Release Date and Bush Rat Stew

Hey 2017 have you seen January? Jaaanuary? Jaaanuary where are you?

 Dang! I thought I would only have six months forever, but I guess time goes forward whether you do anything or not! Anyways I guess we'll let February in this week. I don't know if it's impolite or against missionary culture to tell everyone your release date. I've never done it before. It's sort of a once in a life time thing. But it sounds like people want to know so I'll tell you. Sound good? Good. 

So because of the new mission president coming on July 1st the missionary department wants us to leave before then so it doesn't freak out the new mission president by making him move around 32 elders at once. So they want my MTC group to go June 13th. :) So that's a big difference of what I was originally told which was July 10th. So this week my mind set changed to having 6 months left to 4 months... :O 

It actually kinda surprised me! I was excited to see everyone but it kind of woke me up that I don't have much time and that I need to work my tail off until then. Man It's exciting but crazy at the same time! At first it was a rumor and I didn't believe it. But at the zone conference this week My MTC group and the APs confirmed it. So the secret is out! I'm determined to work my hardest.

This week was an adventure though! We stayed at another two missionary apartment for like 3 days so there was six of us in one apartment. Some elders were complaining but I had a blast! We slept on the floor and I'm sure we helped entertain those other elders who were there. We even had rice with bush rat stew! (the two elders were Nigerian) Man it was nice! I'll have a huge list of things to tell people I've eaten. 

Then in the middle of the week we went to a multi zone conference where we listened to the missionary counsel (Elder Oaks, Anderson, Bednar, and other leaders.) and they announced changes in the missionary schedule and the numbers that we report so that was a cool change! I love continuing revelation :) I also got to see all my good buddies I've served with. I remember early on my mission I didn't like conferences like that because I didn't know anyone. Now when I come I shake like 50 hands because I know everyone! So it was a fun week :) 

Also on Sunday 7 investigators came to church! O_O 4 were in our area and 3 were for the other elders, so I'm really excited for this week and to see if we can continue to teach them. I hope you all remember Christiana. She's dong so well. Whenever she sees a new person she welcomes them and tells them to keep coming and learning. It warms your heart to see the fruit of your labors multiply :) 

Anyways I'm excited for this week and see how it goes! It will be cool to see our new apartment as well, I here we have a Papia tree :D 

The spiritual thought I have this week  is on 2 Corinthians 9:6 which says: "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." So Paul is telling us that if we hold back our efforts in the gospel we'll have a little reward, but if we do everything we can we'll have so many blessings which we can't even count. That's what's motivating me to work as hard as I can these next couple months. :) I know that God will reward us for trying even if things don't work out that day, we can keep trying. 

I love you all so much and I know this church is true. Thanks for all of your support, it doesn't go unnoticed. :) have a glorious week! 

-Elder Ballard 

Pics:

cooked rodent legs :) 

water pump from a well,

eating rice after a lesson,

and our neighbor's adorable baby :D 

A Good Week in Suhum

Good morning brothers and sisters! (the congregation repeats "good morning!")

I am so much grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving me an opportunity to speak to you this morning. My talked is based on, loving your neighbor.

And that's how a Ghanaian member starts their talks in sacrament meetings :)

I hope everyone is doing splendid! My week went by pretty fast. It was weird! But some cool things happened! On Tuesday we did a service project by helping a member shuck corn (they call it maize) from their farm which was fun! We also did other little things like sweep or pound fufu. :) Service is always super fun. Elder Ackley is as cool and chill as a Popsicle so we get along just fine. Every evening we go and buy an egg sandwich and a sausage-kabab :D Our diet isn't the most healthy but I did commit to go to the gym with the other elders this week. Except our mission president wants to give us a new apartment so we might stay away from Suhum until we find one... So that will be very very interesting because we'll have to travel on tro tro forever just to get to our area and church instead of just walking outside and teaching... Sooo we'll see how that goes. :]

My recent convert from Ashaiman came to church on Sunday which was awesome! I haven't seen him in months and it's a coincidence that he goes to school in Suhum. Also another investigator came to church whose name is Joyce (see the picture) who is really smart. I hope she keeps reading and doing our assignments. On Saturday we went with elder and sister Hagland to the different communities around Suhum. Some are villages and really small but beautiful. The Spirit was really strong as we went there. I just knew that these people are ready for the gospel. I know the work will move forward as we keep going. I know it will especially keep going after the apartment situation is settled.

