Photos from Daniel's next to last day

Final letter and photos, 18 September 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net> 18 September 2017 at 1:39 PM

Hi, all!!

Well, I can't believe I'm finally saying this, but this is my last time emailing home from Ghana. I fly home a week from today and I arrive the next day. I have one week left in Ghana, and my mixed feelings are intense, haha. But first, here was the week.:

-Today was a fun P-Day. We had a zone activity with lots of fun outdoor games and food and goodness. It was cool because most of the time the activity is just sports like soccer and basketball and everyone gets bored and tired of the same things all the time. We had musical chairs, wheelbarrow races, arm-wrestling tournaments, and other fun stuff. We had two polynesian missionaries buy a live pig and they roasted it and cooked it up for all of us and it was way fun. I saw lots of people that I may never see again, and that's a really hard feeling. But it was so much fun and I think everyone enjoyed.

-This past week was pretty busy, too. We had a zone conference as well as a final MLC and both were very uplifting and enlightening. I like the new mission president. He loves the missionaries so much and is so eager to help them and to serve them as well as the Lord. I admire him so much. I wish I had him as my mission president for more time.

-One last exciting thing: yesterday I had my last baptism! It was a girl named Gifty. She was referred to us by her father, who is a member, and he told us she wanted her to be baptized. She is super quiet, but she is a smart girl. She wasn't coming for a few weeks because her father wasn't coming, but she started coming with a family friend who would bring her to church, and it was awesome. Yesterday was my last full Sunday in Ghana, next week I will have to leave church early to get ready to go home. But it was so exciting. As I have always said, it brings such incredible joy seeing others embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. What was even better was seeing the happiness on her father's face when she was baptized. It was an incredible experience.

-Well... I don't have words. You know, when I first came to Ghana, I had such a hard time adjusting. I cried frequently. I felt alone. I wondered how I would ever be able to learn to love these people; they are so different, sometimes so difficult, sometimes hard to understand, and it's just so foreign to everything I had been comfortable with. It took so long for me to adjust and finally feel comfortable with them. Then, as time went on, I felt more sadness every time I was transferred from one ward/branch to another because I had to leave the people I had learned to love there. Every time I was transferred just got harder and harder to say goodbye because of how much I had come to love them. I came to realize something: the more I served these people, the more I came to love them. The more I spent time in their service, the more I genuinely cared about them and their welfare. I got to where I didn't go out and teach and serve because I'm supposed to as a missionary, but I got to where I went out because I loved them and wanted to serve them. Thinking about my own feelings about this work got me thinking about who I'm representing: Jesus Christ. There has to be a reason why He loves us so much. Everyone always talks about how much He loves us and wants to help us and bless us, but why? Well, in my own short two years here simply sitting down and teaching people the gospel as well as doing service for them in various ways, I have developed this incredible love for them, wouldn't it follow that the one who performed the greatest act of service for us would also have the greatest love for us? There was so greater act of service and love for us than the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I can't even put into words the power and influence it has in my own life, let alone the lives of everyone who has ever lived. He felt all of our pains, weaknesses, infirmities, iniquities, sorrows, temptations, trials. Everything. I don't know many people who would be willing to die for a friend or family member, let alone for the whole world. I can't even comprehend how much love He would have to die for me and to suffer all of the pain I have thus far in my 20 years (with more years of pain and hardship to come). How did He do it? I don't know how. All I know is that He did. I know that He came here for us because He loves us. He loves us so much, and I love Him. I cannot adequately express my gratitude for the opportunity I have had to serve Him and to help people know of the incredibly joy that comes from following Him. Who doesn't want to help the people they love? I believe the Savior is no different; He wants  to help us, so why not let Him. That's why I came here. I came here because of Him. I didn't know where I would be without Him, but now I do. I have seen so many suffer needless pain because they don't know the truth—they don't truly know Him. I have seen what a life without Him is like, and now I see what my life is like with Him. I love Him so much, and I want everyone to know that I declare to all of you today that He lives and He is real.

I love all of you so much. Thank you so much for all the love and support you have shown me for the past two years. I hope you all are doing fantastic.

With love,

Elder Daniel Buchanan

Letter and Photos from September 11, 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net> September 11 at 1:33 PM

Hi, all!!

