Monday, April 3, 2017

Letter and Photos from April 3, 2017



Daniel Buchanan daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net> April 3, 2017 at 11:50 AM

Hello everyone!

Well, this week was definitely exciting and eventful. Here goes:
-This week we got to go to Tema Newtown. Most of you probably won't recognize the significance in that name. But there was an article posted on Deseret News maybe two years ago about a branch president down here (now bishop), Bishop Azumah, who has underdeveloped legs and can't walk on them. He's a bishop in the Tema Newtown Ward, and a really cool special stand was created for him so that he could be up at the podium and still talk to everyone. So I got to go to their church building and see the stand, and then later I got to meet him. That man gets around town in style; he's the only person in Ghana I've seen with a quad! He's a cool guy. I didn't get a picture with him, unfortunately, but I did get one with the stand, so I'll attach that.
-April fools. Not cool. So we get a call early in the morning from some of the sisters in our zone that one of the sisters had heart problems during the night and they took her to the hospital and she had been admitted, and they called us and wanted us to get down there as soon as possible and give her a priesthood blessing. My companion called Sis. Jones, the mission nurse, and told her what's going on, and she immediately calls the Heids, the mission president and his wife and tells them that one of the sisters has been hospitalized, so they all start getting dressed and ready to meet her at the hospital as well. The four of us in the apartment all jump up and get dressed and skip breakfast and showering and everything and rush over there. As we're trying to get a taxi, an old lady stops me outside our apartment and starts asking about the church. She said she knows that we don't preach because all we do is bear testimonies and we don't teach because that's what she saw in Connecticut one time, but I told her we were in a hurry and I hope to see her again to explain more and she said she doesn't want to see me again because we have weird ideas, and I simply had to let it go because we were in a rush. We get a taxi and we meet the sisters at their apartment, and they have no makeup on or anything, wrinkled clothes, also presumably rushing to get ready, and handed us a few bags filled with snacks and stuff for the sick sister, and we all head out, and we were about to grab another taxi, but the sisters say we can walk there. So we start walking, and then the tell us they forgot the medical insurance card in the apartment, so we had to turn around and walk back, and as we round the corner again heading back to their apartment, we see the supposedly hospitalized sister with her companion laughing at all of us walking around concerned and worried about her. It turns out that Sis. Jones had called the Heids, and then afterwards called the sisters for more details and they confessed that it was just a joke, and Sis. Jones said she had already called the Heids, so she had to call them after they already dressed and ready to go, and the sisters asked Sis. Jones not to tell us that it was a joke all along. The Heids were quite upset. When I found out it was a joke I was actually pretty irritated that they would make a joke about someone being hospitalized and giving priesthood blessings, as were all of the other elders. We just put on a nice face for them. I made them feed us breakfast for wasting our time and money, haha
-We got to watch a few sessions of General Conference yesterday at the Stake center. As always it was amazing. After the conference, I was playing some piano, and a member comes up to me and asks me to play something he can sing along to, so I start playing a random chord progression, and this guy just starts improvising words and melodies and beauty along with the piano! I was impressed, this guy has recorded some of his own music as well, so I was pretty excited. I took the opportunity to get a quick video clip to send to all of you for your enjoyment.
-One thing I've come to recognize lately is how the gospel actually works in our lives. I've come to understand that there is power that comes from the gospel as we make the gospel a habitual part of our lives. We need to make it part of who we are. As we study the scriptures and the teachings of the Savior daily, as we pray every single day, as we do what we can to emulate the example of Jesus Christ, we become more like Him, the gospel is something that begins to define us. As that happens, we are more able to harness the power that comes from the gospel. The scriptures remind us again and again that all things work together for good for those who love God. So as we center our lives around the Savior, we're not promised our lives will be perfect and flawless, but we are promised that everything will work out and that everything will be okay.

I love all of you so much. I hope you all are doing well and that I hear from you all soon. Have a wonderful week.

With love,
Elder Buchanan

Enjoying some ice cream at KFC for Elder Gillam's birthday this week

A picture of me with the famous stand for Bishop Azumah.


 

Ben, the improv singer and I jamming out together.

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