So hopefully this week will be a good one! We were studying about "Cultivating an attitude of happiness and optimism." by President Hinckley on Sunday and it was really cool. President Hinckley always said "Be happy, be believing, keep trying, things will work out." I love President Hinckley :)

 I also remember something my Mom taught me when I was a teenager (just kidding... I still am one.) I think I was a teacher or priest at the time. But one day we went to a place and looked at a beautiful sunset and she said. "Do you see how the clouds in the sky make the sunset prettier? That's how life is! Trials are hard at the time, but in the end you look back and see that those trials are the things that made your life beautiful and as Heavenly Father wanted it to be." So I know that teaching is very true. I'm so grateful for the teachings of my parents. They've made me who I am today. I'm just glad that I trusted them and that they can trust me. :)

Shucking maize

I know this gospel is real, I know that if we don't give anything to the Lord, we shouldn't expect any great blessings from him. But if we do give everything we have to him, we will definitely receive the blessings. Because he said "I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say. But when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."

I know these things are true and share them with you in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Ballard

eating coconuts

Elder Ackley with rice

Smoke Alarm and Blessings

Hello Everyone!!!

Thanks for your awesome emails! This week was kinda crazy, but it turned out awesome! I think this week is going to be the awesome week!

At the beginning of the week me and my companion hit the field hard, we taught and testified like banshees! (In a good way. The spirit was strong and it was fun!)

But then, on Wednesday night our neighbor was burning something so our fire alarm went off. I would also like to add that these alarms are the ones that sound like a rabbit was thrown in a blender and it was turned on low speed. So of course just like at home, everyone else in the apartment would rather stay in bed and wait for it to turn off than to go deal with it :) So I got up, and naturally picked up and shut it in the freezer. (so I couldn't hear it.) Then in the morning Elder Igatius woke up and found it in the freezer still screaming. So he then used a hammer to get the job done. This alarm has been giving us problems from the beginning, so I believe its time has come.

But believe it or not, other things happened this week which are way more interesting than a fire alarm. :)

That morning after it went off, I had a really sore throat. It was the kind that every time you swallow you cringe. Also I was super tired. Also the day after that I had super bad face-into-the-pillow coughs. So those always make it hard to teach people... :] (Just imagine me bearing my testimony and then coughing/roaring into my companion's scripture bag) But I was able to study a lot which was so nice. The thing also is that we had to prepare for the baptism on Saturday so it was pretty stressful. On Saturday my companion also became sick. So we called the nurse, he took drugs, then slept. I went with Elder Roberts to fill the font, but there was no water in the tank and the pump didn't work. So we eventually called a water truck who pulled outside the church compound wall and took the hose into the building and filled up the font strait away. It was funny cause the water guys didn't understand why we were taking the whole hose into the bathroom haha.

After that we were able to witness the baptism of the 2nd counselor's daughter. He was the one to baptize her and it was a great meeting.

That evening I was scared because I realized that I needed to play piano for the branch in the morning. So I had a priesthood blessing given to me, and through the grace of God I woke up a little congested, but the coughs were gone. The priesthood is so real. I know it is. It's such a testimony builder. This sickness was tough, I was so sick of coughing. But it helped me understand that Jesus Christ felt it, and not only that, but for all of God's children. Not only sickness alone, but heart ache, grief, guilt, and any other spiritual pain! It really humbled me. I'm grateful that he was able to make me whole again.

Also our branch president has made a new plan for us to go out to the communities outside of Suhum and teach those villages so that we can organize little groups there! The senior couple agreed to drive us there once a week! So we want Suhum branch to split in 2019 and in 2022 have Suhum be a District on its own. So the Spirit was so strong as he kept telling us his vision. We're so excited because those area's haven't ever been touched by missionaries! So we know the work will go fast!

