Letter from December 28, 2015

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Dec 28 at 10:20 AM

To       

Hi, everyone!

This has been a pretty good week! On Tuesday we had a multi-zone Christmas Devotional up in the bush, so we had to get a tro tro and drive for a while to get there. I saw baboons on the side of the road on the way there!! That was pretty awesome :D Haha, but it was a fun activity. Our zone all sang Mary's Lullaby, and Elder Saunders and I sang the alternate descant part together which was pretty cool. They also fed us a ton there, and we had chocolate frosted chocolate cake! Ah, I miss cake, haha.

Christmas was awesome. We woke up and opened our various packages we received from our families, which was way awesome. Then we went out, taught a lesson to some investigators, and came back and got to call home! Ah, it was so good to hear my family's voices again. It was so much fun. It was hard to say bye, though. After I said bye, I was feeling a little homesick when we went out. Our plans fell through, so we weren't able to teach a lesson, and we didn't know what to do. We were going to head back to the apartment, but we realized the spirit was telling us we shouldn't go home yet. We didn't know what to do, so we kind of stopped and stood there with our bikes trying to figure out what to do when a recent convert came up to us! It wasn't at the place he normally stays at, so we were surprised to see him! We chatted for a bit, and I asked him if he had anyone he knew that we could teach. He said he knew someone across the road we should meet with, so he starts leading us there, and he says to me, "I was about to go home, but something told me I should wait small." This lady he led us to is awesome! That evening we gave her a Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet, and the very next day she called us and told us she read it and had some questions about it! She told me, "Elder Buchanan, I love Jesus," and that she didn't want to sin anymore and that she wants to be baptized! AND SHE WAS THE FIRST INVESTIGATOR I HAD THAT ACTUALLY CAME TO CHURCH. I was so pumped! Although she told the taxi driver where to go, but he dropped her off at the wrong junction, but even then, she walked all the way to our rented church building (which was a pretty lengthy walk, I must say), and it was so awesome! So that was a nice Christmas treat that cheered me up.

You know, I was thinking about the work in our area and why we haven't been having as much success as we've hoped for. I was reading in the Book of Mormon the other day, and I was reading the account of Ammon and Aaron and the other sons of Mosiah and their missionary experiences. Ammon had immense success and was able to convert King Lamoni and his people, but Aaron and his brothers weren't well-received at all. I came across Alma 20: 30 which says, "And, as it happened, it was their lot to have fallen into the hands of a more hardened and a more stiffnecked people; therefore they would not hearken unto their words, and they had cast them out, and had smitten them, and had driven them from house to house, and from place to place, even until they had arrived in the land of Middoni; and there they were taken and cast into prison, and bound with strong cords, and kept in prison for many days, and were delivered by Lamoni and Ammon." And that gave me a little perspective. That's not to say I'm just accepting that fact and thinking that no one here will ever change, but it helped me to realize that even the great missionaries in the Book of Mormon weren't always received so well. I'm comparing myself to them and I've only been out for three months! So I realized I need to be more patient with myself and realize that despite my best efforts, sometimes people won't listen and that it's their own choice. Regardless, I'll always do my best to press forward with faith in the power of Christ. With it, I know the Lord's work will come to pass, and miracles can and will occur for His children and lives can and will be changed for the better.

I appreciate all of the love and support you all give me. I want to hear about how Christmas was for all of you! I hope you had a fun and amazing time, but that you were also able to remember the Savior Jesus Christ and that He's the real reason we celebrate Christmas.

With love,

Elder Daniel Buchanan :)

P.S. Once again, I'm so sorry I couldn't send pictures this week. I have a bunch of pictures I've been wanting to send, but I haven't been able to, sadly.

The photos below are all from the multi-zone Christmas devotional that they had on Thursday, December 24, 2015.

Letter from December 21, 2015

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  12/21/15 at 11:54 AM

To       

Hi, everyone!!

This has been quite an eventful week! I have so many pictures I want to email home,  but the internet cafes are pretty rough here, sadly, so, again, I can't send any pictures today :(

Lots of interesting things have gone on lately! One day we were headed to a lesson with a few investigators and a lamb started chasing us on our bikes! Elder Saunders stopped, so I stopped, and then the lamb started following me even after I started riding again! Haha, there are goats, sheep, chickens, cows, and lizards all over the place here! It's kind of cool!

Also, the culture continues to be pretty interesting. It's very common for people to pray in their own native languages when we're teaching them. The most common language (at least in my area) is Twi, but there are so many (which I don't know how to spell) such as Twi, Ga, Awey, Krobuk, Fanti, etc. There are all kinds of different languages here. Elder Saunders made the joke that on our mission call letters, the only reason they said we're called to serve English-speaking is because they can't list all of the languages around here and that we'll just have to figure them out while we're here, haha :D

We had a district get-together which was AWESOME. I didn't think upon arriving in Ghana I'd ever eat to the point of being stuffed until going back home, but man, there was so much food there! There was colas and orange sodas, fried rice, rotisserie chicken, orange chicken, mashed potatoes, potato salad, bananas, pineapples, watermelons, and then I literally bought myself a pizza (it's not often you find pizza here, so whenever I get the chance, I take it, haha). It was so much fun. I was almost afraid I wouldn't be able to ride my bike for an hour back to the apartment, but somehow I managed! That was a good day.

