Letter and photos from February 22, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Today at 11:51 AM

To       

Hello, all!

This week hasn't been too eventful, but it's been good.

-I finally had the opportunity to pound fufu for the first time! That's more stress than I'd want to go through for food, much less fufu, haha! It was pretty cool, though.

-Today, since it's P-Day and I finished my washing, but the water pump is having issues, I wasn't able to rinse, so I had some extra time. So, I finally took a nap for what I think is the first time since coming to Ghana. It was glorious.

-I've always wanted to share the gospel with people around me, but that desire has deepened within me this past week. I've mentioned an investigator who's the first investigator that I've personally had that's actually kept commitments, reads the Book of Mormon, and comes to church. We asked her if she felt like she's received her answer as to whether she should be baptized or not. She said no, so I asked her if she had actually prayed and asked if that's what the Lord wants her to do. Again, she said no, so I say, "Ah, why not?" and her response just about broke my heart. She said, "Because I think I know the answer I'll get..." We can tell that she feels in her heart that the gospel is true, but she's not ready to change yet. I've seriously come to love this investigator and truly desire for her to have the blessings that come from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and for the first time since getting here, I've felt to such a greater degree that people out there are missing out on blessings from our Father in Heaven. He wants us to be happy and to have joy, peace, and hope, and all of that comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that with all of my heart.

-During my scripture study this week, I've once again recognized the great love that the Savior, Jesus Christ, has for His children. I was reading in The Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi 17. This is while Christ Himself was visiting the people in the Americas and teaching and ministering to them. I absolutely loved vv. 5-7. "5 And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them. 6 And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you. 7 Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy." The Savior of the World loves us so, so much. He truly wants to bless us because of His great mercy and compassion towards us, and for that I'm eternally grateful. It's because of that great love for us that He came into the world to take upon Himself our sins, our mistakes, our weaknesses so that we don't have to suffer the price for those if we will repent and follow Him. I know with all of my heart that this is true. I know He lives and loves us.

You all are the best! I hope you know I pray for all of you every day!

With love,

Elder Buchanan :)

Don't worry, all of Ghana doesn't look like this, I just like taking pictures in places that look like what most people think Africa looks like, haha :) Notice the BYU tie :D

This is the picture of me pounding fufu for the first time! The people there seriously thought it was the funniest thing ever to watch a white man pound fufu! 

Letter and photos from February 15, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Feb 15 at 11:40 AM

To       

Hey all :D

So this has been a pretty good week with some cool experiences. So again, here's the list of what's been going on with me:

-I've always liked bananas, but since coming to Ghana, I've seriously come to love them. They're really inexpensive, too! You can spend like, 3 cedis (roughly $1) and get 15 bananas. There was one time I had 13 in one sitting, haha!

-I've never really been a fan of seafood, but I'm developing an appreciation for it now! We were having dinner one evening with the bishop's family and they served us rice balls and palm nut stew. You eat it the same way as banku and fufu, but it's rice, which I actually enjoy, so that was nice :D But in the stew there was some meat, and normally it's fish in the stew, so I started eating it, but it didn't taste like regular fish, so I ask what it is, and they tell me it's fish! It was salmon, and it was actually surprisingly good! So that was kind of cool!

-So for the mission tour, I played piano to accompany some elders who were singing. We performed a medley of Love One Another and I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus, and Sis. Vinson (the wife of Elder Vinson, a general authority, I think a member of the seventy) mentioned that she felt so touched by the song that she started video recording it so she could show her family, so I was pretty proud of our group :)

