March 26, 2012

Ayeeeeekoooooooo. Meye biibiara boko paaaaaaaa.

Well, it was another week in Sunyani. Somehow a little bit of a slow week, we had been focusing so much on our recent baptism, that we let our finding go down a little bit, so now our pool is a little bit small. But we still had four investigators come to church yesterday, so all seems to be going well. Right now our most solid, and most interesting investigator is a guy named Samuel. He knows the bible super super well, like almost-memorized status, but he barely speaks any English. Its really weird that he knows the Bible so well without being able to speak much English. But he seriously knows it super well - he calls us out on every little thing that is not perfectly in line with the Bible. We met him a while ago while teaching Appiah, he joined us for the lesson that day, and we have been meeting with him off and on ever since. Our first few meetings, he said he was searching for the true church. So we told him we would teach him how he could know the true church! He has come to church about 5 times now - he was even the first person there on Sunday. So he really wants to know the truth, and is willing to test what we teach. It’s been difficult - we try to work with the little Twi that we have, but we are really trying to help him learn in English, because it will help him so much in the future. So anyway, last Sunday after church, he told us he wanted to be baptized, so this week we have been working more with him. He is a pretty cool guy…willing to see how this can bless his life.

What else from Sunyani... sorry my emails aren't as jampacked with information any more... everything that would have seemed to cool to put in emails really is just normal now! Haha. Elder McFarland taught us how to play Rugby today for our P-Day activity. It was pretty fun, and the Elders seemed to enjoy it, even if they really didn't understand it haha. Wish I could've played Rugby growing up, I think I would have fit in better at it than American football! But all is good.

We are helping out the Thaynes (new missionary couple) get more and more settled into to Ghana day by day. They seem to be hit with something new every day that makes it tough for them. They were without air conditioning all week, and still don't have it today. But they are actually going to be moving to a new place this week so hopefully things work better there. They are so awesome, and are going to help out so much up here. Right now they live inside of the Nkwabeng chapel.

The branch is moving along well too. We really want the branch to grow and get organized. DO NOT take for granted how great the church is in the US. Seriously..... it’s pretty amazing. That’s one of the biggest appreciations I have gained on my mission – everyone’s dedication to helping the church - even by small and simple things - back home. Denton 2nd ward is the best!!!!  My appreciation for every bishop I have had and every leader I have had has gone so high since I have been here! They are trying small small -  hopefully Elder and Sister Thayne can help get the leaders and teachers trained up well so they can help the church to grow even faster here.

Well, that’s really all I got from the week. We had to do a lot of contacting and  alot of walking around this week. Trying to revamp the teaching pool and get things going again. We had a sweet experience on Saturday - Around 6PM we didn't have any appointments, and Elder McFarland suggested we go up to a place that was a pretty far walk from where we were. We got up there, talked to some people, and then as we were walking down the road, a young man eating sugar cane called out to us. His name was Enoch, and he is a 23-year-old college student. He said he had been hearing about the Latter-day Saints, and he wanted to ask us some questions. We ended up teaching all of The Restoration to him, and he really loved it. So, if he reads the Book of Mormon, thinks about it, and prays, he is going to receive an answer. We will see him later this week, so hopefully he does his part!!!! I love you guys, thanks for everything. Thanks for helping me stay strong every day, and say hi to everybody back in Denton and anywhere else for me!!!! Love you!!!

-Elder Brown