The Plan

Fishing on the Volta River in Kpong

Hello Everybody!

Please send help. I am worried about the sanity of my apartment. This morning my two fellow Americans shaved their legs and my African friend decided to try using the clippers on his head. He ended up almost completely shaving his hair off. I am happy to say that I still have hair both on my legs and on top of my head. 

I hope that all of you had a great week. Mine was busy, exhausting, and great as always. Tuesday through Thursday was the usual walking, biking, contacting, and teaching. On Friday we had a multi-zone conference here in Kpong. Since we were the host zone we were "blessed" with the "opportunity" to set everything up in advance. It was a bit hectic, but we sorted it out in the end. 

The conference itself was amazing. We received a lot of great instruction and counsel from President and Sister Heid. We also watched a recording of this years missionary training broadcast. We learned from Elder Oaks, Elder Bednar, Elder Anderson, and several other church leaders. They made some pretty significant changes to our schedule (which is now more flexible) and to how we report our weekly numbers to the mission president. I think my favorite part was listening to all of these leaders discuss the Doctrine of Christ. It is amazing how essential and deep the principles of faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end are. Elder Bednar made a comment that as members of the church we are often guilty of looking at these five steps as a checklist. When you have faith you can move on to repentance. After that comes baptism. They are not meant to be viewed as separate steps. None of these steps is complete without the others. Rather than thinking of having faith before repentance we should think of having "faith unto repentance" as the Book of Mormon states. It is definitely a cool way of looking at it. 

One of my favorite experiences this week was teaching Sister Gifty. Gifty is one of our investigators who recently lost her mother. We have stopped by a few times to see if there is anything we can do to help the family. We stopped by this week and Gifty gave a bench to sit on and told us she had some time for us to share something with her. The Spirit quickly prompted me to talk about the Plan of Salvation. As we began talking about life after death, Gifty told us that she had learned at a former church that after death we will not recognize our families. We bore witness to her that she would both see and recognize her mother again one day. I could feel the Spirit testifying to her that it was true. She seemed comforted and thanked us as we left her home. 

I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. I know that indeed there is life after death. I know that because Jesus Christ willing offered up His life and took it again we will all be resurrected. Our families can be together forever if we will live according to God's laws. He loves us and He is always willing to help us along the way. I love my family and I am forever grateful for them. I hope that you all have a wonderful week.

Love,

Elder Radmall

Kpong Presby Basic School

Questions from Kurt:

Q. How many Ghanaians are serving missions? Do any serve mini missions?

There are a lot. I don't know the exact number, but we have had several serving from most of the branches and wards I have been in. Many of them serve in Nigeria. I haven't heard of any serving mini missions. 

Q. What has been your biggest challenge as a zone leader thus far? Most rewarding?

One of the biggest challenges is trying to encourage obedience while still having a good relationship with the other missionaries. The most rewarding part is getting to learn from the examples of all of the missionaries in our zone. 

Q. Where do you want your final area to be?  :)

Anywhere the Lord will send me! But I wouldn't mind going to Ho. It is supposed to be a beautiful place, pretty similar to Koforidua, my first area. There is a good chance that I will get to finish here in Kpong though. 

Questions from Mom:

Q. Who is your favorite member of the branch (or ward – which are you in?) and can you tell us about them?

We are in a branch. I don't know if I have talked about him before, but we have a funny old man in our branch named Moses. He wanders up and down the main road of Kpong all day. We literally see him like three or four times in a day. He loves to stop at shops along the road where pretty girls are working so he can talk to them. The best part is that he invites them to come to church! Member missionary work right there. 

Q. Tell us two things about your Alaskan companion and how is he handling the heat?

He actually does really well with the heat. He tells me stories about Alaska all of the time. He has some crazy stories about snow, fishing, grizzly bears, wolves, and much more. In high school he was a serious body builder. He is a hard worker and I am grateful to have him as my companion. 

Q. What was the best moment in a lesson this week?

The most rewarding moment was when we testified to Gifty about the resurrection. I could feel the Spirit testifying to her that she will see her mother again one day. 

Q. How has your testimony been strengthened this week?

My testimony was strengthened this week as I repented. I realized that there were a lot of little things I have been doing that are not in line with missionary rules. But as I prayed for forgiveness and strength to change I felt of God's love for me and His willingness to forgive. I was reminded of the teachings of President Packer that as we fully repent the Lord will remember our sins no more. We can be fully healed. I know that to be true because I have felt the Savior healing me time and time again.