A New Companion

Yo! Toyoteh!

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for your emails! I can't imagine doing missionary work without so much support :)

This week has been super stressful, but has been really fun and I have learned so much!

My new companion's name is Elder Towodzera! (You guessed it mom! He's African) He is from Zimbabwe. Out of all the 24 Americans I got one of the 4 Africans that came! So he is a pretty cool guy, he just needs to learn that a mission isn't about him :) He thought Ghana would be the same as Zimbabwe but he was really wrong haha I guess I had more preparation that way because I knew that Ghana was super different. The day before his mission was when he started packing in a rush and he forgot lots of things, like black socks... Haha also when we got to the apartment I found out that he doesn't know how to ride a bike.. :O

So this week I was really stressed but everything is okay, being senior companion is so much fun! You actually feel like you know what you’re doing, and you know the area! So that has been fun. Also he is 23 years old. But I’m pretty taller than him so I can still intimidate him a little ;) just kidding. Something I know I will have to learn while training is discipline. At home when the little boys were fighting, I would just call mom or wait for Dad to enter the room. But I can't do that now. I have to be the Dad! It is so cool to see how many things a mission prepares you for! I've only been out three months but I have learned so much! Especially looking at my new companion, I remember how the food was hard to eat and that it was hot. But now that I am comfortable, I just laugh at so many things! The Portuguese speaker in apartment Elder Conduanne is hilarious! Same with our new district leader who is Nigerian! I'm the second tallest person in the apartment so I feel even older! :D

But yeah, we had two baptisms this week! Kwame, (the photo I sent last time) and Abigeal! (a 14 year old girl.) It was really cool! But I decided not to bring my baptismal clothes this time which was a mistake because the ones they give you are basically just like a sheet cut in the shape of a shirt and pants. Plus it was just like a huge V-neck. So I was trying to cover myself during the first of the service. It was pretty funny though :) I am just so grateful that I can be in a place where everyone believes in God! People's prayers here humble the crud out of you! You just hear them sometimes thank God that they woke up this morning, or that they have another day to live. They even pray that God will protect us the missionaries and to guide us, even if they aren't really interested! I just am falling in love with the people more and more every day! If everyone believes in God then there is hardly any crime or fights! That is how Ghana is! It is just amazing.

I also had goat meat this week which was actually really good! It tastes like beef and chicken at once or something! Another hilarious experience was when I was ordering fufu and the lady who was getting the meat just asked me, "Do you like intestines?" and I about laughed my head off but I didn't, and I was just thinking like "where am I?" haha Missions are such adventures!  We were teaching one lady about the book of Mormon and when we were done she just asked us "So, is it true?" I almost laughed and told her how she could know. It was just funny that she would ask such a blatant question! Then she asked "But, how do you know it is true?" then I told her that it's teachings have blessed my life. Then she said "Like what?" (This lady asks a lot of questions.) Then I showed her in Moroni where it condemns about infant baptism and I got to talk about Carver which is always really special to me.

Sorry last crazy experience. I met my first insane guy this week! He came up to us and said "hey, I know your church! Do you know Jesus Christ in the book of Mormon? That's me but you just can't see it yet!" Then he pointed to a tree and said "Do you see that tree? It is a tree of life! When Adam and eve ate it it was nice, but for this one it is different." Then he opened a garbage bag full of leaves and gave us some and said "The garden of Eden is just over there." as he pointed behind "So what I am doing is I go around and plant these seeds of the tree of life so everyone in the world can live forever!" After that we said thankyou and walked away.

Ah, Such good memories are happening here :D I know this gospel is true and that God qualifies who he calls! I know that if we follow his commandments we will be blessed. I know that if we give everything to God, God will give everything to us.

Answers to questions: Aust: So they do have a lot of different kinds of cloth here, if you saw the blue tie I wore, that is one of them. But yeah they do like classic African designs on their clothes.

I love you so much everyone! Thanks so much for your support! I can't believe Teag already has braces! I'll be praying for Baden!

-Elder Ballard