Letter and Photo from October 31, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>10/31/16 at 1:09 PM

Hi, everyone!

This has been a pretty good week. Nothing too crazy happened, though.

-I'm really enjoying Agbogba. The people here are wonderful and awesome and friendly. I have rediscovered that I especially dislike fufu. Ugh. I thought it was about the same as banku, but for the first time in several months I had it this week, and it was rough. My companion once again had to help me out and eat some of it for me. I'm really grateful for that because he actually enjoys fufu, haha. But luckily, this week I was able to enjoy some pineapple bread as well as some banana bread, so that was very enjoyable.

-The bishop here is so great. From the first time I met him, I've loved that man. He's a younger guy, and he's really cool. What I thought was awesome is that he has a mentally handicapped little boy, and I could see so much love in that man's eyes. Many people become frustrated or impatient when some people can be difficult to deal with, but he is so patient and so loving. I'm excited to be in his ward. I believe his name is spelled Bishop Aboagye.

-I'm also officially the new ward pianist again, haha! I'm excited. I'm glad that I get to use my musical talents to bless the lives of people here. I love playing piano, and I get to play every week in church to help people feel the spirit more readily and to uplift their lives. There's also ward choir after church every Sunday, so that will be fun being a part of that.

-I love this gospel so much. I've come to realize that I don't have words adequate to describe how amazing the gospel of Jesus Christ really is. It's here to make us happy. It's here to bring us joy and peace. It's here to make us better people. I know it's absolutely made me a better person. I'm so grateful for a perfect, yet a perfectly loving Father in Heaven who loves us so much and who is always there for us. Whenever we feel down or depressed or discouraged or hopeless, He is there with His hand outstretched waiting for us to take it. I know I've said this so many times, but it's worth saying. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much and He wants to help us. Sometimes people don't see that, but it's true. I couldn't be more grateful for His love.

I love all of you so much. I appreciate all the love and support. I hope to hear from you all again soon and I hope you're all doing well.

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Here's one photo of some deliciousness given to me, banana bread and fried chicken nuggets.

Later that evening another member invited us over, and I legitimately thought I walked right into a hotel.

Playing piano

Letter and Photos from October 24, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>10/24/16 at 12:55 PM

Hi, all!

This week was exciting!

-So yesterday we had another baptism!! It was definitely an exciting day. Church was good, and my companion and I taught Sunday School, and that went really well. After church one of Deborah's sisters, Hannah, was baptized! That was so exciting. It was particularly exciting to me because it showed me once again that the Lord truly does hear and answer prayers. Last transfer, Deborah was baptized, and I really wanted to stay to see two of her sisters baptized. Indeed, I was able to stay one more transfer, and one sister, Veronica, was baptized last week, and then Hannah was baptized yesterday.

-What added to the excitement of the baptism yesterday is that it was also my last Sunday in Asutsuare! After seven months in Asutsuare, I finally was transferred to another place. Now I'm in the Agbogba Area in the Adenta Zone. It's basically in Accra, so that means more pizza and cheeseburgers, haha! My new companion is named Elder Daniel Hanberg, and his birthday is two days after mine! He seems like a cool guy, and I think we're going to get along really well. The new apartment is also really nice, because we're on the second floor, we have cool balconies, we actually have more than three rooms total, we have ceiling fans, tiled floor, and awesomeness. I'm definitely excited. I'm way excited to be here and I'm definitely excited to be working with Elder Hanberg.

-I am somewhat bummed to be leaving Asutsuare, though. Change is always interesting and exciting, but I had no idea I would grow to love the people in Asutsuare so much. The day before I left, I was somewhat sad because I was going to be leaving the people I had spent about a third of my mission with, and I had a glimpse of what it would feel like when I finish and I go home. I'm excited to be back home, but I am most definitely not excited to leave Ghana and to finish my missionary work. I love this work and this gospel so much. This place is crazy and challenging and interesting and everything, but I love it so much. I'm not excited to leave this place and these people. They're crazy and so different, but there is something special about them. It makes me think about our Heavenly Father. Sometimes we're surrounded by difficult people and we have a hard time seeing the good in them, but our Heavenly Father loves all of us perfectly despite our imperfections. He always has and He always will, and for that, I am grateful.

