Letter and Photos from May 29, 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>May 29 at 10:02 AM

Hi, All!!

This was a busy week, but it was good!

-Transfers were this past week and I got my new companion! Elder Grant is pretty cool, we get along well. I'll be sure to attach a picture of us meeting at the mission home. The two Texan Zone Leaders, ha :D On the way back from the mission home, the taxi driver got lost and drove us way past where we were supposed to go, haha, but we eventually found our way back and got home safely.

-The members here are so cool. One day we were going around and I was introducing my new companion to the area and some of the members. We were visiting one member, an older woman, and heavy rain clouds started rolling in, and she let us hide out in her shop until the rain passed. While we were there she fed us cookies and soda and was awesome.

-One day this week there were elders in our zone who were in need of a new phone because their's was broken, so we had to meet them at the Tema Roundabout. We had to bike all the way down there which was exciting, haha. We took a selfie opportunity there. Frytol is the popular vegetable oil brand around here, and there are a few massive statues of Frytol bottles around Ghana, and the Tema Roundabout is one of those places, so we took a picture with a massive bottle of vegetable oil, haha!

-This week we also did a lot of baptismal interviews which was wonderful! Definitely made it a busy week, though. We went and did one for Batsona, my companion and I did two for the Tema 1 sisters, and Elder Murige also came to do one for my area, which means we had a baptism on Sunday! That was so incredibly exciting. This girl, Evelyn, had been taking lessons from the missionaries for seven months because she had such a hard time learning and remembering things. But recently, her ability to learn and remember has miraculously improved. That has definitely been a manifestation to me that God truly does hear and answer prayers. I know I definitely had been praying for this girl, and I can see clearly the hand of God in her life. So we were super excited for her baptism. She chose me to be the baptist, so this makes the second person that I've actually physically baptized here which is awesome. I'll attach a picture. I must say I do think I look pretty nice in white... :D haha but seriously, as I've said before, I can't explain how happy it makes me to see people eagerly embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ and then to see the joy on their faces when they see how it changes them. I can't explain it enough to all of you how amazing the gospel is! Words literally cannot adequately express how incredible it is; only experience can truly help one understand what it's like.

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

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Evelyn's baptism :)

Big frytol bottle selfie

Two Texan ZLs!

Letter, Photos, and Videos from May 22, 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>Today at 11:23 AM

Hey everyone!

This week we had some pretty cool things happen.

-This week are transfers! So I'm going to be getting Elder Grant as my companion. Jokes have been going around that everything's going to get bigger in Tema since we're now going to have two Texans as the ZLs, haha! But Elder Murige, my current companion is becoming my district leader, so he's not even leaving the apartment, he's just switching companionships, haha.

-This last Tuesday we had a cool service opportunity. The missionaries in ward 2 had to go to Accra to go to the mission home. While they were on their way there, they got a call from a member in their ward asking for help because their house had flooded. So the elders called us and asked us to go in their place. I was super pumped. Haha, not because their house was flooded, but because genuine service opportunities here are rare, and I was way excited to help out. It turns out that one of the water taps was left open, so it flooded the downstairs. We got there and we helped to move the furniture out, we mopped the place and cleaned up all the water, laid some extra carpet/floor padding down and then moved the furniture back in and it was just really fun being able to help out. Back home I didn't value service opportunities nearly as much as I should have, but I definitely appreciate them now. I enjoy doing what I can to make someone else's life better.

-Thursday morning we also had the opportunity to go to the temple. It was a beautiful experience, as always. I've mentioned this before, but I always hate leaving the temple, because I feel, quite literally, like I'm leaving the presence of God. I love the spirit and the atmosphere present in the temple.

-We should be having one baptism this coming weekend! We wanted to have two of our investigators baptized together, but we've been having trouble meeting with one of them recently, so we'll have one baptism this weekend, and I'm way excited for that. The best part of missionary work is seeing people embrace the gospel and see it change their lives. I never knew how happy it would make me when I look at someone else and see them so happy because of the gospel. It's incredible the change that the Savior can make in our lives when we follow Him.

