Hello hello! Sorry, I didn't have an email last week. We didn't have power in our apartment, so our phone was dead. But this week has been much better power-wise! So that's a plus. There has been a lot that has gone on in the past two weeks, so let me catch you up.
Last week, sometime, there was a huge Smock festival that my companion and I got the chance to dress up and go to. It was way cool. Smocks are the kente dress-looking things that you will see me wear every now and then. Smocks are dope, and everyone wears them here. The only problem is they are super big, heavy, and hot. But the festival was some traditional ceremony where the chief of Tamale is on horseback, and he moves from the Sagnarigu chief palace to his own palace in Zongo. Everyone follows him and dances and plays drums as he slowly makes his way to his palace. When he gets there, the military shoots a bunch of guns into the air, and it becomes a huge party. I wasn't able to get a picture, but it was cool. The food there was pretty good too; they had a lot of different vendors.
My companion had to go to the hospital to get his COVID-19 booster. It's always very interesting to see how unclean and unorganized hospitals are here. The place where we went to get the shot was a janitorial closet that was turned into a place where they give shots. Kinda interesting.
Many of these hospitals are huge! They have plenty of government funding to build these hospitals, but the majority of the rooms are empty. There's no equipment, no hospital beds, no power, no people. Everyone who is at the hospital is crammed into one common area, and nothing seems to get done. No doctors or nurses can be seen, and no one seems to get help. But the reserved parking spot for the owners and the doctors sure has some nice cars parked in them.
We went and did some service last Friday. We woke up early and went to harvest corn! We had this 2-acre plot of land full of corn and probably 10 or so people. It was pretty cool to harvest it all by hand. We wanted to start early so the sun didn't beat us to death. But it took longer than expected, and so we all got burned to a crisp. It doesn't matter how much sunblock you use. The Ghana sun doesn't care. After we harvested the corn, we got fed! It was beans and hominy with a fish stew. One of the better things I have had. Whenever I hear hominy, it always reminds me of my dad's favorite movie Charlie and the Chocolate factory. The grandma while she is laying in bed says "piece and harmony," but it sounds like she says "hominy." I don't know why that's what my mind thinks of when I hear hominy, but it's funny.
Sunday was the best Sunday I have had here in Tamale. We had our branch conference, and we had two of our investigators come to church! Which doesn't sound like much, but it's pretty impressive for Tamale. The work is much harder and slower here in the north than it was in Kumasi. But we are making it happen.
A scripture I found in my personal studies this week that I really loved is Matthew 11:29. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
I love this scripture mainly because my first Zone Conference in Ghana, President Kunz taught us about a yoke used for farming. With a yoke, you can take two oxen and tie them together so they become one. In the very center of the yoke, there is a piece of metal called the fulcrum, and at the fulcrum is where the load is attached. If you have one ox that is bigger than the other, you can move the fulcrum towards the bigger ox's side so it pulls more of the load and takes some off of the smaller ox. I love how this symbol is used in scripture. Of course, we are the smaller ox compared to Jesus Christ, but what a privilege we have to have the opportunity to be yoked with Jesus Christ.
Another thing I love is that even though we have Jesus working right next to us, it won't be easy. Just as the bigger oxen can take more of the load, it doesn't mean the smaller ox isn't doing anything. He is still working, but he has the bigger ox to help. As we take His yoke upon us and work hard, in the end of the verse, He promised us, "and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Kinda cool!
That's all I got for you this week. I hope you enjoy the cold that's coming! I'm way jealous! Anyways, love and miss you all!
~Elder Gilbert
Photos:
Smock festival
My companion getting a shot in the hospital
Gutter water that is completely black. I don't know why it was black, but I haven't seen it before.
Haircuts
Street meat
Beans and hominy with fish stew
Harvesting corn
There were some little kids chasing what I thought was a snake. I followed them and turned out it was a Komodo dragon, and it was eating their chickens, so we threw rocks at it until someone knocked it out. We brought it back home, took some pics, and they skinned it and ate it!
