Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>09/20/16
at 7:45 AM
To
Hi, all!
This week was pretty good. We had a lot go on.
-Last Saturday was awesome. We took a short little trip to
Akosombo where we were able to buy a few things like nice food items for
cooking and whatnot, and while we were there, we took the opportunity to get
some pizza. It's no Pizza Hut, but it is definitely very enjoyable pizza. So
that was pretty fun. Then later that evening, we went to go visit a recent
convert named Sandra. We weren't so much teaching as we were just visiting and
seeing how she was doing. She seemed abnormally quiet and subdued, so I could
tell something was bothering her. While Elder Tolzmann was off to the side with
some kids that were around, I started humming a hymn and Sandra told me her
favorite hymn was Let the Holy Spirit Guide, so I sang it right then. Then
another member came and sat down and started singing a few other hymns with me,
and before we knew it, all three of us, including Sandra, had joined together
in singing like 10 different hymns, and it was awesome seeing Sandra just light
up when singing the hymns. That's what I love to do with music more than
anything else. Making music is fun, but the most rewarding part of making music
is seeing it lift other people up. So that was a cool experience for me.
-Last Tuesday Elder Tolzmann got sick, so I let him rest for
a while. It was nice timing, too, because as soon as he lay down, the rain just
came down in buckets. It rains pretty crazy here sometimes. But when he woke up
he was feeling better, so then we went to the Akuse apartment to spend the
night there since the next day we were travelling to Accra! We put bed mats
down in their kitchen and turned the ceiling fan on and dang, it got pretty
chilly in there which was awesome. I still love the cold.
-Wednesday was a good day. We woke up at 5, got dressed, and
then we went to pick up a tro tro. We didn't have time for breakfast, but there
was a woman selling cooked egg sandwiches and hot chocolate, and that was a
nice breakfast treat. Then we got to Accra where the entire mission was
gathered, and it was awesome! It was great seeing all my buddies there again.
But the best part was that we got to see Elder Gary E. Stevenson, one of the
new apostles called last year. It was a very uplifting meeting. The thing I
liked the most is what he taught about repentance. The scriptures tell us all
over the place that we need to repent and we need to help others to repent. He
talked about how we can effectively teach repentance. We don't need to get in
people's faces and call them to repentance, but we can most effectively teach
repentance by repenting ourselves. Even though we go out to teach people the
gospel, that doesn't make us perfect, so we, too, need to repent. When we
repent, we change and become better people and we truly see how it changes our
own lives, and as a result we can help others see the blessings as well. It was
amazing learning from an apostle of the Savior Jesus Christ.
-This past Sunday a man named Emmanuel (I mentioned him
earlier that he came and his entire family listened to us) brought his entire
family to church! It was so great to see them there. Emmanuel looked so happy.
I love how that's what the gospel does for us. I've said it so many times and
I'll continue to say that the gospel and following Jesus Christ truly will
bring us lasting happiness. It doesn't mean that life will be absolutely
perfect, but it will bring us happiness.
I love all of you so much! I can't tell you all enough how
much I appreciate all the love and encouragement. You're all the best! I hope
you're doing well and I hope to hear from all of you soon!
With love,
Elder Buchanan
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| Here's a breathtaking view of a place in our area. I feel like I do a poor job of portraying what Ghana is actually like because I always send the really cool views like this one. It's more civilized than many would think "haha" |
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| A former companion, Elder Kwofie and I |
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| Another former companion, Elder Udonsa, a Nigerian, who's going home next month! That's crazy! |
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