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

With love,

Elder Buchanan

A selfie with Elder Gillam since he's going

Since transfers are happening this week, we were sure to take some pictures. We got a pic with all the missionaries that worship in our building

Letter and Photos from May 15, 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>May 15 at 12:36 PM

Hi, everyone!

This week was a fun week. We had a few cool things happen.

-This week we actually visited a Korean family! My companionship is working in ward 3, and the other elders in the apartment are in ward 2, and they had a family who invited all of us to come, and so we went there, and it was kind of cool! They have a guitar and a real piano, and they let us play, and it was fun. Then they fed us some cool Korean food. I didn't catch the name, but at first glance it looked kind of like pizza. They gave us forks, but Elder Bidi saw them eating with chopsticks and wanted to try. I had a turn and I think I did pretty well for not being a chopsticks expert, haha. It was different from the typical Ghanaian family visits we have, but it was fun!

-This week we went on an exchange with the elders in Batsona. That place was pretty cool. We got there and it was the birthday of one of the elders there and he had cooked up a nice big meal for everyone, and it was pretty nice. We had a nice pre-proselyting birthday feast and then went out. I was sure to include a picture, haha

-We were chatting with some members from the ward about missionary work here in Tema. They've noticed that most of the people in Tema have heard of the church and view it very negatively. I don't know where the rumors originate from, but they have all kinds of weird ideas like we're satanic and we summon evil spirits and do all kinds of craziness. And one of the most discouraging things ever is when we have an investigator who's progressing so well and then they start hearing these rumors and they back out and don't want to meet with us anymore. It's hard, but it's so amazing when people stick to what they know. It's so sad seeing people learn for themselves and then doubt what they've learned. But for me, I know that this gospel is true. I've seen its truthfulness manifested again and again and again in my life. I'm so grateful for it and the opportunity I have to share it.

I love you all. I hope you're doing well and you have an amazing week.

With love,

Elder Buchanan

A picture of the pre-proselyting birthday feast

A picture of us and one of our investigators who hopefully should be baptized within the next two week

 

Just a drawing I did while at the chapel waiting for an interview. Considering I'm not very good at drawing, I was pretty proud of my work!

Letter and Photos from May 8, 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>May 8 at 11:35 AM

Hey all!

This week wasn't too bad. Nothing too exciting that I can think of, but as always I'll try to come up with something, haha

-This week we had exchanges with the APs (Assistants to the President) and that was pretty cool. My companion and his fellow Zimbabwean went and rode the bikes and I and my fellow American took the nice car with good suspension and awesome AC :D But we were able to teach a few great lessons. One was with an investigator we have. I can't recall if I've mentioned her or not before, but this girl would have the hardest time remembering anything we taught her. She even had trouble remembering simple statements like, "Jesus Christ is the Son of God." We would have to continue teaching her the same thing again and again. We kept teaching her because she comes to church every single week and when she prays, she prays that God will help her to be baptized, so it's easy to see how much she wants to learn. Miraculously, it seems, in the past few weeks she's started to be able to remember what we teach her! We took like five or six visits to teach the same thing, and now after one visit she remembers exactly what we teach her. She's progressing so well. I have been praying for this girl so that she'll be able to learn and grow and progress, and I can see that God, as always, does hear and answer prayers. We're hoping to have her baptism this month if all goes according to plan. I'm so excited about her.

