A Conference With Some General Authorities

Elder Shirley & Elder Vaa

"Life in the bush"

Dinner with some of Elder Shirley's favorite members

Elder Shirley & Elder Vaa

Elder Shirley with the missionaries in the Asuom district

Everyone wearing their district shirts. The picture on the shirt is something you see in Ghana all of the time. It is someone pounding fufu and a lady doing what they call "driving the fufu"

May 27, 2019

What another great week here in the deep jungle of Africa!! haha

This week was somehow a crazy week just because we had a unfortunate thing happen when my companion got sick with malaria!! That was a little boring time because we were not able to do anything for 2 days of the week!!

Friday was the best day of the week by far because we got to meet with some great General Authorities including Elder D. Todd Christofferson, the presiding bishop (Bishop Causse), Elder Nash from the Seventy, Elder Vinson from the Seventy, Elder Martinez from the Seventy, and Elder Dube from the Seventy. The Ghana Accra West mission and the Ghana Accra mission combined and we had a really spiritual meeting. It was super cool to be able to shake all of their hands and feel the power that they carry. They are really called on by God and are such great men. After the meeting it was fun to see all the missionaries and say goodbye to some of those who are going home, including my first and second companions.

Sunday was also a great day where we saw some miracles. We have been doing an activity on Saturday for whoever wants to come where we hold just a soccer game for anyone who wants to play and then after we buy them something that is close to ice cream but a little different and everyone seems to have a lot of fun. So Sunday there were 3 of the young men that were at the activity who came to church that have not come in over 4 months so that was a huge blessing to see them come. Also, we had 4 of our people come to church that we are teaching right now that are all loving the gospel and the church.

I know that this church really is the church of Jesus Christ and that the Book of Mormon is true! Something that I heard this week that I really liked is from our branch 1st counselor and he said " We all are like Jesus Christ so we all have the potential to be as happy as he is but it is by our choices where we bring sadness into our lives". This is very true. We all have been given agency and it is a choice to follow Jesus Christ or to follow satan, so let us all follow the Savior and find complete happiness!!

I hope you all have a great week!! Love you guys!
~Elder Shirley

Questions and Answers:

Q. How has your week been? Did your investigator get baptized this week?
A. My week was a pretty good week!! We did not get to baptize our person this week because we had a problem with water, long story short we rely on a polytank for water and when we got back from Accra, the tank was empty which was super unfortunate!! So we will baptize her this week. Her name is Benedicta.

Q. Do you have any crazy companion stories?
A. I have actually been blessed with a lot of awesome companions so I do not have any crazy stories yet!!

Q. Who gives you haircuts?

A. So far my whole mission I have gotten haircuts from the Polynesian missionaries, but the ones that have cut my hair are going home in 4 weeks so I do not know who will cut it after they go, uh oh hah

Q. What is something that you have seen this week that you have never seen in America?

A. There are a lot of things that are different around here but some of the things are things like people just squatting and pooping wherever they want, women who literally just stand and pee like a dog would haha, literally with their skirts on just positioning themselves the right way haha.

Q. What is something that you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
A. Yesterday we were given some fried fish from one of our investigators and after I finished mine, my companion found some maggot looking things on his finger that must have gotten into the fish, which had my mind going crazy, but I am still healthy now so it is a good thing that we blessed the food!

Q. What is the thing you miss most from home?
A. I really miss my family!! All my family and just doing things together!! 

Life In The Bush

Elder Shirley & Elder Piutau

Elder Shirley, Elder Piutau and Elder Vaa

A dish called banku. It's eaten by dipping balls made of casava and corn into the bowl. Snails are included in this dish! Elder Shirley says, "PURE ENJOYMENT haha!"

May 13, 2019

Another great week in the small village of Asuom!!

This week we were able to have a pretty successful week with some great potential people that have started teaching now. One experience that I will share this week is about a man named Samuel who is around 25 years old who is loving the things that we are teaching him.

So after church yesterday we went and visited Samuel and I first asked him about the teachings that we had been giving to him and if he had started reading the Book of Mormon. In the area that I am in right now, it is very rare if you give someone the Book of Mormon and they actually read it because their comprehension level out here is not the highest because their English is not very good. I asked him if he had read it and he said that yes he had started which made me happy and then he even continued to say that he shared it with his father after they went to church together and that his father took it and started reading as well. We then continued to teach him the plan of salvation and the questions of where did we come from before we were born and where we will go after we die, really got his attention. He is loving everything and I can see his testimony growing as we go to him each day. He told us yesterday "Very soon I will be with you guys in your church" I really believe that in small time he will find the answers to his prayers!!

This week we also found out that Elder D. Todd Christofferson is coming to our mission on May 24th and I am super stoked for that. We had our multi zone and woke up at 3:00 in the morning again that day so we could make it to the place of our multi zone on time, oh how I love that morning each transfer!! haha it is the life in the "bush"!

Anyways I am loving the work out here in Asuom and I would not trade the opportunity to be a missionary for anything right now!! Always read your scriptures and pray, God will be with you if you do those 2 simple things!! Love you all individually and have a great week!

~Elder Shirley

We Lead By Example

May 6, 2019

This week was another great week in Ghana!! For me right now, I am really loving the work of a missionary and I really see myself grow more and more each day!! Sometimes missionary work is not easy but it is so rewarding and I love having the opportunity to be a servant of the Lord.

I will just share one cool experience to you. Right now we have a person that we are teaching who has a daughter out serving a mission right now and we are teaching her. She is progressing really well and loving the messages that we are sharing. One thing that she told us is she said, "At first I did not believe that your church was true and Jesus Christ’s church, but the love that you show to me and the way that I feel the spirit has really shown me that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church". This experience really touched my heart and let me know that God really does reach out to all of his children through the spirit!!

Something that I have always believed is that we lead by example way more than we lead by words. Be the person that Jesus Christ would have you to be and you can really change and help other people for the better!! I feel like I am having so much fun right now helping people with their lives!! I love Ghana!!

Have a great week and I love you!
~Elder Shirley

The Work Is Exploding Right Now!

April 29, 2019

The power was out this week so Elder Shirley was unable to write an email to us, but we did get the opportunity to talk to him on the phone. Here are a few of the highlights of our phone conversation: 

· He states that “the work here is exploding right now!”

· Elder Shirley and his companion are continuing to teach the mother and sisters of a missionary from the area who is out serving her mission. The family was able to listen to some of the General Conference sessions this past week in their native language of Twi and really enjoyed it. They are all planning to be baptized in the next 3 or 4 weeks.

· They are teaching a couple of other investigators who will likely be baptized in a couple of weeks.

· A recent convert that was baptized within the past couple of months is planning to get married soon and she and her future husband are already looking forward to the day that they will be able to go to the temple. Elder Shirley talked about how gratifying it is to see the joy that has come into her life as a result of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

· Elder Shirley talked about how in the Ghanaian culture married couples and boyfriend/girlfriends never show any physical affection publicly. He says that you never seen anyone hold hands or kiss in public.

· Elder Shirley told us about the 15-year-old boy who accompanies them as a translator. He is very dedicated to helping them and right now, while he is on a month-long break from school, he is working with Elder Shirley and his companion all day, every day. As they spend their days together, they are able to buy him some food, which is greatly appreciated. Elder Shirley told us how most people can’t afford to eat more than about one meal per day and that the amount of money that people typically spend on a meal is about the equivalent of $0.40

· Elder Shirley shared his latest experience with “exotic food”. This past week he ate boiled snails. He stated that they “were nothing like the escargot that we ate on the cruise ship!” He wasn’t a big fan at all of this Ghanaian food!