Letter and Photos from June 26, 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>Jun 26 at 12:10 PM

Hi, everyone!!

This week has definitely been really good.

-Last Monday I mentioned that we went out to a place called Aburi up in the mountains here to a place called the Craft Village. I got some cool souvenirs and art and whatnot and it was a fun place to be! I attached a picture this week so you can see what I got there. I got a carved, painted pair of missionaries there and I thought that was so awesome I bought it on the spot xD

-We had a combined zone conference this last week and that went really well. It was combined with the Tema, Teshie, and Christansborg zones and we hosted it. It was probably the last time I'll ever see Pres. Heid since he goes home in like a week from today. But we split up into separate zones and the zone leaders gave their instruction, and I gave mine on Charity. I wasn't quite able to finish because of time, but I thought it was kind of cool that after we reconvened and the Assistants were giving their instruction, one of them basically picked up where I left off and was using the scriptures that I didn't get to in my instruction. It was kind of cool. Afterwards, my companion and I went with my mission son (Elder Tolzmann) and his companion and we grabbed some Papa's Pizza. It was delightful. That was definitely a nice day.

-There was something interesting that I learned this past week. We have a companionship in the zone that's not getting along too well. There's a Nigerian and an American in a two-man apartment, so it's just the two of them, and they are so ridiculously different. One doesn't care too much about obedience, and one does. One is relaxed, and the other is super uptight. So basically, they don't agree on much. So we did an exchange with them, and I was with the Nigerian. It was kind of humorous to see how excited he was to be with me for the day. But the thing that came to my mind was something from the Book of Mormon. For those of you less familiar with the Book of Mormon, there's an account of two groups of people: one called the Nephites and the other called the Lamanites. Typically, the Nephites are the faithful, obedient onces, and the Lamanites are the unfaithful, rebellious ones. There's one point that the Nephites start to fall away into wickedness and iniquity and the Lord reveals that things are better for the Lamanites at this point because they grew up learning the traditions of their ancestors. Their disobedience was mostly taught to them, and that's what they grew up with. The Nephites knew better, and they started to do what they knew they shouldn't. I've really started to see that here. Some of the people here just grew up with a lower moral standard, and I've learned to be patient and understanding of that. We all have our imperfections, and some of us more than others. But the Savior knows our heart and our situation. He knows all things, and He knows how to help us. He knows perfectly who we are and who we can become. I believe I've really learned to be more able to see people and their potential rather than just their flaws. Obviously, when there are problems, we want to work to resolve them, but I've also learned that people have such incredible value despite their flaws and weaknesses. I know that the Savior loves us as well even thought we make mistakes all the time. We just have to be faithful and continue striving to be our best and to trust in Him and all shall be well.

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

With love,

Elder Buchanan

This is a picture of a cool hymnbook I got. There's an elder in the mission who makes really cool carvings on books and I got one from him. I'm excited about it.

  A picture with a few people in our ward. This isn't the whole family, but this family is so awesome and they're so eager to help out the missionaries.

  A picture of the things I got at the craft village.

Letter from June 19, 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>Jun 19 at 2:53 PM

Hi, all!

This week was pretty busy and eventful. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the week, but there will be more next week, don't worry!

-Thursday was Mission Leadership Council (MLC) and that went pretty well. I think that was the second to last time I'll see Pres. Heid. I believe the last time will be tomorrow at our combined zone conference. But that was fun. Afterwards I had an interview with him, and it made me miss all the pizza... as I was waiting for the interview I saw a couple elders walking towards the trash can with like 12 boxes of pizza stacked up and I got sad... but the interview was really nice and then my companion was a total bro and saved some for me, so I still got to enjoy some pizza this week... :D

-Friday was a very tiring day. We had baptismal interviews for Tema Newtown. They had four interviews that needed to be done, all different unrelated people in different places. The problem is that travelling around in Ghana isn't as easy as jumping into my car and driving there. We had to take a tro tro, a ridiculously crowded vehicle, and then we had to stop, walk a ways before we could pick up a taxi, and then we had to walk further to finally meet them. To add to that, just as we were getting ready to go the heavens opened up and poured out rain upon us in buckets and so we were soaked by the time we got there. Finally we got there and my companion and I split up and he went with one Newtown elder and I with the other. My companion stayed at the chapel for his two and I trekked around in the mud for a few hours doing the other two. It surprising how tiring it is walking around in the rain and in the mud, haha. But they went really well, and all four candidates passed and they were baptized this past weekend! It was quite wonderful.

-We have one investigator that I had mentioned earlier, and this boy is awesome. He's nine years old and we've been teaching him recently. He's not particularly patient, though, haha. So Monday, a member next door to him called us and asked us to meet up with him and take him to church with us since she wasn't going to be able to take him. So we grab a taxi and get there early with plenty of time to pick him up and get to church on time. We get there only to find that he didn't want to wait and he started walking to church all on his own. We lost a few cedis because of it, but I don't mind at all because that boy is dedicated. I love this little kid. Things are going well here in Tema. I've said it again and again and I'll continue to say how happy I am when I see people eagerly embrace the gospel and when I see how happy people are when they do. Even in young children, they can feel the reality of the gospel and it's significance and impact in their lives. I know that I've felt it again and again and again. I love this gospel. I hope you all know that very clearly. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives and that He died to give all of us hope, joy, and peace.

I love all of you so much! I hope you have a fantastic week and I hope to hear from you soon!!

With love,

Elder Buchanan

Letter and Photos from June 12, 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>Jun 12 at 11:13 AM

Hi, all!!

This week was good, a little sad, too, but overall great!

-This was Elder Murige's last week! He goes home today, which honestly, I'm pretty dang bummed about. He was definitely one of my favorite companions, and it was so much fun and it was so great having him around. He actually started and finished his mission in the same area! So to celebrate finishing his mission, I bought Pizza Hut for us which was great, so we definitely took the selfie opportunity.

-Also, last night, Elder Smith (Elder Murige's companion before me) spent the night at our apartment so they could go to the mission home together today to fly home. So Elders Smith, Murige, Buchanan, and Grant took the photo opportunity to have four consecutive Tema ZLs together in one picture. It was pretty cool. So I've also attached that.

-I mentioned that Evelyn was baptized and confirmed in the past few weeks. Now one of her friends, another young boy, is begging us to baptize him. This kid is like 9 years old, and I love his enthusiasm and his attentiveness, it's awesome! He's actually been coming to church with Evelyn and her family, and it's awesome to see people uplifting and building others like that! Even though he's only 9 and he's really young, it's awesome to look at him and see the light in his eyes and the joy and excitement he feels every time we sit down with him. That's the thing I love most about the gospel—how it can change people. It can even simply bring them happiness and peace of mind in the most bleak of situations. I know how hard life can be, but I also know how real our Savior Jesus Christ is. I love Him and I am eternally grateful for Him and all He has done for me. If it weren't for Him, I wouldn't be who I am today.

I love you all! I hope you're doing great and I hope to hear from you all very soon!

With love,

Elder Buchanan

  A picture Elder Murige and I took after a baptismal interview for him. I must say I think I was looking pretty sharp... ;) Haha

Pizza Hut selfie

The 4-generation Zone Leaders

Letter and Photos from June 5, 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>Jun 5 at 1:04 PM

Hi, all!!

This week has been good, as usual. Some cool things went down.

-Since my companion is new to Tema, I took him to Papa's Pizza, the best pizza deal I've seen in Ghana, which is a 16" pizza for roughly $15/GH₵60. So we enjoyed some food there this week.

-Yesterday, church was pretty cool. It was cool, first, because Evelyn, who was baptized last week, was confirmed today! Wonderful experience seeing her eagerly embrace the gospel and to see her so happy because of it. Then close to the end of church, one of the members came up to us with his 10 year-old daughter and said that she hasn't yet been baptized and wants us to teach her so that she can be! I love seeing people help bring others unto Christ, whether it be people bringing their family members, friends, neighbors, or anyone around. It's awesome. I'm always seeing the Lord's hand in His work.

-I've been studying in the Book of Mormon and there's one verse that I always find significant when I read it. It's in Alma 62: 41, which relates the experience of the wars between two groups of people and how it affected different people differently. "But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened, because of the exceedingly great length of the war; and many were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility."

When I think about that, I ask myself who I am. Am I someone who becomes hardened and turns against God because of challenges and difficulties, or am I someone who rather turns towards Him to seek His help and strength during hard times? Am I someone who falls away or someone who becomes more faithful during trials? I have seen time and time again how eager our Heavenly Father is to help us in our daily lives if we humble ourselves and seek Him out and trust in Him. I know that as we humble ourselves and ask Him, He will always be there eager to assist and to help and to comfort us.

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

With love,

Elder Buchanan

An electrical adapter that had too many things plugged into it for too long... kind of sketchy, but we fixed the problem.

A selfie of me at the cafe today.