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)

Kenyasi Branch Open House

Dear family and friends,
 Another Monday here. Only one more week until transfer four! Which means that my sixth-month mark is soon! It is crazy to think that I have been living in Ghana for almost half a year. Before I know it I will be home. This week the rain pounded us every day. I am always so happy for the rain. One morning during companionship studies I told my companion that it is going to be an extremely good day. He asked me why and I told him because it is raining. He was shocked and said that it is was not going to be a good day because of the rain. All Ghanaians seem to hate the rain because it rains so much here. The moment it begins to rain the whole city shuts down. All shops and stores close, everyone goes home and there are no cars on the streets. Ghana turns into a literal ghost town. The only bad thing about the rain is that every time it rains the power goes out. And because our water is connected to a pump no electricity means no pump which means no water. So for three days this week, we had no water. We had to fetch water from a nearby well and haul it up four flights of stairs. The work here in Kenyasi has been much slower than my last area. The branch members are not involved in missionary work at all so basically we have to find and contact on our own no referrals. This past week we tried to change that. This past Saturday we had an open house at the chapel where we invited people to learn more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The main focus of the activity was to have the members invite their friends and families to the event. The activity was powerful and a great success. We had a great showing and was able to contact many new people. But sadly not one member brought their friend. Despite that, we now have some more potential investigators to teach and follow up on this week. I have one more week here in Kenyasi until I will be transferred again. The area is considered part of Kumasi but it is way far. It is like Paradise Valley and Phoenix. In order to get to downtown, it takes one hour. Because it is so far we only go every other week when we get our subsistence to buy groceries and things. Plus, we have to walk all the way through the central market. Central Market is the largest open market in all of West Africa. it is absolutely insane. It is 5 times busier than Disneyland! Here in Kenyasi, I am in a two man apartment so I only see other missionaries once a week at district council if we don't go to town. There many areas like this in the mission. Where you are in the middle of the African bush. I have really enjoyed this area. It was a great week! Happy Halloween everyone, hope you all have a great week! 

Love, Elder Ordyna

The Great Bountiful Buokrom District

Kenyasi Branch Members (Harrison, Tetteh and Elder Buabin)

Elder Buabin's Last Sunday (The Mensah Family)

Attack of the Bird and Secret Combinations

 Dear Family and Friends,

It is Monday once again. Time is really going by fast. It is already almost November. In the mission field it seems like each day is like a week and each week is a day. This week I have had plenty of experiences, both spiritual and funny. 

One night as we were climbing the stairs to our apartment (we stay on the third floor) we saw a bird sitting right in front of our security door. We have a huge metal door outside our main door for security reasons. We tried to shoo it away but it kept flying at us. After about thirty minutes of us trying to get it out of the stairwell and it constantly flying at us we gave up and thought that it would just leave on its own so, we hurried and entered our apartment before it could attack us again. But, when we went out the next morning the bird was still there in front of our door waiting for us! I told my companion we are ending this battle today. So I went inside and grabbed a mop and gave my companion a broom. Don't worry we didn't harm the bird. We used them to swing at the bird so it would stop attacking us and would go down the stairs. After another thirty minutes of swinging the broom and mop at the bird we were able to scare it all the way down the stairwell and out into the street. I think my companion is now traumatized from that experience. Because whenever we see a bird while proselyting he gets scared and swings his scripture bag at the bird. 

This week we also did plenty of teaching and finding people. But, most of the lessons were in Twi because my companion is from Ghana so he speaks the local language. I have learned a lot of Twi from him and I am able to say a lot of things,which has been very helpful in the work. This week we went to visit an investigator named Franklin and she told us that she is hesitant about the church because after we left our last lesson some men came to her and told her that she should stop meeting with us because what we were teaching her isn't true. Apparently multiple of my companions investigators in this area have told him this same thing. There is a secret combination in this area. People are going around and telling people not to listen to us. It has been a challenge to reassure Franklin. We told her that if she prays and asks God she will know for herself that the things we teach are true. Before the incident she told us that she would definately be coming to church on Sunday but sadly she didn't come. 