Also Elder Roberts got transferred today and Elder Ackley came. He just served in the same area of Teshie I was in for 9 months (the same amount of time I was there!) So he's super cool. I'll send a picture next week. Also I'm the District Leader over Suhum now, so that'll be fun, it makes sense now that I'm the tallest person in the apartment. ;)

Anyways I hope this letter makes sense. A lot happened this week. But I want you to know that I know this gospel is true. I know that God loves us even when he allows us to have trials. I know this church is true. My testimony grows stronger every day. In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Also someone forwarded a song by David Tortilla (I can't spell his last name.) called My Little Prayer. It has become one of my favorite songs! I love how it talks about how we're always trying to learn God's plan for us. So if you haven't heard it before you should listen to it. Have a good week! I love you guys!

-Elder Ballard

Hike and Service

Hello Everyone! Thanks for all your wonderful emails!

This first week of the year was awesome! At the first of the week my companion had a little sickness. But at the end of the week we really hit it hard and got some good lessons in! On Friday I just decided that we'd start walking, and go wherever God needs us to go. So we went and contacted people. One of them named Alece couldn't speak English but we told her we'd come with a member. (Her 8 year old daughter translated for us) Then as we walked down the road I felt like going behind some buildings and meeting some people there. So we went and we saw this compound or family house door that was opened. So we walked in the compound and greeted everyone. One lady was washing dishes with her hands, another was washing her clothes, and one was cooking. So my companion went and helped washed clothes (he's Nigerian so he's used to it.) then I helped a girl pound palm nuts so they could make soup. Then I helped wash the dishes. It was so fun! Service is way more fun than teaching sometimes! I don't know what it is! Sometimes all the Savior needed to do to change someone's life was serve them! So they all agreed that we could come teach them. :)

We also got to have an interview with our Mission President on Tuesday which was sweet! He's such a wonderful man. Part of the interview was just like "Well... Here's your release date." So that was fun :) The meeting that day really made me want to be better and work even harder!

I still can't believe it's 2017! Time is on a roller coaster or something!

Sunday was also really cool! It was fast Sunday and when it was open for testimonies, 4 people stood up at once to go to the pulpit! The congregation giggled a little. The testimonies of these members are so powerful. It's so cool to see how strong their faith is. We also had 3 investigators come to church! It's about time!

Also today we had a sweet activity! We went to a place called Umbrella Rock and Boti Falls! It was a sweet hike! I miss hiking way more than I thought I would! There were leaves bigger than my head (picture) and really cool rocks and trees! The senior couple even came with us! When we came to the falls it was kinda sad because it's the dry season and the falls were more like a faucet that's on low pressure. But it was still fun. I enjoyed it :)

Well everyone. I love you. That about sums it up. I know this gospel is true and that God loves us so much. I want to share a scripture from Doctrine and Covenants 50:24 It says:

 That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

I know that if we cleave unto the good things in life, especially the things of the gospel, the light in us will grow brighter and brighter until the perfect day. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

-Elder Ballard

 

Happy New Year's

Hello Everyone!!! 

2017?! What the fetch, I can't believe it's already here. :O 2016 just flew by! I was in Ghana the whole time! So many happy things will happen this year, I'm excited!

This week was a little slower, (because of the holidays) But we still kept going. We had some fun exchanges and things. We visited lots of members, and ate lots of food, and I mean a lot... :O No investigators came to church but we understood that. But we had some cool lessons! I'm sure the work will kick up this week.

I'm not gonna lie it's kind of hard not thinking of how close going home is. But I know I'll be able to focus. It's just funny when I think like "before I finish this tooth paste tube I'll be home" haha! But with a new year comes goals. One one of them is to enjoy and work as hard as I can this year, or in other words "Run to the finish line." ;) 6 months is still a good amount of time so I'm excited! to enjoy my time this year in Ghana!

There's nothing really much to say this week. I'm just so grateful for the protection and all the wonderful experiences I've had in 2016 and I hope that i'll be able to have even more this year. It's so cool to hear Ghanaian's pray and thank God for waking up and see another day.

Also I was so so so happy to hear that I have a new niece!!! :D What a wonderful gift for the new year! I am so excited to see her when I come home! Nat and Dylan are going to be such great parents! There's so many wonderful blessings that come to us if we keep the commandments. :) I know so much that the gospel is true. I know that through the atonement we can all be saved if we're obedient to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. :)

I love all of you so much and I can't wait to see you this year! But I'm also excited for the time I still get to have in Ghana! The church is true, and I know that if you set your goals and really pursue them with the Lord he will help you achieve them!

Love you all!

-Elder Ballard

pics: New Years Fufu and activities!