Also, we had a cool experience this week. There's this one seamstress who owns a shop and she has several apprentices that we teach, but the owner herself never seemed too interested. There was one evening we had run out of people to teach, it was dark, so people were starting to go inside and to bed, so we didn't know what to do. We decided to head back to the apartment and update our area book and do other logistical things like that. As we were biking back, Elder Saunders stops me and says, "I feel like we need to pray and ask God where we should go." So we do, and we call a few people to see if they were free, but no go, so we decide to continue with our original plan. He stopped us at the bottom of the biggest hill in our area. When we get to the top, one of the apprentices came to my mind along with the thought, "What you're doing is good, but going to see her is better." So I stop Elder Saunders. We're both obviously tired from a long day of work, and we just biked up a big hill. Regardless, I tell him that I felt like we needed to go back and see her. We ride back down the hill and we go to the shop, but the apprentice I had thought of was busy and was leaving in a few minutes. The other apprentices were also unavailable, so we didn't know what to do. The shop owner says, "I thought you weren't coming today." (We typically alternate days we go places, so she wasn't expecting us that day) Elder Saunders just replies, "I don't know why I'm here, but God told us we need to be here, so here we are." So the shop owner just says, "Okay then, teach me!" As I said, she normally wasn't particularly interested in our message. She's a wonderful lady and a good friend, but she's a devout catholic and generally doesn't listen to us, but on this occasion, she invited us to sit down and teach her. It starts out a little slow, and she seems disinterested, but at one point while I'm sharing a thought, I mention the fact that Christ visited the Americas, and that caught her attention. We had a good discussion about that, and she accepted a Book of Mormon and committed to read in 3 Nephi where Christ comes and visits His children on the American continent. Later after we had left, Elder Saunders tells me that he had taught this lady about the Book of Mormon several different times before with his previous companion, and she would always decline and wouldn't want to listen. But this particular evening, she asked us to teach her, and she accepted the Book of Mormon when I offered it to her! The Lord truly can and does work miracles if we have faith. That event truly was a miracle.

Just as a final thought: I was reading in the Book of Mormon during personal study a bit ago, and I came across a verse that I really liked, and it was wonderful timing considering the upcoming Christmas holiday! I read Alma 7:7 which says, "For behold, I say unto you there be many things to come; and behold, there is one thing which is of more importance than they all—for behold, the time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people." I love that verse so much, particularly because it says that the most important thing that was to ever happen was nearing—the mortal life of the Savior Jesus Christ. He came to earth for each and every one of us. He came because He loves us. He not only died for us, but He rose again so that we, also, can rise again. I know that the Savior lives. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is real. I hope all of you know how much I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I also hope that each and every one of you has an amazing Christmas!! :)

With love,

Elder Buchanan :)

Elder Buchanan and his district at their district get-together dinner

Letter from December 14, 2015

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Dec 14 at 11:33 AM

To       

Hi, all!!

This has been another crazy week. I love the work so much, but man, I'm exhausted! One night I was laying on my bed writing in my journal, and in the morning I realized I had fallen asleep while writing, and my pen drifted off the page and onto my sheets, haha! Elder Palmer inspired me this week, and I've been washing my clothes each day as I wear them, so today I only spent like one hour washing clothes instead of six! I finally found some time to relax and unwind, and it was beautiful! THIS WEEK I FOUND PIZZA. Ah, I wish you could have been there to see the excitement on my face, haha! It was 35 cedis, but I had no regrets whatsoever. It was kind of small, but it was good! I feel bad, I was a little selfish and my companion was irked with me for not sharing more, but I promised him I'd share more next time :D

One night this week we stopped at the shop by our apartment and we heard someone playing some American music! It's a song that I was never particularly a fan of, but I was excited to hear some American music in Africa, so I actually kind of tapped my foot along with the beat, it was fun!

Also, I saw another white guy in Africa! We were teaching a lesson in an investigator's shop and this guy just came up and handed us some fliers, and walked away. It was kind of weird but cool at the same time!

This week I found a scripture that I related to in a weird way! 2 Nephi 5:16. It talked about how the Nephites built a temple after the manner of Solomon's temple. It was structured in a similar fashion, but it wasn't as fine materially because they couldn't find those materials in the land. That seriously made me think of the San Antonio Temple and the Ghana Accra Temple, because they're the exact same floor plan, but the Accra temple isn't quite as fancy because the materials aren't as readily available! I just thought that was something kind of cool.

Thursday was a crazy intense day. We had a big multi-Zone Conference. It started at 9, but we had to meet in Ashaiman at 6 to take tro tros there, and it takes just over an hour to bike there, so we had to wake up at 4am to start getting ready! It was a hard morning. We made sandwiches of bread, chocolate spread and sweetened condensed milk to take for lunch and started biking. We were originally going to meet at the Stake Center (big church building) in Ashaiman, but we don't know how to get there, so we normally meet with the other Elders in our district to get there. Literally 5 minutes before we get to their apartment, they call us and tell us that they took a taxi and left without us and we should just somehow find our way. So we head in the general direction of the Stake Center, and we get to one road that just had some CRAZY traffic. It was so packed in some places that we couldn't even get through with our bikes! So at one point, we're sitting there stopped waiting for an opening, and a tro tro decides to try to move somewhere and literally runs right into my companion's bike, kind of pushing him along the road and bending his tire. Needless to say, he was not happy at all.

We find the Ashaiman Station where all the other Elders are gathered, and we discover that people changed the plans on us without telling us and we weren't supposed to meet at the stake center. So we bike over there, and the gate is locked, so Elder Palmer jumps the fence and Elder Saunders hands our bikes over and we start walking over to the tro tro station. We finally get there and head to the Zone Conference. That was really nice. I was invited to play piano for our own zone musical number and I sang with a few other missionaries, and that was lots of fun. It was a great experience and I learned a lot from it.

Also, I played piano again in church yesterday! I'm starting to enjoy being the unofficial ward pianist :D One of these days they're going to pick a ridiculously hard hymn that I really can't play, and that'll definitely be an adventure.

As always, I just want you all to know that I KNOW the Lord lives. He loves all of us so much. I love sharing with my investigators 3 Nephi 27:21, where Christ invites people, "that which ye have seen me do, that shall ye also do." All Christ ever did while He was on the earth was serve people. He did good to them. He loved them. It's important for us to also strive to follow Christ's example as the Good Shepherd. We need to serve people. We need to love them and do good to them. We need to do everything we can to bring people unto the Savior because he is REAL. He always has been and always will be. It's the truth, and that will never change. I know it.

I really appreciate all of the love and support even when I'm so far away. You all are amazing. Thanks so much for everything! I love hearing from you each week.

With love,

Elder Daniel Buchanan

P.S. I had some great pictures to share this week, but this internet cafe always has trouble registering my camera, sadly :( Hopefully next week we'll be able to go to the one closer to our apartment that actually works. I wish I could send pictures more frequently!

Photos from 9 December 2015

Elder Buchanan and Elder Saunders happened to run into a Senior Missionary Couple who snapped their photo and posted it on Facebook.

zone conference

Elder Buchanan playing the piano at zone conference

Snacks or lunch at zone conference

Letter and photos from 7 December 2015

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Today at 11:52 AM

To       

Hi, all!!

This week has gone by really fast! I don't even know where the time has gone. I can hardly believe I've already been gone for more than two months! Honestly, I can barely remember what's even happened this week, ha. It's been really good, though! We've met a lot of new people, and the work is going really well. I'm really starting to love the people. Haha, it's so much fun to see their reaction when I can speak a little bit of Twi to them :D I've gotten to the point that I can understand most of what people say now.

Also, I did something lame this week. We had a frying pan, and I didn't realize it had some non-stick covering (sort of, it wasn't very non-stick anyway) on it, and I was going to make my companion breakfast, but it had junk stuck on it, so I used a spoon to scrape it away, and one of the elders in the apartment came in and threatened me with the spoon if I didn't put it down, haha, so basically I kind of ruined our non-stick pan and now making eggs and pancakes will be even harder from now on xD Haha, but we got water back this week, thankfully. Actually, last night our water tank started overflowing so we actually had to shut the water off!

But yesterday was a little rough, though, for several reasons. It was fast Sunday, and we forgot about that until late Saturday night, so we basically went until like 8 at night. It's also the beginning of Hamatan (I have no idea how to spell it), the dry season, so there's a ton of dust in the air, so I was pretty much dying, haha. Also, after Ward Council meeting at church they had refreshments of bread and HONEY. You don't find honey here frequently, and I was fasting! That really was a sacrifice for me, haha! But then we also had so much confidence that our investigators would come to church yesterday. Even the people who usually make excuses said that they would be there, so we were so excited, but they didn't show up, sadly :( But church itself was really good, though! I've basically unofficially been called as the ward pianist now! So I showed up not knowing the hymns I was going to be playing. When I got there, I had never learned two of them, but I knew the closing hymn — Silent Night. So that was nice. But then after the opening hymn, one of the bishopric leaned over and gave me a note saying we were going to sing a different closing hymn—also one that I had never learned! Then to top it all off, in Priesthood meeting, we were singing a hymn I had never even heard before. My companion was called on to lead the music, and then he offered up my services as pianist, so I literally had to sight-read a hymn I had never heard or played before. It wasn't dreadful, but I suppose I did okay. Haha it was an adventure, but thankfully, the Lord helped me through it all and I was able to play well. I'm grateful for the musical talent that He has blessed me with. :)

I just want to tell you all that I know the Lord lives. He loves each and every one of us. This week I've started studying Jesus the Christ a lot more, and I love learning about the Savior. I'm so grateful for Him. I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. It's not just simply a story, it's REAL. We truly do have a loving Father in Heaven and a loving Savior. I know it's true.

