A Whole New World

Dearest Family and Friends,

          It has been another superb week here in Ghana! Sometimes I just wish that I could fly you all out here for one week to experience all of the things I get to see and do each day. It is a whole new world. 

          On Wednesday we traveled to a place called Madina for a multi-zone conference. The last time that happened it was because President Heid wanted to address some disobedience in the mission, but this time it was just for all of us to get together, have some fun, and feel the Spirit. It was great! They provided us with a nice lunch of rice and chicken and then every district performed a skit based on a scripture story. Our district did the First Vision with a few twists. It was pretty sweet. There were some very funny skits with great costumes and props. It made for a great time.

          On Thursday we met with Sister Bernice. She is an investigator who comes from a part member family. She has wanted to get baptized for a while now, but she wanted to contact her grandmother in London first. She told us that she was finally able to reach her and so we are planning for her baptism this coming Saturday! After we heard that we had a lesson based on Mosiah 18 about the covenants we make at baptism. She is so ready and I am excited for her and her family.

          Over the last few weeks we have had a very sweet and rewarding opportunity. A family in our ward referred someone to us to teach. Her name is Sellina. Sellina recently started attending literacy classes at our chapel. She does not speak much English, but she has an incredible desire to learn how to read, write, and speak English. Fortunately, she can understand most of what we say. We have been teaching her out of the Book of Mormon Stories (the one with lots of pictures) and she absolutely loves it. She has quickly come to love the church and even came to worship last Sunday. Every time we go to teach her we try to spend some time afterwards helping her to learn the alphabet. From there we are planning to help her start spelling some basic words. It is so cool to see someone learn these things for the first time. I think that she will end up getting baptized very soon.

          On Friday night our whole district was invited over to the Nyankah's home. Sister Nyankah is the head chef at the Ghana MTC. Oh. My. Gosh. She prepared us the most amazing meal I have ever eaten in Ghana! She made some kind of delicious beef and sauce to eat with rice. She even made us a SALAD! I haven't had real salad in ages. We all ate until we looked 8 months pregnant. It was divine.

          Well, that is about all for this week. I love the work I have been called to do. It is a privilege. I hope that all of you find joy in serving Christ. He lives and He loves us all. I love and miss all of you and I pray you have a blessed week!

Love,

Elder Radmall

Questions from Kurt:

Q. Do the women there carry things on their heads, such as scriptures to church?

They carry lots of things on their heads. Bags, food, furniture, chickens, water, and much more. I have never seen scriptures though.

Q. Have you been robbed, felt threatened, or had anyone do something mean like throw rocks at you (or goat guts)?

I have honestly never felt too threatened. Except one time when we were teaching some Nigerians in their apartment. Nigerians scare me a little bit. I did have a bunch of teenagers throw a bag of cold water at my head once. It burst just like a water balloon!

Q. Do they have youth conferences there, and have you been able to participate in anything like that?

Not really. They do have YSA conferences, but that is about it.

Questions from TeriAnn:

In honor of Harry Potter's birthday, what is your favorite Harry Potter book, movie and character? :) :)

Q. My favorite book is the last one. My favorite movie is probably the second (except for the part with spiders). And my favorite character is definitely Dumbledore. My second favorite character is Snape.

Q. What did you do for Pday today?

Today we had to run to the area office so my companion could see a doctor. His body has been itching since arriving in Ghana.

Q. What are you looking forward to right now?

I am looking forward to teaching Sis. Adjei how to make brownies. The Adjei's are members of our ward and they SPOIL us all of the time. 

Q. At the end of your mission if you could only bring one thing home from Ghana, what would it be?

A wife. WHAT?!?! Who said that? Just kidding. I would bring home a suitcase full of fresh mangoes. They are soooo good.

Questions from Mom:

Q. Nungua has a chief?  How do you become chief?  Why do they live in a compound?  What place do chiefs have in their society as opposed to politicians?  Is Jeffrey’s father, the chief, a member?  (You could baptize a chief like Ammon did!!)

Yep. I don't actually know how you become a chief. I think it is passed on by birthright. The chiefs actually have quite a bit of power over their areas. The politicians usually consult with them before doing anything in their city. He is already a member.

Q. Is Gabriel (baptized 2 weeks ago - 18 years old) hoping to serve a mission?  Has he done baptisms for the dead?

Yes! He hasn't received the aaronic priesthood just yet, so we will have to keep working on that.

Q. Do you help new converts prepare names for the temple?

We try to. It can be a little bit difficult here, but we will see what we can do.

Q. What miracles have you witnessed this week?

The greatest miracle I had this week, is one that I have every week. And that is taking the sacrament. Sometimes I forget how truly amazing it is that I can find healing and peace every week by recommitting my life to the Savior.

Q. How have guardian angels protected you this week?

Angels protected me this week as I rode through busy roads late at night following an African. When I first came things like that scared me to death, but now it's become pretty normal.

Q. What made you laugh out loud this week?

After leaving the MTC chef's house one of the elders in our district exclaimed, "I hope she is the cook in heaven!" It was pretty funny.

Q. Who in Ghana needs prayers this week?

Maybe you could pray for little Princess (a recent convert - 9 years old) this week who has been struggling to come to church.