Letter and Photos from June 27, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Jun 27 at 12:56 PM

To       

Hey everyone!!

So this week has been ridiculously fantastic. It's not a ton to say, but here's what went down:

-So I started training this week. My companion is just like the coolest guy. His name is Elder Tolzmann from Nevada. We get along really well, and I'm pretty sure he came pre-trained and my work is just to get him adjusted to Ghana, haha. But I'm way excited to work with him. I can see he's a hard worker and he's eager to bless people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so we work really well together. Actually, my mom had sent me some Lucky Charms and wrote on the bag "Today's your lucky day!" and it just so happened that I had lucky charms that morning, so it was indeed my lucky day to get Elder Tolzmann as my new companion!

-Here's what happened with food, haha. Yesterday was his first Sunday out in the field, so we made his favorite meal: spaghetti! It was way awesome because my mom sent me some spaghetti sauce mix and parmesan cheese, so we both definitely enjoyed a big plate of spaghetti. It was quite delightful. Also, in this area, people haven't really fed us too frequently. I think people have fed us about three times in the three months I've been here, and they must have known that this was Elder Tolzmann's first week, because one day we got fufu and the next day we got banku! We asked to help pound fufu, and normally, people will turn us down, but this time they let us help, and then they rewarded us with fufu. Luckily, people will normally leave us to ourselves to eat, so Elder Tolzmann found a plastic bag lying on the ground and seized the opportunity to take half the fufu and hide it in the bag and not eat it, haha. Then, the very next day, we go to teach a lesson, and after the lesson, right as we're about to leave, they tell us they've made banku for us! So we sit down and start eating. I felt really bad, but I did find it humorous how much Elder Tolzmann liked the food: he didn't. It reminded me of me my first time eating banku and fufu! This particular day, he grabbed a plastic bag from the apartment before we left, because if he hadn't, he wouldn't have found relief this time because there were no plastic bags lying around this time, haha!

-I had a really cool experience this week. When I first came to Ghana, I truly wanted to bless people's lives with the gospel, and I worked as hard as I could to do so, but I'll admit that I had a really hard time learning to love the people here; they're just so different! I had been praying fervently for the Lord to help me learn to love these people. I feel like I finally felt like it had been answered during Elder Tolzmann's first lesson. I was watching him have a little trouble understanding what people were saying, and I saw myself nine months ago. Then I suddenly had an overwhelming sense of love for the people of Ghana. I really have come to understand not just what these people say, but what they're like, how they interact, and what they do. For the first time, I had a very real love for them, and then I knew that when I go home at the end of my two years, I will miss these people so incredibly much. They truly are good people.

One thing I've really come to learn lately is something very simple: God answers prayers. I've always known that, but I've truly come to see that to a much greater degree lately. He's blessed me with a great companion like Elder Tolzmann; He's blessed me to be able to love these people and have a greater desire to serve them with everything I have. I love this gospel and I love my Savior. I'm so grateful for Him and for this opportunity I have to serve Him.

You are all the best. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all your love and support, it truly means so much to me. I hope everything is going really well for all of you, and I hope to hear from you all soon!!

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Elders Buchanan and Tolzmann at church. This photo was taken by Sister Jane Curtis. Elder LeGrand Curtis has been serving as the Africa West Area President. He and his wife Jane attended the Asutsuare Branch on this Sunday.

Elder Buchanan pounding fufu

Elder Tolzmann pounding fufu

Elders Buchanan and Tolzmann

Four (almost) missionary generations! My trainer's trainer, Elder Iyip, my trainer Elder Saunders is currently in Sierra Leonne, me, and then my trainee, Elder Tolzmann!

Elder Buchanan and other missionaries at the mission office for transfers

Letter and Photos from June 20, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Today at 2:37 PM

To       

Hi, all!!

This has been a pretty dang awesome week. Lots has happened. Here's what went down:

-So I got a package from my mom this week, and she included some spaghetti sauce mix and Parmesan cheese, so yesterday, to celebrate our time together, I made spaghetti for Elder Kwofie and me and we pigged out, and it was wonderful :D He's getting transferred to Batsonaa, which is in the Tema Zone, but it's actually closer to Accra, so he's enjoyed rubbing it in a little that I get to stay here and he gets to go to Accra and enjoy the Pizza Hut they recently opened up there without me xD

-So as I've mentioned, I've recently become the new district leader of the Asutsuare District. As district leader, you conduct baptismal interviews, where you just kind of interview and talk with someone to see if they're truly prepared for baptism. I was a little nervous, since it was my first time, but it actually went really smoothly. It was a little humorous, though, because the elders I was interviewing her for were filling out the paperwork and she told them she was 14, but they started getting other info from her brother and family and it was discovered that this girl was actually 16... so that's something that I've had happen before. But she was absolutely ready for baptism and definitely had a desire to follow the Savior, Jesus Christ, so that was quite exciting.