I always look forward to hearing from you each and every week. I can't adequately express how much I appreciate all of your love and support and your messages each week.

With love,

Elder Daniel Buchanan

Elder Saunders made spaghetti and some pretty good spaghetti sauce, which I was super pumped for since I love spaghetti :D

A picture back from our district Thanksgiving get-together. Me and Elder Nielsen, the two Texan Elders :D (I think I'm stronger;) and I wore Dad's tie that day!

Me with my paper Christmas tree Mom made for me as well as the mini Christmas tree she sent! I love both so much :D

Letter and Photo from November 30, 2015

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Nov 30 at 11:57 AM

To       

Hey all!!

This has been a crazy week! So much has happened, and there have been plenty of ups and downs, but it's been a great week. So the first few days were mostly normal, but I noticed plenty of small miracles. Like we went to one man's place who has been struggling lately, but he wasn't there, so we were sad that we were going to miss him. We started to leave, but he was just coming back! So thankfully we were able to meet with him, and we finally figured out some things that were on his mind that were bothering him, so I think now we'll be able to have more success with him. While teaching him, another man came up that had visited with the missionaries a bit, so we'll probably be able to meet with him as well! There are so many little miracles we saw. Then I had my first exchange! I spent the day with Elder Oduobuk, my District Leader, and it actually went super well! I figured out I'm capable of a lot more than I realized, so that was an awesome learning experience. He actually said he thought I was learning really quickly, and he was also impressed with how much Twi I knew considering I've only been out for one transfer, haha. But then we got home and realized our water level in our water tanks was so low, so the pump couldn't get it into the apartment. So we had to climb on top of these big tanks and draw water with a bucket as if it were a well. We had to preserve water, though, so we literally showered with pure waters. A pure water is basically a 500ml bag of water intended for drinking, but you can buy a big pouch with like 30 for only 3.5 cedis. So I had the privilege of taking a shower with two pure waters, which is the equivalent of one liter of water. I felt really skilled for pulling that off, haha! But we didn't get water back in the tank for five days, so that was fun managing with a bucket and pure waters. Then our gas level got so low, we were afraid we wouldn't be able to use our stove. So we wouldn't be able to boil the water, cook food, etc. Thankfully, we were able to get it filled. That morning was stressful, though. All of us literally had a whole loaf of bread with Jago (sweetened condensed milk) as a sandwich for breakfast. So that was fun. Thankfully now, we have gas, water, and power all back and all is well! Also, on Sunday, we were almost late for church, but we arrived just a few minutes before it started, and when we got there, I saw that the keyboard was out again. Two of the hymns they had selected I had never played before in my life! So I played the opening hymn, then I silenced the keyboard and practiced the others during the announcements, haha. But thankfully, I somehow managed to get through them fairly well! The bishop came up to me afterwards and said that he's really starting to enjoy Sacrament meeting with me playing the piano. Hahaha, I remember when my brother Ben and I used to compete: we both know I'm the better pianist ;), but he'd just say, "I can play more hymns, though!" and I would say it doesn't count since he would leave notes out all the time! Well, that's totally me, now, haha! It's become a necessity when I have to play a song I've never played before in five minutes xD

My mom made and sent me a paper Christmas tree with battery-operated lights, and I hung it up yesterday! I was so excited as I was putting it up. It made me feel bad for all the times I'd complain about putting up Christmas decorations. I have a picture, but again, I can't send pictures today for some reason :( It might just be this internet cafe. Hopefully I'll be able to send some next week.

I really look forward to hearing from you every week, it really means a lot to me. I just want you to know that I know the Savior lives. I've said this every email so far and I'm sure I will continue to say it in every message I send. I know it's true. I know he loves each and every one of us. He can guide us through and lift us from any trial we face. I love Him with every fiber of my being.

With love,

Elder Daniel Buchanan

This it the Christmas tree of which Daniel speaks that his mother made for him and sent to him.

Letter from November 23, 2015

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Nov 23 at 11:59 AM

To       

Hello, all!

This week has been a pretty awesome week! Lots of good things have happened. With some missionaries, we got together and had a mini-thanksgiving celebration, which was quite nice. We had fried chicken and rice and pineapple soda, which is actually really good. Also, today, our zone got together and watched Forever Strong! Such a great movie.

This was an awesome week music-wise. It was actually the first time I played piano in Sacrament Meeting, which was pretty cool. But then today was the cool part. I believe the Lord helps me when I try to use my talents to help other people. I was asked to play a hymn I had never played before, but somehow I was able to! Then, I was accompanying my companion who was singing a hymn, but the original key was too high for him, so he had me transpose it down, and again, I was somehow able to play it on the spot! I know God really does look out for us, even with the little things. Don't ever forget that He lives. I KNOW He lives and loves us.

