"Is this water sanitary? It looks questionable to me." "Tantor...mummy's losing her patience.."

Again...no photos this week.  We had some trouble with Google locking Brandon's account because "Someone" in Africa keeps trying to access it.  I think we have it fixed...so maybe next week???? WE HOPE!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

WE DID IT!!! 5 Baptisms!!! KACHOW!! Man it was cool. I baptized Emmanuel Bondzie, Robert Amissah, and one of the sisters’ investigators named Gabriel Nii. Richard Bondsie baptized Dorothy and Isaac Opoku. The spirit was really really strong. I don't know if I will get to send pictures because google drive is being dumb but the baptismal font is outside in front of the church next to 2 really big palm trees. It is made out of rubber kind of like the swimming pool at home and the water only went up to about my mid-thigh. The font is about 5 and a half feet long and maybe 3 feet wide. Robert is as tall as me so I was a little worried that he would hit his head but all went well and he only had to go in once. Emmanuel was my first one and I messed up because I said, "for and in behalf of...” because I am so used to baptizing at the temple. Gabriel has a bad knee and he is afraid of water so I thought that he would be a little more of a struggle but it turns out he was the easiest one. I explained to all three of them that I will hold their hands like this and to sit down like you’re sitting in an invisible chair and then lean back and I will pull you up. They all did really really good. When we went back inside and were changing our clothes I ran into Emmanuel in the hall and said, "Hey! your baptized now!" he said" Ya ya I’m baptized and he started to kind of lightly pat his chest and said, it feels...very good ya very good, thank you Elda Petas." it’s so cool when you can tell when people are feeling the power of the Holy Ghost! It was such an awesome moment. 

No Pictures This Week :(

This week, Elder Peters wasn't able to upload any of his photos, but we did get this cool drawing that he did of himself carrying his luggage on his head like a real African!

When he left the MTC he was allowed some time to write a quick note to us that someone there scanned and emailed.  We just barely got it.  This doodle was on that note.

When I can convert the .pdf file into a legible .jpg, I'll post it here.

To quote Elder Peters "Ghana is the best!"

"Don't need reason, don't need rhyme, ain't nothin I'd rather do." - AC/DC

So I was able to have a couple of email exchanges with Brandon this morning and got a couple of questions answered about food, health and such…here are a couple of his replies that I wanted to send along:

Fist of all HE’S HEALTHY: “ I am doing pretty good with the food, I haven’t gotten sick yet, but I have heard about guys in my MTC group that have so I consider myself lucky. Ghana is da best”

I asked him if he needs anything specific sent to him and I got this: “I would like the rest of my contacts. I have a year’s worth but the sooner you can get them too me the better I think. I have been using them everyday pretty much. Also could you send some beef jerky? And those juice flavoring packets we take backpacking. Most food consists simply of cassava, beans, plantain and a lot of pepper. Sometimes I wonder if Ghanaians use anything to flavor their food other than pepper. We went to the mall to me it’s the equivalent of Albertsons but everyone here thinks it’s the nicest place on earth. And we bought a pizza for the African sisters and they were complaining about how it didn't have any pepper, and I said, ya but it has FLAVOR, isn't it nice? No wes da peppa? Uhg”

He could not get his Camera to connect to the computers in the café where we was this morning so I don't think we'll get any photos this week :(  Hopefully next week!

So he sounds great and he’s loving the work as evidenced in the attached letter for this week:

 

More Photos From Elder Peters - Aug. 17th, 2015 edition

We were pretty excited to log in today and find a bunch of pictures that Elder Peters had uploaded for us.  Again, we are guessing at a lot of them because we don't know exactly where they were taken but they are still a ton of fun to see and share so ENJOY!!!

Close up on the name tag and a VERY cool Kente Tie...Dad is jealous!  That is a sweet tie!

Well, ain't this place a geographic anomaly? ITS THREE WEEKS FROM ANYWHERE!!! -Oh Brother Where Art Thou

Elder Peters was late emailing this week because he went shopping at the Accra version of Walmart...In his words this was his experience...

"ya I'm doing well. i went to the Accra version of Walmart. it was rather intense. I had my drawstring bag and they made me lock it up in a cubicle and there are security guards next to each door with machine guns even though the place is basically Albertsons except for the don't sell milk or cheese....you would have thought i was trying to get onto hill air force base sheesh"

I was able to catch him online again this week and he sounds very happy and BUSY!  Here is his email for the week:

Dear Family and Friends;

This week has been a week with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I still haven't got any of the packages or mail you sent, but i have faith that it is somewhere on this planet.

