Another Week in Africa

The internet is SWEET right now because not a lot of people are here, so it is fast! :)  Yikes, I am struggling...the cafe owner is watching 'Lord of the Rings'.... My weakness... :'( But I will not watch!  >:)  It is rough, but more blessings! 😥 😇

This week has been pretty sweet!  Elder Sewell came into the apartment!  He is a Samoan guy, he is a year old on his mission, and he is really gifted musically and athletically.  :) He is also fetching hilarious!

Anyways, to start, since Brittan's birthday is soon, I decked out a page in my planner just for her!  :)  Happy Early Birthday 'Bribben'.  :) <3

Elder Simpson got a haircut by one of our recent converts, Randy, and they have an interesting way of cutting hair here where they use a straight razor blade and a comb to cut the sides!  Pretty interesting, but it will make more sense if the picture rolls through this week!

I had my last District Council with Elder Mutasi this week, which was sad, but he just moved like 20 minutes away to be our zone leader, so I will still get to see him often! :)

We went to KFC last week before Elder Mutasi left which was fun to do as a district for our last activity together and on the way home, we took a  lot of ugly pictures of ourselves, so enjoy.... I guess..... :)  Ahhahahaaa!  :)

Elder Lund just went home last week which was sad too, he and Elder Simpson are really good friends, and Elder Lund was my first Zone Leader, so it was sad to see him go, but it was really sweet that he finished out strong.  :)  I like the heck outta Elder Lund, he is really sweet!

We made a mega-bed in our apartment last week, we had 5 Elders and 4 beds, so we put all our mattresses on the floor and just somehow fit on the beds.  It was a good form of bonding I suppose, but I didn't sleep great then!  But it was cool to get everyone on board! :)

Yesterday, this part-member family in the other Elder's branch had a baby blessing at church, and after church they were having a get-together type deal, so we got invited as well.  It was interesting, his wife isn't baptized, so a preacher came and prayed for the baby and I think her mom did as well, but they played a ton of Ghanaian music, so that was interesting on the Sabbath!  :) Overall, it was a good experience and we got food and drinks, so life is good!  :)

Our ward mission leader brought home 3 puppies from Bekwai this week!  One of our members' dogs had a litter of like 6 or 7, so Godfred (our ward mission leader) came home with 3 of them and they are CUTEEEEE.  :)  Puppy love always make me happy.  :)))

This week, Elder Simpson has been big on exercising, so we woke up at 5:30 every day this week to go run and lift weights near our ward mission leaders house.  It is fun, but man, I am SORE!  :)  hahahaaa :)

That has been my week here in Ghana, it isn't too hot, and we had a little rain, so no complaints! :)

Elder Bednar comes this Saturday and Sunday, so I get to see him 2 days in a row!  :)

Love you guys and thank you "Bibre"!  (lots)  :)

Elder Wawro

PICTURES:

Saw a kid in a cub scout uniform...had to take a picture!

Another dead rat...

 One of many, many roaches...

Red Bull anyone??

 

Shoe repair!

Baking chocolate chip cookies!

 

 

VIDEO:

Elder Mutasi...commentary on trying to kill roaches and killing a rat instead...

Ghana rats and roaches...they're everywhere and must be killed...

Catching a Mouse, Parts 1-4...

The internet is a little better this week, so some pictures and video are flowing!  :)

Congrats to Uncle Randy getting married this week!  Uncle Randy is a friggin' fantastic guy, so he will treat her verrryy well :)   Have fun in Nauvoo while you guys are there.

Yep.  Lots of weird foods.  You know, I was a little more picky eater when I was at home, but I'll eat 98% of the food now.  When I get back, I will literally eat EVERYTHING!  Ha ha!

