No Matter How Dark....the Sun Always Shines Nov. 27-Dec. 3, 2018

Nov. 27-Dec. 3, 2018

My Apartment

View from my apartment 

Dear Family and friends,

One thing that I have definitely learned on mission is to how to overcome disappointments and hardships and to always rely on the Savior Jesus Christ and he will always be able to help you through anything. There will be dark times but the sun will shine again, it always shines. 

This knowledge really helped me this week when disappointments and discouragements came to my companion and me. 

At the beginning of last week, we were planning for 11 baptisms on the 8th of December. We have really been receiving a lot of powerful people to teach that are really interested in the message from our own efforts along with referrals from members. We were confident that things were going to work out and the 8th was going to be an amazing day. The week was full of really spiritual lessons with all of the people that we were preparing and all of them were progressing very well and coming to church, reading the Book of Mormon, and praying. They were all very well spiritually and physically and expressed their excitement about their baptism. 

The week was full of some great lessons and meeting with a lot of new people but it also ended with a lot of disappointments. Along the way, things have really changed and opposition has come. One of them told us she traveled, four were seriously sick and then the saddest of them all two told us that they never want to come back to church again or even meet with us. One of them was a man named Mishak. We were really trying to help him overcome a drinking problem and doing all that we could to strengthen him. He was doing so well for a couple of weeks but then he stopped coming to church and started to dodge us. The second was named Sister Blessing. She is from Libya and was a Muslim before she began coming to church and hearing from us. She was coming to church for a while and loving everything about it. But, then out of nowhere last night, I received a call from her telling us to never come back and it is better for her to just stay at home. Afterwards, I was in shock and so surprised at what she was telling me. They were loving everything about the Church, especially about the message but then all of a sudden things like this came up. 

Despite these oppositions, I know nothing can stop this divine work. I know that God and Jesus Christ are there and my whole mission I have relied heavily on this knowledge. I know that everything will work out. On the bright side, we are still planning to baptize three powerful people this weekend. It will be a great and wonderful day. All three are really looking forward to it. We will continue to help and prepare our other investigators for the coming weeks. 

Sunday was another amazing miracle at sacrament. We found many new people that are ready to receive us and even people came up to us and said that they want to be baptized. One is a four-person family. I was so happy. I have been learning this principle my whole mission, especially my whole life, but it was really magnified this week: Gloomy and Cloudy days come in our lives but the sun will always shine. No matter what, it will always shine. That knowledge has been keeping me going through this discouraging week but I love this gospel and the Savior Jesus Christ so much. 

As Christmas is coming up and it is the beginning of December I have really been trying to get into the spirit of the season. Being my last Christmas in Ghana I have really tried to devote this month to Jesus Christ. To do all that I can to invite as many people as I can unto Him and even to hand out many Books of Mormon. I have also been doing all that I can to learn more about Him especially in Jesus the Christ and The Book of Mormon. Plus trying to become more like him and do the things that He would do. I have already seen wonderful blessings come into my life and I encourage everyone to do the same. Jesus Christ is the reason for the season and everything that we have in this life.

Love,

Elder Ordyna

The Prayer of Faith - Nov. 20-26, 2018

Nov. 20-26, 2018

Me and the new missionary in my apartment Elder Tonga from Tonga

Dear family and friends,

A somewhat stressful week with transfers and other things but mostly a great week filled with lessons and talking to people. That is the joys of being out here in Ghana. Everyone is willing to listen to you and hear what you have to say.

On Wednesday we had our mission-wide transfer day. My companion and I had the great responsibility to hire a tro-tro for the day to take us to Bantama and then to the various areas. We had to make sure that we took the zone members that are leaving our zone to Bantama as well as making sure that all of the new members got to where they needed to go. It was a long day of traveling, leading and directing. We were in a tro-tro for like five hours driving out to the various areas of Kwamo Zone. It is the most spread out zone in the mission with five two-man apartments and there are some serious far areas. But, after the transfers, our zone is looking great again and I am so excited for what this transfer has in store. The Meek Kwamo Zone is still meek and is the great and spacious bush zone. 

All of the zone members from Kwamo Zone being transferred- (but me)

And to make it even more adventurous one of our areas in the zone Agona was whitewashed (both missionaries left the area). So, we had to guide them to their apartment. I had never been there before and I asked the office elders to print me out a map of it. Remember we don't have smartphones out here. So we were out in the straight bush of Ghana trying to follow the map to the apartment. It turned out to be a completely wrong map so we went out and trekked around for a bit and just started to ask people everywhere for the Obroni's house. Before we knew it we were lost out in the middle of nowhere. Finally, a nice man pointed us in the right direction and we were able to find it. With the help of the wonderful people of Ghana we were able to get the Agona elders to their new apartment. Just another amazing adventure out here. 

