The People of Juapong

Hello everyone!!

God is so great! Ghana is a truly blessed land and I just love serving among the people here. Today I will mostly talk about individuals that I was blessed to meet with over the last week.

I will start with some investigators. We are teaching a great sister named Forgive. She works for our branch president and has been coming to church for a good while now. She should be baptized by the end of this month if all goes well. She loves the Gospel and hopes to serve a mission in the near future. She is 19. We have also been able to start teaching her family. We have been meeting with her father and her sisters. I hope that through her the rest of the family will be able to partake of the joy of the Gospel. 

We are also teaching Brother Jerry and his wife Comfort. They have likewise been coming to church for a while now. They live about ten minutes away from Juapong in a small village called Little London. It is a beautiful place right on the Volta River. The houses there are mostly made of mud bricks. I will try to send some pictures next week. 

Little London (Photo taken from the internet)

Now I will talk about some members. President Kassah is our branch president. He has a couple of small shops here in Juapong. He is just a cheerful and loving man. You just want to smile when you are around him. He lived in the US for a few years, but said he got sick of the cold and the snow. He serves faithfully and is a great strength to the branch here.

Then we have Brother Linus. He, like most of the members here, is a recent convert to the church. He was in a motorcycle accident a couple of years ago and seriously hurt his leg. He has been unable to work since and stays with his mother. He has completely embraced the Gospel and is as faithful a member as you can find. He limps to midweek every Thursday and to church on Sundays. He is always ready to participate and serve.

That is all I have time for today. Juapong is a magical place with wonderful people. The Lord has greatly blessed me this week in many ways. I am trying to be more grateful for His blessings. He pours them upon me constantly. I love Him and I know that He loves all of us. Thanks for all of your support, love and prayers. Have a great week! I love you all.

Love,

Elder Radmall

Street in Juapong (Taken from the internet)

Questions from TeriAnn:

Q. What is the weather like in your new area? Still very humid and hot?

Yep! And it has been heating up. Harmattan is coming which means it will get very dusty and very hot. Yikes!

Q/ What is the most interesting/unique thing about the culture so far, other than the naked people?

The language! Ewe is awesome. It sounds like the people are singing every time they speak. 

Q. Any new foods that you have tried since being there?

Not really. They have a lot of the same foods here.

Q. How are the people in your new area different from your last area?

There are a lot of people here who haven't had the opportunity to receive much of an education, but they are so loving and humble. They are very hard working.

Questions from Kurt:

How many people are in your district, how often do you meet, and where does your DL live?

We are 4 in the district. Our DL lives in a town called Senchi about 20 minutes from us. We meet together every Tuesday morning.

Q. How big is your branch, and do you have all of the leadership positions filled? Do the stronger members hold multiple callings?

It is a small branch. We had around 35 in attendance yesterday. The main leadership positions are filled. I don't know of anyone with multiple callings.

Q. How big is your grocery store, and how far from your house is it?

Hahaha! What is a grocery store? We have an open air market in Juapong about ten minutes from us and some small shops closer to our apartment. 

Questions from Christie:

Q. What made you laugh this week?

We visited a member this week and her son is so funny. He is maybe 9 months old with a super chubby face. He mostly moves by scooting around on the ground. While we were there he was scooting in circles and squealing. It was so funny!

Q. Who made your week better?

Our awesome branch president. He is so funny and happy all of the time. He just boosts your spirits.

Q. What were the best and worst things you ate this week?

The best thing I ate this week was no-bake cookies! I made them for Halloween. The worst thing I ate was some fried chicken that I slightly burnt, but it wasn't too bad.

Q. What was your favorite scripture this week?

Helaman 5:10

Q. What are you thankful for today?

Today I am grateful for the technology that allows me to write to all of you guys. What a blessing!

Questions from Mom:

Q. Tell us about one person at church…

Brother James is a very sweet and sincere old man. It seems that he passes the sacrament every Sunday, and you can see how sacred he thinks that responsibility is. He comes in his white shirt (which is very big for the little man) and tie and seems to just love being there. We visited him last week and he proudly showed us the talk he has written to give in sacrament meeting in a few weeks.

Q. Tell us one thing about your companion….

Elder Palmer had some sweet hair back home. It was loooong. He is also very intelligent and has a great knowledge of the scriptures. 

Q. What did you do at church yesterday – talk, bless the sacrament??

Yesterday I bore testimony in sacrament and taught a class during the second hour. 

Q. Tell us about one investigator…

We have been teaching a women named Sister Comfort and her granddaughter (who does most of the reading for her grandma). They are very sweet and you can see the love they have within their family.  

Q. Who can we pray for this week?
You can pray for Sister Forgive and her family to embrace the Gospel and commit to it.