Merry Christmas

Kenyase District by the Only Christmas Tree in GKM (Elder Bamba, Ordyna, Gbettie and Buhler)

Caroling at the Kumasi Mall for Christmas (UST and Dichemso Zones)

UST and Dichemso Zones Preparing to Carol at the Kumasi Mall

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone's week has been sweet! I am emailing today on Christmas. 

One thing that the Ghanaians love more than anything is fire. Anything to do with fire they love. They love lighting huge bonfires of trash. Everywhere you look you will see big pillars of smoke going up into the sky. When I first got here I saw all of them and thought that hundreds of homes were on fire. Nope, that is just trash my companion would tell me. The Ghanaians also love to launch off fireworks all of the time but they do it much more during holidays. Every night for the past couple weeks people have been lighting off fireworks for hours. And it isn't just the little ones you can buy at Walmart. They are the huge illegal (at least back home here they are completely legal) ones that sound like a bomb is going off and send huge sparks into the air. They don't just light them off out in the bush but right next to the roads and buildings. And it will continue every night until New Years. So, no sleep for me. 

The highlight of the week was going to the Kumasi City Mall to carol with the other missionaries. We went to the mall singing Christmas songs. It was a whole lot of fun and sweet actually seeing Christmas decorations and a TREE! And of course, after the mall, we headed to KFC for dinner. I can't pass up a chance to go to KFC when it's there.

At times it has been hard not celebrating Christmas like I would back home but it has been amazing to see how other people celebrate. And it has been especially special being a missionary at this time of year. Sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with others. 

One thing that I love about Ghana is that they celebrate Christmas for the right reasons. They celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and remember all of the wonderful things that He has done for us. They spend time with friends and family and remember the true reason for the season: Jesus Christ.

I love you all and hope you have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful week!!

Love,

Elder Ordyna

6 Month Mark!

Dear Family and Friends,

Well... the funeral is finally over and we are off of lockdown now. Back to normal proselyting time. This past week I also hit my six-month mark! Time has definitely flown and it does not feel like I have been out that long! Every day of my mission so far has been filled with adventures and memories. Everything in Ghana is becoming normal now. Seeing chickens and goats running around everywhere isn't a crazy moment anymore. My Twi is getting pretty good and now I can understand 50% when people talk. 

The Kenyasi-Buokrom District (Elder Buhler, Elder Gbettie, Elder Lephoyo, Elder Bamba and Me)

This week has been another sweet week! The mission Christmas present this year is a blender for every apartment. Of course, I have been using that thing! I am basically going all out with smoothies and milkshakes. I had another exchange with Elder Buhler and we made some pretty great milkshakes. 

The Companionship at the Dichemso Stake Christmas Celebration (Elder Lephoyo, Me, Elder Bamba)

Sister Gifty's Baptism (Me, The Boakye Brothers, Gifty, Elder Bamba and Elder Lephoyo)

This past week on Friday I hit my six-month mark on the mission, the best gift I could possibly receive, I was able to see the members and recent converts from my last area Asuoyeboa 2. All of the stakes in Kumasi came together last Friday for a Christmas celebration. It was full of singing and dancing. It really helped me to get into the Christmas spirit.

Branch Christmas Party with Investigator Musah

Making Gingerbread Houses (Elder Tonga, Elder Schmidt, Me, Elder Buhler)

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a great week! Light the World this week and help others receive the light of Christ that blesses our lives every day! 

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Favorite Fried Rice Vendor (AZITO BABY) 

Kids Running Down the Street by the Kenyasi Chapel

Still More Funeral

KFC with the District (Sister Mbamfu, Elder Gbettie, Elder Buhler, Me, Elder Bamba)

Dear family and friends,

Well... the funeral is still going on. It is currently on Day 11 of 15. Luckily, it will end on Friday. We still had very limited proselyting time this past week and had to be in our apartment early or our heads would be gone. I definitely don't want my mission to come to an end too early so I am not risking anything. This week was definitely interesting as are all weeks here in Ghana. 

Monday evening we went to a member's home for Family Home Evening. They served us a meal of groundnut soup and fufu with a meat that I originally thought was beef and chicken. It was a powerful meal and I was very grateful for it. When the member came back into the room she asked us how we like it. I said that I loved it especially the meat. She said "Oh good! The meat was chicken intestine and cow testicle". I thought to myself the meat was what? I was a little disgusted at first but then I was like that is pretty cool. I can now mark two things off the bucket list. 