That's about all I have. Luckily, I get to stay with Elder Saunders for the remainder of my training, which I'm quite excited for. I love working with him, he makes it easy to be excited and enthusiastic about the work. I hope everything is going well for all of you!!

I look forward to hearing from all of you again!

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Letter from November 16, 2015

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Today at 11:59 AM

To       

Hi everyone!!

This has been a pretty good week. Lots has happened. Early this week, the power went out on us, and we have battery-operated fans in the apartment, but mine died, so I got the one I brought with me and that one died on me, too!! So I had a super tiny fan I used that kept me alive through the night, haha. Also, I saw like four pink chickens!! I thought it was way cool, haha. I'd send pictures, but I'm not in a good internet cafe, so I can't this week, but expect some fun pictures next week :D

Also, my birthday was a lot of fun! Elder Saunders was awesome and made me breakfast. He made me pancakes and sausage and cut up a pineapple for me :D (but I made the syrup, haha) Then while we were out working, a man stopped us, and it was someone that we had lost contact with and were having trouble finding and reaching since he moved, but we ran into him! So that was a cool little miracle. Then when we got home, we started our daily planning, and Elder Saunders stepped out of the room for a moment. Then I just hear, "Elder Buchanan, come here." So I get up and walk out of the room, and all of the elders in the apartment just jump out and start spraying me with water and drench me right there in our main area! Haha, so that was a fun day. I also loved the cards and the gifts you sent me! They really meant a lot to me. I made myself some mashed potatoes and gravy and a chocolate chip cookie warm delight :)

Sadly, our baptisms fell through this week because people still are having trouble getting to church. We still haven't figured out how to fix this problem. But there is word of a new branch being made closer to our area early next year, so if that happens, that would be fantastic. I think that area would really flourish.

Just one cool little thing that happened this week. You know, I'd been a little worried about my musical abilities while over here, but this week during district council, we had a keyboard, and they had me play. The first hymn I could play: 27 - Praise to the Man :D But the closing hymn was one that for some reason I had always struggled with: 6 - Redeemer of Israel, so I was a little worried about that, but I still was willing to play, and when it was time to play the closing hymn, I sat down and played it with only one mistake that wasn't even that bad! I was so proud of myself, but I realized that I normally can't sight-read that well; the Lord helped me through it and blessed me with assistance. It was just something small, but it meant a lot to me since music is so important to me. :)

I don't have too much else that's gone on this week. I love the work so much! I love the Savior. I've come to see His hand in my life so much more. Don't ever forget that He lives and that He loves each and every one of us. My companion and I tell people it's not just a fairy tale or a bedtime story we tell—it's REAL. Jesus Christ really does live. We really do have a Father in Heaven who loves us and is always watching over us.

I miss you all, and I can't wait to hear from you again soon!!

With love,

Elder Buchanan

10 November 2015 - more photos

Elder Buchanan and other missionaries on preparation day playing sports

Letter from November 9, 2015

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Today at 12:29 PM

To       

Hello, everyone!

I haven't had a ton happen this week. I've come to like Waakye, it's basically rice and beans with shito is what it's called, it's basically a spicy spaghetti sauce, haha. Most of the food here is really hot. I'm frequently sniffling and my eyes water, hahaha. I also like plantain, it is quite good. We have Indomie almost every night. It's basically the African version of Top Ramen :)

Nothing too much has happened lately, but I've got two things I'd like to share. One day while we were biking and I was tired, I actually started thinking about lawn-mowing! Haha, I thought about how it's much like serving a mission. When I was young, Dad would always make me mow the lawn with our broken-down lawn-mower and it'd always shut down on me while I'm working! I'd frequently get frustrated and want to stop, but I never did because I knew Dad wouldn't be happy. Similarly, a mission can be challenging in much the same way. Often, there will be obstacles that make you want to just stop and give up, but you keep pressing forward even when times are hard, because you want to make your Father in Heaven proud. It becomes easier with time, and as I've continued doing my best, I continue seeing the Lord's hand in my life guiding and strengthening me.

Also, I had kind of a rough weekend. So we planned a zone sports activity in Tema today (P-day), which is the day we wash our clothes, and Tema is pretty far from Bechile where we stay. This weekend was also Stake Conference, so we had extra meetings on Saturday and Sunday, and on Saturday we had lunch at the other Elders' apartment in our district which is a ways away. We also had to start washing our clothes on Saturday, so basically all of that led to two days of absolutely no missionary work, despite my efforts to get out of it. Sports are fun, but I felt awful that we wasted two days of precious time that the Lord's given us to serve Him and His children just so we can play some sports. I felt so bad about it. I decided to pray about it, and as I did, I felt a great sense of peace. The words came to mind, "I'm proud of you. As long as you keep doing your best, that's all that matters." That's so true—not only for me in my situation, but for all of us. Our Father in Heaven will always be pleased with us as long as we're just doing our absolute best. If we do, we will be able to feel our Savior's love and we'll be able to recognize His hand in our lives. I'm having a blast here in Ghana. It's definitely been an adventure. I love hearing from all of you each week. I hope all is well!