-So we got to take a trip to Accra to go to the temple, which was a beautiful experience. I'll talk about the experience itself after I detail the adventures of travel. So on the way there, we were headed to pick up the other elders in the district so we can travel together. Between my area and theirs is a bridge made up of metal panels. For a little while, there had been one panel missing from the middle of the bridge, but cars could still get across. This time, all three panels spanning the width of the bridge were gone. So there were a bunch of people crowded around watching people use the railing to cross. I looked at it and realized it wasn't a treacherous climb at all, so it wouldn't be dangerous for us to also do so, so I had already decided we would when some random guy just starts taunting me telling me to go. He just thought since I'm white I wouldn't be able to or I'd be super scared or something. Haha I don't know how many of you would get this reference, but I kind of think of Back to the Future where Biff is always like, "What's the matter McFly? You chicken?" Haha, so don't worry, I wasn't being reckless and letting someone taunt me into doing something stupid, but that was just a fun little extra detail I thought I'd add, haha. We got to Accra successfully and spent the night in the mission home. Then we went home the next morning. So imagine, I have a shoulder bag, a backpack since I was spending the night, then I got a package from my mom. I'm carrying all this with me in a really cramped van called a tro tro. We take that for a while, then we stop somewhere and get a taxi. Along the way, this taxi gets a flat tire. We wait for the guy to repair it and then continue. When we get to that same bridge, it was being worked on, so it was entirely impassable, so literally the only way to get back to our area was by taking a motorized canoe. So we get on there, and there was actually a crack in the bottom and water was seeping in, so there was a guy with a scooper of some sort constantly scooping out the water that was slowly seeping in... I took the opportunity to take a selfie, so I've attached that, haha. So travel those two days was pretty crazy.

-Going to Accra was actually really awesome. It almost felt like I was back home! I've been getting used to visiting people in mud homes and everything, and then I'm back in a well-developed city. It was kind of cool! We spent the night in the mission home. The room we stayed in had four bunk beds and AC! I somehow managed to get the one bed at which the AC unit was directly pointed. Let's just say that was the most amazing sleep I've had since coming here. Ah, it was beautiful. But that day we got to go into the temple, which was absolutely wonderful. It was a cool experience for several reasons. One is that here in Ghana I've just become so accustomed to car horns, hip hop with crazy powerful subwoofers, and all kinds of noise, so I was kind of surprised how quiet it was in the temple. It was silent. It was really cool. And, as always, it's just an incredibly spiritually uplifting experience. I was really enjoying sitting in the temple, and it was really hard for me to get up and leave because I literally felt like I was leaving the presence of God. But then I had a kind of cool thought. I thought about how I felt just leaving the temple, and then I thought if the idea of leaving the temple makes me sad, the thought of leaving the gospel would be even worse. I had the thought, "I don't ever want to leave this gospel." It was a wonderful experience. Then we went back to the mission home, and fried rice and fried chicken was given to us, then President Heid told us to go back again for the next session! So we got to go twice in a row!! I got to experience the same beautiful feelings once more. I love the temple so much. The temple is just the most peaceful place ever.

I love this gospel so much!! I can't even adequately express with my own words how much I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's become so real to me. It's not just little facts you remember, but the reality of the gospel is really manifesting itself to me. The gospel is beautiful. It truly can bring us happiness and joy. It's not just something that makes this life a little easier, but it will bring us happiness for all eternity. It allows us to live with our families forever, it can bring us hope even in the most hopeless of situations. I've seen the blessings in my own life. I know the gospel is true more than I know anything else.

I love you all so much!! I can't tell you how much I appreciate all your love and support. Thanks for writing me each week. I hope all is going well for you, and I can't wait to hear from you again next week!!

With love,

Elder Buchanan :D

Elder Kwofie and I on the boat!

Me and Elder Kwofie with an investigator who hopefully will be able to be baptized next month!

