All Is Well In Ghana

October 14, 2019

What a great week it was this week!!

This week for sure we were able to see some miracles. The first miracle that I will say happened was when we found a pizza place in our area!! Haha oh how the Lord blessed us on that day! So we immediately ate lunch there haha. That day was on Friday when we had just came back from Accra because we had an exchange with some elders there the day before. Elder Banza from Congo is who I went with. I really enjoyed being with him and he is super funny and a great missionary.

We went out a little earlier than normal that day, which is a miracle in itself because we were already so tired but we just knew we had to push through the feeling and go, because someone had requested for us to come early. While we were waiting to meet the guy where he wanted to meet, I looked across the road and noticed a pizza sign. I looked at my companion and asked him, "Are you seeing what I am seeing" haha he said yes, do you want to eat!! haha so we went inside and asked how much it was. We then told them that we had an appointment to teach so we would go and come back. Little did we know that this appointment that we were about to go to was a miracle in itself. The guy came to meet us and he was a 35 year old man who told us that his parents were members in Holland and that he wanted to completely join the church. He has visited the church in the past when his parents come to visit but does not go by himself. He told us that he wants to be a part of the church now. What a wonderful miracle.

Another blessing happened on Sunday when a less active member came to church!! Her whole family are members and for some reason she has just been feeling lazy on Sundays and stays home in the house. We have been visiting her and reboosting her spirits and she came to church this Sunday for the first time since January!! Another miracle! She is a 16 year old girl who is great! Last miracle I will mention is that on Saturday night we planned to do a come follow me lesson with a member family that is a family of 10 and the whole family has not been to church for some weeks. We went there and the immediate love that we were able to create amongst the family was so wonderful. They have 4 girls and 4 boys from the ages of around 10-23. The oldest daughter is also not a member but is progressing towards baptism right now.

Anyways we had the lesson and the room we were sitting in was probably a quarter of the size of an average church classroom back home, so it was super tight. But on Sunday the whole family came to church and came straight to us and took us in as their family!! What a wonderful fast Sunday we were able to have!! I am doing great and loving the work right now with my companion!!

All is well in Ghana!
~Elder Shirley 

Questions & Answers: 

Q. What is the best thing about being a missionary? 

A. The best part about being a missionary in my opinion is that we get to meet so many wonderful people that are great people just that they are missing something and we get to fill that hole. Also, another one of my favorite parts is coming so close to the members here in Africa, creating lifetime friendships. 

Q. What challenge do you give us this week?

A. The challenge this week is that we are currently teaching 2 girls who are 15 and 17. They both want to join the church so bad but their mother is holding them back not allowing them to. We just found out that their mother said we are not allowed to teach them anymore. That broke my heart. They are so great and the 17 year old girl reminds me of Abrea, so it makes me sad. 

Q. What are the roles of women and men in Ghana?

A. Women are really strong here. You would not believe some of the things that you see women doing, but mostly the roles are the same just that women work physically harder here than they do back home. Sorry to say it but it is true, you can see a 60 year old carrying a 25 pound load on her head and walking for a mile, it is so crazy to me because that work would even be hard for me, a 19 year old boy. 

Q. Do you believe that calling/communicating with your family each week has helped you or been a distraction (other than email)? 

A. I feel like it helps me, it will only distract you if you let it but I love being able to talk to family on P-days and share what is going on here and also hearing what is going on back home!