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Ghana scenery from Daniel's current area of assignment

Two missionaries in fancy shirts!

Taking some time on preparation day to clean the local church with a bit of sword fighting interspersed with the cleaning!

Letter from November 2, 2015

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Nov 2 at 11:33 AM

To       

Hello!!

This week has been a pretty crazy week. I think all of my weeks have been pretty crazy, haha.

But BYU football inspired me even in Africa! You know, after Taysom (I don't know how to spell his name, haha) got injured and was out and the backup just came home from a mission and became a BYU legend that same game! I've been worried about my musical abilites diminishing, but then I thought of BYU football! Haha I believe if I continue to do my best, at least when I get home, the Lord will bless me for my service and will restore any talent that I don't get to use while I'm here. There's not really pianos here, and apparently people make fun of American accents here, so I'm still trying to figure out how to use my music here.

But the water supply has been totally fluctuating this week. One day, we ran out of water. We could not pump water into the house, we couldn't take a shower, we had nothing. Eventually we looked in the tank, and it was almost empty, so we lowered a bucket and pulled what water was left until it filled back up. Then when it started to fill, it was "Light out," so we couldn't get any water anyway! But it came back, so we didn't die, thankfully, haha. Then a few days later, I finally experienced "African rain." We were at a shop teaching, and during our lesson, the lights went out, then a little bit later, it started to rain. It wasn't bad at first, but then it started to POUR. Man, it was torrential rainfall, lightning, thunder, everything. It started to get late and we had to head back to the apartment, but it was raining too hard. So Elder Saunders and I went outside under the overhang by ourselves and we said a prayer. We then went out to get our bikes. The owner of the shop, a good friend, told us not to ride out in that rain in the dark, but we did. We realized we needed to have faith, so after we started riding, the rain started to subside! It didn't cease, but it definitely backed off so we were able to get home, despite having to bike through mud and streams and craziness. Haha that was the first night I actually used my blanket here. You wouldn't expect it—I was cold, wet, muddy, and exhausted, but I was the happiest I had been since getting to my area, because I could see the hand of the Lord working in our lives. The Lord is real, and He lives! Don't ever forget it.

I seriously need to work on contacting. We decided to go contacting for a bit, and some lady waved to us, so I decided to go over and talk to her. All my contacting experiences just aren't ideal, haha. This time, it turned out I decided to talk to a group of Muslim ladies about Jesus Christ. Haha so that was definitely an interesting experience.

I'm also learning more words in Twi! I've mostly just learned basic words and phrases. I don't have all the proper characters to type it out properly, so I'll just type them as close as I can with English phonetics, haha. "Etuh zane" is "How are you doing?" "Ayeh" is "Fine," and "Namiado" is "By His grace." That's a common response when people ask how you're doing. It's totally normal to just walk by and have someone say, "Good afternoon," to you. Haha, the little kids keep getting excited by us Brunies. They always say, "Oh, Brunie kor kor!!" Which in Twi means, "White man, red red!" Actually, the first night in my area, Michel Camp, we were biking and there was a big group of kids who all just ran up to me excitedly calling out, "Brunie brunie!" People commonly don't mean it as an insult, they just don't know what to call us. It's usually the younger ones that try to bug us by calling us that, haha.

But this week we had 13 progressing investigators! We had to move back our baptismal dates we had scheduled for the 25th of Oct. to this month, but maybe 6 baptisms on the 15th will be a nice birthday treat :D The big problem we're having is transportation, though. Our church building is not in our proselyting area, it's a bit far from it. Most people here don't have cars, and many don't even have enough money to use a tro tro (public van/bus) to get there, and it's only about 1 Cedi to ride (which is pretty close to about $0.30). The people we teach are very interested, we're just trying to figure out how to get them to church, though. I pray we'll figure out a way to resolve the problem.

I think that's about all I have for this week. I seriously look forward to hearing from all of you and how life is treating you. I hope all is well. I'm doing well, and the work is great! I'm mostly pretty comfortable teaching lessons. But this week I'm going to do my best to work on my contacting skills and get over the fear of talking to strangers. I don't think I have any reason to be worried, though, because everyone talks to everyone here!

Just remember that the Savior lives, and He loves us. He's always looking over us, and if we pay attention, we can see His hand in our lives every single day.

With love,

Elder Daniel Buchanan

Elder Buchanan with his companion, Elder Saunders and the other two missionaries with whom they live

Elder Buchanan hits the jackpot in mail!

Letter from October 26, 2015

Hey everyone!!

