Divine Protection

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been an unforgettable week.  This week I have seen miracle after miracle and blessing upon blessing.  As you know the week started out with some very unexpected events.  On Monday we boarded a taxi heading to Asutuare to do some fishing for our P-day.  The back tire burst, the driver lost control, and we ended up spinning 180 degrees and rolling once off of the side of the road.  Here are a few of the miracles that took place that day.

1. When the driver first lost control of the car we veered into the left lane where a trotro was quickly approaching us.  Last minute our driver was able to turn and move the taxi back to the other side of the road.

2. The taxi only rolled one time and landed on the wheels.  Had we continued rolling I am certain there would have been more serious injuries. 

3. Despite the fact that almost all of the windows were down and there were no seat belts, all of us (and our limbs) stayed inside of the vehicle. 

4. None of us were seriously hurt.  When you think about everything that could happen to someone in a rollover it is simply amazing that all five of us in the car walked away with nothing but some scrapes and minor injuries. 

5. Our taxi rolled about two minutes away from one of the few hospitals in our area.  Even more amazing was the angel God sent to take us to the hospital.  After we had all exited the car, a man in a pickup truck seemed to appear out of nowhere.  He stopped and quickly loaded us into his truck.  After that he raced us to the hospital and helped us in getting admitted and filling out the necessary paper work.  Then he vanished.  We never even got his name. 

Our little accident was a mighty miracle.  I am humbled and grateful beyond words.  This is an experience I hope never to repeat again, but learned a great deal from it.  The Lord is truly mindful of His servants.  He knows all of His children and He is ever watching over us.  This is not the first time, nor shall it be the last, that the Lord has protected me and provided miracles in my life.  He does so for each of us every day.  He has given me my life.  I now have a greater determination to give Him mine. 

In other news, I have been transferred! I just came to Kpong, and now I am already saying goodbye. I will be going to an area called Danfa. It is about halfway between Kpong and Accra. I will miss this place. I will miss our funny branch and our dear investigators. I will especially miss the wonderful missionaries I have been blessed to serve alongside in our zone. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. I love and miss you all. Have a great week and be careful what taxis you board! 

Love,

Elder Radmall

Questions from Mom:

Q.Why did I not see a mosquito net over your bunk bed??

Don't worry. I have one now! 

Q. Can you tell us about the family in the photo where you were pounding palm nuts?

Those are some of our investigators. We just started teaching them recently. It is a three generation family. A grandmother, mother, and son. 

Q. What does Elder Winborg like to cook?

He can make some nice jollof rice. He also make great egg sandwiches. 

Q. What was your best meal this week?

This week while we were at the hospital, Elder and Sister Jones bought my companion and I bacon cheeseburgers!!! I haven't had a cheeseburger since I was in America! SOOOO GOOD!

Q. Seen any giant spiders?

Not for a while, thankfully. 

Q. Did anyone take photos of the car after the wreck??

Yes, but I don't know who. 

Q. How are you feeling – are you still sore?  What about the bruised lung?

Still pretty sore. I still take about five minutes to find a comfortable position when I am going to sleep, but it's getting much better. 

Q. How is Elder Winborg feeling?

He is doing a lot better. He will be coming back to Kpong on Thursday. (He is still recuperating at the mission home.)

Q. What about the other two elders – what are the names and how are they doing?

Elders Buehner and Eduok are doing great. 

Q. Can each of you write your account of the accident and what happened and how you were protected and send it to me???

I have the full account written in my journal. I can try to send it if you would like. 

Questions from TeriAnn:

Q. Maggie says, What is your favorite team, BYU or Utah? :)

Utah of course! Go Utes! 

Q. What did you do for PDay?

Today I got a haircut. That's about it. 

Q. Did people in your area wonder where you were for a few days?

Haha yeah. We kind of just disappeared for a week. They were wondering what happened to us. 

Q. What was going through your head while your car was rolling and after it stopped?

While we were rolling I was thinking "Hello ceiling." After we stopped I was thinking "Why are my tan shorts turning red?"  (Bryan's hands were cut up with broken glass from the car window.)

Q. What was your best moment this week? 
One night while Elder Winborg and I were just chilling in the office at the mission home President Heid walked in with two blue bowls and a bottle of lemon juice. The bowls each had a salmon fillet. That sure made my Alaskan companion happy. 

Miracles and Tender Mercies

5 minutes before the accident - off to go fishing.

After the accident at the mission home.

There is no letter from Bryan this week.  He was in a serious car accident today with 3 other missionaries.  He and his companion were only slightly injured.  God was definitely watching over them.  He was able to email me this afternoon (about 10 PM Ghana time) and here is his report:

I am alive and kicking!! It will take more than a little taxi accident to bring down this missionary. It has been a day of miracles and tender mercies from the Lord. We are at the mission home right now.

