Thanksgiving Ghana Style

First Thanksgiving Ghana Style 

Dear family and friends,

Hope everyone had a sweet Thanksgiving and ate plenty of Turkey.

This week was full of Ghanaians favorite two English sayings "I'm Coming" and "If God Permits". No matter what you ask them they will say I am coming. You ask them to church and they will say I'm coming. You ask them to an activity or program they will say I'm coming. Or if you ask them to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, they will say I will. We met with plenty of people this week and all of them told us that they would come to church on Sunday. When it came to Sunday hardly any of them showed up. We had another seven at church yesterday but with everyone that told us they would come there should have been close to 20. Another thing that Ghanaians love to say is I will come if God permits. We ask the members if we will see them at church and they will say if God permits. Many people here when you ask them to do anything they say they will do it only if God permits. They won't give you a yes or no answer. It can be very frustrating at times because you have no idea if they will actually show up or not. As a missionary when they say that you just hope and have faith that they will come.

Exchange with Elder Buhler - Thanksgiving 

This week on Friday I was able to go on companion exchanges with the other American in my district. His name is Elder Buhler and he is a brand new missionary. We had a great time together. After we were done proselyting for the day we went to one of my members' homes who said that he had a friend who sells fried turkey. We decided to go and buy one for Thanksgiving dinner together. We walked down to the farm and talked with the farmer and he wanted 350 cedis for the male and 250 for the female. We said forget that and instead went down to a guy grilling chicken on the street and bought a full roasted chicken for 15 cedis. It was totally worth it. We brought the chicken back to my apartment and had it with rice, stew, and coke. That was our humble Thanksgiving Ghana Style. 

Dichemso Zone Activity 

My time here in Ghana has been sweet and flying by so fast. It is almost December which means CHRISTMAS TIME!!!! Which almost means that I have been on a mission for six months! It has gone by super fast. 

I hope everyone has a great week!

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Futbol - Zone Activity 

Time for a Haircut (Done by Elder Ellett)

Miracle Sunday

Elder Bamba's first baptism - Philip Naira

Dear family and friends,

Hope your week was as great as mine! Probably not, because nothing beats being a missionary! :)

This week my companion and I had a week that every missionary prays about and hopes to have all of the time. It wasn't just a miracle Sunday but a miracle week. I have been stressed out these past couple weeks because all of the responsibilities suddenly given to me during a time when my current area, Kenyase, has really been struggling. My last companion and I were not finding any serious people to teach, no one was attending church and we did not have a baptism in the area for two months. And to make matters seem even more stressful I received the news that I would remain in the area as District Leader and train a brand new French missionary. It seemed very overwhelming and I was really frustrated because it seemed like nothing was going well. 

But, suddenly things have begun to change. And not just slowly but rapidly!! The past couple weeks we have found serious people to teach, they have come to church (we had 7 at church yesterday) and we even had a baptism last Saturday with much more to come in the weeks ahead!! It was not easy but the thing that helped the most was we didn't give up, we kept working hard when the going got tough and we relied on Heavenly Father through prayer. This is truly God's work! As missionaries, we sometimes feel like our work is in vain. No matter how hard we work, no matter how many doors we knock on, no matter how many people we talk to, no success is occurring. But, I know everything that we do is for a reason and God will help us be successful like He has here in Kenyase recently if we put in the work and effort!!

I never would have thought helping someone learn English would be so enjoyable, especially with the help of God in the gift of tongues. Even in just the short two weeks, we have been together my companion's English is already twice as good as it was when we first met each other. He couldn't speak anything when we met and couldn't understand me when I talked. It was super hard our first week together but now he understands very well and he can talk small small. He is very eager to learn and to be an active participant in our lessons. My mission so far has felt a lot like the Best Two Years especially now. My companion and I have had many language experiences like in the movie. For example, my companion taught that Jesus Christ has not come to Earth yet and when he does come he will build a shoe. It has been amazing to see his confidence and determination in learning English. He really wants to learn and be a full participant in the lessons. I try my best to help him as much as possible.

As I have seen him learn another language I have been kind of jealous. I wished that I was called to a foreign language speaking mission. But, I have been called to the Ghana Kumasi Mission, the best mission in the world for a reason. I am here to meet special people and to serve in areas for a reason. God has called me here. Even as I have spent almost six months here I have come to find that this mission is not a completely English mission. 80% of the people that we meet every day do not understand or speak English, only Twi. So, we can only teach them with a member. Even church on Sundays is completely in Twi very small English when they read the scriptures or church manuals. During church, I sit and just study my scriptures. At the MTC and in the field we receive no formal training in Twi. I have learned small from my previous companion and from Ghanaians that I meet. I have learned small Twi and know quite a lot of words now and it has made me become one of the most popular people in Ghana. When Ghanaians see a white guy speak Twi they go into shock and get super happy! Because of this, I have tried to learn as much as possible. My goal is to give my homecoming testimony in Twi, not English!

