Letter and photo from January 25, 20416

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Jan 25 at 12:10 PM

To       

Hello, all!

This week hasn't been too eventful, but it's been super good nonetheless!

First of all, our sink pipes are broken, so we have to put a bucket underneath to prevent the kitchen from flooding... I also was never much of a cook, but I'm learning to make fried rice, and I'm going to try to figure out how to make bo-floats (basically a deep-fried roll, so kind of like a Ghanaian scone/donut type thing), so when I come back, I'm going to make some killer fried rice and bo-floats :D

But this week we had one investigator come to church!! I'm so excited. It was a lady we met last Saturday, I believe (nine days ago), and she's already come to church twice, she keeps her commitments, she reads the Book of Mormon, and she told us that she's prayed to know if what we share with her is true, and she says she feels like it is! Ah, I'm so incredibly excited. People would always tell me that when serving a mission, there would be disappointments, but the joy you feel when you help people come unto Christ easily makes up for it. They weren't kidding. This week just seems to have gone so much better. I feel like I've developed an even greater love for the work and for the people here, it's so amazing.

The other day while I was reading my scriptures, I came across a verse that really hit me. It was in the Book of Mormon, the book of Alma, chapter 37 verse 44. I love this so much. It says, "For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land." Sometimes it may seem challenging to keep all the commandments, but in reality, if we realize what the gospel of Jesus Christ does for us, it becomes easy. The gospel gives us the assurance that everything will work out, that God truly does love us, and that we have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who came to earth to lift us up to Him. I can't tell you all how grateful I am for Him and for a Father in Heaven who truly love each and every one of us.

I miss you all, and I truly appreciate all of the love and support each of you give me. You're all the best! :D

With love,

Elder Buchanan

P.S. I'm sorry I couldn't send pictures today :(

We (Daniel's family) received the photo below from a Facebook posting from one of the Senior Missionary Couples in Ghana.

Elders Udonsa, Odili, Buchanan, and Uche

Letters and photos from January 18, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Today at 11:55 AM

To       

Hey everyone!

How's life? I hope everything's going well for everyone. This has been a pretty good week. Exhausting, but quite good! Haha, one day we went back to the apartment for lunch, and I had some extra time, so I went into my room to do a little studying, and I could barely keep my eyes awake to finish one section, and I passed out at my desk for 20 minutes, haha. We then went out proselyting some more and contacted some interesting people. So it was still a productive day! I know the Lord has given me strength to continue His work, because if not, I would have passed out from exhaustion a long time ago, haha. But there's also joy in the work, so that keeps me going so well! I love sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with those around me. It's definitely an interesting experience here, though, because pretty much everyone here is religious (mostly Christian, but there are plenty of Muslims and other faiths, too), but they all worship so differently! It's really pretty cool to hear about all the different faiths!

I had four things I totally geeked out over this week.

1. I found Texas BBQ Sauce Pringles!!! I took a selfie of them with my Texas flag, haha! (Picture included below)

2. I HAD CEREAL THIS WEEK. We found a shop in the Ashaiman city called Melcom and I found cereal and bought it. Ah, I didn't realize how much I missed my bowl of cereal each morning. It was glorious, haha

3. There's a new trainee in our zone from California named Elder Takis, and he's a musician! He's way cool, and we've been talking music, and that's been pretty dang awesome. It's nice to have someone to talk about music with!

4. The last, but most certainly not the least thing about which I geeked out over:

WE HAD THREE INVESTIGATORS COME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY. Oh my goodness, I was so incredibly excited. One of them we started teaching only this past week, but she seems way solid. She reads the Book of Mormon, she reads the lessons we give her, she asks questions, and she actually came to church the first week we asked her to! I'm really beginning to understand when the Lord says in D&C 18 about how great shall be your joy if you bring save it be one soul unto me! She said she was actually glad she came to visit the church and that she enjoyed the service! We have a return appointment, and it seems like she's progressing really well, so I'm way excited about her.

My companion, Elder Udonsa, is pretty awesome. I've noticed he's really good at contacting, so I'm trying to learn from him. I think it's helping a lot! I feel like I've become more comfortable contacting, and it definitely brings in more people to teach! I think it seems to work better here since everyone wants to talk about God. They really do love God here, despite the differences in their views. So it's really easy to go up to someone and tell them you want to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's really quite cool :)

I miss you all! I hope all is going well for each of you. I can't wait to hear from you all again! Thank you so much for all of the love and support you give me.

With love,

Elder Buchanan :D

The Texans at the beach! (Not swimming, though, don't worry haha!) We had a combined district activity and we went to the beach, and it was actually pretty cool!

New companions - Elder Udonsa (from Nigeria) and Elder Buchanan

I FOUND TEXAS BBQ SAUCE PRINGLES. They were like 18 cedis, haha but I bought them anyway :D

Letter and photos from January 11, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Jan 11 at 11:46 AM

To       

Hey everyone!!

