Hello everyone! I'm happy to be able to write to you again, and I'm happy it's another Monday! I have lots and lots of experiences these past few weeks, and I have a few cool stories to share with you. So let's get into it!
To start off, in our missionary efforts, things have been going great in our area. Things and people are progressing well. We have been putting in the extra hours recently and planting lots of seeds! Hopefully, some missionary down the road will get to harvest plenty!
Rainy season is in full swing here in Western Ghana. We have had some pretty powerful rainstorms almost every day! I swear, Ghanaians have a sixth sense. They can just tell when it's about to rain, and it's kinda cool when they sense it's about to rain. You can see the whole village putting out every bucket and basin they have to catch all of the rainwater. And you bet the rainstorm fills them to the brim. (I have a picture of a household with all of their buckets out after a rainstorm down below.) I love the rainstorms here. Some of them get so powerful that the rain comes at you from every angle. I swear the rain comes from the ground up sometimes, but the best part is after the rainstorm passes. The whole place becomes so serene and peaceful, and the scenery just can't be beaten with the rain clouds rolling out of the dense forest.
Last Sunday, we had a baptismal service for 7 of our friends. We have been working with these wonderful people for a long time, some of them for upwards of 4 months. So I am just so happy to see them making promises with God! It truly was one of the greatest moments of joy on my mission.
Last week, we were given the privilege of heading to Kumasi for two things. One was to meet one of the 12 apostles, Elder Gong! And the second was to have a zone conference the next day. Before we can get to Kumasi, which is 3 hours down the road, we must pick a trotro, which after having picked lots of them, it's always a crazy experience. There's always a dude that they call the "mate" whose job is to hang out the window and find passengers to fill the trotro and also to yell, "Kumasi! Kumasi! Annahh," which just means "Are you going to Kumasi or???" We picked the trotro and headed to our zone leaders' area where we slept in an apartment with 16 other Elders.
The next morning, we arrived in Kumasi and prepared ourselves to receive some spirit. And let me tell you what, that's exactly what happened! He taught us some wonderful principles, and it was truly amazing. I was given the opportunity to shake his hand, and I must say, I have never seen such Christ-like love expressed to people whom someone doesn't know, then from Elder Gong. If I were to tell you everything, you would be reading for days. So I will tell you one of my favorite takeaways. Elder Gong explained to us that love has demands. In short, God and Jesus Christ love us, but something is required of us to feel the full effect of this love. For example, you are a child of loving parents. Your parents automatically have a level of love for you. So now, say your parents give you a list of chores to do. If you disobey them and don't do the chores, their love for you does not deplete; they still love you, you are still their child. But they are more reluctant to give you what you want because you didn't do what they wanted. So now, say you did all of the chores on the list. The level of trust and love increases, and now you are able to enjoy more. It's the same concept with us and God. We are given these sets of "chores" or "commandments" because those are what God expects of us for him showing us his love. Kind of a cool concept I didn't really think about before.
On the ride back from Kumasi, we picked a trotro, and I sat on the extra jump seat. These trotros are modified with extra seats to ensure maximum capacity. So I was sitting on one of these extra seats. And I must've eaten a little too much rice that day because about 30 minutes into our ride home, my seat busted right at the weld that attached my seat to the rest of the row. Eventually, the entire seat came apart, and I was given the privilege of standing for the rest of the 2-hour ride home. They pack these trotros so full of people; it's not like anyone can just scoot over. Needless to say, I was thankful when that ride was over!
The food of the week was either crab fufu or water yam (the purple stuff) and palm nut soup (the orange stuff). They are pretty tied. I was able to make Palm nut soup, and it was a very colorful process! I have a video of it down below.
Another interesting thing I have seen is that in many of these trotros, they will replace the rearview mirror with a small LCD display, and they will play movies! It's nice for the passengers, but half the time, I catch the driver glued to the screen. I also have a video of that below.
In my studies this week, I have been studying the difference in the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost. Partly because our zone conference was based on this topic, and I have taken quite an interest in it. So here's my two cents. The Light of Christ, which is the power in which all things are governed, is around all things and through all things. It gives life to everything. It is in everyone who has ever come on the earth and whoever will. The Holy Ghost, the third member of the Godhead, is the Comforter, which is there to testify of truthful things and bear witness of the Father and the Son. This must be given with the priesthood power, but on occasion, it can still testify to you. The Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost are two completely different things but work together for the same purpose. Think of it like this: You have a radio tower, which is the Holy Ghost. The tower sends out radio waves that are constantly zooming around the air and all around us, although we can't see. And then we are the radio, which if we are tuned to the correct frequency, can hear the "radio waves." The Holy Ghost or the "radio tower" will use the Light of Christ or the "radio waves" to send us a message. What does the Light of Christ sound like, you may ask? The Light of Christ can also be called your conscience or common sense. We all have a conscience, and we all know when we are doing something that's not right, and we can feel it, member or not. You have the Light of Christ, and it is constantly speaking to you! How do you hear it better? Well, you can "tune" your radio by your faith and obedience to the gospel and its principles. As you do so, you will be able to hear the Light of Christ/the Holy Ghost speaking to you. It sounds much easier now to receive personal revelation when you are focused on listening to your conscience. There's much more to it, but I got the basic point across.
Anyways, that's all I got for y'all. I hope you all are having the time of your life! I'll talk to you later! ~ Elder Gilbert