-So I had a particularly interesting service opportunity this week! So we went to a home where we have a few people we normally teach, but one of the men there said he was busy because he was about to teach some students. I ask what he's going to teach, and he says math, so I offer to help! I was fully expecting him to say something like, "No, it's okay, thank you," but he actually accepted! So he led me upstairs and I thought it was going to be like two or three kids, but there were like 10-15 and I was like, "Whoa, this is like a legit class!" Haha, but I got up there and asked what he wanted me to teach and he said Algebra! Now, I can't say I'm entirely sure why he was teaching these kids algebra because most of them were really young, so I was proud of myself for simplifying it way down to their level, but most of them weren't really paying attention, so I'm not sure if that helped too much. Then he asked me if I could teach English and I was almost more eager to teach English than math to show that I can actually speak well, haha! So I get up there and I teach them a few simple things. I teach them nouns, adjectives, and verbs, and then past and present tense verbs. I was proud of how well I was teaching, too! I involved the students, had them come up to the board and write stuff down, and it was cool! I included a picture today :)

-There was one really funny experience we had while teaching. So we were teaching a few investigators who are progressing really, really well (I'm quite excited about it, if you couldn't tell from my previous emails, ha), and it's a woman, her daughter, and her daughter. So three generations. So before we actually started teaching them, the granddaughter (who is three years old) was being kind of rambunctious and running around. So after we started teaching, she started to settle down and got quiet. We were teaching them about baptism and we were discussing Christ's own baptism and that it was done by John and that he had authority from God to perform that baptism. So the grandmother asked, "If John baptized Jesus, then who baptized John?" Now, we had been discussing for about 10-15 minutes at this point and it was going well and we weren't having any distractions. Then, out of the blue, we just hear this three year-old voice excitedly proclaim, "Me!" All of us just busted out laughing, because it was so unexpected, and it's funny to think that this cute little three year-old baptized John the Baptist :)

So I think that's mostly it for what's been going on with me this week. As always, I want you all to know that I truly love the Savior, Jesus Christ. He's always there, right by our side in good times and the bad. He's always there ready to lift us up and strengthen us when our knees become weak and our hands and heads hang down in despair. I've seen this time and time again in my own life. I know He lives and loves each of us—more than we can ever understand in this life.

As always, thank you for all the love and support. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I love hearing from you each week, and I can't wait to hear from you again next week!

With love,

Elder Buchanan :D

A selfie Elder Udonsa and I took walking home one evening. Elder Uche lost his glasses at an investigator's home and we got them back for him, so Elder Udonsa is rocking the specs and I'm sportin' the shades ;)

This is me teaching English this week! I was pretty proud of myself :D

The Elders in the apartment! Me and Elders Udonsa, Uche, and Odili. They're cool guys :D

Letter from February 9, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Feb 9 at 8:04 AM

To       

Hi, all!!

So some interesting things have been going on lately. It'll probably be easiest just to list them:

-I think my fake Ghanaian accent is starting to become a habit! The other elders can understand my regular English just fine, but sometimes I'll catch myself still talking to them with my Ghanaian accent, and it's kind of funny. Who knows, maybe I'll have a permanent accent by the time I'm done, haha!

-I practically sleep in a wind tunnel now! I call it my "Cave." We have bed nets, and inside I sleep with three fans now... For the record, I don't actually need three fans, I only need one to keep me alive, but it's seriously like the most beautiful thing ever :D

-Some cool musical things have been/are going on! So since I play piano in church each Sunday, they've also appointed me as the choir pianist, so I also play for them. One time, the chorister wasn't able to make it, so I was the one chosen to lead the choir, so now I'm the ward pianist, the choir pianist, and the choir chorister! Haha, also we're having a Mission Tour coming up, and they're having me provide some music! I'll be playing piano to accompany some other Elders singing, and I may or may not be playing my own piano arrangement of How Great Thou Art. :D So that should be a lot of fun.

