Two Years in Ghana: Letter and Photos from August 8, 2017

Daniel Buchanan <daniel.buchanan@myldsmail.net>Aug 8 at 6:46 AM

Hey all!

So this past week was pretty intense, honestly.

-I'm pretty sure we witnessed some kind of armed robbery the other day... we went to grab a few chicken sandwiches at KFC at night before heading home and as we were leaving, we signaled a taxi to stop, and there was a car following it that pulled over in front of the taxi that stopped for a us, and a police officer got out of the car and he started yelling at this taxi driver and stuff, and at first I thought it was just some sort of traffic violation or something, but I noticed some sketchy stuff. While the taxi driver and the police officer were arguing, some random hispanic or indian-looking guy came up holding a bible and said he was also a missionary and asked us for money. We told him we didn't have anything so he walked away, and at that point, the police officer actually opened up the passenger side of the taxi and got in and had the taxi driver also get in and they drove off... then the guy who asked us for money then later got into the same car that the police officer was previously driving and drove off... so I have no idea what the heck happened, but my companion was thoroughly convinced it was a robbery of some sort... so that was kind of intense.

-Junior, a 9 year-old investigator I had mentioned before was supposed to be baptized last Sunday. Much to my delight, Saturday morning I get a call from a member that lives next door and I hear that he had been hit by a car and was being sent to the hospital...... One thing you have to understand is that in America, when someone says they're going to the hospital, it's basically like a life-threatening type thing or something very urgent. Here, even if they have a cold they often go to the hospital, haha. But still, this boy who was supposed to be baptized the next day was hit by a car and being sent to the hospital so I was kind of freaking out. I called the missionaries who knew him and asked them all to pray for him. So we call the mother and she tells us that he went to a Narh-bita Hospital. So we get dressed and rush over there and have someone at the front desk refer us to another part of the hospital, and have those people send us somewhere else and so on and so on again and again... So we walk around the hospital for like a solid 30 minutes before we end up at the same place we started and they tell us that he had already been discharged... so we ended up walking back and forth around this place when he had already left, haha, but I was happy to hear that he had already left and was okay. So we went to his home and his mother saw it as a miracle from God that her son was okay and she was so incredibly eager to have him be baptized the next day and she said she would absolutely be there (when previously she didn't seem to keen on showing up). Unfortunately, his father thought otherwise and told us to postpone the baptism. But it sounds like this week it may be able to happen, so pray that everything will work out.

-We also were chosen to be tour guides for the brand new Accra, Ghana Missionary Training Center (MTC) open house! It was pretty awesome. I wish I would have been able to stay in that MTC... haha it's much nicer than the one here in Tema. It's way bigger, too. So it was cool showing people around and introducing them to missionary work and how we prepare. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to come here and share the gospel with those around me. A mission is by no means easy, but I wouldn't trade my time and my experiences here for anything in the world. I love this work, and I love my Savior, and I couldn't be happier being able to share that knowledge I have with those around me.

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

With love,

Elder Buchanan