"Service, exchanges, a baptism, and a whole lot of sickness"

This week has been so weird. We didn't get to do a lot because Elder Burdge was feeling sick, but I will run over the few things we were able to make it to.

First, as an apartment, we went to help one of our members in their nursery. We cut like 400,000,000 million bags to put small plants in for a few hours. She had some really cool plants called Azuras? Anyways, she gave me 2 of them which I will plant soon! :)

Thursday I went on an exchange with Elder Hepworth which was pretty sweet! He is hilarious, and he goes home in 2 weeks, so I am enjoying our last few weeks together! :) We found a ton of less actives in a matter of minutes which was really crazy, and then some lady offered to feed us fufu.  It. Was. A. Great. Day.

Saturday we had a baptism for the sisters in our district. I got to perform the baptism which is always awesome. It was a little last minute to tell me to baptize, but it all worked out in the end and it was GREAT!

On Sunday, we missed church because Elder Burdge was really sick. We got some tests run, and I will let you know what his sickness is next week after his mom finds out!  :) hahahahahhaaa! :)

This week I was studying about Abinadi and how he teaches. One thing I really love about his way of teaching is his boldness. He has no fear as long as he is in the service of the Lord, he doesn't fear those around him who do have the power to take away his life. I also love that he was prepared before he went to the king. He had been studying his scriptures and listening for the voice of the Lord to guide him and to help him deliver his message.  And lastly, I LOVE that he always testifies of Christ. Throughout the entirety of his message, he always refers to the Messiah and His power in our lives. It is wonderful, and there is truly a lot that I can learn as a missionary on how to be a better teacher!  :)

Love you all,

Elder Wawro

PICTURES:

"Pizza, Fm's, and a Weenie Roast"

Well, I apologize on behalf of Ghana, their internet was out for most of Kumasi yesterday for an unknown reason, so I am emailing on Tuesday instead.  The internet is better here and we email on the college campus!

Anyways, life is sweet here, our apartment is awesome! We all are good good friends, and we have a ton of fun together. Like last week, we all pitched in and got pizza and had a hang out night which was awesome!  :) We play a bunch of spontaneous games together which is awesome too.  I love my life here.  :)

We had a weenie roast also this week. They have chicken sausages here (no idea if they have those back home), but they are the closest thing we have to hot dogs here. We grabbed 2 packs and some bread, and roasted weenies when we all came home. It was so much fun, definitely something we will do more often, tons of fun and just getting to know the other guys.  We have a little garden in the front that nobody uses, so we had some broken wood and made a fire! :)

We also have a member named Sister Comfort, and she expects us every night to feed us. Holy awesome. She will call us to make sure we are still coming if we are a little late. Her family is so sweet, and the food is way good. She also happens to know Griffin Brown which is awesome. Oh man, seriously life is good in Kwamo!  :)

I got to attend my first MLC (Mission Leadership Council) which is where the zone leaders and STL's (Sister Training Leader) of the mission gather together and talk about what we can do to help the mission, and things that we need to discuss, important information is passed along, things like that. Anyways, it was a lot to take in all at once, but it was a great meting! I learned a lot for sure. Kinda got to feel the weight of my responsibility too which keeps me humble for sure!  :)

This week has been draining on the travel side. There was not even one day where we didn't travel to a meeting, to an area, or to meet missionaries, or to drop off supplies. Seriously, it is craziness! I miss actually getting to spend time in my own area, just proselyting. I have heard other zone leaders have the feeling, and I never really understood what it as all about, but I get it now.  This coming week should be a lot better though, we have got most of the work done thus far, hallelujah! :)

Yes mom, I AM the tallest guy in the whole mission.  :)  Hahahaha ! Well I would try and find a tape measure to see if I've gotten taller since I've been here, but I don't really trust the measuring tapes here.  I will try to look for a good one though.   :)

I made a video, so I will have to send that first next week so you can see!  :)

One thing that we focused on this MLC was the Atonement and how it applies to us and those around us. One scripture that really struck me was in the Book of Mormon, Alma 7:11-12 which reads:

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

What really stuck out to me was the wording "his people" which I have underlined.  To think that we can be free from sickness, death, pains, sorrows, etc... through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, really motivates me to share it with all of those around me. In light of that, may we all follow Jesus Christ by following his doctrine, the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ which has come to us by a prophet in our own day and in our own time.  God bless you all!

Love,

Elder Wawro

PICTURES:

Weenie roast in the front yard

"The Yahoo's I live with"

(Gabe's companion is the one on the right)

My Companion is the Keebler Elf. Haha! :)

Well my life is great. I am in a sweet apartment, probably my favorite since I came to Ghana! I have Elder Burdge, my companion, and he is so so so wonderful. We are a little different, but we laugh like all day every day :)  I love him, he is amazing! :) Next is Elder Hepworth, and he is so so funny.  He is pretty blunt, but he is hilarious!  :) His companion is Elder White, who also is awesome, and love to laugh!  Elder Burdge has 3 months left, Elder Hepworth has 30 days left, and Elder White just passed his one year mark. Life is wonderful.