This week was a little bit more slow, but it was still a pretty good week.

-We had MLC this week (Mission Leadership Council) and in preparation, we had to collect some baptismal records from our zone. So we had to basically take almost a whole day to travel around our zone from Tema to Batsona to Sakumono to Kpone, it was tiring. It always surprises me how tiring simply sitting in a vehicle can be, haha. But it was cool visiting with the missionaries around and to see how they're doing.

-Then the next day was MLC. Always a fun experience. Pres. Keyes is definitely doing things differently than Pres. Heid. Pres. Keyes is definitely looking more at the stats and numbers and doing more thorough studies and research and interviews to figure out how best to improve the work here in this mission. I believe his changes will display inertia, haha, but I do believe they will increase the effectiveness of the missionaries here and increase personal conversion and dedication to the gospel both for the missionaries and for the people of Ghana. And then, of course... pizza afterwards. Can't forget to include that important detail. :)

-I don't know what spiritual thought to give today. The vast wealth of valuable knowledge contained within the scriptures always makes it a challenge for me to pick something to share, or maybe because of my own personal challenges or because of what personally touches me, I like to share similar ideas repeatedly. But I do want to say that I know my worn down, beat-up set of scriptures are my most valuable possession with me here in Ghana. I've often thought about getting mugged or robbed or something and pleading with the robber to take whatever he wants but to just leave the scriptures. I have spent hundreds of hours studying with that set of scriptures here in Ghana and marking in them and highlighting and making notes. I have learned so incredibly much, and I would definitely cry if anything happened to them. I'm talking about a physical book that I've read from, but what is inside is far more valuable than the tangible pages. The words come from the Savior, Jesus Christ. They come from Him to bless our lives and to change us into better people and to bring us closer to Him. We all like feeling loved, right? Well, I can tell you that is exactly what you will experience from studying the scriptures and following the Savior, Jesus Christ. He loves us so much. More than we can ever describe with words. He was willing to suffer, to bleed, to be beaten, scourged, spit upon, to have nails driven through his hands and feet... because He loves us. He loves you. I can't fathom what my life would be like if He weren't willing to do that. Any mistakes I make I would have to pay the price and suffer the consequences with no hope of forgiveness, redemption, reconciliation, or peace of mind. If He weren't willing to do that, when my best friend dies or my family passes on, I would have no hope of ever seeing them again. Because of Him, we can have hope for all of these things. We can have peace of mind knowing that we can be forgiven of our personal mistakes, and we can be with our loved ones forever—that death is not the end. I can't express with words my gratitude for my Savior. I cannot express with words my gratitude that I have someone who is unceasingly there, even when I displease Him, forget about Him, offend Him and any other way I could hurt Him. I cannot adequately express my gratitude that regardless of what I do, my Savior is my best friend, and He is always there eager to take my hand and help me to change and become better—to leave behind my sinful ways, to forsake my stubborn nature, to be humble and to follow Him on the path to eternal joy, happiness, and peace. If there's nothing else you learn from this, learn that I am declaring today that Jesus Christ lives, that He loves you, and He is real. By following Him, you truly will find happiness and peace.

I love all of you so much. Thank you so much for all the love and support. I hope you are all doing so well.

With love,

Elder Buchanan

The pictures I have for this week are actually from our golf game today! I have wanted to go golfing here in Ghana for such a long time, and it has finally happened, and it was so much fun!

Two office Elders, Elder Dabata, and Elder Buchanan

Letter and Photos from September 4, 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>Sep 4 at 1:06 PM

Hi, all!!

This week was pretty eventful which is always fun. Lots of good things happened this week.

-First, today we had a fun P-day at the beach which is where my pictures today come from. It was another elder's birthday (also first-named Daniel, haha) and it was fun. There was food, sparkling drinks, and lots of fun. I tried doing some flips on the sand which was fun. I got a cool pic of me flying through the air... (I wish I could fly, haha). It was definitely lots of fun, though.

