amazing one!:)  Missionary work is crazy hard but days like Sunday make it worth it.  I'm trying to think of something funny that happened....oh yeah, I decided to take my study scriptures to church so I would have something to do when the meeting switched to Twi.  I never take them out of the house because they are way too valuable to me.  But anyway, we are sitting there in Priesthood and this little kid runs by snags my scripture bag and then runs out the door and out of the chapel!  It took me a second to realize what just happened but when I did...I don't think I have run that fast in a long time, (well since the dogs were chasing us a few months ago) ;)  He got a bit of a head start on me and had hid so I did a few laps around the chapel, which I should add is covered with windows so the whole branch was watching me run like crazy trying to find this kid, but anyway he finally came out and gave them back...lets just say I didn't let them leave my hands again! ha ha.

For the questions

Is your dropbox working?

-yep I put a bunch on today, if you could just take them off every monday that would be a bit help.

Transfers?

-ill cry if I go...

Any more news on the robbery?

-nope

...no more ipods.

-nope no more ipods.

Health?

-coughing like crazy but doing well:)

Investigator successes?

-amazing!  We had 10 at church on Sunday!

baptisms?

-should have three this week!

  

apartment fixed up again after the robbery?

-somehow;)

Most spiritual thing this week?

-lesson with Derick on the curb...extending dates to the Ansah family...or Sacrament meeting on Sunday we stood up to sing the intermediate hymn and as I sang...I looked around the chapel and was just filled with so much love for the people that were in the branch; recent converts, less-actives turned active again, a number of investigators, members, branch missionaries, etc. I have been here a while now and I have come to know and love so many of people here.  It hasn't always been smooth sailing with a lot of them but it's amazing when times like that hit and you and you realize how much such a foreign place feels like home.

Coolest thing you saw this week?

-a giant slice of ivory

Best thing you ate this week?

-I made pancakes...and that was awesome!

Okay well...I want to send Zack a quick email so I'll sign off.  I love you all so so much, thanks for being one  awesome family!

Love you all,

Taylor