Missionary life is so much work. If you've seen The Avengers, remember when Capt. America says, "Banner, now might be a great time for you to get angry." and he says, "That's my secret. I'm always angry." That's so me. "That's my secret. I'm always tired." Haha, but things are going so incredibly well! I've gotten more used to living in Africa and I'm getting more attached to it. I've stopped focusing on myself and I've started focusing more on the people around me and serving them. We've actually extended five baptismal dates in the two weeks I've been in my first area! It's so great. Apparently I'm not very good at contacting, though. I saw one guy sitting there with his head down, and I felt like we should contact him and Elder Saunders just said, "Go!" I'm like, I have no idea what to do! So I finally get up the courage and just go up, "Good evening." "Good evening." ........ "How are you doing?" "I'm fine." .......... "What's your name?" "Collins."......... "Well, I'm Elder Buchanan from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what we do is..." (and so on). This guy just hardly says anything while I'm trying to talk to him. Thankfully after letting me flounder for a bit, Elder Saunders jumps in and helps me. After we rode away, Elder Saunders just started laughing at how awkward it was apparently. Haha but later he said "I think the guy was either depressed, high, or just angry," hahaha, so contacting is something we're going to work on this week. One time we were biking home in the dark and it had rained that day. Most of the roads here are dirt roads, so there was lots of puddles all over the place. There was one I didn't see, and I was standing on my bike at the time, and when I got home, my companion said it looked like I had an accident, haha. I'm starting to do better at communicating with the people. I wouldn't say I have an African accent yet, but I've got to the point where I can switch fairly well between regular American speech and African speech, so I'm pretty proud of myself for that. I've also definitely become more attached to the people here. But also, ONE OF THE MEMBERS HERE GAVE ME PIZZA. Oh my goodness, haha Elder Saunders just laughed because of how happy I was. The are so incredibly generous, though. I feel bad about it sometimes, because we'll visit with some people, and they'll only have a little bit to feed their families, and they'll give me and Elder Saunders half of all of their food for the whole day! It's so amazing to see. These people are so humble. They have so little, yet they so readily give what they have to others.

I hope you all know that I love the Lord so much. He really does look after each and every one of us. I wouldn't have been able to make it this far if it weren't for Him. He really does have a hand in our lives, whether we realize it or not.

I look forward to hearing from all of you so much! You all are the best, and I miss you!

With love,

Elder Daniel Buchanan

Selfie at the internet cafe

Ghananian Pizza!!

First Week in Michel Camp, 19 October 2015

Hello all!!

It's crazy to think I've already been gone for almost three weeks now! I miss you all so much, and I love so much hearing from you.

This week has been intense! It's been great, but I'm also exhausted, haha. My area is called Michel Camp. During a lesson outside, we had some crazy dark clouds roll in and it started to rain. But apparently the rain wasn't bad for "African Rain".

The bishop's family had us over for dinner last night... and they served us banku. Ugh. I had it once earlier in the week, and I almost wanted to cry, hahaha. It's like this ball of.... play-do almost, and you eat it with your hands and dip it in some stew (in this case, it was fish stew, and I don't like fish,) and then when you try to swallow it, it's SO sticky, it gets stuck in your soft palate and makes you want to gag. Honestly, it started to make my eyes water it was so painful. Haha, but I was still grateful they had us over to feed us. Luckily they gave us sprite afterwards. They actually use a different kind of sugar for their soda, and it's really good! :)

It's a super laid-back culture, so that can be good and bad. People will randomly get up during lessons, take phone calls, listen to music, etc. But that also means people are more outspoken. If people are angry, they'll let you know. If people are happy, they'll let you know. It's kind of cool. I hope if I say anything about the culture, you'll hear it with an attitude of excitement for a different place and a different people, not negativity, even if some of the things sound bad, haha. It's not super common, but it's also not unusual to see people not wearing clothes...

I'm having a hard time connecting with the people. Elder Saunders has been doing most of the talking, and I'd jump in whenever I could. I felt good about that, but then one night during planning, he told me that the people act—most of them have no idea what I'm saying, and that made me really sad. I was kind of proud of what I had been saying to people. I hadn't been stumbling over my words like I normally do, but then to hear that... :( It's alright. I know the Lord has been blessing us with success, though. He said in just the few days we were able to work so far, we had better numbers than he did in like the previous three weeks. I'm having a hard time, but I'm also exercising faith in the Lord, because I know He can and will work miracles.

Also, it's really humid here. I've gotten more used to it, but holy goodness, I don't think I've sweat so much in my entire life! People here tease me about how sweaty and white I am, haha. Actually, I've lost count of how many times I've been called "brunie," or white man in Twi (pronounced chwee). I now share the pain of people who frequently get called "the N-word." Also, I really, really miss having a washer and dryer. I hand-washed my clothes today, and I literally rubbed my fingers, knuckles, and hands raw today, my goodness. Now I'm in excruciating pain whenever I put on hand-sanitizer, haha. Oh well. Haha I realize now that this email probably sounds super negative, but actually, it's been a pretty good week. Elder Saunders has been an amazing companion. He's pretty funny, and we get along and work together well. I've been learning a lot, and we've been able to teach a lot of lessons, get contacts, and we've actually had three kids commit to baptism! I don't know how serious they were, since they're kids, but it was still awesome regardless, and we have another man with a baptismal date for next Sunday! We're working on getting the kids' mother to visit church. Things are going super well. I'm getting used to actually living here, but connecting with the people and missing home are the hardest parts, but I'm doing everything I can to lose myself in the work and to help the people around me.