This and the next photo are in the mission home. We found a statue of a sister missionary... Elder Kwofie and I didn't quite know what to make of it, haha. She was ridiculously tall, yet ridiculously skinny. We couldn't pass up the photo opportunity, haha.

The Kpong Zone - we went to the temple in Accra together.

Letter and Photos from June 13, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Jun 13 at 1:32 PM

To       

Hi, everyone!!

So this has been a really crazy week. Here's what's been going on with me:

-This week it's been raining quite a bit. That's good especially at night because when it rains at night, it gets cold, which is awesome. But one day, we walked out the door and it was drizzling and I was debating whether or not to get my rain jacket. I decided I should, and that was a good decision on my part, haha. As we started riding out, the heavens opened up and it was raining like crazy. We visited a less-active member at her shop and we sat and talked for a bit, and at one point water started flowing in under the door! I found it slightly humorous that they used a broom to sweep the water out. It was an outdoor broom, basically made of straightened sticks, not the regular indoor broom, but it was still funny. When leaving her shop, my bike got a flat tire, so it was raining and I had a flat tire, so I got to wade through some flash floods which was exciting. I don't know why, whenever we go out in the rain, even though we're cold and wet, I can't help but get this big cheesy grin on my face. I suppose it's because I know that even heavy rain can't stop the work of the Lord from progressing.

-Elder Kwofie had a rough day this week. It was a different day. It did rain a bit, but not as much as the one I just described. We were headed home after proselyting, we were riding slowly because the roads were a little wet. I'm looking down at the road while riding because I'm watching for potholes, and I look up and I see a car just plow right into my companion while he's riding his bike! The car wasn't going super fast or anything, but it definitely ran into him and didn't stop for like a solid three seconds after knocking my companion off his bike. Now, I've noticed that being in Ghana has helped me become much more bold, and I wanted to chastise this guy for hitting my companion with his car and knocking him off and not stopping sooner. Also, most of the time, I've always been the one who's been cool-headed and calm in situations like these, but I was incredibly impressed with the patience my companion exhibited. The guy came up and gave like a half-hearted apology and my companion just said, "It's dark, that's why. It's okay." I was grateful for him saying that when I wanted to get on this guy for being so careless, but Elder Kwofie helped me to remember that we need to be kind to everyone and love them despite mistakes they may make. When he got to the apartment, he complained that his leg was hurting, so we got his some ibuprofen, he went to sleep, and said he felt much better the next morning. So, it was an interesting experience.

-Another exciting tidbit. Last week, I wrote to the mission president and joked about how I seemed to be the last one to find out that I was the district leader, and then I asked if he had any advice or council for me. This is how he responded: "Sorry about the delay with informing you about our new assignment. How about this: will you be a trainer starting on June 21?"

So I'm going to be training starting next week! I'm nervous yet excited simultaneously. I hope I'll do a good job. I hope I'll be a good example to this new missionary and that we can both grow together.

-I finished reading Jesus the Christ this week! That's an intense book, close to 1000 pages, and it was so incredible! I can't explain how many wonderful things I learned about the Savior of the world from that book. I've also come to see how much fun and how amazing it feels just to learn about Him. I truly felt like I've developed a deeper love for Jesus Christ through studying His life and His teachings. I love Him so much, and I'm so grateful for Him. I'm grateful He came to this earth for us. Why did he die for us? Because He loves us. Our mortal brains can't comprehend the love He has for us or the pain he endured on our behalves. I love Him so much, and I can't express my gratitude to Him.

I love you all so much! I can't tell you how much I appreciate the love and support you always give me. Maybe telling you each week will help express how much it means to me, ha. I hope you're all doing really well and I hope to hear from you all again soon!!

Love,

Elder Daniel Buchanan

Here's just a few fun pics from when we were visiting an investigator one day.

Letter and Photos from June 8, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  Jun 8 at 2:42 PM

To       

Hi, all!!

So this has been a pretty awesome week. Sorry for the late email. We had a big combined zone activity on Monday, and the mission president said to email on Tuesday, but when we tried to, it was light out, so here I am finally getting around to emailing you all!