How are you all doing? I hope life's been treating you well. This has been a super crazy week for me. In the space of four days I've had three different companions and have worked in three areas (sort of). So Tuesday was transfer day and Elder Saunders and Elder Palmer both left. My area and Elder Uche's areas were combined, so we had one massive area. It was pretty fun being with Elder Uche! He's actually pretty smart. He studied computer science for two years before coming, and he's really good at teaching people. Then, four days later when we finally got to sit down with a lady we had been trying to teach for a while, Elder Uche gets a call from the Zone Leaders, and Elder Uche says we have to go back to the apartment immediately and clean up because we're getting two new elders. So we teach a short lesson to this lady, which went well, then hurried back. We got cleaned up, but then the APs (assistant to the President) called and told us they didn't know where our apartment was. So we had to ride all the way out to the main junction and find them on the highway. This whole day I hadn't been feeling particularly well, I had a headache and an upset stomach, and Elder Uche decides to ride as fast as humanly possible so I just about died, but thankfully I made it back alive. So now, there are currently three Nigerians and one American (me) in our apartment, haha, so that'll definitely be a change. They're all awesome, but they're also all so different! Haha, when they all get together, they start speaking in Pigeon (altered, really fast, Nigerian version of English)! My new companion is Elder Udonsa! He's pretty cool. He's been out for fifteen months now! They also re-opened my area. It was originally going to be the same as it was before, but Elder Uche talked to the Zone Leaders, and they moved the boundaries slightly so we can work a little bit closer to the church, so hopefully we'll start having a bit more success. So yeah, it's definitely been pretty crazy this week. Other than that, nothing particularly new to report, though.

Apparently my zone (the Ashaiman Zone) is like one of the dustiest zones in the mission, so maybe wherever I am next, I won't have to wash all of the shirts I own every single week! Man, I wear a shirt for one day and it's pretty much brown! Haha, but I'm definitely becoming more fond of Ghana. It's definitely different, and I miss home, but Ghana is pretty awesome, too :D

Don't forget what I say every week: I know the Lord lives. He loves each and every single one of us so, so much—more than we can even imagine. He'll always be there for us, right by our side. One thing I've come to realize more is the power of prayer. It truly is amazing. God is only one prayer away, and He hears and answers every prayer. It's true, it really is.

I love you all! I really appreciate all of your love and support for me. I can’t wait to hear from you all again next week!

With love,

Elder Daniel Buchanan

Elders Buchanan and Saunders

Elders Buchanan, Saunders, and Palmer

These are everywhere! It's kind of cool :D

Letter and photos from January 4, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Jan 4 at 11:56 AM

To       

Hi, all!

This week hasn't been too eventful. I can't believe I'm officially done with my training now! It's already been over three months. That's crazy!! New Years is a big deal here in Ghana. People will stay up all night with their nice subwoofers playing music and partying it up, haha! But this week was a little hard for me. Tomorrow is the next transfer, and we found out on Saturday what was going on. So in our apartment, there are four elders. Elder Uche (a Nigerian), Elder Palmer (an American), Elder Saunders (my American companion), and me. So sadly, my area is being closed (sort of). Elders Palmer and Saunders are being transferred (to Teschie and Accra, respectively), and Elder Uche and I are staying. It'll now be a two-Elder apartment, and our two areas are combined. So now the two of us have one massive area to cover by ourselves. I feel bad that my area's being closed because we haven't been seeing the fruits of our labor that we've been hoping for. But I have faith that everything will work out regardless. The Lord will guide us and give us strength to move forward His work. I'm really going to miss having Elder Saunders as my companion. He makes it so easy to be excited about the work, and he also makes it fun! He's taught me so much, and I really look up to him. Even so, I'm looking forward to the adventure I've got coming up ahead starting tomorrow!

We found out the news at a Stake Missionary Meeting, but afterwards, we cheered ourselves up by feasting on fried chicken, rice, plantain, macaroni, a piece of waffle, and banana bread. It was glorious. Then, yesterday, a member of the bishopric invited us over for the New Year and also because Elders Palmer and Saunders are being transferred. I shared a thought from Moroni with them before we left.

I shared the scriptures Moroni 7:13, 16, 19. Sometimes we ask, "Am I feeling the spirit or are these just my own thoughts?" But sometimes, we don't have to distinguish between the two. Anything that prompts us to do something good—to serve, to love, to follow the Savior—it's inspired of God. I know it's true, because anytime I have a thought to do something good and I act upon that prompting, I feel the Holy Spirit in my life so much more and I feel the love of God and I also see His hand in my life. If we truly do everything we can to follow Jesus Christ, we will be so blessed. I know He lives and that He's our Savior. I know it.

Thank you all for all of the love and support you give me. I love hearing from you all. I can't wait to hear from you again!

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Christmas morning!

Elders Buchanan and Saunders about a month ago