Mission Tour with President Nash, Africa West Area President - Oct. 23-29, 2018

Oct. 23-29, 2018

Mission Tour with Elder Nash

Hello everyone!!

Another great week out here in the great Ghana Kumasi Mission. It sure has been an inspiring and spiritual week for me. I received a lot of answers and confirmations from the spirit this week.  A lot of things were going on around the mission and in our area. 

I will start with around the area. While I was in the office I learned that the ward I am serving in now is the highest baptizing unit in our mission and while I have been here we are leading the mission in baptisms. There are many reasons for that but the biggest one is MEMBERS!! Out of every area that I have served here the members in Kwamo are on fire with missionary work. We are really working with them so well. They are giving us a lot of referrals and plenty of work to do which is amazing. We are practically baptizing one person a week. The work has been a lot of fun and great as we have worked effectively together with the members. We are planning to have six more baptisms on the 11th. So stay tuned for more information about that one.

Now about the amazing things that happened around the mission. This week President Nash came on a six-day mission tour of our mission. It all started on Tuesday evening when he called all of the zone leaders in person and asked them questions about the needs in the mission. It was so cool talking one on one with a general authority and having him listen to you!! It was such a great moment. Then the last couple of days was a straight spiritual feast. On Saturday we had a zone conference with President Nash. And we talked a lot about integrity, teaching with power and repentance. There are a lot of things going on inside the mission right now and President Nash talked directly about those problems and how we can be better missionaries today, tomorrow and for the rest of our mission. He talked a lot about what it means to really act like a missionary instead of just being one. The biggest thing that he talked about, that I feel was directed just to me. was to HOLD NOTHING BACK. We should serve every day and give 110% every single day. For the last stretch of my mission, I am going to sprint the whole day. Petal to the Metal basically and sprint all the way till the day I get released. 

MLC with Elder Nash

I love this gospel so much. I have gained such a great testimony of this gospel while I have served my mission. I came on mission with some doubts. But, now I can bear testimony to my investigators about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith with power and conviction because I know they are so true! Every lesson, just every day as a missionary makes my testimony grow and become bigger of the joys and happiness this gospel provides for all of us in this life. 

I love each one of you so much. And am so grateful for the examples and role models you are for me. Thank you so much for the support and love you send me every single day!!! Love you tons and talk to you next week!

Elder Ordyna

Ghana is Hot

Hello family and friends,

It has been another great week out here beneath the scorching hot Ghana sun. Harmattan is coming back with fury!! It hasn't rained this whole week just sunny with blue skies. Imagine Arizona but walking around all day in the hot sun, that is what it's feeling like right now. You can buy water for 20 pesewas which is basically the equivalent of a penny in US money. I carry around a bunch of coins just so I can go and buy water. Every day I probably drink about 2-3 liters of water. It is my hope that it rains every day but proselyting is actually pretty great right now. No one wants to go out and walk in the heat so everyone is outside in the shade or at home which has been amazing. It has made the work go a lot smoother. 

Well... as of right now I am emailing at a cafe inside KNUST one of the biggest universities in Ghana. And right now there is a demonstration going on around us. Apparently last Friday, security guards beat up some students and now the student body is seriously outraged and going around the campus and burning cars, destroying buildings and signs. Basically just going completely rogue and we are trapped inside the cafe. But, it is no problem because I am safe and am able to email. 

Anyways everything this week was pretty awesome. It all started on Tuesday with our Zone Council. The theme was all about improving proselyting hours and becoming effective and efficient missionaries. It was seriously an inspirational council and all of the missionaries took it very seriously and applied it into their areas and lives. I am pleased to announce that the zone's weekly hours were the highest since I have been here!! Which is absolutely amazing! Our missionaries are really trying their hardest and working hard. One of our companionships even baptized seven this last week!! 

Baptism of Brother Asare, Sister Ama and Sister Emelia with Elder Kamara

The whole week we were focused on preparing three people for baptism. Brother Asare, Sister Ama and Sister Emelia. Brother Asare started coming to church because of his two children Philomena and Philomen. For the children, they started coming to church with their member friends that stay by them. They came for like half a year then they were baptized. They started sharing things with their father and ultimately invited him to church. He was coming for like six months before anyone realized it. We the missionaries tried to talk to him a couple of times but whenever we asked him if we could come by and share something with him he would always say no because he was afraid of English. It wasn't until one of the members in the ward went by his house and told him why the missionaries needed to come and teach him that he finally opened up and wanted us to come every day so he could be baptized as fast as possible. He really loves the church and was so happy after his baptism!!