My area is basically straight fire right now. Serious miracles are happening right now. The Lord's hand is definitely in our area right now. We have been finding so many people that have been prepared by Heavenly Father to hear our message and even more people are being referred to us by the members. With our efforts and the members, Kwamo is exploding with success. This past Sunday I also experienced an amazing answer to my prayer. 

Coming to church on Sunday I was very optimistic for a great showing at church. We had a lot of people tell us that they are coming and are excited for their first time at church. Halfway through sacrament meeting, we only had one investigator at church. I was really disappointed and I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help everyone that had a desire to come to church today to be able to make it. Literally, a couple of minutes later my prayer was answered. People came into the chapel, investigators for the first time, progressing investigators as well as new people that we have never seen before. And didn't only stop in Ward 1 it also continued in Ward 2. We found a whole lot of new people to teach and a lot of our current investigators' faith grew because they were able to come to church for the first time. At the end of it, we had 10 investigators at church with four new people to follow up with. It was so awesome. I knew that God answered prayers before that moment but it completely strengthened my testimony of that fact. God is always there waiting for us to pray so that he can bless us and help us in everything that we are doing. And that is exactly what happened. He blessed me and my companion but he also blessed those investigators life and led them to the restored gospel. I love this gospel so much and am so grateful to be out in His vineyard as a full-time missionary inviting and bringing souls unto Jesus Christ.

I love you all and am so grateful for all of your support and love you have shown me over these months. Hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Lucky 13th Transfer - Nov.13-19, 2018

Nov.13-19, 2018

Me and Brother Atobrah (a returned missionary that goes proselyting with us almost every day)

Hello family and friends!!

It has been another great week out here. As a missionary of the Lord Jesus Christ, every week is great. Teaching the restored gospel to many people each week really has given me some serious happiness and joy. I have really loved every moment of every second. Mission has strengthened my testimony of this gospel so much and I can now say that the gospel has truly changed my life so much. Every lesson I teach, every person I talk to, and every time I study my faith in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father grow. 

Today officially begins my 13th transfer on mission. I call it the lucky 13th because it is the transfer when I hit my 18-month mark and the sisters that came on mission with me go home. Last six months on mission is approaching very soon. But, as I look back on how fast time flew it seems so short but I know I have grown and have learned so much and have had so many great experiences. 

This week we had another normal week. A lot of teaching and talking with people. We were able to also find a lot of people that seem really interested as well as some referrals from the members. I can really see the hand of the Lord in this area. The Lord sure is blessing us here in Kwamo. People are coming out of everywhere to come to the truth lately and I know it is the Lord that is preparing their hearts for the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ that we have to share with them. 

One great experience I was able to have this week was to go on exchanges to the farthest area of our zone. President Webster put us on the task of scoping and exploring a place called Ejura for a potential group. Mampong (the farthest area in our zone) is a two-hour journey from Kwamo and then Ejura is another hour from there. It was seriously far and the travel was plenty but it was a great adventure. The taxis we rode in were basically made in the '80s and I thought it would fall apart along the way on the terrible roads but we made it there and back very safely. Seriously cool to go so far away for a special assignment from mission president. Ejura is a completely different world from Kwamo. It has a great foundation and with a group where the church will really grow a lot. It is also really great to go on exchange with our zone members and to see how things are going and to get to know them better. The Mampong elders are doing amazing work and really enjoying things. Everyone in Kwamo Zone is doing super well and there is some serious success and hard work being done right now out here in the wide and spacious bush zone of Ghana Kumasi Mission. 

getting a haircut out here by Edward, one of our recent converts

Love you all so much. And hope each one of you has a great and enjoyable Thanksgiving!! Eat a lot of turkey and mashed potatoes for me! Don't worry though in return I will make sure to eat a giant bowl of FUFU with groundnut soup!! Enjoy the week!

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Don't Go There!! I Didn't Go There!! - Nov 6-Nov 12

 Hey all!!

Another week has rapidly passed once again and that means that you get another update from Elder Ordyna. This week was definitely one to remember.

We focused majority of the week on preparing people for baptism. Kwamo is my only area so far on mission where my companion and I have never planned to contact because the members are constantly giving us referrals. As a result we had 8 baptisms this last week. It was so amazing to see each one of them enter the waters of baptism and then to be so happy afterwards. One of the men that we baptized told us after the baptism that he loves this church so much and will be his church until he dies. 