Your thoughts and words of encouragement have meant so much to me. Please keep them coming, I love hearing from all of you!! Maybe if I can and I have time, I'll send like one-liners to you individually when I can and then send you my weekly updates. :) You don't realize how much I look forward to hearing from you each week. Always keep the Lord in the forefront of your mind. He's always here, and He always will be. We just need to continue to reach out to Him, and He will work wonders in our lives.

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Elders Buchanan and Saunders

Yummy banku!!

Living area with mosquito netting

Daniel also related this story -

"Thursday, I think, we were on our way to Zone Training, and we took the Tro Tro (basically a big van), but it broke down, so we had to walk a ways. We were going down the road when we got to a road under construction with like new tar, and a guy starts yelling at us "Brunies" to get off the road or he would slap us. Then he started speaking in some other language, that luckily Elder Saunders understands enough of, and the worker escalated to he would tie us down and beat us if we didn't leave. Elder Saunders said he wasn't crossing back over, and the guy said if we didn't, he would come over and tie us down and beat us, and then Elder Saunders basically said, "Well then you'd have to cross your own road!" and we left, unharmed, thankfully."

Preparation Day at the MTC

Since Daniel was at the MTC for only eleven days, he had one preparation day there.

He got to play some basketball, and early on, was the high scorer on his team.

As part of his preparation day, he and the other missionaries had the opportunity to attend the temple in Accra.

Letter from October 15, 2015

Hello all!

I don't have much time today, Pres. Heid is just letting me email home real quick to let you know I made it to my first area, but I'll try to include as much as possible. Sending pictures may be a challenge, though, so I'll see what I can figure out and try to send as many as possible.

The last week has been crazy! Just to make Ben happy; while I was at the MTC, we were out playing bball one day, and I was actually scoring the majority of the points for our team! So I was pretty proud of myself. But that was until we had teams of like 7 vs. 8, so I stopped playing, haha.

Also, I just got to my first area, and pretty much everything that can go wrong has!! Our ECG (electricty card) was broken in our apartment, so no power. My mosquito net was broken, so we had to rig it with an old belt. Then in the morning, since the water is connected to the power, I had to take a bucket shower. Those are lame, haha. But then after I got dressed, I was leaving my room and my shirt caught on the door and it ripped in the back, so I've only been gone a week and I'm already down a shirt. Then later that day, some crazy dark clouds rolled in and we had to park our bikes at a member's shop and they gave us a ride. So it's been pretty crazy.

But it's been interesting, too! We met with three people yesterday, and they were all very different. The first lady was on one extreme--she kept looking at her phone and watching TV and everything. The next guy was curious, but he had questions because of things he heard from the Bible, but he agreed to meet with us again. Then the last guy was the definition of a golden investigator. He was so interested and believed the church was true and everything! So that was great. I love my trainer. His name is Elder Saunders, and he's an American!! I was so excited. I know that God does hear and answer our prayers. I had been praying for an American, someone that knew how I felt, and that's what I got! He reminds me of Cameron Royce, haha.

Also, we have chickens around our apartment, and they keep crowing and waking me up at like 5:50, and it reminds me of JT Cluck, haha (Dad will understand).

Michelle, will you send me a workout plan that I can do without machines or weights or anything so I can stay fit? Also, Bro. Malmrose and the area 70 at the MTC said he felt like he was on a cloud when I played my arrangement of Come Thou Fount. I'm glad to be in the field. 

I need to go, I only have like 2 minutes left until my computer shuts me off. I love you all so much, and I'll email again on Monday!! I miss you, and love you.

Love,

Elder Daniel Buchanan

Arrival at the Ghana Accra Mission Home
Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches awaiting

Daniel's first assignment is in the Michel Camp Ward in Ashiaman

Daniel being called upon to play in the training meeting

Missionary Training Center

Daniel arrived at the Ghana MTC on Friday, October 2, 2015.  He will depart the MTC and report to the Ghana Accra Mission Headquarters on Tuesday, October 13, 2015.  His first companion, at the MTC, is Elder Baylor Bell from Ogden, Utah.

Elders Bell and Buchanan

There were 51 new missionaries from North America, the most ever, that arrived on October 2, 2015. Below, they are being recognized and welcomed.

Hurrah for Israel!

Daniel with members of his MTC district

Engaged in learning and preparing to teach the gospel

While at the MTC the missionaries are taught health related items: the risk of malaria and the importance of taking their doxycycline everyday, thoroughly washing fresh fruits and vegetables, filtering all water to be consumed, etc.

Practicing teaching

Even though the official language in Ghana is English, the people still speak a number of native languages.  Daniel is holding a copy of the Book of Mormon translated into Twi.