This week has been sweet! :)  Tuesday, we got stuck in our apartment with insane rain! Yikes, but I have some sweet pictures and videos of the rain and our apartment.  :) What makes it better is that we didn't have any water in the tank, so we had no water in the apartment, so the rain was sweet to fill up literally all our buckets! :)  I even washed our dishes in the rain!  :)

We killed yet another mouse this week.  It was sweet!  I took a video, but I covered the mic with my finger -__- so the audio bites... But oh well... It was big and really fast, but Elder Davis caught it in mid stride for the door and we finished the conflict! :)  That's mouse number 7 in our apartment! Yikes!  Hahahahhaa :)  It's not an option to just throw them outside because we have so many that they would just come back in.  But the cats next door are enjoying.  :)  "Gafra Wae"  ("Sorry")  about the dead mouse picture below.  Ha ha!  Trying to work the new language.  :)

We had transfer calls this week, but I am not leaving, so I am now crowned as the Reverend Slayer.  We have a whiteboard in our apartment, and because Elder Simpson is old, he is dubbed Reverend Simpson!   So I will 'kill' him this transfer (he will finish his mission with me).  So I will be in NKoransa for about 8-9 months total! :)  Elder Abrams is our AP in the mission, and he was in Nkoransa for 9 months, so we will have a laugh about that!  :)

Elder Davis is getting Elder Sewell, so that will be sweet because I don't know him.  :)

Elder Davis and I bought these Ghanian journals but they were pink, so we spent last night making them more manly and less girly... :)

This morning we got a call at like 6ish to run and give a blessing which was a cool experience for sure, to give someone a blessing of healing.  It is cool to think that I hold the same priesthood that the apostles of old have and the same that the current apostles have as well.

This week, I had this thought running through my head.  It is a quote from Dad, I don't remember when I heard it or the situation, but it just helped me out this week.  It is short and simple. "Sometimes, we just do hard things".  This week was pretty tough missionary work wise, and when my spirits were low, that was the thought that came to my mind.  Just for me to see the bigger picture and not to really focus on how tired I was or how bad I felt, was eye-opening to me to know I am part of something greater than I (or any man) for that matter.

Also this week, I spent a lot of time listening to Elder Bednar's recent talks in conference. There is a quote from his talk, "Chosen to Bear Witness of his Name" I think it's called, but there's a part where he talks about a conversation with Elder Robert D. Hales about having limited mobility as he grew older and Elder Hales responded, (and I will butcher this), " when you can't do what you've always done, you only do what matters most".  I really reflected on this a lot these past few days, and just to see how it really applies to people, especially missionaries. As a missionary, I can't do a lot of the stuff I have always done like TV, video games, driving motorcycles, and eating normal food, but all of these things are just appendages to the bigger picture.  Bringing families together in this life, and in the life to come is what I am here for, and what every other person on the earth is here to do.  To be sealed as a family, to be righteous, and to return to live with our Heavenly Father again.  Sometimes I try to wrap my mind around true joy and what life will be like after this one, and every single time, it is with my family.  I can't understand how we can go through life with a family...learn, laugh and love together, and then give it up after we die.  That is just not the way the Plan of Happiness works.  Love your family, spend time with them, do fun stuff with them, and make memories that will last this life, and the next. :)

Love you guys,

Elder Wawro

PICTURES:

VIDEO:

Opening my care package from home

 My Shoes Have Died...(thanks Bro. Stewart!

-Sorry it's sideways-

Catching a mouse, Part 1

Catching a mouse, Part 2

Catching a mouse, Part 3

Catching a mouse, Part 4

 

Drowning Mice in Chocolate

Sorry it is early again, we have to go to the mission to prepare to sing for Elder Bednar, coming to Africa! :)

Another week down in the Ghana Kumasi Mission!

To start, we are helping our ward mission leader Godfred to fill out his own mission papers!  :)  They used to have the simplest mission papers, basically your name, where you live and a doctors note for the Africans to serve, but now they have the whole packet like everybody else.  He gave us Alvaro again which is really delicious and something I will miss when I come home for sure!

