Great Things Are Happening

My wonderful Family and friends,

Well.... basically this is part 2 or should I say chapter 2 of The Great Adventures of Kwamo that began last week. It was another great and adventure filled week.

We started it off by planning a sweet zone activity last Monday night before Zone Conference. Because our zone is so spread out it is very difficult to have zone activities. But, everyone was coming down to Kumasi anyways for zone conference so we decided to use that to our advantage and plan a sweet zone activity to really boost the morale of our troops. We played a sweet game of football (of course) and then had some great fried rice and played a super fun Book of Mormon Jeopardy game that my companion and I put together. It was seriously cool being with all of our zone members and it sure had a lasting impression on our zone members. To make things even sweeter our whole zone slept in our apartment that night as well. It was one huge zone sleep-over. We managed to fit 10 other missionaries in our already small and full apartment so that was an adventure.

The next day, on Tuesday, we all headed out to the Asokwa Stake Center at Tech which is about 30 minutes away from Kwamo for a powerful zone conference. Man, President Webster is so spiritual. We spent the whole day talking about the Book of Mormon and how we can better use it to bring more people to the restored gospel. It really opened my eyes to different ways we can go about sharing the gospel through the Book of Mormon. My companion and I made some serious goals to share the Book of Mormon and give it out to as many people as we can. It is Elder Smith's last transfer and he basically has two more weeks left so our goal is to hand out a box of Books of Mormon each week until he goes home. Which will be about 4 a day which is super doable out here. We will lead the mission in copies of the Books of Mormon placed!! After zone conference, we basically stayed for an extra five hours so that President Webster could interview our zone. There were six members of another zone that had to go and then fourteen of us and of course, the zone leaders are the last ones. We didn't get out of there until like 8 pm and then we had a 30-minute drive back to our apartment so zero proselyting got done last Tuesday. 

Wednesday was a great day because one of the less-actives we have been working super hard on came to Mid-week. His name is Joseph and he hasn't come to church for three years. He once was a super powerful member but he had many doubts and questions about the Temple so he fell less active. We have met with him to strengthen his faith as well as his knowledge about the Temple. He told us that he would come to Mid-week first and then to church. We were so happy to see him there when we showed up at the chapel. He is really feeling the spirit again and even seeing that he needs to come back which is super cool. It is amazing to bring people to the restored gospel but is also super sweet helping people back to the path. I love mission.

 Sister Precious baptism with her friends, recent convert Beantu and Blessing

We baptized a recent converts family Brother Ikwiee (wife:Ma Olivia, kids Lord and Lily) and then also Angela on the far left living with a member family 

On Saturday we had our seriously powerful baptism of five people. The service was seriously spiritual and everything eventually went well in the end. But, we had some serious opposition in the preparation for the baptism. We got to the chapel super early to prepare but within like two minutes of us being there I accidentally dropped our phone down like a ten foot drain so we couldn't call any of the members or the people coming to baptize so we just had to rely on faith that they would show up and everything would be ok. 

This is the drain where I dropped our phone while I was trying to close the drain for the baptismal font. It fell right out of my shirt pocket. Luckily, the phone still works but it is certainly on its last leg.

The next thing that happened was the power went out while we were filling the baptismal font. And in order to fill the font the water has to be pumped from the poly tank and of course, in order for it to work, we needed electricity. At this point, it seemed like everything was going wrong. But, we relied on faith and before we knew it the baptismal font was filled, members showed up and all of our investigators were there ready to go. It was a fantastic baptism and everything worked out in the end as we relied on faith and Heavenly Father. 

The Assistants, my companionship and the Effiduasi Elders taken before the exchange (Elder Wetsel, Elder Smith, Elder Blanchard, Elder Banta, Elder Surtees and then me)

Later that day we went on an emergency exchange out to Effiduasi to help and strengthen a missionary out there. It was a very effective exchange and we were able to really help their companionship out. During the exchange, I also went to a place that takes the definition of the bush to a whole new level. It was a village called Sanaja and barely even 50 people lived there. It was a small town surrounded by some seriously dense jungle. When we first got there a man asked if we wanted to buy some machetes because we might need them. The missionary that I was with said it would be ok, the place that we were going wasn't that thick. We basically just stayed in the town area. On a powerful note, the place even had a group where like 2/3 of the members in the village were members which was seriously surprising but cool at the same time. We went there to visit with the group leader and just to see how everything was doing out there. My own nickname for the Kwamo Zone is now Bush Central. Majority of our zone is made up of small villages and straight bush. 