On a brighter note we have one investigator named IK that is doing super well. When my companion and I first met him he was only super drunk. He was really interested in the church but we couldn't teach him because he was drunk and didn't understand anything. So, everyday we would visit with him small and pray for him. This past fast sunday we fasted for him and a miracle has happened this past week. He told us that he has a desire to quit drinking and everytime we see him now he isn't drunk. He still hasn't completely stopped yet but he is doing much much better which is awesome. He even came to church yesterday and loved it. He told us that he wants to know more and will be coming to church every Sunday from here on! He is truly an awesome guy! 

This week was powerful and I hope to have another great week here in Ghana! I feel so blessed to be serving here in Ghana. As I read many of my friends emails that are serving in the states I realized that the work here in Ghana compared to back home is super different. I hope you all have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Kenyasi Apartment

Kenaysi High Street with a Tro-Tro Stuck in the Gutter (that is also the Sewer)

Kejetia Traffic (Downtown Kumasi)

Kejetia Traffic (Downtown Kumasi

Full Strength 100%

Dichemso Zone

Dear family and friends,

I am officially doing much better and am now at 100%. This week has been so much more enjoyable because I am healthy and was able to go out and do the Lord's work! I was blessed with a speedy and full recovery. As a missionary, I have really seen the Lord's hand not only in my life but also in the lives of my investigators. Teaching others about Jesus Christ and seeing them keep their commitments has given me so much joy! During my personal study, I was reading in 3rd Nephi when the Savior visits the Nephites. I got to the part where it reads "Remember where your treasures are your heart is also". That verse stuck out to me. It is absolutely true. If our treasures are worldly possessions we will only care about those things but if we put our treasures in the gospel then our hearts will continually be focused on those things. And we will be able to see the Lord's hand in our lives and receive the blessings from living the gospel. I know that as we do so our lives will be much happier! 

A group of church members came past our apartment chanting, playing drums and just being super loud during...of course... STUDY time. It seems like every apartment has something like this. My last apartment in Asuoyeboa had a preacher woman that would play music and scream into a microphone every morning beginning at 5 am. My Kenyasi apartment also has Islamic mosque right outside the window and at 5 am on super loud speakers they call everyone to prayer. 

Elder Buabin, Me, and members Harrison and Tetteh

This week I was able to attend my third zone conference. Man, the time is absolutely flying! I am almost to six months! At the zone conference, we reviewed many of the things that we learned from the previous zone conferences. The main thing that I got out of it is that we need to continue to review our goals and the things that we have learned so that we can check our progress and see how we are doing on living those things. It is one thing to learn something but it is a completely better thing to live and apply what we have learned. This is especially true in the gospel. We can learn principles of the gospel but it is not until we fully apply and do the things that we have learned our faith grow and we will experience blessings.

I had an interview with President Cosgrave this past Friday and learned that because of some changes in the mission I will be staying in Kenyasi until the end of the transfer! Which I am really excited about. I will have the opportunity to get to know the members even more. Plus, we have some really powerful progressing investigators that are super close to baptism! Kenyasi is awesome and I am really enjoying my time here!

Hope you all have another wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Eating Ampesie (Boiled Yam and Stew) with members Harrison and Tetteh

Dichemso Zone Conference

At the Kenyasi Chapel with the Ward Members for Mid-Week

Dreadful Malaria

Dear Family and Friends,

Well... it has finally happened. I got struck with the dreadful plague of West Africa... Malaria

I was feeling completely fine at the beginning of this week but then Wednesday morning I woke up and was feeling absolutely terrible. Like I got ran over by a semi-truck and then as I was standing up I got ran over again. I called Sister Dearing (the mission nurse) and she told me that I needed to go to a clinic and get tested right away because Malaria is serious.

Malaria is a parasite that lives in female mosquitoes and when they bite you it enters into your blood. It tries to shut down your body so it can live inside of you. If left untreated a person could die in a matter of days. The mission gives a drug called Doxycycline to take that prevents us from getting Malaria but there is still a chance that a person taking the pill can still get it. 

