Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>Jul 24
at 1:17 PM
Hi everyone!!
This week was definitely an eventful, yet good one. I don't
even remember what happened on which days, haha.
-One day we went to the temple. We were scheduled to go to
the 10:30 session and we arrived there early, but the session was full! We
called the APs who scheduled us and it turned out that somewhere there was a
miscommunication and we had showed up one day early! So we got our names on the
12:30 session and then went to the cafeteria in the neighboring area office and
I had some nice fried rice. While there, there was a man that one of the
sisters starting talking to and I believe this is legitimately the first man I
had ever met in Ghana that didn't believe in Jesus Christ or even a God. He was
very respectful of the faith and beliefs we were sharing, and of others in
general, but he wasn't particularly accepting. It was an interesting
conversation with him. Then we went to the temple and it was beautiful and
glorious, as always. I hate leaving the temple. It feels like I'm leaving the
presence of God.
-One thing we did to celebrate Elder Grant's last week was
to go and make cookies again at a good member friend's home. There were some
other buddies from the ward and it was so much fun. I would attach a picture,
but it's very dark, so I don't know if you would be able to see. But we had a
ton of fun there and before we left they broke out a bottle of sparkling grape
juice and toasted to Elder Grant successfully and faithfully finishing his two
years here in Ghana in the service of the Lord. They voted me as his companion
to give a little "speech" toast for him. Man, I'm going to miss that
guy. He, as well as half of the entire zone is leaving me. Man, all my friends
are either being transferred or are going home. I also got my new companion
today! He's from South Africa and his name is Elder Dabata. We'll see how
things go with him.
-I just want all of you to know how much I love the Savior.
In The Book of Mormon, in 3 Nephi 10: 6, He said, "O ye house of Israel
whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of
heart." (Italics added) I love this so much because I know how difficult
life can be sometimes. There are trials and temptations. We fall and make
mistakes. But the Savior of the World has said that if we return unto Him with
our hearts fully dedicated to Him, He will receive us. I don't know how many of
you have seen a hen gather her chicks under her wings. It's kind of cool. I see
it here often. The hen stretches her wings over the chicks and just brings them
in close and folds her wings in, and you can't even see the chicks. But every
once in a while, a chick or two have run off and are too far away for the chick
to bring in close to herself. The first time I had seen that I immediately
thought of a maternal instinct to protect her children. I believe the Savior is
saying He will do the same for us. If we stay close to Him, He can and will
protect us. If we run off and our hearts are far from Him, we will miss out on
the blessings of His care. That's why He invites us to return unto Him with
full purpose of heart so He can bless and protect us.
I love all of you so much. I hope you're doing great and
life is treating you well. I hope to hear from all of you soon!
With love,
Elder Buchanan
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| A picture of the Tema District. Literally half of the district is changing and I am so bummed about it. I have come to love my district so much. They're all amazing and I know wherever they're off to they'll do great things. |
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| One last selfie with Elder Grant his last Sunday here in Ghana. We both wore our kente ties. :D |
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| A picture from the day we went to the temple. I liked the lighting there, plus I though I looked pretty good, if I do say so myself... ;) Haha |
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