-So the combined zone activity was way fun! It was four zones together, and we all met in my previous, zone, and I was surprised how much I miss that place! But it was lots of sports and games. I played some ping pong and I dominated (only in a few games, for others I was the one being dominated, haha). I got to play piano again!! Holy goodness, I miss playing an actual piano so much. But we had a zone conference where the mission president and a few others spoke to us after the activity, and there was one point when Pres. Heid was talking to us about being 100% missionaries and getting out to work even if we're tired, we have a headache, it's hot, etc. and one elder just got up and said, "President, how hard do you want us to work?" with a sort of attitude like "How can you ask us to work harder than we already are?" kind of attitude. And he just like started challenging the mission president in front of four missionary zones and then started complaining that President Heid was comparing our mission to other missions. I was super nervous, and I was afraid it was going to become a big ordeal, but I was incredibly impressed by Pres. Heid's composure. At one point, all the other missionaries were just kind of telling this one elder to go back to his seat, but President Heid told them to let him talk and that his question is valid. He validated this argumentative elder and didn't even seem to get upset one bit. I think I would have been able to stay calm and not raise my voice in that situation, but man, I was really impressed how well President handled that. But on a happier note, it was planned that I was to play the piano for the conference before I was even asked or notified or anything, so I was kind of flattered that people have so much confidence in me, haha. Then afterwards, they had SUB SANDWICHES WITH CHEESE. Oh man, that was so delightful. It makes me miss Subway, haha. But it was such a fun activity, and it was way awesome getting to see some of my missionary buddies and to hang out with them for a bit.

-So, my district leader got transferred on Monday. Our zone leader was being transferred to our district in the same area the district leader was in. On the way home from the combined zone activity, it was just my companion and I in a taxi and he just says to me, "So you're the new district leader, huh?" And I was like, "Huh?" Haha, I hadn't heard anything like that, but he said that the previous district leader told him that I was, so I called the zone leader and it turns out, I really am the new district leader of the Asutsuare district, and it seems like I was the last one to find out! So that was just kind of funny, but I'm way excited about it! I also don't really know what I'm doing, but I know the Lord will help me as I strive to do my best.

-So this last week had one day that was pretty cool. We were going around trying to meet with some of our investigators, but we weren't having a ton of luck. Finally, we met with one investigator who we knew smokes, so we were planning on teaching him the Word of Wisdom (or basically God's law of health, for those who don't know, which tells us we shouldn't smoke or drink or do anything harmful to our bodies), and as we were sitting down with him, this other random guy walks up, kind of bows to us and shakes our hand, and he just says to us something along the lines of, "I drink. I drink, but I want to follow God. White man, help me." I believe he was still kind of under the influence, but I could see in his eyes the sincerity behind his request. He pleaded several more times for us to help him. He sat down and we chatted for a few minutes and scheduled to meet with him again. It was just neat because we were already planning on teaching that to the investigator we were meeting with, and then he comes in with concerns on the exact same thing. Then, later that same evening, a member who actually owns a bar referred us to another man who's been having a problem with alcohol. We sat down with him, and I could see his eyes welling up with tears, but he didn't actually cry. I don't think since getting here, I've ever seen anyone so sincere in their desire to change. So that was a kind of special day getting to meet people who genuinely want help, and I'm grateful that the Lord has given us guidance to help us in almost every aspect of our lives. We've met with him since, and he seems very sincere, but he doesn't speak English, unfortunately, so my companion's been doing most of the talking, and he's translated for me a little bit, but it's nice to see people who genuinely want to change and knowing that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer they're looking for. The gospel really does change lives. I know it does. I've seen it. I've seen it in my own life and I've seen it in the lives of those around me. It truly in incredible, and I'm so incredibly grateful for the chance I have to share that with the people around me. It's all because the Savior, Jesus Christ, came here to Earth and suffered for all of our sins, mistakes, weaknesses, pains, sorrows, everything. I know it's true, and I'm eternally grateful to have a loving Father in Heaven who would send His only Son to suffer and die for us so that we don't have to. I love Them so much.

I love all of you, too! I'm so grateful for the love and support you always give me. You have no idea how much it means to me. You're all the best, and I hope all is going well with you and I hope to hear from you again soon!

With love,

Elder Buchanan :D

Me and Elders Anderson and Nielsen (another Texan, so he's automatically awesome), both elders in my very first district!

Me and Elder Takis, my awesome musical buddy. I love that kid. 

Me and Elders Schmanski and Takis enjoying delicious food

Me with Elder Miller, and notice I'm holding that delicious sub sandwich, too, haha!

One day while proselyting in a little town called Osuwem.

Elders Takis and Jamison - I played ping pong with them and both beat them and lost to them, so we're even, haha!

Me and three other elders from my previous zone, Elders Bodily, Rowley, and Schmanski.