Hello everyone! This week was a great week and I'm excited to tell you all about it!
On Monday, we went to the market and bought all the essential goods I need for the next two weeks. We had a family meal planned with our neighbors, so we got to enjoy some quality time with them. Later that day, we saw some people fetching water in the dark. I had been lazy all day, so I jumped in to help them. I related fetching water to pilot training. After you have so many hours fetching water in the daytime, you can progress to fetching it in the dark. Just as flying is more difficult at night, so is fetching water. Ghana's terrain is not smooth at all, and while carrying the rubber full of water on my head, I was walking, and my toe caught a rock. I accidentally dumped water all over the person I was trying to help. Definitely not ideal, but we had a great time.
We got a new referral this week. His name is Bizmark, and he is a solid guy from Accra who moved to Nkawkaw for a few months. He had been taught by the missionaries in the past, but moved before he could be baptized. He lives far from us, but he is in our area, so we travel out to see him about twice a week. We are teaching him the lessons again to make sure he knows and understands everything. I have never explored the area where Bizmark stays because it is so far from our chapel. Usually, people have a hard time paying for transport to and from church, so we usually don't proselyte in that area. But it was very cool to explore. Elder Adu and I found a "chop bar," which is basically just a restaurant with Ghanaian foods. But you must be careful because the word "chop" means two things in Ghana. It either means eating or it means sex. So when you find a chop bar, it's a 50/50 gamble. You could be walking into a nice restaurant or a brothel. That's Ghana for you. Luckily for us, this was a restaurant. It was right off the big main road that connects Accra to Kumasi, so plenty of truckers were stopping to get something to eat. The food was very fresh, and I was so proud that I had found a popular truck stop in Ghana. The best part is that my meal only cost me about 50 cents.
Something funny that happened this week was when I was trying to sneak up on one of our investigators just to jump scare her. But as I was tiptoeing closer and closer, a group of kids found me and started screaming, "OBRUNI!! OBRUNI!!" which means "white guy" in Twi. Everyone knows that I'm literally the only white guy in this entire area, so our investigator just turned around and greeted me. I can't even try to be sneaky without being seen. It's OK because I scare enough people just walking down the street. Many kids have thought I'm a ghost and just run for dear life, but the only ghost I have is the holy kind.
A spiritual thought I had this week was, "I find it so fascinating to think about worlds without end." We know that there are millions of other worlds out there, each with their own God. However, there was only one Jesus Christ and one atonement. His suffering didn't only allow us to be forgiven of our sins, but also all of the other worlds. All of these gods use the same power, which is the priesthood. The priesthood existed long before our Earth ever existed, and it is without beginning and without end, along with the atonement. Hence, the term "infinite atonement." We are trusted with this priesthood power beginning at the age of 12. Some may think that's young, but in the pre-mortal life, we had to learn everything to prepare us to be put on Earth. Some people take longer to learn than others, so that is why you may be older than someone, but their spirit may be way older than yours. I'm not sure what we learned, but I know that we were given spiritual gifts to use on Earth. Our purpose on this Earth is to use these spiritual gifts to learn, grow, and prepare to meet God. So maybe 12 isn't that young, considering we might be very old in spirit. However, all of this is only a sliver of our eternal existence. I'm not sure about anyone else, but eternity is a difficult thing for me to wrap my head around. It also makes me think about the importance of finding the right person in marriage. Once you are sealed together, it is for all time and eternity. And I would hate to be glued to a Karen for literally the entire existence of my life, which we know never ends! When someone says "all good things must come to an end," that is entirely false. Literally nothing will come to an end! I'm going to stop here because I could ramble on for hours about that. It's just so fascinating to me and continually blows my mind. It's crazy how that's only the beginning. We know what will happen after we die, but God's purpose is to bring about the immortality of all men. So then, what happens after God's purpose is completed? I don't know, and honestly, there are things I believe that we are not supposed to know. Well, now that my brain feels like a pretzel, if any of you have any insights you would like to add, feel free to email me back. I love to learn about the gospel!
As for my photos this week, I have:
Me at the Chop Bar restaurant, enjoying some groundnut soup and rice balls.
A meal that was given to us called "Wache," which is beans and rice with fish, stew, and noodles. It was amazing!
Me on Monday, eating Jollof rice with a very large spoon, and our neighbor, Mommy Elizabeth, thought it was hilarious.
We went to Lake Volta again! Elder Riley and I are the only ones who have been there before, and everyone else wanted to see it. It was a repeat, but there's not much to do here, so I had a blast both times!
We stopped at the waterfall on the way back, so everyone else could see it.
Elder Riley and I enjoying some Wagashi on the boat. It seems to be the only place we can find this amazing treat (it's like a cheese curd). The green stuff is Pepe, and it's hotter than hell.