Wednesday morning my companion and I headed over to the medical clinic in Kenyasi to get a blood test. The clinic was one of the scariest health places I have ever been to. There was dust everywhere, spiders in the windows and when we got there, there was a chicken running in the place! If you are sick in Ghana it is probably better for you to just stay home instead of going to the clinic. I had to go to the lab and get my blood drawn. Afterwards, I had to wait two hours for them to finish running the test and to know whether or not I had malaria. And sadly, after all of that time, I was positive for malaria. We finally left the clinic around noon and I slept for the rest of the day and pretty much for the rest of the week. Malaria is the most painful sickness that I have ever had. I had t take seven pills twice a day for three days. 

But gratefully as I am typing this letter I feeling completely better and have all of my strength back. I am cured of Malaria!

I look forward to this week and I continue to find joy in the work knowing that my sickness is behind me.

Hope all of you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Malaria Medication

Kenyasi Wellness Center

Kids at the Chapel that Always Made Us Feel Better

Short Stop in Kenyasi

Sept. 26-Oct. 1, 2017

MTC Group Elders 

Hello Family and Friends!

It has been another sweet week in the mission field with a lot of change! I am now in a new area called Kenyasi. It is on the complete other side of Kumasi than Asouyaboa . Kenyasi is a very small town, but one of the newer areas of Kumasi, so it is very nice. I am currently with a new companion as well. His name is Elder Buabin and he is form Cape Coast, Ghana. He has been in the area for almost 6 months. All of the members call him "the landlord of Kenyasi". He knows everything about this area because he has been here for so long.  Sadly, there will be change again for me in 2 weeks. Elder Buabin was called to train this transfer, but his trainee entered the MTC late. His new companion will be entering the mission field in the middle of transfers. When he comes, (2 weeks from Wednesday) I will be kicked out of the area and will go into my 3rd area and 4th companion on the mission. It will be an interesting next couple of weeks.

So far, the area has been awesome. It reminds me a lot of my last area. The past couple of days my companion took me around Kenyasi so I could meet the members and investigators. The branch seems really powerful. They struggle with a lot of things, but the foundation and organization is there. The Branch President is an awesome guy.  The branch attendance is very seasonal because the majority of the members are students that attend the nearby university. When school is in session the branch is very large, but when the students go on vacation the branch attendance really suffers. It is a tough problem they deal with.

Kenyasi Branch Chapel 

On Sunday morning, we headed to the stake center in Dichemso for General Conference.  We were able to watch the  Saturday morning, afternoon and priesthood sessions via satellite.  Due to the time difference, we could not watch Sunday's sessions. Ghana is 8 hours ahead of Salt Lake City, Utah. The sessions I did watch were amazing. I really loved Pres. Nelson's talk on the Book of Mormon and how he spoke about GHANA! ;-) I like the part when he was talking about the king that said, "You could have given me rubies or diamonds but nothing is more precious than the additional knowledge of Jesus Christ found in the Book of Mormon." We all need to have that same thought. The Book of Mormon is worth so much, we need to value it in our lives.  We need to cherish and love the Book of Mormon. We need to study and ponder it daily!

Ghana won the African West Cup of National Futbol. Everyone here went crazy! It was pretty great. Everything is going very well. I love being a missionary!

I love you all and hope everyone has a great week!

Love,
Elder Ordyna

Extreme Makeover Apartment Edition and Transfer News

Letter from Elder Mubenga (Elie Mbenza)

Elder ordyna is leaving I am going to miss him a lot, i will miss him not just because he was a very good friend to me but rather of who i am ever since he is close to me. I grateful to be the one to train that great man and brother.

i will have an liberian as companion. so i am ready to work

much love 

Elder Mubenga

Hello family and friends,

I will leave my current area Asuoyeboa 2 after only two transfers and head to Kenyasi, a small village just outside Kumasi on Wednesday. My new companion is from Cape Coast Ghana. It should be a very interesting area. It is out in the bush and it will be my very first time serving in a branch. I am really excited for change but very sad to leave my current area. I love the members and all of my investigators I have met here in Asuoyeboa. But, part of missionary work is change!

The Brethren of Asuoyeboah (Elder Woaplah, Elder Vaituulala, Elder Mubenga and Elder Ordyna)

This week we had painters and carpenters in our apartment all week. The mission is redoing the Asuoyeboa apartment and improving it in many ways. Of course it is just my luck that all of the improvements are coming as soon as I am leaving the apartment. But, I did hear that my new apartment is brand new. So, i will be enjoying! Because of this we didn't have much proselyting time. We had to stay in the apartment while they are working. 

