Baptism of Wisdom

Hello Dear People!!!

Thanks for all of your wonderful emails! They make me so happy and loved :) Well this week went by 10 times faster than last week! I finally know the area more and getting to know the names of people. This week was so happy, 

Wisdom is the tallest one.

We finally got to baptize Wisdom who has been investigating the church for a long time and is 23 years old. This was the first baptism I've seen from an outdoor font which was cool. The sun was shining on them as he went in the water :) After the baptism we had him share his testimony. He said in his very gentle and quiet tenor voice. "I know that what the missionaries are teaching is true, and I'm so grateful to be apart of this wonderful family." I love how his testimony wasn't in people at all but it was on total faith in the gospel of Christ. After we were done he asked if he could bear his testimony the next day at church :) So we explained to him that he could on fast Sunday haha. He is so converted. This week I was grateful to see another conversion take place. Few things are as satisfying as seeing someone you teach accept the gospel. So I'm grateful that I get to experience that here. 

This P-day was also fun! We went to the top of the mountain to a craft village and bought some souvenirs! So I'm so excited to show you guys! Africa is just sweet :) I won't spoil what I got you but I'm sure you'll love it. 

Someone told me that I have 7 weeks left or something, and so I slapped the person... Just kidding, I'm not one to do that :) I can't believe it though. Time is crazy. When it's May people will ask me when I go and I'll say "next month." :O crazy stuff. 

Also I want to give another belated shout out to my Momma! She turned... 33 years old on Saturday the day of the baptism! I love you Mom! :D 

Well ladies and giraffes, on a serious note. I know this gospel is true. I literally couldn't be this happy unless I knew my family could be together forever and that I'm where God wants me to be. This church is the Church of Jesus Christ. It's only through this church that we can find true happiness. I've witnessed it over and over, at home as well as in this great place. :) I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Ballard IV

The outdoor baptismal font!

Me and my girlfriend... Her name is Fufu and Light soup. 

I ate chocolate cake!!! It was so sugary though! I hope I'll adjust to home food fast! 

Me in my everyday uniform and bike :D 

First Week in Adenta

So apparently in Ghana they celebrate Easter Monday...? Which made it so all the internet cafe's were closed. So I get to email on a Tuesday! 

Thanks for all of your great emails! You make me feel so loved :) I love you all so much. Honestly, this week was so slow, good night Irene. Getting used to an area is weird. But I think I'll really like it here, and it's a really cool place to finish. Church on Sunday was cool, we had it in our nice rental house/chapel and 10 people were there when sacrament started, then 88 were there when it was done :D haha. But it was great. On Saturday the Elders Quorum cooked for the Relief Society which was fun to help out with. When I met my bishop he was slicing carrots for the soup in his normal clothes. So I told him "If you need anyone to play keyboard I can do it." then he stopped cutting and said "Hallelujah!" over and over and told all the members that I could play haha. I'm always grateful to help out the best I can with what I have to offer. :) So yeah the members were really cool. There's lots of RMs here. We are also having another baptism this week which will be fun. I didn't teach him much but yeah! His name is Wisdom and is a super cool guy who's 23. 

On Easter Monday my companion took me to a really nice outdoor "chop bar" and we bought a ton of fufu with light soup and beef :) There was old country music playing on the radio which reminded me of home, like Randy Travis and Alabama. So we really enjoyed the holiday, I got to know my companion more. He's a really cool guy. He's very humble and loves to laugh. 

Today our mission president came to our district council and taught us. Man I love President Heid. I'm so glad I was able to have him for 2 years as a President. He interviewed us all and in my interview he just showed me the departure list and the group I'd be going with home and the time of my flight and stuff. Then he said "It's not fair that your going home before me, what is that?" haha He is also going home on July 1st. Anyways, I'm trying my best this week to just find where the members live, and then keep trying to strengthen the branch and get more baptisms! But it's not easy to not think of home when everyone around you reminds you :D 

But I know everything will be cool. I know I'm in the right place and that God knows why I'm here. I love this gospel and I know It's true. This mission has made me a way better man than I was before. 

I love you guys! :D Thanks for the support! Have a great week!   -Elder Ballard

A rhinoceros beetle off of bugs life :) 

Me and Elder Effiom in egg form

Frogger! He's a cute little frog that says hi to us when we're washing
 our clothes in the back yard. (whenever I talk to him I use my Kermit voice.) 

Last Transfer!