Things in the area have been going very well. We honestly didn't have a lot of time to focus on Kwamo but this week will be a lot better. We are even planning a seriously powerful activity this week to get more people interested in the restored gospel and that is an open house. Our Bishop is so excited about it. He is telling everyone and even put a couple announcements on the towns PA system. Everyone in Kwamo will come to this thing it will be absolutely amazing. I continue to have a great time out here in Ghana and hope all of you have an amazing week!!!

Love your American Bush Master (a name in the village someone gave to us) ELDER ORDYNA

Bishop Prosper Mensah's family

Adventure Packed Week

Elder Ordyna and Elder Smith

Hey family and friends,

Don't worry... things in Ghana are still sweet. This week sure was packed full of some serious adventures like never before witnessed. As you read this prepare for your mind to be blown, this is basically Fast and Furious status.

#1- The Flood that Took Elder Smith's Glasses
This week was seriously super rainy!! It rained basically every single day. But on Tuesday was by far the craziest day. It was basically already raining the whole day off and on, but at 7 pm we went to one appointment, a family that we are preparing to baptize this week Saturday. As we were finishing the lesson, it started to rain super hard. Basically like a hurricane. We didn't think anything of it because it was our last appointment of the day and we were headed home. So, we decided to go out and walk in the rain back to our apartment. Yeah, let me just say we completely underestimated the power of the storm. Before we were even walking for five minutes, we were already pretty soaked and basically walking through rivers to get back home. After about 10 minutes of walking my companion, Elder Smith realized that his glasses were gone. We tried looking for them for them, but it was dark and super rainy and wet everywhere. So, we decided just to make it back to our house as fast as possible. We tried looking for them again in the morning, but they probably got swept away. I can say that that night we were basically like Indiana Jones. We were jumping from rock to rock and trudging through the water to our shins. It felt pretty awesome. 

#2- Highway to Mampong
This past week we planned an exchange with our farthest away companionship. They are out in a place called Mampong. It is about a 2.5-hour trip away and up in the mountains. They are a companionship currently in training. Elder Lephoyo is from the Republic of Congo, and he is the trainer while Elder Stewart is from Layton, Utah and he is the trainee. Our plan for the exchange was to leave Wednesday evening, have the exchange all of Thursday and then return to Kwamo Friday Evening. On Wednesday we left Kwamo at like 7 pm already thirty minutes behind our original plan. We had to take two cars it was so far away. We went from Kwamo to Effiduasi with no problems. The moment it all changed was when we got into the taxi to head to Mampong. We waited like 30 minutes for it to fill, and then we headed off on our journey. I got stuck in between two huge sweaty people, and it was the most uncomfortable ride ever. We got about fifteen minutes into the journey when the taxi went over a huge bump, and the tire rims fell off the taxi. We had to stop for like another 15 minutes as the taxi driver went out to find it. We got out and helped him find it. It rolled off the road and went into some deep bush. We were walking around for with flashlights for a while until we found it. Then it happened another time. After an hour we were basically in the same place. Finally, the driver put the hubcap in the back trunk, and we were making a great time until we got stopped at every single one of the police checkpoints on the way up because the driver overloaded the car. The maximum occupancy was only four passengers. But, the driver wanted more money and put two people up front. We had to stop at like three checkpoints. But, finally, after a three-hour trip, we made it safely to Mampong. And my summary of Mampong is it is by far the bushiest place I have ever been. To get anywhere, you have to take a fifteen minute bush trail. It is pretty dope basically the machete cutting area. 

#3- Baptismal Interview Miracle
After we came back from Mampong on Friday, we had a baptismal interview planned at Dichemso with President Webster. It was planned to be at 2:30 pm and we told our candidate to meet us at 1:00 pm and then we would go because we knew that it would be well over an hour drive from Kwamo to Dichemso in tro. But, then she didn't come until 2:00 PM and then we left. WE ARRIVED AT THE STAKE CENTER AT 2:40 PM. IT was an absolute miracle. Everything worked out for us. The tro hardly stopped, and the traffic was perfect. It was an absolute baptism miracle that was able to work out perfectly.

Every week in Ghana so far has been amazing and adventureful. It just wouldn't be GKM anymore if nothing happened. Things are sweet and going well out here. We were having such a great time this week that I didn't have much time to take pictures. Sorry!! But, enjoy these pictures from our most recent zone conference!

Elder Ordyna

Sister Bintu and Sister Blessing (before her baptismal interview)

Brother and Sister Ayequee

The Meek Kwamo Zone

Family and friends,

Another great week came and went. I forgot how fast the time flies when you are out in the field working all day every day. Things sure have been sweet out here in Kwamo. Even though it is my fourth area inside Kumasi it really isn't in Kumasi. We are about a 45 minute tro-tro ride to town and basically out on the outskirts of town along the highway to Accra. It is just a residential area with a lot of bush and peacefullness. We far enough out where we don't get the business or noise of Kumasi but we are also close enough we are still able to benefit from all of the perks. Like we are able to email at KNUST a university here and then we will go to the Kumasi Mall for some small enjoyment. It is my companion's last transfer on mission so we are completely enjoying ourselves every Monday until he goes home.