I love all of you so much. I hope to hear from all of you again soon, and I hope you're all doing well! Thank you all for everything.

With love,

Elder Buchanan

 Here are a few pictures from my new apartment! I'm quite excited. We also have a water heater!!

Letter and Photos from October 17, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>10/17/16 at 3:31 PM

Hello all!

This week was fairly uneventful, we didn't have too much go on, so I'll try to make the email as exciting as I can with the little I have.

-This week I got to try eating something new: pig snout. Commonly, when people serve banku with soup, they'll put some sort of meat in the soup, whether it's beef, pork, fish, chicken, etc. This time, we were fed banku with "light soup" and we had pork in the soup. As we begin eating, we see a big chunk of pork so we take a look at it, and lo and behold, a pig snout in our soup! It was actually surprisingly enjoyable. I'll attach a picture for anyone who wants to see (or try to, anyway). They don't let anything go to waste here. They eat everything, meat, organs, bones, all of it.

-This week church was quite enjoyable. It's really cool looking back and seeing how much I've grown. A year ago, I really didn't know how to teach, but yesterday it was sprung on me last-second that I have to teach Sunday school. A year ago I wouldn't have been able to effectively teach on the fly, but I'm able to do so now! I was asked to teach about baptism since we had some baptisms going on after church! So it's becoming easier and more enjoyable teaching.

-Speaking of baptism, we had two yesterday!! We had three scheduled, but because of an unforseen challenge, we had to postpone one for a week, but that's okay. So then next week we may be able to have her be baptized along with another woman who wants to be baptized! It was so exciting because like I mentioned earlier, a woman named Deborah was recently baptized and she's been bringing her two sisters to church and I've seen how happy it's helped them to be. I've said it so many times before, and I'll continue to declare that happiness truly comes from following the Savior, Jesus Christ. There's no other way to find lasting joy and peace.

I love you all so much! I thank you all for the love and encouragement. It means so much. I hope you're all doing well and that I hear from you all again soon!!

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Elder Tolzmann and I with Vero and Godwin, the two we baptized yesterday.

The promised pig snout picture. Looks real appetizing, right?

This is from zone conference this past week. Remember when I used to be the only white guy? Yeah, not anymore, haha.

Letters and Photos from October 10, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>10/10/16 at 4:35 PM

Hi, all!!

This week has been pretty interesting. Here's what happened.

-I don't think anything exciting happened with food... But I do have a funny picture of the egg crates we've collected. When I arrived here in March, there were two. Now in the seven months I've been here, we have about 35 and each crate has 30 eggs... So in the past 7 months my companions and I have consumed about 1000 eggs... So we've basically been living off of eggs. But we did go to our branch president's home this week and he actually let us help out with something! That never happens, so it was kind of cool. It was just simple; he had us help him harvest some millet, and they use it often in lots of different foods here. The plant grows in stalks, and you know it's ready to harvest if the leaves/chutes turn a maroon. Most of them are dry, but sometimes you get one that's still juicy, haha so we both got some red spots on our white shirts... Oh well, it was nice being able to do a little service.

-We have a ninja mouse in our apartment... It's first appearance was one evening when we were eating dinner.  I saw something move across the floor, and I thought it was like a bug, but I looked again and it was a mouse! It ran behind our keyboard that was on the floor, and we lifted the keyboard, and it was gone!! I was scrounging our three-room apartment for like a half hour trying to find that thing and I couldn't. Then like a week later, I was going to put a bag into our empty trash can and it was inside! There were no holes or anything in the can, and we stepped away for about 10 minutes and when we came back IT WAS GONE. I didn't know mice could vanish into thin air. We haven't found it again... So yeah, that's been exciting.