By the end of last Wednesday we realized that we will probably have 5 baptisms on august 30th. but some crazy things happened during the week that really taught me some lessons about missionary work. I will give a brief report about each of these 5 investigators

A few photos from Elder Peters

I happened to check Elder Peters Google drive the other day and found these photos that he had uploaded.  They are only a few but I wanted to share them.



This is a typical street in Mamponse.  That young man in the photo looks too young to be an Elder (Besides I don't think an Elder would be wearing a studded belt like his) so I'm making a guess that this young man is George Armah...the Preist age Young Man from the local ward who helps Elder Peters and Elder Liera with the Gha speaking people in the area. 




This is Elder Peters bedroom in Mamponse. That blue thing hanging over the bed is the mosquito netting he sleeps in like a tent.  Ah...this brings back some awesome missionary memories!



This is a typical view of the ocean.  Much of Elder Peters area is along the southern coast of Ghana and he is on the beach daily.  This is a very impoverished area of Ghana.  Unlike here in the USA, in Ghana the wealthier people tend to live inland and the poorer people live closer to the coast.  Not sure what that boat is out there...maybe a fishing boat? 

"Live in a mudhut, wipe yourself with a leaf type wild? HAHA!! WHO WIPES??!!" - Madagascar

So I think that a lot of people when they heard that I was going to Africa thought that I would be living in a mud hut, surrounded by people only wearing loincloths (though I have seen a lot of stark naked little kids, and an old man taking a poop on the beach, he had a newspaper and everything just no toilet or walls, that’s pretty normal by the way if you’ve gotta go then just go anywhere. we don't do that as missionaries though don't worry). I don't live in a mud hut, but I don't have a bed frame just a mattress on the floor and a mosquito net, but our apartment is pretty nice. I am in a town called Mamponse in the Kanishie Zone. It is right next to the ocean, and I go to the beach to get to investigators houses a lot. The beaches aren't that nice here. They are covered with trash and other gross stuff. I will try to send pictures. Since I am right next to the ocean there isn't much vegetation either. The weather has been nice. And that’s a summary of my area and where I will be for the next 12 weeks at least.

This is a Map of Elder Peters mission.  The red arrow shows where he has been assigned.

Close up of the area where Elder Peters will be working.

Dis Place About to BLOW

The Zone Leaders; Elder Perry and Elder Peters at the Temple

As I sit here ready to leave the MTC tomorrow morning that song came to mind (Dis Place About to BLOW), everyone is SO ready to get out and serve, even though we've only been here 11 days. I catch elders just staring out of windows at the nearby streets and people, I even catch myself just staring out of the windows wondering what it will be like. I think I

Aug. 2, 2015 - Ready to Embark

Hello family, this is gonna be a really short one. Hopefully I will get more time to email next week after I have gone out to the mission field. There is just some quick advice I would like to give to elders coming to the Ghana MTC.  

Elder Peters studying hard.

Starting from day 1 it was super nice to get my luggage under 50 lbs because it saved us 250$ and it was way easier to carry up to the 3rd floor. (The MTC has no elevator and the elders dorms are on the highest floor) getting here at 11;45 at night after 23 hours of traveling, the last thing I wanted to do was haul my luggage all the way up there. I have pretty much lived entirely out of my carry-on which leaves me with plenty of toiletries and supplies to enter the mission field right away. except for soap i could have used 2 bars of soap, sometimes you will wash your clothes in a bucket and it uses a bit of soap. All of the water here at the MTC is filtered so don't worry about bringing a filter bottle, and they give you one when you enter the field. a few snacks were nice to have but mostly for the plane ride and 5 hour layover in the Amsterdam airport. 

The MTC food is good I usually had a bit left over after meals. They ease you slowly into the food eaten here in west Africa and sometimes I had to man up and eat things that I probably never would have eaten at home but I have not felt hungry once. Fufu is so good! They bake fresh bread here everyday and you get either a roll or slice with every meal and its way good! I think another key is to stay hydrated, a lot of the time elders don't drink enough water but I have noticed that staying hydrated helps me to stay alert in class and it helps with adapting to a different cultures food.

In conclusion, THANK YOU MOM!!! for helping me pack and making my physical experience here at the MTC a positive one. I love you guys and I will email you all sometime next week.

with love, Elder Peters

Ghana MTC: Ghana MTC 24 July 2015 Slideshow

Ghana MTC: Ghana MTC 24 July 2015 Slideshow: Here it is - one of Sister Robison's best MTC slideshow creations: