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
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