-We had been having logistical issues the past few weeks, but this coming Sunday we should finally be having the baptisms we've been hoping for! I'm so excited for these. We recently baptized a woman named Deborah, and she's so awesome. She's been talking to her sisters about what she has learned, and they've started coming to church and we've been meeting with them and they want to be baptized! They're all set up and ready to be baptized next Sunday. That's the definition of member missionary work. When your family and the people around you see how the gospel blesses you, they want to have what you do, and it's amazing seeing that in action. It's amazing how the gospel blesses us. I can't describe the happiness that you feel when you see someone else doing what will bring them genuine, lasting happiness. It's amazing because I feel it for myself every day and it's the best feeling see someone else reach out to the loving embrace of our Savior Jesus Christ.

I love all of you so much!! You're all so great. Thanks for all the encouragement and support. I hope you're all doing amazing and that I hear from you all soon!!

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Massive stack of egg crates

Bead ties are kind of popular here, so I got a Ghana flag-themed bead tie the other day.

A ninja mouse

Letter and Photo from October 3, 2016

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>10/03/16 at 12:09 PM

To

Hi, everyone!

This week was pretty good and fairly eventful!

-So last Monday we got to go to Accra and we went to the mall again, of course. You know I made a beeline right to Pizza Hut and I ordered a large Meat Feast pizza with fries and a coke and I downed the entire thing. Oh man, that was delightful. Then we went around and did a little shopping and I was able to find some cocoa powder, so I'm definitely going to be making some no-bakes soon! Then after we had walked around for a bit and just before we left, we stopped and got cheeseburgers and fries and a soda again. Normally I wouldn't pig out that much, but here in Ghana I've gotten to the point if I see food that I genuinely enjoy, I just go at it because I don't know when I'll find it again, haha.

-This week was my one-year mark, and each missionary from outside Ghana gets a "Non-Citizen ID Card," which expired after one year, so I had to go back to Accra again on Thursday so I could get that renewed. We got there Thursday night and spent the night in the mission home which actually has AC, and oh man, that was quite enjoyable. In the morning we went down the road and got some egg sandwiches for breakfast and then those who came the same day I did all got their ID cards renewed. Afterwards, we and our companions all went to the temple in Accra. Man, I love the temple. I've mentioned before how great it is. The best part about being in the temple is the overwhelming feeling of peace and love from Heavenly Father in there. There's nothing that compares to the amazing feeling that prevails in the temple. Afterwards, since we were already in Accra, we couldn't pass up the chance to go to the mall again, and once again, we made a beeline for Pizza Hut. This time, I toned it down a little and only ordered a medium BBQ Meat Feast with fries and a drink, then later a cheeseburger with fries and a drink. Then I made up for only getting a medium pizza instead of a large by getting soft-served "Oreo Spinna" ice cream. Again, that was quite delightful. Then, since Elder Tolzmann wears contacts and was running out of contact solution, we needed to stop in Tema on the way back to grab some. This was at like 6:00, when it's starting to get dark, and here, public transportation kind of dies down at night. So we get in a tro tro and ask it to drop us at a specific place. Now, we had never been to this place, so we didn't know exactly where it was or what it looked like, but it ended up dropping us on some almost uninhabited road in the middle of Tema, so we flag down a taxi and the man takes us to the pharmacy we were looking for, and lo and behold, they're out of contact solution. The taxi driver said hr knew another pharmacy, so he took us there and we found some and it was way pricey. Then we go to a tro tro station and we got there at the exact perfect time to get a seat on a tro tro going back to our area. I thought we were going to end up stranded in Tema, but we were able to somehow get back. So that was an exciting and eventful day.

-It's crazy to think that I've been in Ghana for a whole year now! How is that even possible? It's crazy how much time flies, especially when you're busy. I couldn't be more grateful that I've been busy serving the Lord and serving the people around me. I'm so grateful for the growth and learning that I've seen the Lord bless me with in the past year. It's interesting to look back and reflect on what we do with our time. I feel this past year has probably been the most productive year of my life because of what I've done to help other people experience true joy, and because I've been able to see God's hand in my life every day.

You all are the best. I say it every week, but I truly appreciate all the love, support, and encouragement you give me. I hope everything is going great for all of you and that I hear from you all soon!!

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Here's a picture of me in front of the temple on Friday! I love the temple.