Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>Jul 3
at 11:39 AM
Hi, all!!
This was a pretty good week.
-This week I got an unexpected call from the mission
president. He told me that one of the elders in our apartment, Elder Bidi, is
switching places with another elder in the district. So that day they switched
places and now we have a new elder in the apartment. It's been fun having him
around, but I definitely do miss Elder Bidi. It's just a temporary situation
because this new elder is going home tomorrow, actually. We also have a
threesome in the office, so one of them, Elder Dzikpe (I believe that's how
it's spelled, haha) will be coming to our apartment then. So lots of changes
this week!
-We also have a new mission president who arrived on
Saturday. Pres. Heid has gone home and Pres. Keyes is now here. He's from South
Africa and his wife is from Zimbabwe and they're actually both white, haha.
I'll be meeting them later this week, so I will definitely include an update on
how they are.
-This week I had kind of a cool experience. There's one
member family in our area that we often go to. They're a "center of
strength" for us (as Pres. Heid called it). There are some members there
who are super active and strong in the gospel, but there's also a few members
of the family who are also members of the church, but they're less-active.
There's one guy who's about 23. This guy is so awesome. He's super tall and big
and ripped, almost kind of intimidating when you first look at him, but he's
super kind. He's less-active, I had never seen him come to church, yet he's
been baptized and is an elder. He owns and runs a game center. Lots of
Playstation 4's set up and he has a pool table there. Whenever we go there,
we'll take the time to play a game with some of the people around, and often we
challenge him to a game. This guy is super good, like, I can never beat him.
This last week I was doing super good and I only had the 8 ball left, but I
missed a super easy shot, and then the next turn he sunk like his remaining 4
balls left and beat me in one turn, haha. Anyway, we had been taking lots of
time to get to know him really well and to be his friend. About two weeks ago
he had appendicitis and had to have his appendix removed, so he had surgery and
wasn't doing well. One evening as we were going home, he asked us to get some
medication for him from a pharmacy, so we got on our bikes and rode there to
get some for him. We had been doing a lot for him, and finally, this last
Sunday, he came to church for the first time that I had seen him there in my
four months here in Tema! He later told us how happy he was to be back. I hope
he'll continue to have the desire to come. Sometimes I think about how or why
some people start to fall away. There are so many reasons why that might
happen. Regardless of the reason, what I've learned is that we can't ever allow
ourselves to forget the feelings that come from the gospel. Whatever doubts or
questions may come into my mind, I can never deny that the feelings I have in
regards to the gospel can come from no other source than my Heavenly Father.
The gospel really brings a feeling that is indescribable. It brings an
incredible sense of peace and joy. I have truly felt the Holy Ghost reveal to
me the truthfulness of the message that I am sharing with people every day.
Regardless of what questions I may have, I can always look back on the fact
that I have learned for myself and I know the gospel is true. I know that we
have a loving Heavenly Father who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior
so that we can live with Him again. I know it.
I love all of you so much. I hope you're doing well. You're
all the best and I hope to hear from you again soon!!
With love,
Elder Buchanan
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| Here's a picture of me and Elder Bidi the morning he left. |
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| A picture at ward choir practice. There's some boy sitting next to me and then the ward chorister. I had to get a picture of myself enjoying the full-sized keyboard :D |
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