It's Ghana Be a Great Two Years!: The Temple, Snails, and an Insult

Hello Everyone! First off sorry that I am a day late, we had a zone activity and got home late. We all felt so dead after playing volley ball, and walking most of the way home. Just know that I am doing great and am safe etc. Thanks so much everyone for your emails! I love them so much! Some of them made me laugh out loud for a long time! :D So many exciting things happened this week! Hopefully I can put it all into words!

First off I received your Christmas packages already! I am so grateful for the mini Christmas tree you guys sent me! What a sweet gift to look up all those scriptures that were on those mini presents and stuff! I marked all of the scriptures in Christmas colors so I can remember the memory :) I also put your "Do not open till Christmas" package under the tree so that's exciting :) The next thing that happened was I got to go a session in the Ghana Temple! Let me tell you that it was so beautiful!!! I love how the temples everywhere are all beautiful in their own way! Going to the temple gave me so much strength to keep going forward! One of the pictures are the Elders who went last week with me.

Another unique thing that happened was that I was insulted for the first time in Ghana which is really rare. We were just walking then we saw this guy with a twisted beard and a huge hat. (Maybe it was Jafar :O! ) He told me to come over to him then he said "What are you doing in Ghana?" and I said "For us we are missionaries and are here to share a special message about Jesus Christ!" Then he said "No, you go around deceiving people like a serpent! You're a white serpent! Your father sent you here to deceive people!" then i said "Yes, my Father in Heaven sent me here." then he said "Your father in hell!" So during this conversation my companion was really nervous and was trying to pull me away because he thought the guy was going to punch me or something :) silly lil guy. Anyways it was good to get my testimony tried and to see that there are challenges everywhere you go!

Another fun thing was that one morning we just found a dove in our apartment... We think it fell through the roof somewhere. So we got to take some pictures of it as well as set it free. I'll send the pictures after the email.

This week was just full of adventures! This week I was able to eat some wait for it... Snail! There are these little snails that people put in their soup that you can eat! They are just little spiral shells that you pick up out of the soup then you slurp them out! My companion didn't eat them but I just wanted to be able to say that I ate snail. They tasted just like sea food like clams!

Anyways this week wasn't boring at all! Lot's of fun things happened :) But I also felt really nostalgic this week, I don't know why but I thought a lot about Mr.Madison, Choir, Movies and other things. But It wasn't so bad. Sometimes I just love to think about things that have happened. Ever since I got that Christmas decoration package I have been singing Christmas songs! (Even though it's November). Once I was riding my bike under the hot sun on a sandy road singing "hoop de do and dickery dock, don't forget to hang up your sock, because just exactly at twelve o'clock he'll be comin down the chimney down!" which didn't fit the scenery at all but made me laugh :) If i want to fit the scenery more i'll sing Mary's Boy Child. ;)

Since it's Thanksgiving I really want to make a nice meal! I'll try to get some chicken and potatoes. Maybe I will be able to make cabbage salad! We'll see :) but yes I want to be as festive on my mission as possible!

This week I was just bogged down sometimes with things I can't control or don't understand. I really felt this week that God wants me to know that he is in control and that my "afflictions will be for [my] gain." I also saw a quote from president Monson that said "It is often in the hardest times where we learn the most." and I know that is so true! If there weren't hard times we couldn't know the good ones! I know that God loves and cares about us so much and that he wants us to know that he is in control and that he is there just waiting for us to be patient. I know that this church is true and that this is where I need to be. I hope that God can work through each one of us everyday to bring about part of his will and purpose for his children. I love you all and am so grateful for you! Have a great Thanksgiving and always give thanks to God!