WEEK 70: NOT DEPRESSED!

Hello Friends,

It was made known to me that some of you all back home got different vibes from my letter a few weeks ago than I was going for. I guess there were a few lines that made some come to the conclusion that I am having a hard time or that I'm depressed. I promise you all that I'm not depressed nor am I having a difficult time haha. I am actually the happiest I have ever been and I am just as enthusiastic and optimistic about my mission as I was since day one. The purpose of those few lines talking about some days it's harder to get out of bed or on my own I'm not enough, was not to be taken as a cry of despair however the counter part attached to those sentences telling how i constantly overcome those feelings was meant to be the main focus. I was hoping that the reader would take away from that email an underlining message of always turning to God by doing the little things. Those examples of hardship on mission were given to add imagery to the reader allowing them to relate the hardships I might face and the hardships faced in an average everyday life. I did not mean for it to be taken as everyday I can hardly get out of bed and that I go through life with my head hung low. Because I can assure you that is not the case... Hahaha I hope for those that may have misinterpreted my last email, now understand what i was going for with this added explanation. If not you can ask my mother because she understands perfectly where I am coming from, as always

Elder Pace

This week I was moved by the tenderness and joy of witnessing families being unified in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no greater peace that can fill ones mind than to know you can be together with your family forever, breaking past the bonds of death... This week I and my companion had 4 baptisms and confirmations. Each one of them brought family members together. Let me take a brief moment to Individually go through all of their stories.

Let me start with Benson, who is the closest to my companion and then work my way towards me in the order of how you see them. Benson Is 14 years old. He stays with members however those who he stays with is not his mother or father but his aunt and uncle. It seems to me that his actual parents pay little attention to him and did not even bother to give him a chance of education. He speaks no English or even Twi, the only language he knows is the language of the tribe he was born into. For whatever reason his parents handed him over to his aunt and uncle to take care of him. For them they were excited to have him join the church they hold dear to their hearts. After months of teaching him through his aunts assistance of translation he was finally able to be baptized and you should have seen the smile on his face!

Clifford, age 10. Clifford is the son of Rita, and my companion and I baptized Rita just a few weeks back. Clifford is so pure and so innocent. He is hilarious to teach because he will forget everything you say exactly 2 seconds after you tell him. It's so fun to see him think so hard when you ask him a question during a lesson, even though that very question you just answered yourself right before you asked him. It took him about 3 teaching appointments to remember Joseph Smiths name and about 5 for him to be able to tell you that he is a prophet instead of his usual response, "Professor". However all went well in the end and he answered all the interview questions with confidence.  The funny thing about this is the interview took place the day before his baptism and we told him a million times to not forget and to stay home so that we could pick him up. When the next day came and we went to pick him up he was no where to be found. We later found out that he forgot all about his baptism and went to go play soccer with his friends hahaha. When we sent his little brother and sister to go and refresh his memory about his baptism he came sprinting back home and quickly got ready. Finally he was baptized and now mother and son are now untied in the faith. When we asked permission from his father who is not a member, he said to us, "yes!, Pastor please baptize him. My son is your son, just bring him closer to Jesus".

Victoria. Victoria's husband is a recent convert of just a little over a year. Together they have several children, One of them (Prince age 22) I and Elder Bamba baptized.  Victoria and her husband have a beautiful relationship, and they spend most of the day sitting in their little shop, conversing and laughing together which is an uncommon thing to see between husband and wife in Ghana. Victoria's husband is always inviting her to come to church and even told her how beautiful the temple is because he himself has been blessed with the opportunity to go. Shortly after her husband came home from experiencing the temple for the first time he told his wife, " It's so beautiful unlike anything you have ever seen before. It's heaven!". Later when Victoria was finally ready for baptism we asked her why she needs to be baptiszed. She said " so that I can be a member of the true church, and then one day go to heaven, which is in Accra" (thats the temples location in Ghana btw). She also shared with us that she is wanting to one day be sealed to her husband for time and all eternity. The day she was baptized I felt the spirit come over me so strongly as she went down into the water and her husband watched with a huge smile on his face. At the service after the ordinance was performed, her husband went to bear his testimony. The first word he said was "Hallelujah". After the service finished it started to rain, so everyone was trapped in the chapel. During this time I watched this husband and wife sit on chairs facing each other talking about their joy of what took place with so much love and affection in their voice and on their countenance.

Michael age 18. Michael currently works at a members bakery. For him he just arrived not too long ago there and it was through a member that we met him. The interesting thing about Michael is my first transfer here we taught and baptized his older sister Grace who has since gone off to school. When I was introduced to him I did not know that Grace was his sister but as we got talking I later found out. With our first initial contact he didn't seem interested and rejected our invitation to visit the church. After the rejection I asked him why? I said to him "Dont you know that your sister just was baptized into this church, maybe there is something to it that you might be missing out on". His response was, "well that was her choice, and to not go is mine". We asked him if we could at least come the following week to share our special message with him. He was hesitant to accept but as his member friend urged him he finally agreed. That following week we taught him the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it went very well. His interest was spiked and many questions were asked. He accepted to come to church. Sunday came and he was there, and loved it. We later taught him the Plan of Salvation and I believe that was the icing on the cake. His interest intensified and he even started reading and marking the Book of Mormon. After that it was smooth sailing to his baptism and he was so happy afterward. I later called his sister and asked if she was aware that she was no longer alone with her beliefs. She said she wasn't. I explained to her that her younger brother was baptized a member of the church. She wasn't even aware that we were teaching him and she was so happy, all she could say was, "we thank God".

What a blessing this gospel is in our lives, especially our families! What an amazing week to be a full time missionary in the Lords church.

Elder Pace