September 19, 2011

Morning! Just a good day out in Kumasi, no craziness with transportation, because we decided not to go into to town today, nothing really to do there. We took a quick trip to Asokwa to pick up our subsistence, but now we are just back doing the normal things in Kwamo. Actually out at Ejisu right now, it’s the biggest town in our area, about 25 pesewas on a tro tro to the east down the Accra road. It’s the only place with an internet cafe in our area. Anyway, this might have been the fastest week of my mission. They are really just flying by now, it’s crazy. I am doing my best just to figure about time and just go to work every day. I honestly have to think about how long I have been out here if someone asks me. I always just say ".... me ba Ghana dada dodo.". Haha, meaning, I have been in Ghana for too long. But of course it hasn't been too long at all! Things are going great in Kwamo. It’s weird to have been in my first two areas for so long. I honestly feel like I have talked to everybody in Kwamo, so finding new investigators is tough. I would guestimate that Kwamo has no more than 3,000 people in it. There are some other villages around yeah, but it’s hard to get out there, so we normally stay in Kwamo. Kwamo is small. Like... really small. Kwamo itself would be like, a little bit bigger than Oaks of Montecito. Probably about the size of Forrestridge or something. Often when something goes wrong... go find Elder Brown!!!. Like yesterday, I was teaching the youth Sunday School class. As I was teaching, a sister bursts open the door, "Elder Brown! Bra bra!!! Nyimpa bi se yare paa! Bra bra bra!!!" A girl was feeling sick and had gone to another room to get some space. She was just sitting there, shaking, obviously very sick, and no one knew what to do... so they call Akwasi Poku... aka Elder Brown. They wanted her to go to the hospital, but she didn't want to go. Apparently they thought I could talk her into going.... I had no idea what to do either... she was shaking so much, I was just like.. ummm, is it malaria? No idea what to do or say haha. Then I just had someone bring some pain pills, and then me and Elder Nathan gave her a blessing. It helped her out... but then she threw up. Eventually someone took her to the hospital, and I think she is ok. It’s cool to have such a big effect on the people here. As for proselyting, it went on well this week. We have a ton of investigators right now. We do a lot of walking because people always fail their appointments. And like I said, I feel like I have talked to everyone in Kwamo, so going out contacting is not as productive as it used to be. We continued our farming this week. My hands are torn up. I will send you a sweet pic next week, I look like a real man ;) Haha. Just call me Farmer Brown. Our farmer friend/investigator is keeping me going. As long as I can always have one sweet investigator, things are ok. He is the next Eric. In fact, we took Eric to teach him with us yesterday, they live really close to each other. He has progressed so far. His baptism is set for 1 October, and he is super excited for it. Taught him about tithing last night, he is set to do some great things! His wife doesn't speak English, and since we can't really teach in Twi, it makes it difficult to make her feel comfortable with learning from us... but I have faith it will work out! I will just have to be more dedicated in progressing to be able to teach in Twi. Ennye easy koraaaaaaaaaa! But I will do it :) His son comes to church with him though. He is 11, and is making friends with the young men, already excited to be able to pass the Sacrament and such. Told us the other day that he wants to be a missionary one day, I am sure it will happen, he is a serious kid. So this investigator is awesome, and is my golden guy right now. Josephine is doing well too. She is just a veryyyyyyyyyy busy mom. Her husband is so busy with his business that she is always all over the place doing things for him, for the kids, and a lot of other stuff. She is still committed for her baptism, I am just hoping we can pin the family down enough to be able to teach her everything. The testimony is mos def there, but we haven't been able to teach any of the commandments yet. So this family will be our focus for the rest of the transfer. It will take some work, we will probably have to be a little bit of a nuisance, but it needs to happen. The Zolls are doing well to help them learn the ins and outs of being a busy business man and family, and being able to use the Gospel to the fullest. We will have to work hard, but I am sure she will be able to be baptized on 1 Oct. We will be doing our best! Elder McFarland and Elder Larsen had a baptism on Saturday, always nice to help out with that. We had three investigators come to see it. The members are taking the ward mission plan super seriously, it’s pretty tight. Guess what the goal they set for the rest of the year is.... 23. Wowzers! Going for the big 2-3, inspired by MJ I guess. So that means that we have to baptize 23 people before 1 Jan. That’s a lot. But, if the members are serious, why not?! So now we gotta revamp the teaching pool. Elder Nathan is doing really well, the group is doing well and mission is going along great. We are going to head out to a village called Bonwire to check out their Kente stuff after this. It is where all of the Kente for Asante region is made. So it’s a pretty cool town. Welp, I love you guys!!!! Mission is awesome, just doing the small small things I can do. Congratulate Ben for me, and say hi to everyone else that is awesome back in Denton 2nd ward. Aka, everyone! Love you guys.

-Elder Brown