From November 7th, 2016

Oh yeah, I guess it is THAT day huh?  (Mom wished a happy "1/2 birthday" today!)  LOL

Well, my favorite thing this week was the miracle that happened, but you will see that in the weekly email.  :)

Training is good so far, Elder Oshilaja is still really quiet, but he is getting more talkative so that is nice.  We are really working hard, though every day we come in, close our day, and then he is asleep within the hour.  But everything is going well.  :)

He is a little homesick, but he doesn't talk about it much, so I don't really know, and I don't want to be the one who opens that door of sadness.

Best part of training, is that I have a little more control over what happens, we aren't late to anything because I have a little more control over our time and when we leave, and now, the ideas I have pull a little more weight, so I am loving it so far! :)

What an interesting week it has been!

To start, last week, right after we emailed, we bought a few items and began our journey home. There was this weird lady at the store that greeted us as normal, but then started to follow us. I noticed she was following us, but gave her the benefit of the doubt because maybe we had been walking the same way. We passed a few turn-off streets and then the red flags started to appear. We stopped at this truck and then she started to walk by the truck we had ducked beside, and when she saw us, she stopped and looked busy at a shop. Then I begin to play the games with her.  So, we walk quickly to a street we had passed and go down just 3 or 4 steps and hang by the corner. Next thing we know, she is walking back towards the street we were on and when she saw us, she did a quick double take and made herself look busy at another shop. So we walk to the same truck and she again comes to us and tries to act busy! At this point I was getting fed up, so we walk to the same street she had just followed us to and duck into the alleys walking rather quickly making what felt like 100 turns and walking through houses and such until we reach the main road again, and bada-bing-bada-boom, we lost her! It was rather a funny experience, and not one I wish to have again, but it was good for the memories.  :)

I found this place in our small town Mpraeso that sells the bigger size jars of JIF peanut butter for only 25 cedis (equivalent to 6 or 7 US Dollars) and a 10 lb. bag for 25 cedis as well! Needless to say, I have been enjoying pancakes and peanut butter frequently.  I knocked out half the jar just with a spoon the first few days, and now I slap it on all my pancakes and whatever else seems to go well with peanut butter.  :)))

Welp.  The Ghana heat has really taken a toll on my scriptures. Turns out, there is a layer of glue between the paper and the leather, but on mine, it has just separated and ripped the first weak page in my scriptures! I don't know how I will fix that, but somehow it will all work out!  :) My name is no longer in gold, there is just an imprint of my name on the front because it is so hot, the gold stuff came off!  :)

I used my first lawn mower in Ghana on Saturday!  Our chapel has a ton of grass, so they have a mower, and I got to use it!  :) Being a missionary here has totally changed me, every single week from here going forward, I will be the one mowing the lawn, and I am super excited! I love to mow and the smell of the cut grass!  Who'da thought that I would love to mow? Or even love to do the dishes? Something is definitely changing!  :)

I have once again become the piano player for our sacrament meeting which is tough. I have infinitely more respect for anyone who can play the piano!  I have been practicing a lot, and I am starting to see the progress from 6 months ago!  :)

I had a "Ghana Apple" this week. They have the normal apples everyone knows, but there is a kind that grows on a tree here that is different from the ones back home, tastes a little interesting, but it is not bad.  :)

Well I have had quite the faith-building experience this week. Since I got the call to come to Mpraeso and re-open the area, many missionaries were apologizing and wishing me good luck, which by the way, does not boost your spirits, but I had faith that all would go well.  This week, we have worked really, really hard trying to find people to teach, but most of them don't speak English here and they are all farmers, so they spend from 6am-3pm at their farms, cook, eat and sleep, so teaching is tough sometimes. Friday night, I had just about enough of no success, it was 6:30-7pm, we had an hour left, but I was ready to go home, but we ended up staying and trying to set appointments with some people. Then, Saturday came.  We had 2 appointments for 8 hours of proselyting, and I had lost my faith in the area. But, we went out, and everything seemed to fall into place. We have 3 members in our area, 2 left on Friday for school and the other doesn't speak any English, so it was not looking very good. But, randomly, our branch mission leader opened a shop in our area, so we have been getting some referrals from him which is a miracle in and of itself.  Then, all of Saturday, we had appointments. Every hour of the day, we were seeing someone, teaching, or setting an appointment for the coming week. Just as Ether 12:6 says, it is after the trial of our faith, that we get a little stronger. And I can testify it is true. We have had quite a few miracles this week, and I hope that it will continue to happen.  God truly is involved in the details of our lives.

Love you all, and have a fantastic week.

Elder Wawro