As for the subject of this email, my companion isn't the largest guy around, and turns out, he fits inside his wardrobe with room to spare, and he took it upon himself to sit inside his wardrobe and talk with us. It was so so so funny, and that is just my companion! :) I love the heck out of him, we will have a great time together for sure! :)

Tuesday was kind of a rough day, saying goodbye to all my Obuasi people, some were really not happy that I was going. Sister Michealina was legit mad that I was leaving. She said that she would go and talk to President Cosgrave about it so that I could come back. Love that lady!  :') The others were pretty sad that I wouldn't be there for their baptisms, but that is just part of missionary work!

Wednesday was a  crazy day, we traveled for 2.5 hours to Kumasi for transfers, then I spent most of the day there, then went to my training at 3pm.  It was a pretty good training, and I learned a lot of things about being a good leader for sure.  Then we got food, and headed out. But right as I was leaving, Sister Cosgrave said I had a package. I said ... what?  I have a package??  She brought it all out and it was in a CTMH box. Wow, it has been a long time for that! :) It was full to the brim of candy from the States.  How wonderful. I have been sharing the things around the apartment, and we have been enjoying for sure.  :) Love you Mom, and 'Bribben' for the sweet letter.  :)))))

We have been traveling a TON.  We went to Ashanti Mampong and back in one whole day, then made some stops in the other areas of the zone to drop off some necessary items to our zone members. It is crazy, but the ward here is AWESOME.  There are so many members and they love doing missionary work.  IT is great! :)

I am in the Kwamo area, which is awesome because it is where Griffin Brown served and he opened the area. So turns out, all the members really loved him, and they will be psyched to know that I am from the same place as him!  :)

This week, we prepare to go to MLC on Thursday, my first one.  It is a meeting for the leaders of the mission, and everyone who has been says it is a wonderful meeting. I am excited, but a little nervous being the new guy on the block!  No worries, I have a set companion to help me out, so I am not too worried!  :)

In all of my time as a missionary, I am really enjoying my time in UST.  Everything is so awesome, I am so blessed. I reflect on the scriptures that talk about enduring to the end:


D&C 122:7 "...if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."


And also 2 Nephi 2:2 "...thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain."

The Lord always fulfills His promises to us as we serve faithfully. There is always a plan, and we just have to do our best for God to work with us, and bless us!  :)

Love you guys :)

PICTURES:

July 3rd - 4th "Yesu fre me ko Kumasi bio (Jesus has called me to Kumasi again!)"

July 3rd:

I am only on for about 20 minutes...today will be weird, I will complete my time in the evening, so I just have small time to email back, but feel free to email back, I will check in a few hours. 

Well, I have my transfer news. I am going on Wednesday to go and be a zone leader with Elder Burdge. I am sad to leave Obuasi, and super nervous to go and serve as a zone leader, but I wanted you to know so that I might get some advice from you before the day is over.  :)

Elder Wawro  :)

July 4th:

Sorry, doing like a million things at the moment, but yes I am on for like 1 hour. If we get a call for fufu though, I will let you know and we will come back in the evening to email for the rest of our time!  :)

My new companion will be Elder Burdge. I think he's from Utah, and he was in the same MTC group as Elder Vuakatagane, so he will be going home in November I think, maybe even late October. All I know about him is that he trained my MTC group guy, Elder Yates, and they had a great time together. I know he loves Star Wars, and most everyone likes him, so I think it will be good.  :)  I will be in an apartment with 4 Americans which will be very odd. I will be with Elder Hepworth, Elder White, and Elder Burdge too, so we will see how that goes.  :) I will leave tomorrow for transfers, I will be running the crew going to Kumasi, and then I will run a little of the crew at transfers so that will be weird.  I have training for Zone leaders tomorrow at 3pm with the new zone leaders and President Cosgrave, so I am pumped for that!  :) I will be in KNUST part of Kumasi, it is where the big college is in Kumasi. I heard they have a lot of FM's there, and that sounds good to me! :)  hahaaaa! :)  (FM's = free meals.  LOL!)

(Mission leadership is District Leader, then Zone Leader, then Assistant).  Yeah, I have no idea how it will be with Americans!  Maybe good, definitely different! :)  ha ha ha

Here's how it happened...I just got a call, President told me I was moving to be a zone leader in UST and that was it.  I was sad to go because we have 6 baptisms planned in three weeks, and I feel like I won't be the best zone leader ever and that I am not cut for the job, but over time, I have felt better about it!  :)  Typically, I will be in zone leader training for two transfers, but Elder Burdge has been there for 3 or 4 transfers, so most likely, I will get a new companion after this transfer.  The part of town is just considered UST, I think our house is in a place called Kwamo??  No idea, maybe later I will know.  :)

Weekly Email:

Holy crazy week, and sorry this is on a Tuesday. Yesterday was so crazy. I got my transfer news to go to Kumasi again, and so it was my last week to go to the Obuasi market. When we got to town, literally no ATMs were working, so that was fun. Finally, everybody gathered at the GCB and that one had a working ATM, so we waited in line for an hour and a half to get our money, and right after I pulled, the machine ran out of money. Blessing for me... Sorry for all those who were behind me... :) So, we went from there to the house to drop off our stuff we got at the market, and then ran to the cafe to meet the Zone leaders to take us to the member who called us to come for a birthday for his son.  So we had like zero time because of the ATM deal, so I am sorry.