-This week we also traveled a few times for baptismal interviews. Traveling in Ghana is always a bit of a hassle, but that's okay. The second one fell through. We traveled all the way out to Kpone, met the elders, went up to the investigators' home to find that they had gone out. Initially they said they'd be back in five minutes, and then they said at 7pm (and it was currently 5pm), so we had to find something to do while we waited, only to find that at 7pm the person said they weren't going to be able to come that evening... so we just had to postpone it to next week. The first one was much better, we went to Batsona and it was fantastic. It was a young girl, I believe she was 16, and this girl was so smart. She understood what the missionaries taught better than most adults do, so that was kind of cool. She really opened up and said that at first she had some serious doubts about the church, about the Book of Mormon, etc., but eventually she opened her heart and mind and decided to pray and ask, and she felt like all of it is true and it really comes from God.

-The other particularly cool thing from this week was with a member who has introduced himself to us as Chicken... I love Chicken so much, haha. He actually has a really nice chicken place that he works at, but he tells us to call him Chicken which is kind of fun. Before I met him, I was told he is a member of the church, even a returned missionary, but he likes to deny it. So, as expected, when I first met him, he denied being a member, but I was still friendly with him. While proselyting during the days we would often pass by and say hello and just chat with him for a little while. I've known him for probably about three months now, and finally yesterday, he opened up to me and confessed that he actually is a member of the church and he served a mission in Lagos, Nigeria. He is really starting to trust us, which is awesome. He has been asking me all kinds of questions about America and BYU and stuff like that, and it's awesome. We actually never really sat down and had a discussion with him (mostly because of his work which requires him to be moving around a lot and would divert his focus), but we just make idle chat with him and show him love and I can see how happy he his every time he sees us, and it's awesome. He told me he has plans to make his work schedule work out so he can actually start coming back to church. I am so excited about him. He's a great guy and he's doing well, he just let some other things obscure his view of the things that are the most important. Sadly, it's a lot easier for that to happen than one would like to admit. I think it's safe to say we all try our best to be good people and to do what is right, but sometimes we allow things to get in the way of our view of what is right. One way I've found that helps us keep our eyes on what is most important—our Savior, Jesus Christ—is simple things we do every day: prayer and scripture study. Just as when we fail to feed our body with food and water it becomes weak and fatigued, the same happens to our spirit when we fail to nourish it with the good word of God and communication with our Heavenly Father. God gives us His words and His gospel to benefit and bless our lives, not to constrict us, but rather to free us and to make our lives better. God loves us so incredibly much, and all He wants is to help us do what is right, and so as we regularly speak with Him every day, we will truly come to understand what He wants more, and we will be able to see His love for us and that He is unfailingly there for us; all we have to do is reach out to Him.

I love all of you so much. I hope you're doing well and that you have a fantastic week!

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Here's just a few pics from the beach party today :D

Letter from August 28, 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>Aug 28 at 12:26 PM

Hi, all!!

This week was relatively uneventful, but good, as always.

-This last week we traveled out to the Batsona for their district council meeting. Apparently every week after district council they go to Eddy's Pizza, a place where on Tuesdays and Wednesdays they have a buy one get one free deal, so we definitely enjoyed some pizza that day. And don't worry about me eating too much pizza, because my companion have still been going to the gym! Definitely going for a six-pack before I get home... No promises, but I'm working for it, hahaha

-We worked with a lot of less-active members this week which actually went really well. We had four less-active members come to church this past week! There are lots of various reasons to lead someone to fall away from the church, but it is always such a beautiful experience to see someone once again experience what they felt before. The gospel is incredible in the ways it manifests its truthfulness to those who embrace it. Some it comes little by little, some it comes in a dramatic way, but regardless of how someone comes to know the truth, I've noticed that it is always accompanied by an incredible feeling of peace and happiness. It's not something one can really explain with words. It'd be like trying to describe the taste of salt to you if you have never tasted salt or trying to explain the color blue if you can't see. It's something that really only means something to someone who has personally experienced it. I have experienced it. I have felt it for myself. I know that this incredible feeling of peacefulness can come from no other source but the Savior, Jesus Christ. It's a feeling of peace that comes even when everything seems to be going wrong, yet for some reason somehow you know everything will be okay because you know the Savior is there ready to help and He will if you trust in Him and reach out to Him.

I love all of you so much. I hope you all have a fantastic week and that all is well with you.

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures this week, but I will try to repent and do better next week for all of you, haha