Dear Wondrous People,

Sorry for the delay the internet just stopped so I had to go and come back. Here's my letter :)

This week was so cool! I learned a lot of lessons! The answer is Yes I got transferred! I'm in my new area right now. It's called West Adenta and is in the city. My area is more like a residency area with different houses everywhere. It's really cool. Our apartment is smaller but is nice quality, and homey! It has a nice back yard and has trees! Plus we live in a quiet environment so I'm really excited! My companion's name is Elder Effiom who is a Nigerian, and is truly humble! (Not like the last one :)) He wants to work hard and is really cool! I'll send a picture of him next week. Also there is my MTC mate in my apartment who is Elder Johnson, and his companion is Elder.... Something but he's from Tonga so I'm gonna have a blast! I'm just excited to enjoy my last months in the work! 

 

This week I was really going to miss Suhum. There were so many people who weren't even investigators or members who were sad to see me leave. But I was able to take pictures with them. It's so fun to just make friends with the town folk! People are just so nice. On Saturday I just felt so sad, it even started raining which made it feel like Suhum was sad to see me leave too. The funniest thing was the 1st counselor said in sacrament meeting "Our organist is being transferred." So he didn't say my name or anything, he just called me "the organist" :) 

 But when I got to my new area and settled in my apartment I felt great. I don't mean to brag, but I consider myself an "Experienced" missionary. At least somewhat... I hear that right when you know how to do everything you go home. But I can still speak Twi to people and eat the same food, so I'm excited to meet new members and enjoy more experiences as well as prepare to go home :) I think I'm going to like it here! Also we don't have a chapel here. Just a really nice rented out building, plus church is at 8... :O But that will help me in some ways I guess, The chapel isn't too far which is good.

People from a chop bar (an African diner) who I made really good friends with because we always ate there :)

The lesson I learned the most this week is that God knows best, sometimes God will guide us in ways we don't feel comfortable, but if we trust in God we will really see the reason he does that. One reason I know is to help us have more faith in him. I know that as we have more faith in him, we will grow closer to him and trust him more, especially if we willingly obey.

I love you guys! I hope you have a good week! Thanks for all the support!

-Elder Ballard

I got to see some of my buds while I stayed at the mission home!

Elder Beckstrand, Katie Sommer's cousin and a best friend of mine

Elder Kamanda, just lost his mom :(

Elder Tawodzera

Baptism!

Hello America! Ghana says hello! 

Who would have thought that April would come this fast? I thought my last months would drag on, because that's what people say. But I guess that's not the case when you work your tail off. But I guess we'll see! 

First off I want to say Happy Anniversary to my Mom and Dad! They're the best parents I could ever ask for :) Thanks for teaching all of us kids the gospel and for being such great examples to us! Also Happy Birthday to Brigham, Mom, and Austin this month! (If I forgot someone else's sorry, I still love you). 

This week went by so fast because we had a baptism on Saturday so it was stressful! But this baptism went off swimmingly! (get it?) We were able to get the font filled the day before, the interviews went well and so on. So each companionship had 1 person be baptized! It was a happy day. We had Joyce and then the other companionship had Michael. They were even able to bear their testimonies at the end of the program along with Christiana who is another one of my recent-converts! The baptism was just so nice. I have faith that I can get a couple more before I go. 

My companion got sick on Tuesday till like Thursday, but we were able to do some exchanges which was nice. I went with Elder Ackley to a community outside Suhum which is called Anamase. It was so fun to go there because  missionaries haven't been there before! We went to one side of the road where no one knew English, so I tried using my Twi skills. We were able to introduce ourselves and at least tell them we were missionaries and that we'd come back another time. Then we went to the other side where we just walked the main road through the town and EVERYONE looked at us like "Who are these two well dressed white men and what are they doing here?" So it was fun, I felt like I was in a movie. Then if people stopped us we contacted them and gave them a pamphlet. One older guy said "Whoa! I joined this church in Nigeria 12 years ago!" that was crazy. Then one younger lady named Kathrine came up with her baby wrapped around her back and asked if we were Jehovah's Witnesses. When we said no she smiled said "I knew it! My friends said you were but I could tell you were different!" Then she showed us her house and said "I really believe in Christ. I know he's my savior. So if I come to the church and see that it is from him then I'll be baptized." So that gave us lots of high hopes!  

Then on Friday I went with Elder Cook to Jato which is another community outside of Suhum. We taught two guys there who have came to church before. They are Michael and Benjamin. So we hope they will also be able to progress. 

I'm excited for this week, now that we won't be sick anymore! We'll see if I'm transferred or not. I'd be totally fine to finish here because of how the work is going, but if God wants me to finish in another place I'll trust his judgement. So I'll let you know this week! I love you all so much! I know that Baptism is truly a wonderful thing and I know that we can be a light to others if we are worthy! I know that his gospel will go forth boldly nobly and independent until it has covered every land and sounded in every ear until the great Jehovah will say "It is done." 

Have a great week!

-Elder Ballard

I found this spider on the ground in my bedroom and I screamed like a grown up woman! (My voice is low so that's what it sounded like) I think it's like a baby tarantula or something!  

Lannete

Banku