Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net> Mar 28 at 10:03 AM
To
Hello, all!!
This week has been a week of ups and downs. Missionary work
is definitely a dynamic experience, haha!
-So this was my first week in my new area in "the
bush." It's a little different from the city. There's good and bad about
it. Bread is crazy expensive here, and I have bread every morning for
breakfast, so I might go broke, haha xD But our apartment is really small. Even
Elder Kwofie, a Ghanaian says it's quite small. It's four rooms including the
bathroom: the main room, a kitchen, a bedroom, and a bathroom. The only tiling
is in the bathroom, so the rest of the floor is just cement. It's a little less
homey than my last apartment, but I've already grown attached to it. It is a
little more quiet here, which is nice. The people here are nice, but Twi is
less common, so the little Twi I've learned is less useful here, haha. Most of
the people here speak Dangbe, so now I'm going to have to figure out this
language! But people here speak English less, which is definitely a challenge
for me. I've learned to speak in a way that people can understand me in my
previous area, but here they have a harder time understanding me, so frequently
my companion will literally just restate what I said because they can
understand him. Sometimes we'll find someone who only speaks Twi and my
companion will just sit there and teach them in Twi, so sometimes I'll feel
kind of useless because I won't know what's going on. I try my best, though.
What makes up for it, though, is when I do have the chance to effectively
communicate with someone, I share my testimony with them and I feel the spirit
there when I finally do something to help people come unto Christ myself. The
feeling is tangible. It's real. My companion is actually way awesome. I'm with
Elder Kwofie, a Ghanaian, and he's great. He loves getting out to work just as
much as I do. We get along really well, which is nice especially considering
it's just the two of us in the apartment. So things are going really well. I
have to admit it's kind of fun being the senior companion, too. I get to carry
the phone, so I feel cool ;)
-We aren't in a ward in this area, we're in a branch (just
basically a small group of people that meet for church). I hadn't even met the
Branch President yet, but someone had told him that I play piano, so when I got
to church for the first time here, the piano was already out waiting for me! So
I'm already unofficially the branch pianist, haha! I was told three of the
hymns we were singing, but I wasn't told we were singing an intermediate hymn,
so when the Branch President got up there and announced an intermediate hymn, I
was caught off-guard, and it was a hymn I was definitely less familiar with,
and I had zero time to practice, so it was a little rough, but I was playing it
pretty well by the last verse, haha.
-I think white people are even less common here in the bush
than in the city, so children are definitely more excited to see me. After
church, I literally had a crowd of children gathered around me touching me and
grabbing my arm and they didn't want to let go! Often I'll even be riding my
bike down the road and some kid will just reach out his arm to touch me... so
that's definitely interesting here, haha!
Also, yesterday was Easter Sunday! Easter wasn't really that
great this year, sadly. I did my best to reflect on the Savior's Atonement on
my own, but it just wasn't the same being away from my family. To top it off, I
think I was literally the only one who remembered that it was Easter. Even in
church, they didn't have us sing Easter hymns or anything. Although one
redeeming experience was Friday or Saturday, there was a member we were meeting
with, and she asked us to read about the Atonement of the Savior. So together,
we read from Mark about Christ's crucifixion. I also read from Matthew about
that account as well, and it made me so incredibly grateful for Him. My words
are incapable of expressing my gratitude to Jesus Christ, God's own son. I know
that He came here for us because He loves us. Because of Him, we can always
have hope, no matter what. Even though Easter is a special time that the world
has set aside to remember Him, we should always remember Him in our hearts
every day of our lives. I love Him. I hope it's abundantly clear to all of you
that I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know He lives and He loves you as well.
I love and miss you all! I hope everything's going really
well for you. I hope life is treating all of you really well! You have no idea
how much I appreciate all your love and support. I can't wait to hear from you
again next week!!
With love,
Elder Buchanan :)
P.S. I think I'll be able to send pictures next week. Since
there's no anti-virus software on this computer, I'm going to put a new card in
my camera and take pictures with that specifically to send home so I don't lose
any valuable pictures.
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