The next day we went to Dichemso for our Christmas Devotional. We received some wonderful instruction from the Assistants and President and Sister Cosgrave about unity and the love of Christ. We had a Christmas Dinner Ghana Style. With fried rice, chicken, squash and sugar cookies. It was powerful. After lunch, each zone did a skit and then a special Christmas musical number. It definitely got me into the Christmas spirit. #Lighttheworld campaign is still going strong! Recently, we have been sharing with members Helaman 14:3-8. It is about the signs of Jesus Christ's birth. The one that we focus on is when there was no darkness for three days. Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. Because of Jesus Christ, we all can be saved and live again. This Christmas time as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ I invite all of us to do things that will Light the World this Christmas season. 

On Thursday we received a third companion. Elder Lephoyo was serving in Krofrom but then his trainer finished his mission and went home before the end of the transfer. So he has joined us here in Kenyasi until the end of the transfer. It has been new to me to be with two companions but now I can say that I have officially had more companions than transfers so far. 5 companions in four transfers. 

Harmattan is in full force here in Kumasi. It is a lot worse than I thought it would be. It is a thick blanket of dust 24/7. When you look out to the horizon it looks foggy but really it is just the dust. Sometimes it gets so bad that no airplanes can take off or land at the airport because of the thick dust. It reminds me of the dust storms back in Arizona. The air has turned really dry as well. Ghana is turning into Arizona which has been nice. 

Christmas is definitely not the same here in Ghana. It is the middle of December and there are no lights, no Christmas trees, and NO CHRISTMAS MUSIC. It feels like Christmas isn't even in two weeks. But, as a mission, we have a lot of fun things planned for Christmas. We will go caroling as a zone and then we will have Christmas dinner as a district. And of course, I will be able to call home!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week lighting the world! #Lighttheworld

Love,

Elder Ordyna

PS- Sorry no pictures this week! I will definitely send some next week!  Today one of my recent converts washed my clothes for me! He is 13 and was baptized this past Saturday. He is a sweet boy! Sadly he was playing with my camera and accidentally deleted all of my pictures from his baptism and the week. 

Kenya'sı Village Kids that Loved Us

Contacting while Playing some Ball

Me with Sister Jennifer (Member who Sold Drinks Beneath our Apartment)

Ashanti King's Mother's Funeral

Me with my Go to Fried Rice Man (Azito Baby)

Dear family and friends,

Well, this week has been an interesting one for sure. 

So, the Ashanti King's mother passed away a couple months ago and her funeral is taking place currently until the 15th of December. Funerals here in Ghana are crazy already but when you add the fact that it is a powerful political figure it gets way out of control. The funeral will be for 15 days and the government, the military, and the Ashanti region staff will all be present. Shops, schools, and businesses will be closed for a couple weeks and the assistants to the president informed us that we have to be in our apartments every night at 5. If anyone is outside past dark the Ashanti kingdom will cut their heads off because they do not want anyone to see where they will bury the body because it will be buried with a lot of jewelry and really expensive things and they don't want grave robbers. At first, I thought it was just a rumor or a myth but all of the Ghanaians say that it is true. All I can say is that I don't want to see if it is true, I will definitely be in my apartment by 5. 

Today we were supposed to go into town (Kejetia) to buy all of our groceries and things for the next couple weeks but were unable to because of the funeral. Kenyasi is very far away from downtown Kumasi so things are much more expensive. I guess I will be living off of fried rice and top ramen for the next week until we can get to town. Which is absolutely no problem. Fried rice here in Ghana is absolutely amazing. It is definitely the closest Ghana dish to American food. It is rice cooked with soy sauce, topped with coleslaw, ketchup, mayo, and noodles with a side of chicken. Who knew that ketchup and mayo are good with rice? Ghana life is sweet and I have loved every moment of it. I will definitely have thousands of stories to tell for the rest of my life about these short two years here in Africa. 

This week flew by so fast. We went to mid-transfer training this week as well. All of the new missionaries and their trainers attend in the middle of the transfer to see how everything is going. It was a great time and we were able to receive a free meal so that was nice. With the funeral and mid transfer training, we weren't able to have much proselyting time this week. But, we were able to make the most of the time that we had. We saw all of our progressing investigators and met many new people. We are planning for two baptisms this Saturday as well as two baptisms next Saturday. 

Me with our investigator Francis. He will be baptized on Saturday

Remember to share Light the World with everyone! The gospel has brought all of us so much joy and happiness and we need to share it with others. Christmas in Ghana will be much different than back home. There are no lights, no trees, no Christmas music blaring everywhere. Even on Christmas, I have heard that people still go to work and it is like a normal day. They don't make Christmas a party like we do in the states the Ghanaians go straight to the reason why we have Christmas; Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and the opportunity I have to share a message every day about Him. 

Hope everyone has a great rest of their week and only 20 more days until Christmas!

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Me with a missionary about to go home (Elder Batubenga)