On Saturday I went on exchanges to Abuakwa. I went to Abuakwa with Elder Crowley and Elder Yeboah came to Asuoyeboa with my companion. Every time I go to Abuakwa something crazy happens. We got lost again. Walking around the area for an hour trying to find a house. And then we taught a rastaman and a prophetess and got some free herbal medicine that apparently is a cure all. I tried some the other day and it honestly tastes like soap. It is horrible. 

Yesterday on my last Sunday in the area my companion and I had to give a talk. I spoke on the Gospel of Jesus Christ while my companion spoke on the Restoration of the Gospel. We had to split the whole time between the two of us. I actually gave over a twenty minute talk and it seemed very easy. The spirit is real and it really can give us promptings and guide us in life. 

Last Sunday in Asuoyeboah (Me, Elder Vaituulala, Elder Woaplah, and Elder Mubenga)

Last Sunday in Asuoyeboah (Elder Vaituulala)

I love you all so much! Tune in next week for pictures and a description of my new area. Till next week.

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Zone Conference and three months

Hello Family and Friends,

It has been another really quick week out here in the field. I can't believe that I have already been out for three months. It has flown by! 

 Ghanaians are getting crazy here because the Ghana national team (the Black Stars) are one game away from qualifying for the World Cup. Everyone loves soccer over here including little kids. Everywhere you go you will see someone playing soccer. On Saturday night we were eating dinner at a member's home and they turned on the Mali and Ghana game. Mali is supposed to be one of the best teams in Africa. But, Ghana was doing very well against them. My companion and I left at halftime and started to walk back to our apartment because it was getting late. As we were walking I stopped to buy some pineapple and a group of people were watching the game. Literally thirty seconds later Ghana scored. And the place went absolutely crazy. People were screaming and yelling all over the place. Some guys were running up and down the street yelling Ghana Ghana Ghana!!! It was awesome. Ghana won and now if they win their next game against Niger they will qualify for the World Cup. 

My companion has also been really into soccer lately because his team DR Congo are doing very well and look to qualify soon as well. 

Wednesday- We had zone conference all day. We traveled to the Bantama Stake Center and it was my zone (Asuoyeboa) and Bantama zones combined. It was a very great conference. The zone leaders instructed on priesthood ordinances and the Assistants instructed on the Book of Mormon. As missionaries the Book of Mormon is one of our greatest tools. The Book of Mormon helps our investigators along the path of true conversion. Through the Book of Mormon one can come to know for themselves that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, The Church of Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ's church restored again to the Earth and that Jesus Christ lives and is the Savior of the world. Through my time in the field I have seen the power of the Book of Mormon. The promise in Moroni 10:3-5 really works. I have seen it in my life. Through study and prayer I have come to know that the Book of Mormon is true. But, I have also seen it in my investigators. During the first lesson we invite our investigators to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. The very next visit, every investigator that kept their commitment and read and prayed, all say that they have received their answer and know that it is true.

Zone conference was the highlight of the week. This week we focused on contacting. We went tracting all day Tuesday and Thursday to find new investigators. Here in Ghana tracting is a lot different than other missions. In all of my three months on mission no one has rejected us. Everyone here is so religious and are always happy to hear a message about Jesus Christ. The hard part is not trying to find people that will listen to you, it is trying to find serious people that will progress and come to church. Because everyone already goes to church and many are happy with their faith. But, this week we found some really solid people that I hope will progress.

Sadly, though I will not be in the area to see how it goes. I just got word today that I will be transferred from Asuoyeboa. It will be a very sad week. :( I have loved Asuoyeboa and all of the members and people that I have come to know here. I am still unsure which area I will be sent to but I will find out on Saturday and next week I will let you all know. 

I hope you all have a great week and I will talk to you all next week!!!

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Service Project for the Ward Relief Society President (Cutting Grass with a Cutlass)

Service Project for the Ward Relief Society President (Trimming Bushes)

Chilling after the Service Project with Ellen (member), Elder Vaituulala, and Elder Mubenga