-I realized I'm an awful cook. I've ruined lots of food since coming here, but I'm learning from experience, haha! My first week here, I ruined oatmeal. I tried making no-bake cookies, but I accidentally put in the milk powder before actually adding it to water, so that basically ruined them. Then, I made some pancakes and I had kept some syrup I made in the fridge for too long and it crystallized, so I tried re-heating it and it basically just made some maple-flavored hard candy... Don't worry though, I'm serious about making killer fried rice and bo-floats when I get back :D

-We've been having a bunch of cool service opportunities lately, which is actually way cool for several reasons. For one, people here never want us to help them. They just want to take care of anything on their own. Also, for some reason, people here think white people=money and no work. They think we're all rich, and they think we are incapable of doing any work. So whenever we ask if there's anything we can do to help or serve them, they always say something along the lines of, "Sure, you can dash me money," (dash here means to give away for free) or, "No, you can't do it," as in I'm physically incapable. So one day we were teaching a farmer and he had some firewood he had to carry, and we offered to help. He resisted at first, but he finally relented and let us help. He was so surprised we were able to help him! We carried the bundles of wood like 3/4 of a mile and when we got there he said, "Buchanan, you look soft, but you're actually a strong man!" So I felt pretty awesome about that :D Also, we planned a service project for yesterday (which infringed upon our internet cafe time, so that's the main reason for the late email) where we shoveled dirt/rocks/gravel for an investigator. They had been paying someone to do it for them, but they had some issues with the workers and basically told them to stop coming, so we offered to just help them for free. They were so pleased when we finished the job for them that day, and it felt so good to finally do some service for someone! It was hot and really dusty, so, naturally, I was sweating like crazy, so my legs turned orange from all the dust and my feet looked like I was on the golf team again and I had a crazy tan line! Haha, I would send a picture, but there's something wrong with my memory card, so it may be a while before I can send any pictures, sadly :( But it really was such an awesome and rewarding experience.

So I was studying my scriptures one day this week, and I came across what I thought was just about the saddest scripture I've ever read. It's in the Bible, John 15:18, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you." Why did they hate the Savior of the world? Why would they reject the one who came here to redeem us—to bring us back to our Father in Heaven? I just can't understand. But in the same chapter, a few verses earlier, I find some of the happiest scriptures ever. Vv. 12-14, "12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." With verse 13 in mind, carefully consider the next verse, "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." See, if we do what God has asked us to do, He considers us His friends. And greater love hath no man than he lay down his life for his friends, and that's exactly what Jesus Christ did for all of us—for each of us. I know that our Father in Heaven loves us so, so much that He was even willing to send His only son here to the earth to lay down His life for each of us so that we can have the opportunity to return to live with our Father again and dwell in His presence and receive all the blessings He has in store for us. Why would we hate someone who did that for us? Again, I just can't understand. But as for me, I am so incredibly grateful for the Savior, Jesus Christ. I can't express with words that gratitude that fills my heart because of Him. Because of Him, we can have hope. Because of Him, we don't ever have to fear. If we have faith in Him, that faith will drive away any fear we have. I hope you all realize that, and I hope you all know that I believe that with every fiber of my being.

Sorry for the late email, I hope none of you were worried! Thank you for all the love and support you give me. I can't wait to hear from you all again next week!

With love,

Elder Buchanan :D

Letter and photos from February 1, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Today at 12:40 PM

To       

Hey, all!

This has been a pretty eventful week with lots of little interesting experiences here and there. I'll just list them all here, haha:

-I saw someone here wearing a Texas Longhorns shirt! I told him I liked his shirt and that it's from my place :D

-As missionaries, we look for service opportunities, and we had a really unique one. We helped move a building with our bare hands. Yep. Haha actually, it's really a cargo container converted into a shop with stands and electricity inside and everything, but still! We saw three guys trying to move this thing, so we stopped and offered to help. The people here all think that white people are super weak, so they hesitated, but eventually they allowed us to help, and when we finished moving it, one of the men said, "Thank you for your help! Wow, I'm impressed." And then he asked us what we were all about, so we shared a message with him and we're hoping to get together with him again soon!

-One evening we were headed back home and we stopped to buy a few bo-floats and an older man wearing only some underwear came up to me, tapped me, said something I didn't understand, and then walked away. We were with a member at the time, and he told me the guy was scared of me and thought I would beat him... So, yeah, that was interesting, haha

-We see plenty of animals on the roads here in Ghana, but for the first time, I actually saw a horse!