I managed to somehow make cookie dough this week in the apartment, and holy fetch, I can't go even a day without having some.  Even at the risk of getting salmonella I still eat it .  Ha ha!  :)  It cost a good chunk of my sub (the money we get every 2 weeks) but it was worth it.  :)

While going to the bathroom this week, I look up and see this huge roach just chillin' on the ceiling above me without a care in the world.  It had to be at least as big as my thumb if not bigger, and definitely made a crunch when I killed it, but I guess it is another one down!  Bugs and such don't freak me out now that we sleep with them, but I killed it and moved on... :)

We were walking down the road (dirt trail of sorts) and I saw this RedBull from Asia!  It was really weird looking, so I took a picture of it.  Maybe in a few weeks, you will get to see it.  :) 

The weirdest thing of my whole life happened!  Elder Mutasi and Elder Davis spilled some chocolate sauce I made on the floor, mopped it up, but left the chocolate water in the bucket they used.  Then 2 days later, I had to wash some of my clothes so I grabbed the bucket, you know, no big deal, and began to pour it out in our bathroom.  I hear a thud and see a black blob come out and think it is chocolate, but fetch was I wrong...turns out, a mouse had jumped into the chocolate water bucket and had died from drowning in chocolate!  So that was interesting, but at least it didn't smell too bad!  :)

While in Bekwai this week, we were thirsty so we bought some water off of this younger boy's head which is totally common in Africa to carry stuff on your head, literally everyone does it!  Anyway, I bought some and saw that the little kid was wearing a boy scout uniform!   He had all kinds of patches and arrowheads on his shirt, so we took a  picture! 

Anyway, that is my week.  Remember to love your family, take some time to hang out with them, and NEVER TAKE YOUR TIME FOR GRANTED.

Love you guys :)

Elder Wawro

PICTURES

Catching Birds & Killing Mice...

Hallelujah, the internet is working, my pictures are flowing and the hot sun is shining!  :)

Here comes a massive email.  :)

First off, I got my package last week which was wayyyyy sweet!  I wore my new beard shirt from mom to our soccer game!  (Mom: The shirt just says "Ask me about my beard" on the front...which is funny because he had to shave it off for the mission.  LOL)  Some people liked it and it has a beard on the inside of the shirt too!  We had a zone activity where our missionaries and those in UST Zone played against each other! We won 3-0, and man, I am out of shape! :)  It was really fun, but I need to run more because my lungs somehow cannot pump as much air as they used too.... yikes... :)

We killed 2 mice this week in our apartment and there is still one on the loose somewhere which will be killed eventually. The first was bad and I was the one to kill it which made me sad, but oh well.  Brittan, please forgive me for that... :)  The second, Elder Mutasi killed with boiling water which split the skin of the mouse, so you'll see some interesting pictures for sure!  :)  This is the 3rd mouse we have killed in this transfer so we are becoming experienced!  Not to mention our neighbor's cats are enjoying the snacks.  :)

We were riding in this tro this week when the door just fell off.... Luckily it was hanging from the bottom slide of the door, but it was hilarious!!!  Everybody in the tro was laughing, and I got a picture of the mate and driver when they tied the door on with a bandana!  :)  My goodness it was hysterical!  The mate is the guy who takes your money and manages the $$ and door and such to assist the driver.

My favorite things you send in care packages are dry potato mixes, EZ-cheese, and printed pictures.  :) The drink mixes are sweet.  You can send the single bottled water sized ones too.  :)

The Palace store changes as well, so it is hit and miss what stuff they have from America or the UK.  If you find 'Muffin Top' cereal, I want some in a bag for sure! :)  I NEED THAT CEREAL TOO!!!  LOL!  Elder Davis and I found a Malt O' Meal cereal in Palace, so we split the cost and enjoyed :)

Elder Simpson and Elder Davis have got me hooked on the word "fetch" since they both use it!  :)  It is now a part of my vocabulary somehow, but we use it all the time!  Interesting to see what I pick up just subconsciously from my companions!  :)

I saw this sad puppy the other day who was cowering outside someone's gate, and it looked like the family had locked it out, or it was just cold.  Ahh, I was so sad to see, and it was tough not to just take it home.  :(  But we walked it to another person's house and let it run inside the gate, so I hope for the best.  :'(

We have some pictures from zone council with Elder Botha who goes home in a couple weeks and he is really awesome!  He is from South Africa and we get along really well.  I wish I got to know him better.  :)

Elder Simpson and I got matching kente ties and F.C. Barcelona bandanas.  I have been adopted into the Barcelona fan group, as my companion and Sister Amilia are big fans!! Here, you are either Real Madrid or Barcelona, so I have been somehow adopted, but I am learning small small about the players so I am not defenseless against real Madrid supporters...  (Mom:  I asked Gabe more about what "small-small" means because he uses that phrase a lot).  It means like "little bit" or "gradually".  :)

(Mom: I asked what his favorite thing about his companion, Elder Simpson, was).  Man, like everything! We get along, we laugh a whole lot, he is really hysterical! He is great with the scriptures and answers all the weird questions we get asked in a way that helps them to know more about the church.  He is just really great.  :)

We finally baptized Sister Faustina this week, and her son was the one who baptized her.  It was a really sweet experience for them.  :)  It was tough to help her prepare for baptism, but as she prayed and read from the Book of Mormon, the Spirit helped her the rest of the way!

We went to Big Daddy's on the 4th of July and had "burgers" which weren't half bad!  :)

We went to Bekwai again this week and it is still one of my favorite places in Ghana because it is so fresh and green!  :)

Again this week, I really pondered about how short life is and how fast time goes.  It seems like last week I left the MTC and met with Elder Vuakatagane for training!  And now here I am at 4 almost 5 months!  Yikes how time is flying!!!  Elder Davis and I still are baffled by how time is flying because it feels like he just got here, but transfers are almost over...that will be a sad day if I leave this transfer...

ELDER BEDNAR is coming on the 13th of August!!  I AM WAY EXCITED!  We will see him on Saturday afternoon and then hopefully again on Sunday if I don't get transferred!  :)  The mission will get a picture with him so that will be sweet!  :)

I am trying to learn Twi, but it is difficult, especially because sometimes I daydream in church because I don't understand.. :)  Hahahhaaa!

The school system is really weird here, they have like a month off every couple of months but not really 'summer vacation', so we will have to stop into seminary one time and see if they are at the chapel!

Anyways, life is good in Africa, I am adjusting to the heat, the people, and learning the language little by little.  :)

Love you guys,
Elder Wawro

PICTURES:

These are called 'yellow yellows' and they use them for transportation. They are powered by a motorcycle and fit up to 5 plus the driver :)

They have some tall building so I got on the balcony and took the pic because I know you guys like to see the city side of my life.  :)

Mom, you asked about the best part of the week... I am not sure, our weeks are pretty sweet here, but they are flying!  Probably killing not just one, but 2 mice with the apartment was really funny, especially since Elder Mutasi has a really funny accent!  :)

I have made pancakes for the last 2 weeks straight every morning, and have even tried making some chocolate pancakes which were good, but stick to the pan more which is difficult.  They aren't pretty on the outside, but they are delicious on the inside!  :)  Hey mom, can you send me your cookie recipe and your pancake recipe? :)  (Mom:  I sent him my chocolate chip cookie recipe and his response was...)  "too bad we don't have an oven...we got a propane stove and some pots, but we can make it work!"  LOL!

Elder Simpson and I

 One of our members fed us a small chocolate cake with fresh mango smoothies this week which was fetching delicious.  Wowowowoww.  I didn't know I could miss chocolate cake so much... :)  But it was delicious and I enjoyed it with my companion!

Map of Ghana

There are banana and plantain trees here

VIDEO:

Video shot by his previous companion, Elder Vuakatagane.  Just couldn't get it to upload until now.  Great video of him catching small birds that flew into the church, and AWESOME to see the church building where they meet, little kids helping, etc.  It's a rented building so it's unique, and it doesn't look anything like traditional church buildings in the U.S.  But when he passed the picture of Christ on the wall, it warmed my heart...the same picture we see here in our buildings.  :)  The church is the same everywhere!  Also cool to see the outdoor covered baptismal font, since it's a rented building and there wasn't one inside.  It was added outdoors so they can conduct baptisms.  :)

Click HERE For One More Video

(Too big to upload directly, so I put a second 20-minute video on YouTube)

Short Email

These 2 weeks have been great! We had a baptism, met a ton of members, I made a ton of pancakes, and we have walked many, many hundreds of miles.  :)  Next week's email will be bigger because I have no time left from dealing with Dropbox today (sorry, no pictures because it's just not working today), but I just hope everybody understands how short life is.  There is only one day at a time we deal with, and we shouldn't let it go to waste!  There may be some moments we miss, but it is important to cherish all the time we have because sometimes, we don't know if it will happen again!  Sorry for the short email, a big one is coming next week!   :)

Mom, that's way sweet about seminary classes split by grade instead of ward!  I really wish I got to know more of the kids my age in the other wards, so that will be very good for the other kids in your class!  And you get a sweet team teacher with Sis. Mabray.   :)

Sister Wardle told me about the shootings in Dallas and I was pretty sad.  The world is such a horrible place sometimes.  If people were just less prideful and cared more about others, there would be so much less problems in the world.  I was pretty sad when I heard so I hope everything is okay at home.  I just don't understand.  All the hate really just baffles me.

Cool about everyone heading out on missions.  Remind me where Aaron, Bryce, and Erin are going?

We too had a lesson yesterday at church on 'True Greatness' which was nice but it was in Twi so I didn't understand most of it... :).  Yeah, the church teaches in Twi which is cool and everything, but hard for the missionaries to understand.  :)

I don't have as much email time today...we had a zone activity, and still have a 1.5 hour ride home and have to stop on the way home to get some small small groceries.  Next week I will have more time because we don't have as much planned.

These 2 weeks have been frustrating on the internet side.  The internet froze last week after dumsol (no electricity) and this week Dropbox is not working, so that bites -__-, but oh well, it happens.  I'll email more next week.

Elder Wawro

4th of July in Ghana

Here's an explanation of some of last week's pictures:

-Group picture was taken at Zone Conference
-The food was corn porridge eaten in Bekwai
-We had a good laugh about the haircut/Jesus billboard (the scripture was 'with God nothing is impossible.  LOL!)
-The carcass...yup, one of our recent converts bought a goat and cooked the outside to get the skin tender and then began to chop it all up! 

Elder Simpson is my companion from Fiji.  Elder Davis is with Elder Mutasi in our apartment.

So, for the 4th of July most of the Americans are going to either Big Daddy's or KFC today to celebrate!  Our apartment is going too.  Big Daddy's serves legit hamburgers so we are going to celebrate.  Then we are going to this place called RatRay park where they have a shooting water show so that will be sweet!  :)

Enjoy my BBQ at grandma's house for me! And send a picture or 2 as well!!!!  AHHHHH Jealous.  I miss the pool for sure especially, in the crazy heat!  Mom, I showed the Elders here the picture you sent of the chocolate covered strawberries and all the Americans are currently crying with me.  LOL!

Yeah, Elder Simpson and I both had colds last week and are recovering. Who woulda guessed having a cold in Africa? :)

Mom, you and Sister Mabray are team-teaching seminary?  That class is gonna be sooo sweet!

Sorry, I have to get off and not much time.  Next week I will be on for 2 hours so I will type lots then.  Love you guys and I will write tons next week!

Love you guys and I will write back next week a ton.  :)

Elder Wawro

PICTURES:

Baby fell asleep on me!  :)

Same sleepy baby!

Baptism

KFC

Always fun getting our American food here!

L to R:  Elder Davis who is my good buddy, Elder Mutasi the district leader, Elder Simpson my companion, and Meee!