Sister Emelia's family (she is the granddaughter of the stake president)

The second person we baptized was Sister Ama. For her she was coming to church for a long time by herself and then finally the Relief Society President pointed her out to us and we taught her and baptized her in two weeks. The final person we baptized was Emelia. She is the stake president's granddaughter and has been coming to church for a long time but never has been baptized. After going to their house the first time I realized why no missionaries had been teaching her. The house is out in the straight bush!! It is so far out there that no car goes even close to their house. So in order to get out there, we have to take a five-minute taxi ride and then walk for thirty minutes. But, it was worth it. Emelia was so happy and now we have a great relationship with the Stake President. The Lord is definitely preparing the way for us. His hand is definitely here in Kwamo right now and I see his blessings in the missionary work here every day.

We were also able to participate in a service project this past week for one of the recent converts in the ward. He has a dirt road in front of his house, like the majority of Ghanaians but the road is seriously eroded and has some huge holes and dips in it. So, we spent half the day sandbagging and filling in the holes. It was seriously some hard work but once we were finished it seriously looked great! Service projects out here in Ghana are really different from back home but a lot of fun as well. Instead of donuts and milk as the refreshment, we get banku with hot pepe and a coke. Can't complain at all! 

Anyways I can honestly say that I am almost a Ghanaian at this point. I am used to everything and the food is great now. Throughout my mission, I have learned so many wonderful things and am now trying to put them into practice my last months on mission. I want my last 8 months to be my best yet!! Till next week! Love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Elder Henderson and I at Kofi's Cafe

The Transfer of Strife is Behind Us

Elder Smith and I with soon to be RC Solomon

Elder Smith's Farewell Party

Kwamo Zone Conference

The Area Whiteboard

Hello all,

I had another great week out here in Kwamo. It was pretty stressful with transfers but I was able to manage it all. I said goodbye to my previous companion Elder Smith on Monday as he headed to the mission home for his farewell devotional. I was a lone zone leader for the next two days and was in charge of all of the transfer travel plans for my zone. Luckily it wasn't super complicated this time around. I spent all of Tuesday with the Effiduasi elders who just got whitewashed (both of them are leaving and two new missionaries are coming). Man, we seriously worked hard that day. In the morning things weren't really going well for us but by the end of the day, we taught three new people who are really serious and even came to church this last week. One was a referral from a member named Atobrah and the other two are preparing for baptism this upcoming week. They have been coming to church for almost like six months now but the missionaries have never taught them. Their names are Brother Asare and Sister Ama. Both are old but are very serious about the church and the gospel and preparing very well for their baptisms. 

Wednesday was the big transfer day. It started a little rocky. Every transfer the Kwamo zone leaders charter a tro for transfers because the areas are so spread out but when we came to call the driver we realized that the number must have gotten deleted from our phone. So, we had to go out and find the driver. Elder Smith said that he remembered the house where he stayed. So, after a little bit of asking people and wandering around, we finally located the house, or at least the house we thought it was. It wasn't until Wednesday morning when the tro came to pick us up that I realized it wasn't the same guy at all. He had a super nice tro and everything went perfectly well until I told him that we were going all the way out to Effiduasi and then he wanted more money or he wouldn't take us. I negotiated with him and in the end, everything worked out which was absolutely amazing. My companion is named Elder Kamara and he is from Liberia. He is my second companion to be my TC (a missionary I came on mission with). So, we are really enjoying each other and having a great time serving together. 

The Kwamiduasi Elders (the Effiduasi elders and me)

The last couple of days of the week we seriously made some goals to work hard and find some people and the work seriously paid off. We received a bunch of referrals from the members that came to church yesterday and we also followed up on a young girl named Cynthia who has been coming to church now for a couple of weeks. When we went to teach Cynthia we found her less-active aunt who was baptized in Tema but just recently moved to Kwamo. We were so shocked to find out that she was a member and will now seriously work on them.

