Hello Hello!!!
Thanks Fam and friend for your awesome emails! I love
hearing about things from you and about how you're doing! This week was pretty
different! It went by faster than a macaroni salad at a family
reunion! I always say this but time is really messed up on mission.
So another transfer went by without a change which is fine
with me! I get to spend a third of my mission in Teshie which is my first area!
So I know that I'll have tons of memories from here. Elder Conduanhe
(the Portuguese speaker) is being transferred :( He has been such a great
example to me and has made me laugh my head off so many times! If you saw that
video of us releasing a dove, it was him who laughed his head off at the end :)
I'll miss him so much! So a new missionary will be moving into our apartment
and be trained there just like I was! So it will fun to meet him
tomorrow.
This week I didn't really cook much, because that volcano
stew I made is still in the fridge. :D It's way better now that Elder Obiarinze
mixed his stew with mine. But it's still freaking hot and makes my nose run.
Darn those peppers. I did make really nice french toast and stirfry though.
Also an investigator gave us something called Red Red. It's one of my favorite
foods here! It's beans mixed with plantains,(giant sweet bananas.) tomato stew,
oil, and something called garry (Gaw-ree) which is dried cassava. If you
even remember what cassava is... But man it's so good! The picture is attached.
So nice!
Anyways enough about food! This week was really unique! The
zone conference was really awesome with Elder and Sister Vinson! I learned so
much! It's really cool to listen to a general authority! Plus the day after the
zone conference our apartment was chosen out of the whole mission to host them
for a study. So we got to have scripture study with a general authority! It was
a really neat experience, and I learned so much.
This week teaching wise was a little rough because of all
the activities we had, but this week we are really going to focus on finding
serious people because most of our investigators will just agree with
everything and want to be baptized but then they won't even come to church.
Silly Geese :P Anyways this week will be sweet to just stay focused and work
our tails off. I found that it really helps to set goals and to always focus on
them, because it motivates you to achieve your goal.
So this week was pretty normal other than that, my companion
is a champ on his bike now, it is crazy to think that a couple months ago he
couldn't even walk the bike to the door. He also got glasses this week and
looks like a stud cake. It'll be cool to stay with him for 6 months because
he's my "Son". Once you stay with your companion for a couple months
you become friends no matter how different you are. It's such a cool experience
to meet so many people from different countries and to see how they live and what
they eat and everything.
Something I learned this week was kind of small but
interesting. I was singing "hold to the rod, the Iron Rod." and I
thought "why is it iron? Why isn't it gold or something. It is the word of
God after all." As I studied I realized that the word of God isn't just
the scriptures but it's from our prophets and our teachers and leaders at
church. Iron isn't a very flashy or valuable metal, so it kind of reminded me
that the word of God is humble and strong, and it's only purpose is for us to
return back to God and to feel his love forever. Gold on the other hand is
valuable and flashy, but it is very weak. So it shows that the word of God
isn't of the world but it is strong and straightforward. We should stop
worrying about what the world sees as valuable and start seeing what God sees
as valuable. I know that if we listen to God and follow his words, we can be
"lead." strait to eternal life.
I hope this thought makes sense and isn't too deep. I just
love thinking of symbols and how they fit with things. I am so grateful for
this time to learn and to teach the gospel! I can testify that it is
true!
I love you all! Thanks so much for your support!
-Elder Ballard
Pics
We went to the beach again today, so this is me saying goodbye
to Elder Conduanhe. I'll miss him!
Me and Elder Tawodzera eating Red Red. :D
Thanks again! Talk to you next week!
Thanks again! Talk to you next week!
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