 |
| Elders, Antwi, Beall, Evans, Jackson, Peters and Parker...conquering the mountains of Ghana. Elder Parker is holding a cutlass that they had to use to hack their way though the jungle. |
This letter is a day late because the power went out on them yesterday (Elder Peters explains below) but is was worth the wait.
Dear Family,
So it
is now Tuesday, the internet cut out last night while i was writing this letter
so I bought just enough cafe time to send it to you guys today.
This could be my last email home to you, but I’m
not sure. We went to Accra today and so we are getting home late and writing to
you.
Ever since I was a little kid in primary, it
has been my dream to serve a mission. I would watch my cousins give farewell
and homecoming talks, listen to my dad tell stories about his mission in Mexico,
and read the scriptures and admire the missionary hero's like Ammon and Alma. I
longed for the day when I could also be like them.
As I entered my teenage years I kept up a
habit of reading the scriptures and praying. At times it was something I really
wanted to do, other times I felt like I was doing it simply because I was
raised to do it, and I knew it was a good thing to do.
I remember finishing reading the Book of
Mormon for the first time as a 14-year old. I scrambled up into my tree house
at 2am, determined that if Joseph Smith could summon an answer from God at my
age, so could I. I prayed for a long time, no angels appeared, after a few
hours I started getting frustrated because I wasn't "feeling it." As
I jumped down from my tree house somewhat angry at the Lord, I had a thought
come to my mind, "You wouldn't have spent all that time praying, if you
weren't sure the things the Book of Mormon had to say were real. Heck, you
probably wouldn't even taken the time to finish the book. But something kept
you praying up in that tree, something kept you reading, that was Me, you know it’s
true." I knew it was the Holy Spirit, and I knew that the Book of Mormon
was true.
 |
| The mountain that they climbed last week. |
That is one moment that I can pinpoint in my
conversion process, but I know that my conversion is still taking place. I
mentioned in my Testimony in front of the missionaries at my last Zone
Conference that if you would have asked me what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is
before serving a mission, i would have given an answer similar to one that our
investigators give to that question before we teach them the lesson. I would
never have connected it with our missionary purpose, the 4th article of faith,
or countless other scriptures that teach its sequential, but continuing steps
of faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and
enduring to the end by starting the process over again. I thought living the
gospel meant being nice, but I have learned so much about how to have faith
every week through your actions, repent of your transgressions, take the
sacrament and renew our baptismal covenant so we can have the holy ghost with
us. That’s how we live the gospel, and this is all something I didn't learn
until serving a mission.
This week Elder Parker and I went to Asoum
for an exchange and I stayed there overnight. It was cool to help them
interview some of their candidates. It was kinda crazy cuz one of them had a
pet monkey and they had put it on a leash around this tree and it was jumping
at me at first when i sat down to do the interview. I thought to myself,
"shoot! i can't have a monkey jumping at me, screeching, while I’m trying
to do this interview, its hard enough that we are outside and we can't go
inside because there's no light there except the TV" I prayed about what to
do and i guess that did it cuz the monkey settled down. Kinda cool, but weird
experience at the same time.
We also have contacted this old man named Michael
who introduced us by saying, "i don't believe in church, they are all
corrupt! I am now simply practicing kindness like Jesus taught in the
Bible." Whenever you hear this as a missionary in Ghana your heart jumps
because they have realized that the Apostasy is REAL! Usually that’s one of the
biggest hang-ups, "wait, we are all worshiping God right? Every church is
right, cuz we are all worshiping the same God" We have got to the Book of
Mormon with Michael and he is reading and eating it up. Now just to get him to
church.
According to Elder Antwi at 5am on Sunday morning we had an
investigator come to our apartment (everyone knows where the obrufo live) who
we were planning to pick up for church that morning. He came to tell us that
his pastor older brother is in town so he has to got to church with the rest of
the family, and that he's sorry.
I would like to thank my Mission Presidents
for all that they taught me. It was such a privilege to serve under 3 very
different men, who all built my testimony and made me a better missionary
because of their diversity. I know they all LOVE their missionaries.
I would like to thank my companions: Elder
Liera, Elder Ferrin, Elder Varo, Brother Lago, Elder Herrod, Elder Miller,
Elder Christopherson, Elder Pohlsander, Elder Tohouri, Elder Ofosu Hene, and
Elder Parker for all that they have taught me and for the good times we have
had together.
Leaving Ghana will be a really hard thing for
me to do.
Leaving a Missionary life will be an even harder thing for me to
do.
I love you all and can't wait to see you in 9 days!
 |
| Next time we see him, it will be in the SLC airport!!! |
Love, Elder Peters
No comments:
Post a Comment