Creating Friendships With Those That We Teach

August 12, 2019 

A great week in the place of Mamponse! This week we were able to have some success through our work. We were able to have 2 baptisms and to be able to teach and find some wonderful people. It was priceless to see the look on the faces of those we baptized this week and the way that they have changed from when we first started teaching them. 

My favorite part of being a missionary is seeing the way that people grow as we teach them. The ways that they start to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and are filled more and more with the light. I also love creating those friendships with those that we teach. Missionary work is hard and not fun when you do not love what you are doing and when you do not love those that you are teaching. I have been able to create lots of friendships with the people here and it is such a blessing in my life. As we search to love those that we come in contact every day we can bring many into the light of Christ. Everyone is a child of God in the sight of God so see everyone as a child of God and always show love to everyone. 

I am doing great and I am having a lot of fun with the work! I see a lot of miracles every week and I know that the hand of God is in the life of everyone, and in mine! 

I love you! 

~Elder Shirley 

Making the Most of My Time

August 5, 2019 

My week has been great we had our multi-zone this week with our president and it was his first multi-zone as our new mission president and he did great as well as the other people instructing. The thing that hit me hardest was that we need to make the most of our time while we are here in the mission field. I love my time here in the mission field, it is not always easy but it has really helped me grown into the person that I want to become! 

Questions & Answers: 

Q. Did your baptisms go through? 

A. Ya they did!! We had 2 this week and we should have 2 more this coming week which is awesome!! 

Q. What have you learned to love about the city? 

A. I love the members here so much and their support. They really take us missionaries in and respect us which is so awesome! I still do not really like how busy it is here but everything is great about this place to be honest. 

Q. Do you like riding a bike? 

A. I do not mind riding a bike. At first I was sore, but now I am used to it. I still prefer to walk but biking is ok. 

Love you all! 

~Elder Shirley

Adjusting to the Busyness of the City

July 29, 2019

A great time so far in the City! 

I have had a good time learning to adapt to serving in the city but it is quite a bit different here because almost all people here know how to speak English although English is a little different haha but it is a lot of fun. The ward here is so good and overall it has been a good time. 

In this area, the area is pretty dirty like trash all over and it does not smell good. I also do not like how busy it is but like I said it is all an experience that I am growing through and I am loving the experience. As for the work, it is moving along well right now because of the help that we are getting through the members in this ward. We had 3 baptisms last week, we should have 2 this week and then maybe another 2 the next week so I am very pleased with the way that the work is going here. This last Sunday we were sad as 2 people that we are working with did not come to church but I have high hopes that they will be baptized while I am in this area. The two people are the wife to an active father and one of his sons. In their family they have 3 boys and 3 girls. The father and all the daughters are members but the mother and none of the sons are members. The son is 26 and his wife is around 60 I would guess but they have both been to church. They are just struggling leaving their churches so I am really praying for them to find that this is the true church, take a leap of faith and to be baptized. 

This week for P-day, we also went to the ocean and played with soccerball on the shore with a bunch of kids and it was a lot of fun. The ocean is just right in our area so it is awesome. I love the way the ocean just brings me a sense of peace and I really enjoyed the day today. 

As a challenge to all members, I would just challenge you to extend your hand to a close-by friend and bring them to church and really help to bring them unto Christ. This is something I wish I would have done better back home. To bring others who are still lost into that light, which is the light of Christ. I am doing great and am happy to be here! 

I love you! 

~Elder Shirley

Out of the Bush and Into the City

July 22, 2019

Questions & Answers:
(all of these questions came from the Bostron's and us)

Q. Have you missed getting back rubs by Abrea?
A. I miss it so so much!! I could really go for one right now!

Q. What's the strangest food you've eaten this week?
A. This week nothing weird at all, just the normal traditional Ghanaian dishes. Rice and Abenquine is what they call it.

Q. Are you getting used to the heat?
A. I actually am getting used to it little by little. We can never fully get adjusted though. Even the people here in Ghana that have lived here their whole lives hate how hot it is! So the heat is real.

Q. How big geographically is your mission?
A. This mission is actually really not that big. This is the smallest mission in Ghana.

Q. How many Elders are in your district? Zone? Any sister missionaries?
A. There are now 4 elders in our district and 7 sisters so it is a lot different than where I just came from. I have not served around sisters my whole mission so this is the first time and now there are 7 in my district. There are not too many sisters in our mission either. There are 2 Polynesian sisters and the others are African. 

Q. Are there any American's that live there? 

A. I have not seen any Americans besides us missionaries haha 

Q. Tell us about your new mission president?
A. Our new mission president is awesome, he is really funny and I can see that he will be great for this mission. Right now his main focus is to help us grow into disciple missionaries and to deepen our conversion, so I am excited about this. 

Q. What kind of fruit do you have there that you can't find here? 

A. There are always the normal ones, but just like the tropical fruit you can always find like mango, pineapple, coconut and other fruits. 

Q. We want to know all about your new companion, your new area, the city, etc! 

A. My new companion is cool, I think we will be able to work together well. He has been out for like 15 months so he is getting a little older but we should do good work together. The city life is way different, it is so busy, we ride bikes and there are way more options for food but lets just say I MISS MY LAST AREA! haha I will adjust here but I definitely am not a city boy! haha. This ward is amazing and the help from the members is so awesome. I think I will be able to have some success here in this area and to help the work grow. We also have a ward mission leader here that is 18 years old and he has his mission call so he helps us every day which is great because he has helped missionaries for a long time. Member help is so great. Anyways I really do miss the things from my last area and the people but all will be well.