I would like to conclude on a funny note, or at least I think it is funny. There are at least 20 children that live in the chapel and whenever they see us missionaries come and open the gate to the chapel they swarm us and run inside the chapel compound. Whenever children see a white guy here in Ghana they will yell "Obroni" which is Twi for "White man" and they will sing a song and dance: "Obroni Koko Mache" which is Good Morning White Man. Every day and all day I will hear that song and children yelling Obroni. It makes me feel like the most popular person in Ghana. Haha! But, back to the children at the chapel. On Saturday morning we went early to the chapel to fill the font for the baptism. We turned on the faucet to let it fill and then went inside the chapel for cleaning. The font is outside and away from the chapel. We forgot to cover the font before we left. After about thirty minutes we came back out to check the water level and we saw four young boys SWIMMING in the font! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me or I would have taken a picture for sure.

Hope everyone has a great week and has a happy Thanksgiving! Make sure to eat plenty of turkey and mashed potatoes for me, Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Ghana. I will try to get to KFC this Thursday!

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Fried Rice with Elder Lephoyo, Elder Bamba and Me at Azito Baby

KFC Ghana Style

1st District Council Agenda as District Leader

Elder Ordyna and Elder Bamba

Dear family and friends,

This week has been another week full of change and went by so fast!

On Wednesday I went to the mission home to pick up my "son" (the new missionary I will be training). There were 21 missionaries that left this transfer, and 24 new elders that came. There were 18 Americans, 5 French missionaries and 1 from Ghana. I was one of the "very lucky" ones and received one of the French missionaries. Which means that I will teach him English! His name is Elder Bamba and he is from Ivory Coast. President Cosgrave really wants to push my limits these next few transfers. I am a brand new district leader and training a French missionary in a difficult area. But, it will be a learning and growing time as well!

These past couple days have been very different for me. I have been the Junior Companion and relied heavily on my companion for guidance in contacting and teaching and followed his lead. But now the roles have completely flipped. Not only am I now the Senior companion but I have been teaching all of the lessons and doing much of the contacting which has helped me to grow but also has been different for me. My companion learned English for only 6 weeks in the MTC. His English is very limited but enough that we are able to communicate with him small. But, it is mostly with gestures and pointing at things. He has been very eager to learn and to participate in the lessons. He bears his testimony and invites our investigators to read the Book of Mormon and pray every lesson which I have been very impressed with. I am looking forward to the time that we have to serve with each other. 

My last companion was from Ghana so he could speak Twi very well so many of our investigators only speak Twi no English. So I was really worried that we would lose a lot of our investigators because neither I nor my companion can speak Twi. But, the Lord has blessed us immensely with four new serious investigators that we were able to find this week. All of them came to church yesterday and are already really progressing. This Saturday we are planning for two baptisms which will be sweet. 

One of the highlights of the week, I went to my first Ghana funeral last Saturday. A member of the branch died a couple weeks ago so we attended his funeral. Funerals in Ghana are unlike anything back in America. It is an all-out PARTY!! People are dancing all over the place, music was super loud. Usually, missionaries are not allowed to attend funerals because of how crazy they are but we got permission because our Branch President invited us and it was one of our church members. It was definitely a culture learning moment for sure. Let me just say that I will never forget it. 

Hope you all have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Father and Son- Elder Bamba and Elder Ordyna

"Landlord of Kenyase"

Dear family and friends,

I hope everyone ate plenty of candy for me this Halloween!! Out here in Ghana they don't celebrate Halloween, sadly. 

This week has been awesome!

On Wednesday Elder Kacher of the Seventy came to conduct a mission tour. It was sweet to meet a general authority. It was a really long meeting (lasting all day) but I learned so many things that will help me become an even better missionary and servant of the Lord. The thing that really stood out to me was how as missionaries we can work with members and Ward/Branch leaders. As a missionary it is really important that we work with the members and report our needs to our leaders. It makes the work so much easier and smoother. But, as members of the Church we all have the special responsibility of sharing the gospel with our friends. I challenge everyone this week to share the gospel with someone. I can promise that it won't only bless your friend but you will also receive happiness and joy as well. 

Elder Buabin's Last Sunday (Sampson the Fried Rice Guy)

On Friday we received transfer news. To my surprise I will be staying here in Kenyase. My companion is going to Asokwa to whitewash (when both missionaries leave an area) and train a new missionary. I will also be training here in Kenyase and I will replace my companion as the new district leader. I am excited to stay here in Kenyase. There is a lot of work to do in Kenyase. Not just missionary work but also helping and improving the branch here. My companion has been in this area for 6 months and knows everyone. He has been called the Landlord of Kenyase by the Branch President. All day on Sunday after church we went around to everyone and said good-bye and ate a lot of food! But, now that he is going home the Branch President has called me the new "Landlord of Kenyase". This upcoming transfer will be full of change. A lot of our investigators only speak Twi no English because my companion can speak Twi and the chance that my new companion can speak Twi is very low. The members in the branch are not very active when it comes to missionary work so if we can't get one of them to come translate for us sadly we will have to drop them. That is the hard part about Kenyase. A lot of people speak Twi and not a lot speak English. So, it will be a challenge but I know that the work will continue. 

I hope you all have a great week!!!

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Mission Tour with Elder Kacher (Konongo, Kwamo, Dichemso and UST Zones)