We are all doing well. Just a little cut up and sore. I was honestly hoping that they wouldn't even tell you about it. We were in a taxi going to meet up with some other elders to go fishing for p-day. Our back tire blew out and the taxi driver lost control.

We weren't in a trotro. Just a taxi. We swerved a bit, hit the side of the road, and rolled. It was just four missionaries and the driver. My window unfortunately broke, so the glass scraped up my hands a bit, but not too bad. My lungs are a tiny bit bruised, but no broken bones. Score! My companion and I have some whip lash and he thinks he had a small concussion. The other two missionaries are fine as is the driver. It is a miracle! Just goes to show that God is watching over us. We will be taking it easy here at the mission home for the next couple of days. 

They gave us some pain meds at the hospital. That was the other miracle. We crashed about two minutes from a hospital! Yeah, tomorrow I will be quite sore. President Heid has ordered us to sleep in as long as we can tomorrow! I won't say no to that. 

Thanks mom for all of your love, concerns, and prayers. Obviously those prayers are working! Know that I am safe and happy and that I love you to pieces. Have a superb week! 

Kpong zone.

Bryan at a leadership conference in Accra.

Traveling the Mission

 Pounding palm nuts to make palm nut oil.

Doing some shopping in Koforidua

(Bryan and his companion got permission to go to Koforidua for p-day.  It was his first area and he was there for 9 months.  This was his first time back.  He loves Koforidua!!)

Greetings from Ghana!

It is hard to believe that another week has already passed. Where does the time go? I am already feeling heartbroken at the thought of having to leave Ghana and the humble people here in just a few short months! I am determined to give my all for these final months. 

This week was pretty crazy for us. On Tuesday we traveled deep into the bush to attend a district council with some missionaries in our zone. It is always cool to see different areas within our mission and to watch the work progressing there. 

On Wednesday Elder Winborg and I were invited to the mission home to stay the night. Score! And to make it even better, we got to go to the last session in the temple that night. It was a delight, as always, to learn and seek for ways to improve. This time as I went through the session I tried to focus on the principle of faith. I realized that faith is necessary for every step we take in the the Plan of Salvation. It was with faith that we decided to come to this earth in the preexistence. It is with faith that we accept and live the Gospel while we are here. Faith enables us to take those little steps forward that will allow us to progress and become like our Heavenly Father. I guess I need to try harder to have a little more faith. 

Thursday we woke up and had some meetings in the mission home. After the meetings were over we had PIZZA for lunch!!! I always knew that God loves me. That was my first time having pizza in about six months. They even had some pepperoni pizza for us! I pigged out and ate about seven pieces. 

Sunday was a peaceful day for us. We enjoyed fast and testimony meeting. Some amazing and powerful testimonies were shared. And we had three investigators at church. Dorris, Godwin, and some random guy who just showed up. We will follow up with all of them this week to see how they felt at church. The most exciting thing that happened on Sunday was three white people showing up in our building. It turns out it was the wife of Elder Gay (a member of the seventy with a lot of ties to Ghana) along with her son and granddaughter. There granddaughter was so beautiful! Sadly, 19 months in Ghana has rendered me unable to talk to white people anymore. My companion and I started sweating when she walked by and avoided eye contact with her. She was probably laughing at us. To finish off our Sunday we made tortillas and a chicken stir fry. You better believe it was delicious. 

Well that is about all for my week. I love you all lots and pray for you each and every day. Thanks for all of the good that you do in the world. A special thanks for all of the prayers in my behalf. They are felt and appreciated. I hope you all have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Radmall

 Bike Selfie 

(Elder Winborg, Bryan's companion, holding the camera.)

Sleeping Beauty

Questions from Mom

Q. Do you have a calling in the branch?

Nope.

Q. How often do you speak or teach at church?

Not too often here in Kpong. I haven't had to give a talk yet. Knock on wood. 

Q. If you go fishing with a member, will it be in a canoe on the Volta River?  Is that allowed??

I wish! That would be sweet! But it isn't allowed. 

Q. Who can we pray for this week?

This week you can pray for the Lord to provide a way for Sister Dorris to be baptized. She wants to so badly, but her current situation has delayed her. 

Q. What lesson did you teach this week that touched an investigator?

This week we taught Godwin (the brother of a member in our branch) about prayer. In our last lesson with him he told us that he doesn't know how to pray, so we taught him the basic steps and at the end of the lesson we invited him to pray. He was pretty hesitant at first, but in the end he did it. I didn't understand a word he said. He prayed in Ewe. But I did see the big smile on his face when he finished praying! We have set a date with him to be baptized this month. 

