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| That is a big pile of plastic bottles! |
Dear Family & Friends;
Transfer week.
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| Elder Peters is headed to the Gbawe (pronounced bah-whey with a very subtle 'g' sound in front)Ward in the Kaneshie Stake. |
Elder Prescott called me on
Sunday morning to thank me for a short note that I wrote to him just to tell
him that he was a great example to me. This is his last Monday and on the phone
his voice started to waver a little throughout our conversation. He said,
"You'll really feel the love people have, and how much you love them when
you are going home one day" That didn't put me in the best emotional
mindset to go to sacrament meeting and bear my own goodbye Lartebiokorshie
testimony.
After sacrament Bro. Peter
announced that elder Pohlsander would bear his testimony, and then I would bear
mine. Sitting in the congregation and just looking around at all the faces I
had no idea if I would see them again made my eye's blur a little, but I shook
it off, telling myself I wouldn't cry. I went up to the pulpit and thanked the
bishopric for allowing me to bear my testimony, told our ward where I would be
going and that elder Lambson would be training a new missionary from the U.S.
so they should welcome him to Ghana very well. I said, "I know that God
loves us, and...” at that point I had elder Prescott's words ring through my
mind "you'll know how much YOU love them." I looked down at the
pulpit, then looked up at all of their smiling faces. And guys, I don't cry in
public. I didn't cry when I was saying goodbye to my family in the airport, I’ve
never cried in sacrament meeting before. I’m not a "crier".
But I started to just CRY. I said, "I have learned SO much about the
love that our savior has for each of us, because of the love you have shown me
and because of how much I have come to love you. I know that He cares so
much about each of us, that he atoned for our sins, and because of that we can
live with God again. I know that the Book of Mormon is here to teach us these
things, that it was written by people just like you and me, doing our best to
follow God. That Joseph Smith was also doing his best, and I’m so grateful he
did. I know that Christ's church was restored through him, that President
Monson leads us today. I will miss you all so much! In the name of Jesus
Christ. Amen." It was SO HARD and, the hardest part was that other people
started crying too, looking through the congregation, I even heard someone in
the bishopric sniffle behind me.
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| Hommies from Lartebiokorshie...it's hard to say "goodbye" to such a huge part of your heart. |
After church I had no
appointments because got invited to visit so many people and say goodbye again.
Meals were a battle that day. I had fufu, bankuu, semovita, all kinds of stuff,
and it was rough but I ate all 6 meals that I had yesterday. I got a lot
of pictures, and I won't send them home. Also it was the primary program and
they were sitting on the front row closest to the pulpit, that made it hard. It
feels good because as elder Perry pointed out to me over the phone,
"that's how you know you did your best" So it feels good, and hard at
the same time.
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| "By their feet ye shall know them" |
Mom loves Faith Hill, and as I
went to bed on Sunday night thinking about all the things that I have learned
in this area, all the people I've met, all the fun times, all the lessons, the
baptisms, the words of a song that I often heard in our house from the Pearl
Harbor soundtrack rang through my mind:
"When I think back on these
times... i'll be glad because was blessed to get to have you in my life, when I
look back on these days i'll look and see your face. You right there for
me." Ya know, I've never seen the Savior. But when I look into the eyes of
Ghanaians, when I look back on my mission and these times, I'll see His face.
Because nothing has brought me so close to Him before.
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| One of Elder Peters most treasured gifts were the letters and pictures that he got from home for his birthday. See if you can spot yourself here...Also take note of the Ninja Turtle jammies he's wearing at the bottom of the photo. |
All right, enough of the sappy stuff
I will be going to Gbawe to be
with Elder Tohouri. He is from Ivory Coast and is pretty old on mission so I
might be his final companion. Gbawe is really hilly, the area is also HUGE so I’m
gonna do my best to not lose weight climbing hills and traveling really far on
the bike everyday.
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| Preparing to watch General Priesthood Meeting |
Tues: I went on transfer to Dansoman,
Ombaka went to Mamponse. No recordable work was done in our area
Wed: MLC got to proselyte until
the evening after returning home at like 3.
Thurs: Kasoa multi-zone
conference with Elder Vincent. Didn’t get home till like 5. Kasoa is far.
Friday: finally a normal day! We
went hard and did our best to find more people this day
Sat: chapel cleaning, also a good
day. Transfer news came at 9:30.
Sun: Said "goodbye"
Mission rocks!
Love, Elder Peters
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