Two Years in Ghana: Letter from November 9, 2015

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

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