 What a fine looking group!!

Oh, how I miss Koforidua!

Questions from TeriAnn:

Q. How did people celebrate birthdays in Ghana?

Often times they don't. Those who can afford it will sometimes make a cake. Usually they will just have a nice dinner that day. 

Q. Who made you feel the most loved this week?

Sister Jones! Elder and Sister Jones are a senior couple in our mission and they watch after our health. Sister Jones is Scottish and speaks with the coolest accent ever. She is pretty much my grandma on my mission. 

Q. What was the biggest lesson you learned this week?

Always leave early and expect the unexpected. You never know when you will get caught in an hour of traffic. 

Q. How many times this week did you think, "wow, I am an awesome Dude?!"

I usually think more along the lines of "wow, I done messed up."

Questions from Kurt:

Q. What is your favorite tie right now? Are you doing any trading?

My favorite tie right now is a cool pattern with pink, blue, and white. I think someone sent it to me, but I can't quite remember who. I have been doing some trading. I will have ties to remember my companions. 

Q. What has been the most exciting/crazy/interesting talk in church recently?

A couple of weeks ago someone gave a talk on the word of wisdom. It started out pretty good, but he spent the last ten minutes talking about how people should only drink water produced by the company he works for. I guess he is watching out for their health. 

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. 

The Rains Came Down and the Lights Went Out

Hello Family and Friends!

I hope y'all had a splendid week. My week was crazy and awesome and wet and hot. Brother Ofori has traveled, so we weren't able to meet with him this week. Hopefully he is still reading the BoM! We are also teaching a woman named Doris. She is a great sister with an adorable two year old son. She has been coming to church for a long time and really wants to be baptized, 

but we are waiting for the father of the child to come back from Accra so we can talk to him about marriage. I am praying that all will be able to go through! Then there is Godwin. He is the brother of a member in our branch. He can't understand English all that well, but he has been coming to church and says he wants to be baptized as well. This week we taught him all how much Heavenly Father loves him and how the Gospel can bless his life. Being a missionary is great. You get to know and love so many different people. 

Here is the excitement for the week. December, January, and February are Harmattan in Ghana. That means it is dry and dusty with no rain. Well, Ghana decided that it didn't want to follow the norm this year. Saturday night while we were out proselyting we saw some huge storm clouds rolling in. We decided that it would be a good time to ride to a gas station for a little snack. That was a good choice. While in the gas station it started POURING rain. This was some of the heaviest rain I have seen in my life. The sky was lit with lightning and the thunder was shaking the building. 

The storm didn't last long, but as a result of the rain they shut off the power in Kpong. I woke up Sunday morning at about 3 am and I thought I was blind. It was pitch black. I could barely see my hand in front of my face. Sunday evening they brought the power back... then it rained again and the blackout returned. Yikes. Light is a blessing I used to take for granted. I am so grateful to have lights to help us see in the dark. I am far more grateful for the Light of the World. I know that the Savior shines through any sin, challenge, or fear. He is there to light our way back to Heavenly Father. I love Him and I am grateful to be in His service. I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Radmall

Questions from TeriAnn:

Q. What are you most excited to eat when you get home?

A grasshopper milkshake and a huge double cheeseburger. Also pizza. And lasagna. And rolls. And barbecue chicken, waffles, real ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, bagels, Subway, a cafe Rio pork quesadilla, bacon... I think about food a lot. 

Q. What's your least favorite task in your life right now?

Giving instructions in meetings. It's the worst! 

Q. How many times do you say awesome in a week?

Probably like 1000. 

Q. Who's your favorite blonde haired sister? 

That's a tough one! I can't decide. 

Questions from Mom:

Q. What are your two favorite things about Elder Winborg?  Has he always been a member?

He is always positive and he is very obedient. He has been a member his whole life. 

Q. Are you the senior zone leader?

Well, let's just say if president needs to chastise us he will probably call me. :)

Q. What are some of your responsibilities as zone leader?

We report numbers for the zone each week as well as holding a zone training each month. We also go on exchanges with the district leaders in our zone. 

Q. What was your funniest moment of the week?
A senior couple assigned to the Africa West Area were at our chapel on Sunday. We also have this crazy guy named Speed who comes to church every week. He likes to go and dance in front of everyone during sacrament meeting. As soon as he saw the senior couple his interest was sparked. He was trying to climb into the back of their car and they had no idea what to do. My companion and I had to go and lead him away. Haha Americans are funny.

Transfers!

 A Christmas package just arrived from Ghana.  Bryan had Kente cloth woven for his parents and each sibling.

 The package - with many stamps.  I don't know how much this cost, but it costs me $33 to send a package this size to Ghana.