One of the men named Solomon has an amazing conversion story. I wasn't here when he met the missionaries only to finish his teaching and baptize him. But, he said that one day he was coming home from work and he hurt his foot on the way. Missionaries saw him and could tell that he was in some serious pain and offered to help him get home. They got ice blocks and some pain killer and then helped Solomon to his house. Since that day Solomon was interested in the missionaries and what they had to tell him. That very next Sunday he came to church for the very first time and has come every Sunday since and now is baptized. He absolutely loves the church and is planning to attend the temple at the end of this month during the ward temple trip.  

The title for my letter this week comes from one of the investigators we currently are meeting with named Mishak. For him he has been coming to church for months now and is seriously interested in our message. One of his biggest challenges is drinking alcohol. When we first started teaching him he was drinking every single day and we saw him drunk many times. He really wanted to change and we really wanted to help him change. A couple of weeks ago we had a lesson with him and we got a feel for his problem. We talked about repentance and the atonement and about how through Jesus Christ we can do all things and He can give us the strength to overcome our challenges and weaknesses. We told him to not go to the bar or as they call it in Ghana "spot".  DONT GO THERE!! This last week we met with him again and he said that he has been really praying and asking for God's help and hasn't drunk for two week s now! We told him DONT GO THERE and he said I DIDNT GO THERE. That is our little thing with him now. We say to him DONT GO THERE and he always says I DIDNT GO THERE!! Here is doing so great and preparing all that he can for baptism. 

I know that Jesus Christ lives. He truly is the son of God and through Him we can overcome any challenges that we have in this life. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and know that it can truly change us and help us to become the people that God and Jesus Christ want us to become as we apply it in our lives. The Atonement of Jesus Christ can transform our lives and give us so much joy and happiness!!! I love you all and I love this gospel so much!! Sharing it with others everyday all day for almost the past year and a half has made me so happy. And I know that as we all live the gospel in our lives we can all have that same happiness and joy.

Love,

Elder Ordyna

Pictures 

Picture 1- Baptism

Picture 2- Me with Edward (a recent convert in Kwamo as well as my barber)

Picture 3- Look towards the center and you will see my picture. I am famous here in Kwamo!!!

Kwamo is on Fire, Work Wise! - Oct. 29-Nov. 5, 2018

Oct. 29-Nov. 5, 2018

Agona District

Hello All, 

I love and miss all of you!! It has been a seriously busy and productive week here in Kwamo. I always think about what I did to deserve this wonderful and blessed area. It has been such a great blessing to serve in this place with such powerful members. 

Two weeks ago Kwamo Ward 1 had 96 people show up to sacrament meeting. The next mid-week the Bishop and the clerk, both returned missionaries, talked about helping less-actives return to the fold and working on getting new people to join the fold. It was a seriously inspiring mid-week. The members were all so pumped and inspired to achieve a goal of 110 people at sacrament. And we achieved 116!! Talk about commitment and willingness! These people here in Kwamo truly understand this gospel and what it means to be a true member of Jesus Christ's church. We also received five referrals from some members. For the first time my whole mission we had a member that called us to tell us he had someone for us to teach. We were walking down the street trying to think about something to do and we were about to contact when we received a phone call from one of our recent converts Brother Ikwiee. He said that he was visiting with someone that he wanted us to come and teach. He introduced us to Brother Desmond and we had a wonderful lesson one with him. With the help of members, the work has been amazing and so sweet!!

Kwamo District Activity to the Kumasi Zoo

Since serving in Ghana I have seriously gained a testimony of the Great Apostasy and the Restoration. It is so obvious here in Ghana that the apostasy truly did happen. There are thousands of churches and false prophets and confusion everywhere. I feel like it is a lot like the same kind of thing going on when Joseph Smith was 14. The best way to get people interested in the church is lesson 1, The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We had many times this week where we talked about the things going on here in Ghana and how we can come to know for ourselves which church is true. We were contacting in an area for some small time when we came across two women arguing about the age to be baptized. One said that it was 30 years old and the other said 15 years. Both said that their pastors told them the age and claimed that it is straight from the bible. We had a long conversation with both of them about the apostasy and the restoration. Both were so interested and loved everything we said. So many people know there are some serious things going wrong here in the churches and they are seriously doing all that they can to find the truth. It is so amazing to see the spirit touch someone's hearts and for them to be converted in the gospel and come to know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Jesus Christ's true church. 

I love you guys so much. Hope you all have a great week!! 

Elder Ordyna

pictures are at the zoo

Mission Tour with President Nash, Africa West Area President

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

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