-Also while we were on exchange, we had to drive down to Batsona, a new district that was recently added to our zone because of the new stake that was created. Man, I didn't know Ghana had traffic like that, goodness. On the way there, it took almost 2 hours, but on the way back, on the other, not busy side of the road, it took about 20 minutes. On the way back, we stopped to grab some food. The two of us sat down to eat and were waiting for our food to come and a man that was sitting alone at another table came over and sat a down at the table with us and introduced himself. He seemed a little awkward by the way he spoke. He asked a few seemingly random questions and then sat there quietly. When our food came, he asked if we would allow him to "dash" us two cokes (dash in Ghana means just to give for free, in this case, he bought our drinks for us). As we chatted, we got to know him a little more. I repented for thinking he was just another weirdo approaching white guys (that is something that's very common here). He was such a kind and generous man. We found out that he does a lot of traveling, and he said he felt sympathy for us being in a foreign land far from home, and whenever he sees people like that he tries to show them love and kindness. I was honestly pretty amazed at the kindness he showed. Even though a coke is just something really small, he took the time to come over and sit with us and make friends with us and show us kindness. I think that's what the gospel is all about. Sometimes we get overwhelmed by the idea of so many "rules" that we lose sight of what the gospel is really meant to do for us. It's meant to change who we are into better people. When you see someone showing genuine kindness, not for the sake of expecting something in return, but simply because you want to brighten someone else's day, I believe that's what the Savior would do. The gospel is designed so that it helps us become more like the Savior Jesus Christ. I believe if when people look at you and can see the Savior when they see you, then you're doing something right despite weaknesses and imperfections you may have. I think The Book of Mormon describes this perfectly in Alma 5:14, "And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received His image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" I believe that when you're truly doing your best to become like Jesus Christ and to follow His example, people will see that there's something different about you—something good. That's because as we follow Him, we gradually have a mighty change in our hearts because the gospel changes bad men into good men, and good men into better men.

I love all of you so much. Thank you all for the love and support you always give me. I hope you're all doing well and that I hear from you again soon!

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Me and my companion, Elder Murige

Me and my MTC buddy, Elder Gillam

This week was MLC (Mission Leadership Council) and I thought I looked pretty studly, so I included a picture.

Letter and Photo from May 1, 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>  May 1 at 1:18 PM

           

Hi, all!

This week was definitely pretty interesting.

-Today we decided to do an experiment. We made pancakes with bisquick mix, and I thought it almost tasted less sweet than normal and kind of more like a tortilla, so we decided to make tortillas today. We cooked them really thin and made breakfast potato and egg tacos with them, and honestly they were pretty nice. We gave them to everyone in the apartment and they all enjoyed, so pancake tacos were a success :D

-We went on an exchange with elders in Dawhenya this week which went really well. I did not sleep well, though. You may think it's because there was no AC, which was not the main problem, the main problem is that I had a sucky fan and I was sleeping on a thin mat on the floor, haha. So I woke up at like 4am sweaty and hot, so I got up and downed a big cold bottle of water and then since I wasn't very sleepy, I took the opportunity to read a few chapters from the Book of Mormon. When I was young, I don't think reading the scriptures is something I would do when I was bored, but it definitely is now! I love the Book of Mormon so much. Then I went back to sleep and slept fine until it was time to get up and get ready, so it wasn't a bad night after all.

-This week there was a pretty crazy experience. The sisters called us again early in the morning and asked us to meet them at the hospital to give one of their recent converts a blessing. Of course, we were all skeptical because of the lame April fool's joke they played on us, but they definitely seemed a little more urgent, so Elder Gillam and Elder Murige are the fastest dressers, so they got up and got dressed really quickly and went to the hospital which is really close to our apartment. They met the sisters there and went in and met their recent convert. He was on a gurney and Elder Gillam and Elder Murige gave him a blessing, and right close to the end of the blessing, the doctor comes in and rushes them away. This recent convert opened his eyes and was responsive, but literally no more than two or three minutes later the doctor came back and said that he passed away. I had met the man before, he was such a good man. He was a bit older, probably in his 60s. I met him before he was baptized, and I could see the light of Christ in that man's eyes. I could see how happy he was being at church and singing the hymns and he was such a good man. It was so sad hearing that he had passed away. But this is when the gospel really can comfort us and bring us peace. Obviously it's easy to say the gospel is true when everything is fine and dandy, but sometimes it can be harder to believe when the world seems to come crashing down upon you. But the times when the world comes crashing down around you are the opportunities the Lord really can help us to build our faith. I've set aside two years of my life to teach people the Plan of Salvation, God's plan for us to return to live with Him again in eternal and never-ending joy, happiness, and peace. I know without a doubt that it's true, that there is life after death, and there are glorious blessings waiting for us in the presence of our Heavenly Father. We just need to live in a way so that we'll be worthy to receive them.

I love you all so much. Thanks for all the love and support, it really means so much to me. I hope you're all doing well and that I hear from you again soon!

With love,

Elder Buchanan

This week was boring picture-wise, sorry. I took a picture before our pancake-taco experiment. :D