Close-up of the stamps.  Soccer, or football, is the national passion!!

Hello family and friends!

I am sorry this is coming a day late. Yesterday we couldn't make it to the internet cafe due to transfers. I will have to keep this email short. We had a great week! We met with Brother Ofori again and learned that he had read another five chapters of the Book of Mormon. Not only had he read, but he said that he feels like the book is true! So we invited him to be baptized which kinda seemed to throw him off. He said he will continue reading and praying. I have great hope for him. Now we just need to get him to come to church! 

On Saturday we had a baptism! Collins entered the waters. He is a great 20 year old who has been learning from missionaries for about 9 months now. He was sooo happy to finally be baptized. We had a lovely service for him and then on Sunday he was confirmed in church. I am excited for him. 

Sunday was Elder Howard's last day in the area. My companion is leaving me. Sunday night we had about 8 missionaries in our apartment preparing for the transfer. I made them all fried rice and brownies as Elder Howard's last supper in Kpong. I will miss Elder Howard with all of his jokes and his big smile. On Monday I got my new companion. His name is Elder Winborg. He is from Alaska. He is an awesome missionary and we are going to rock it together here in Kpong! 

That is all I have time for. I love you all so much. Thanks for all you do! And a shout out to Logan and his bride and to Kirsten and her husband to be. I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Radmall

Weaving kente cloth in Ghana.  Photos from the internet.

Questions from Mom:

Q. Do you see crocodiles in Kpong?  Did you see them in Juapong?

Nope and nope. I haven't seen any in Ghana sadly. 

Q. What wildlife do you find interesting besides baboons?

There are big old lizards climbing over everything. Every once in a while I see a thick line of giant army ants marching along. Those things scare me. 

Q. Funniest moment of the week?

While teaching a lesson I tried to use an analogy that involved someone sick needing medicine at a pharmacy. I asked "If the person doesn't know where the pharmacy is, can they get their medicine?" Well, our investigator started on a long tangent about how the person should go to church and pray and then have there pastor command the sickness to leave them. Not quite the desired effect, but at least she has faith in prayer! 

Questions from TeriAnn:

Q. Now that you have been in Ghana 1.5 years, how often do you still eat new/interesting things?

I feel like I have eaten almost everything you can find in Ghana. Although I still need to try cat and dog. I hear they are good. 

Q. What was your favorite thing you did last week?

My favorite thing I did was actually finding people to teach. It is pretty fun to go around meeting the people of Ghana. Often they will be cooking or cleaning and you can just start up a conversation with them. Ghanaians are so easy to talk to. I love getting to mingle with them. 

Q. What did you do for P-Day today?

I waited around the apartment for about 6 hours waiting for missionaries to show up. Not the funnest P-day, but now the transfer is over with! 

Our bishop has all of the missionaries in our ward send a letter home to be read during the Christmas season. Here is Elder Radmall's letter to the Stonewood 4th ward:

Dear Bishop Smithee,

Thank you for the kind and thoughtful letter. It is always refreshing to hear from my beloved Stonewood 4th Ward. A couple of days ago, I received an envelope full of kind and thoughtful messages from the ward. It made my day. 

I am grateful for the opportunity to share just a few thoughts on the Savior. Christmas in Ghana is very different from Christmas back home. There is no snow and very few decorations. And yet the joy of the Christmas season can be felt just as strongly as anywhere else. Although many of the material things I have always associated with the holidays are not to be found, the true Spirit of Christmas is alive and well. The people of Ghana seem to realize that there is much more to Christmas than the exchanging of boxes and toys. For them it is all about that babe born in a manger.

The people of Ghana face many challenges in their lives. Many suffer from severe poverty or from diseases they are not able to properly treat. Some have little food to eat and others even go without a roof over their heads. And yet, despite their meager circumstances, these people give with all of their hearts. They share what little they have. They smile and they laugh together. They praise God and give Him thanks. They remember that it is all about the Savior. He Himself was born in humble circumstances, and yet He has given us more than anyone. 

I am so grateful for the chance to be in His service at this time of the year. I have seen Him turn hearts and change lives. I have seen Him heal wounds and lift the weary. I have seen Him bring hope and joy to all who are willing to receive Him. There is no sin, no sorrow, no pain or heartache that He cannot fix. He is God's greatest gift to each of us. My only hope this Christmas is to give back to Him in any way that I can. To each of us who has received the gift of the Savior, it is our opportunity to share that gift with all around us. 

I love my Savior and I know that He lives. He is the light of my life. A light that shines through any darkness. I love and miss everyone in the ward. I am so grateful to all of them for their love and support. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas filled with the light of Christ. You are always in my prayers. 

Love,

Elder Radmall