This past week was my first time at MLC (mission leadership council). It is held on the first thursday of every month and is where all of the zone leaders come together and we council on how to help the mission as well as report on our accountability from this last month. Right now the Kwamo Zone is leading the mission in every category. Our missionaries are on fire right now and all of them have the drive and desire to share the gospel with others which is absolutely amazing. That is where we got the name for our zone from. The MEEK Kwamo Zone. We are doing so well and having a lot of success but we are humble and quiet about it. Plus, majority of our zone members are in two man apartments so noone really ever sees us. We are just out in the bush having a lot of fun and having great success. Now that I am a zone leader it has been so much easier for me to see how much the Lord is blessing this work. The amazing part is I don't only see the hand of the Lord in my area but also in every single one of my zone members areas as well. A highlight of my week are Sunday evenings. As we wait to talk to our zone members about their accountability. It is a lot of fun to see how everyone is doing and the progress of the zone. The Ghana Kumasi Mission continues to be the sweetest mission in the world and am so grateful to be a missionary here each and every day.

Like I said last week, right now we have been covering two wards. The first ward is so active and doing super well. Because they are so active in doing missionary work we are so busy seeing investigators and members in that area we were seriously neglecting ward 2. And I guess it finally set in that we weren't really focusing on them because this last Sunday at church members brought their friends to church and then we received another dozen phone numbers for members friends. The whole bishopric got the members excited to do missionary work. It is unbelievable and now ward 2 is beginning to awaken. It is super awesome now that both wards are working as hard as they can to bring people to church but as missionaries we are running into to some serious problems time wise. We don't have enough time to go to all of the people from ward 1 and ward 2 during the week. We are literally drowning in people to go and see. So, basically what we have come up with is we will meet with someone and then give them two Sundays to come to church and if they don't come either week we will drop them and stop seeing them so we can focus on other people. We are also planning on going on splits with some members to make our time more effective and efficient. Which will be very cool and the first time that I have had to do it on my mission so far because we have been busy enough. This is the perfect area for me. We are busy all the time, having great success and the members are absolutely amazing. I am hoping that president will leave me in this area until I go home, but I doubt that will happen.

One interesting thing that happened this week was we were able to contact an Indian guy named Pedam. We were walking home along Accra road and he stopped us. He was super happy to talk to us and said that he was new to Kumasi and was starting a business selling cars. We talked about the church and he happily accepted one of our pamphlets and said that he would call us. As we were leaving he offered us a cigarette and beer and wanted us to come to a party at his hotel. We declined all three and told him that we would call him soon. He was such a great guy and I am sure one day he will be touched by what we told him and will be inspired to investigate more about the church.

It sure was a great and crazy week. One full of success and joy. Love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Happy to be in Kwamo

Kwamo Highway

Ma Gina's House (cooks for the missionaries every night)

The One and Only Kwamo

Hey family and friends,

This week has been a crazy and amazing one. The first week in an area is always crazy but especially when it is Kwamo. Things out here are so productive and busy we are either running to appointments or teaching. We have two wards with a lot of powerful members. It is hard to remember which ward a member goes to, but there are definitely a lot of members to choose from to come out with us and to fellowship our investigators which is definitely a plus. The ward members are giving us so much help and love that I am actually getting a feel for the missionaries back home. One of the members in Ward 1 named Ma Gina feeds us every single night! It is absolutely amazing. We are receiving so many referrals from the members that it is hard to keep track of them all. We already had like five potential investigators to follow up on, and then yesterday at church we received another five referrals. People here are so serious about sharing the gospel that the work is always moving forward.

After driving in a car, having a/c and being close to the mission president for six months I have kind of forgotten what it is like to be an actual missionary. I am now back riding in a tro-tro with the sun casting down like fire and with some seriously slow internet. But, it is by far the best place to be. If they gave me the option to go back to the office, I wouldn't want to go. I feel so much more in tune with the spirit and experience so many more things out here. 

My new companion is named Elder Smith. He is from Rexburg, Idaho and will be going home at the end of this transfer. We are having a great time together in this zone and area. He has been a seriously great mentor and teacher already. We are having a lot of fun and making the work super great and the days are flying by so fast.  

Honestly, Kwamo will probably be my favorite area yet. It is full of great people and a lot of fun and hard work. 

Elder Ordyna

Sorry, no pictures this week. Super busy proselyting and meeting new people.

Farewell to the Office Life

Kwamo Town