Last week as well as this week we are focusing on preparing people for baptism. Yesterday we had 12 investigators at sacrament meeting and we are preparing half of them for baptism in the next two weeks. So, we are very busy teaching and making sure everything is in order for their baptisms. Things are looking very good this transfer so far. The Meek Kwamo Zone is still very meek. The zone is looking to have over 20 baptisms this month which is amazing. Every area in the zone is super ripe right now and seriously harvesting. Missionary work sure is sweet! The gospel is truly the source of happiness and joy! I love this gospel so much and I love being able to share it with others every single day! 

Brother Atobrah, Brother Jeff Kwaku, Elder Kamara and I eating boiled yam with coutombre stew.

General Conference, FM's and Goodbyes

How many primary kids can you fit into a room?

Hey all!!!

This last week sure was a lot better than the last one. The work seriously improved so much and the transfer of strife is behind us. It was Elder Smith's last week on mission so we basically went around our area saying goodbye to people. The way people say goodbye here in Ghana is with food. Man, we probably had close to like ten free meals this week. It was a week full of eating and enjoying ourselves. The people here in Kwamo love missionaries so much, almost way too much. I had more Ghanaian food this last week than my entire mission combined. Elder Smith and I endured it together. 

The powerful Ejisu District (Elder Duncan and Elder Swasey: Kentinkrono, and Elder Okogbua and Elder Osuji: Ejisu)

The definite highlight of this last week was General Conference. Out here we were only able to watch the sessions on Saturday none of the Sunday sessions. So, I heard the announcement about 2-hour church. I was so inspired by General Conference this time around. It is so awesome watching it as a missionary. Coming to Ghana has seriously increased my testimony of this church. There is so much apostasy and false prophets here in Ghana, it makes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints stand out like an absolute diamond. And conference just adds to that testimony. I know we have a living prophet on the Earth today and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Lord's church on this Earth.

 The Leadership of Kwamo (Atobrah-Clerk, Bishop Prosper, Emmanuel-Second Counselor) 

Kwamo Ward members (Emmanuel Abula's family and Sister Ellen)

I encourage everyone to continue to live the gospel in their lives! Like President Nelson said I also encourage everyone to read the Book of Mormon every day! That book has so much power and inspiration inside its pages and can bless all of our lives if we study and apply its teachings. Love you all so much and hope you enjoy your week!

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Watching General Conference

The Climax of the Transfer of Strife and Opposition

The Agona District

Hello all!!

Don't let the title scare you! Things are still going super well here in Kwamo and I love the work but things haven't necessarily flowed this last transfer and this last week was the pit of it all. Of course there is opposition in all things. We have been having some serious success this transfer in Kwamo and it was just a matter of time until we ran into some tough times. As you read in some of my last emails, a lot of crazy things have happened to us this past transfer like my companion losing his glasses, losing our phone at the baptism and some other things. This week adds to that list of things. The saying Elder Smith and I have come up with this week is "When you hit rock bottom you can still dig deeper". 

Elder Smith and Me with Elder Lephoyo and Elder Stewart

Going into this last week we had a lot of great goals and plans set out for us to achieve. But, as the week went on a lot of lessons fell through and we basically weren't even able to meet with any of our progressing investigators because they were busy or travelled. That was seriously disappointing but we moved on and contacting a lot of people this week in anticipation for the open house this last weekend. But, the open house was also like a bust. The whole point of the activity was for the members to invite their friends to learn more about the church. But, hardly any members showed up and we were planning to start at 4 pm but couldn't start until like 5:30 pm because we were waiting for people to show up. Overall, though we were able to find like 5 new people and found out which of our current investigators were serious and which ones weren't. And on top of everything else we managed to hand out a whole box of Books of Mormon. So, that was great. 

Enjoyment at Aboude's, the best restaurant in Ghana

We can't dwell on the past we just have to keep moving forward and relying on the Lord. I have learned the most through these rough times and know that this next week will be full of joy and success! The success will always come as we rely on the Lord and do our very best to bring souls unto Christ. Hope all of you have a great week and talk to ya next week!

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Atobrah with Elder Smith and I

Kwamo