Washed Clean

Hello Family and Friends,

          I hope all is going great! I can't believe that another week has passed. Today marks thirteen months for me as a missionary. That is crazy! The time is just flying by. And I have spent those thirteen months in just two areas. But I am lucky. Both areas are amazing and full of wonderful people to teach and work with.

          This week we had some excitement. On Thursday as Elder Kallon and I were having our companionship study, our fan started going psycho. It started spinning a million miles an hour. As we went to turn it off some of our light bulbs started burning out, and then sparks started flying out of our sockets. We rushed outside to shut off the power (which should have shut off on its own). Turns out a branch broke off of a palm tree and fell of the power lines. Fortunately, no houses burned down.

          On Thursday I went with our district leader, Elder Anderson, for Bernice's baptismal interview. She was found worthy and on Saturday morning we had one of the best baptisms I have witnessed so far on my mission. Her family came and we even had several members of the ward in attendance. It was great and I could see that she was so happy to be washed clean of all her sins. Then on Sunday she was given the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I was even lucky enough to participate in her confirmation.

          That same Sunday the bishop called us into his office to thank us for our work and to invite us to his home to break our fast. We couldn't say no to that. After a few appointments we rode our bikes to his house where we had a great time visiting with his family. They prepared us a LOT of banku with okre stew (the slimiest thing I have ever eaten, but still good). I forgot to mention last week that our dear ward will be splitting in a month. Our poor bishop has a lot on his plate with that coming up.

          That is all of my time for today. I love you all so much and I pray that you have a wonderful week. Thanks for all that you do. Remember to always just try to love as the Savior did.

Love,

Elder Radmall

Questions from Mom:

Q. Why did Sister Bernice want to contact her grandmother before being baptized? 

Her grandma is a member of the church, and she just wanted to notify her.

Q. What country is Sister Nykanah from?  Where did she get beef? 

She is a Ghanaian. You can buy beef here. I even cooked a delicious beef stew last Sunday.

Q. Are there cattle in Ghana or just goats and chickens?

There are cattle. They sure as heavens don't look as healthy or fat as cattle back home, but they are here.

Q. I watched a YouTube video about head porters – women who work full time carrying things on their heads in the markets in Accra.  It was very sad – do you know any women who do that for a living?

I have known quite a few women who carry things on their heads to sell. They amaze me. The sad thing for me is to see children selling water sachets from their heads all day. 

Q. Do you go to the open air market to buy your food?

Sometimes. The food is cheapest there. 

Q. Do you buy chicken at the grocery store or at the open air market?

Both. It depends on how far we can travel to get our chicken.

Q. How often do you shop, and how do you carry things on your bike?

We shop a couple of times a week. They put everything in plastic bags for us and we carry it on our handlebars. They are obsessed with plastic bags here.

Q. Favorite scripture this week?

Isaiah 58 where we learn all about the wonderful blessings from fasting and keeping the Sabbath day holy.

Questions from TeriAnn:

Q. Who is your favorite person you associate with in your mission right now?

We have a new senior couple, the Jones. They are from Canada (though Sister Jones is originally from Scotland and has a sweet accent). They came to check on Elder Kallon the other day and they bought us ice cream, so I think they are pretty great.

Q. What is the craziest moment from your mission so far?

Killing a goat was pretty crazy. So was the time when I fell into a gutter on the side of the road late at night and then discovered it was full of an angry army of ants. That was also crazy.

Q. How many times a week do you go without power?

Sometimes we can go 4 days in a week without power, but lately it has been quite a bit better.