-So the Elders in my apartment have a new reason to call me "obolo" (fat). One night as I was getting into bed, I put one knee on my bed and my bed frame broke and fell apart. They thought that was hysterical, laughed for a bit, and then helped me repair it so I could actually use it that evening, haha

-I made myself a nice American breakfast one day this week! I had more cereal and I made some breakfast tortillas! So that was a really nice treat :D

-People here are so incredibly generous. We'll be teaching shop-owners, and they'll frequently just give us things for free from their shop! We try to pay them, but they won't let us! Even when they don't offer, if we say we want to buy something, they often won't let us pay and they'll just freely give to us! It's humbling to see how kind people here can be.

-Also, I've noticed that I've become quite a bit more bold since getting here. My second day here, we were in the Ashaiman Market and some guy grabbed me and started yelling at me in some foreign language and I was scared out of my mind. Yesterday we were riding past there again, and we had to get off our bikes and walk for a bit, and some guy grabs my bike and tries to stop me, he won't let go, so then I just start using African slang and look him in the eyes and say, "Oga (Nigerian Pigeon for 'my boss'), I need to go," and I grabbed my bike from him and left. So I'm less intimidated by scary people now, haha!

Well, I think that's about it as far as interesting experiences go. But the work is going really well here! I mentioned one lady that we've been teaching who's progressing really well. She's still doing great. She wasn't able to come to church yesterday, though, but she's still awesome! We met another lady recently who's also super receptive! She's also reading the Book of Mormon, she's interested and involved in our lessons, and she actually wanted to come to church yesterday, but she injured her foot and had to go to the hospital to get it checked out, but she's doing great. You know, I've been here for four months exactly today, and these are the first two investigators I've seen so far who have a genuine interest and desire to embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it's helped me to learn several things. Sometimes we feel like things just aren't going our way and we get discouraged. But as we continue to be diligent and patient, the Lord really does answer our prayers. The Lord can answer prayers in different ways. Sometimes when the answer is "no," we feel the Lord has neglected us, but it only means he has something better in mind. Sometimes the answer is, "not yet." If we continue to be patient, diligent, and faithful, we will see that the Lord truly does answer our prayers. I know the Lord lives and loves us. I have come to know that to a greater degree since coming here. Life is not always easy, but for those who follow the Savior, Jesus Christ, it becomes easier because He's always there, right by our side, helping us through everything. I hope you all know that I truly love Him and I have a great desire to serve Him in every way I can.

I hope everything's going really well for all of you! Thanks so much for all the love and support.

With love,

Elder Buchanan

The following is an additional message sent to Daniel's mother:

Just a few interesting facts for you that I forgot to include in my mass email, but I'll probably include next week. You can tell the family, too, if you want

-I now sleep with three fans. I only need one, but honestly, I've never slept more comfortably in my life. I actually sleep with my sheets now, and my feet feel cool! It's so great :D

-I'm going to be part of a special musical number for the upcoming mission tour! You might be a little disappointed, haha. I was originally asked to sing, but the Zone Leader could see I was a better pianist than him, so he asked me to play and do my fancy musical stuff and he'll sing in the quartet instead. I'm way pumped!

-This week for ward choir, the chorister didn't show up, so my varsity choir vice president experience came into play, haha, I conducted the choir!

-I can still differentiate, but my fake Ghanaian accent is starting to stick more since I'm not around Americans anymore! It's becoming a habit, but thankfully I've come to realize that the Elders in my apartment can understand Americans, so I speak normally to them, so I can still sound the same, haha :)

I think that's it for now :)

My favorite Ghanaian, Francis! He's a recent convert in my ward here!

The four Elders in my apartment! Me and Elders Odili, Udonsa, and Uche. They're a fun group of guys, haha :D

Elders Palmer and Buchanan at a recent conference

Elder Buchanan and others at a recent conference