To start from last week, Monday, we spent the morning with the Dearing's (the new couple in the mission) golfing at the golf course in Obuasi. It was so fun!!! :) I am awful at golfing, but Elder Dearing showed me the ropes, and we played. It was fun!  I was pretty bad, but I had a great time, even if they were laughing at me sometimes!  hahahaha

We had some issues with our water this week too. Our landlord has been connected to our water supply in our poly tank. He has his own pump and his own tank, but he has been using ours for the last 2 months which has been annoying because his pump broke. Then, this week, the city stopped supplying water to us, and he used most of the water, so we bathed with little sachets of water, and I guess I bathed and shaved with 3 liters of water. Heck.  Yes.  Who is the master. ha ha ha ha! We called a few guys at the mission home, and everything has worked out pretty great since then!  :)

My companion and I got these sweet scripture bags made out of some fake leather snake skin looking stuff. They are pretty sweet, they have some...character... but overall they look sweet and work fine for my scriptures!  :)

Also, I am getting transferred to be a zone leader in UST zone with Elder Burdge. He will be my first American, and our apartment will be a house full of Americans! That will be waaay weird! :)  I am excited, but nervous as usual, it is a huge responsibility, and I have some big shoes to fill, so I am praying for help and strength from the Lord.

Lastly, this week, we had a POWERFUL branch activity. It wasn't planned that well, but it turned out to be a hit!  We had a lot of different games there that were played, a movie for the kids, some fun group games, and food at the end!  It was awesome, and we had such a great time. I am bummed that I will be leaving though, I will miss all those times!  :(  But, that is missionary work for ya.  :)

My thought for the week is from 1 Nephi 17:35 about the righteous:

35 Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous is favored of God.

There is more to the scripture, but this is the part that stuck out to me so much, that I have thought about for this whole week. It is just that simple. God created us all as equals. He loves every single one of his children. The catch is, we just have to be righteous, and we will be favored of God. We will receive more blessings and be closer to God as we are continually righteous. Just like Dad would say, "Faith and Obedience and the Lord will be with you". I guess this would be the scriptural companion to that quote, at least one of many.  Righteousness is the only way!

Love,

Elder Wawro

PICTURES:

06-26-17 "Fufu and Crab??"

Well, I will start with our super sweet zone activity we had last Monday! It was so great, we went to Brahababome to go and hike a mountain to the waterfall. It was so gorgeous. I got a ton of quality time with Elder Banta which was fun, we scaled vines, made some sweet videos, and took some sweet pictures! :) Elder Ajike got a little lost while we were hiking, but all is well, I still have my companion here :)

Then, I went on an exchange with Elder George from Sierra Lione. Man I love that guy. We taught some funny people, had great food, and got to just shoot the breeze as we walked. He is such a great missionary. His accent is so funny too, it is very very clear and crisp, but the way he says some words is pretty funny. To close the day, he got us fufu. AND IT WAS HUGE. Halleujah I finished it, but I felt like laying down to die afterwards! :)

I have had some late nights this week also with Elder Banta. What a sweet guy. Last night, we stayed up for a long time to prepare for our day today by making pancake mix, so that this morning, we only had to cook them. Little did we know, there were maggots in our flour bag, and some other bugs which we named "weevils". Literally, we sifted through the same batter 10000000 times to pull out the little bugs. :) Love it!  We had a long time to just talk about anything and everything, and it was great.  Definitely a stress relief for me and him both. Much needed. Love the heck outta that guy too!

Last night, we were invited to eat fufu at Bro. Peter's house. It was so fun! He put on the Testaments while we waited, then right as the movie finished, they had he fufu ready! I got quite the shock though in my fufu! Hahahahah! As I went to cut a little piece, I saw 2 little eyes pop up out of the soup, and seriously, I jumped!  :) Then I went to touch it, and when I grabbed it and pulled it out, I saw that it was a crab, and proceeded to drop it back into my fufu and jump again! Hahahahah! I was not ready for that one... it was really a mental barrier for me, because I was literally going to eat a crab whole!  They were small, only about the size of a young kid's palm, but it was so weird to just crunch the whole thing, bones, legs, shell, an all. All part of the experience!  :)

My thought for this week is from 1 Nephi 13:40 speaking about the role of the Book of Mormon.  It reads:

40 And the angel spake unto me, saying: These last records, which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall establish the truth of the first, which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved.

The 3 phrases I love are in bold. The Book of Mormon establishes the truth of the first, the Bible. It also makes known some of the simple pieces of the Bible that were lost through translation or other means. And most importantly, it testifies to the world that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and there are 1,000 ways to prove it. But perhaps the best way, is just to pray to know and read a little. I mean really, if almost 16 million people can testify of its truth and how it changed their lives, why should we not also read it and see how it is?  I can add my testimony to the other 16 million, that the Book of Mormon is true, and it does change our lives as we take time to read and pray about it.  :)

Love,

Elder Wawro

PICTURES: