Hello Family and Friends!!!
I hope all is well back in the United States. Life here in Ghana is sweet and going by so fast!! It is crazy to think that last Saturday I hit my one month mark. This week was amazing.
Tuesday- I attended my first district council. There are four companionships in my district (8 elders). Elder Johnson is my district leader and he is from Utah. He is a really awesome guy. Apparently our district has been one of the most successful in the mission so President Cosgrave is coming to our district council tomorrow. In total my district had 26 investigators at church and scheduled to baptize 8 people this week. The work is going very well. After council we went to their apartment for lunch. We had stew and rice. I have probably eaten my body weight in rice so far. At first I couldn't stand it but now I am loving it. The food is super spicy so by the time I get home I will be able to eat anything.
Wednesday- We taught our investigator Abigail. She is the daughter of the ward's first counselor and sister to a returned missionary. She is super close to being baptized and we finished lesson three with her. Her testimony of the gospel is so strong already. She has been to church more than a dozen of times and loves it. My companion and I hope that she will be baptized by the end of the month. We visited one of our investigators in the hospital because she wasn't feeling well and decided to buy some medicine from the village medicine man. Even though her husband told her not to she poured the medicine into her porridge. It turned out that it was poison. She was taken to the hospital and she asked for a blessing. It was the very first blessing that I have ever given. It was an amazing experience and the spirit was super strong in the room. Christiana (our investigator) has such a strong testimony of the gospel and hopefully should be baptized this month.
Thursday- We taught Kwame and Hannah today. Kwame has become less and less serious every time we visit. He was talking about creating his own church where he would combing Christianity and Islam together and asked my companion and I if we would be the church preachers. Even though he acts like he is not serious, he told us that he is still praying every night to see if the Book of Mormon is true. Which gives us hope that one day he will receive his answer and become more serious. Hannah on the other hand is very serious and taking in everything that we teach her. But, she isn't progressing at all. She hasn't read the Book of Mormon, prayed, or come to church yet. We can't force her to come we can only encourage her. And that is exactly what we have tried to do.
Friday- We had 8 new investigators today. We taught the Restoration five times. I now feel like I am a pro at the lesson one. Practicing really does help in all things, especially in teaching. As part of my new missionary training every day my trainer and I role play different situations and lessons. Practicing and studying has really helped me to teach better, feel more comfortable while I teach and to better be in tune with the Holy Ghost.
Saturday- We helped clean the chapel today. In Ghana chapel cleaning isn't just a simple vacuuming and dusting. It is a full on deep clean of everything. Because it is so dusty and dirty we have to sweep the whole church, mop it and wipe down all of the chairs, walls and tables. It took three and half hours to clean the whole the chapel. Afterwards we played futbol with some members for a little bit.
Sunday- We had 8 investigators planning to come to church with us but after calling them and reminding them about church only two showed up. It was really disappointing but we met a man named Kojo. He said that ten years ago his friend invited him to church but never came. For the past couple of years he has been searching for the right church and hasn't found it. He was praying last week and remembered that his friend had invited him to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and came yesterday. He answered all the questions and was very powerful. We visited with him at his house after church and taught him the Restoration. He was so eager to learn everything and very attentive. At the end of the lesson we invited him to read and pray. Today we got a text from him telling us that he knows that the church is true and wants to be baptized. It has been one of the most spiritual experiences so far.
I love you all and know that missionary work is lead by God. As we are obedient and work hard we will find people that are ready to hear the gospel like Kojo.
Love, Elder Ordyna
Elder Ordyna...perhaps a suggestion for your companionship: At the onset of a discussion, after the prayer for the Holy Ghost to be present, as you teach the people, ask them "how they feel...do they have a warm feeling about what you are saying, do they feel calm....just what is happening to them". After their response, tell them that that feeling is The Holy Ghost bearing witness of the truth you are talking to them about. THEN, tell them to remember that feeling. During future discussions, have them recognize that feeling again. For those you invite to READ, ask them later to recall that feeling and then (1) "study it out in their own mind, (2) make a decision....is it true or not, (3) go to the Lord in prayer and tell him what the decision made was, (4) ask Him if the decision is correct. That "feeling" will be there if it is true. If the decision was incorrect, there will be a stupor of thought. You will need to probe these investigators to see if they had done each of these steps, in that order.
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