When he was a young wart hog, When i was a young wart HOG! -Lion King

WE GOT TO SKYPE WITH ELDER PETERS ON MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

This is one of the primary boys from the Laterbiokshie Ward

Dear Family,

Today my email will probably be kinda short and I will do my best to answer your questions because I spent all day roasting a pig with a couple of elders from Tonga, Samoa, and Hawaii for our zone today.

I hope you get the pictures, it was a blast and it was a ton of fun. It’s just like gutting a fish, but the intestines are a lot bigger, and there's a lot more blood. The meat was super super tender and it was way fun to just plop it down onto a table with a bunch of banana leaves and you just grab your piece and go ham:)

Roasting a pig, island style

The elders preparing the pig for roasting

Enjoying the feast

I let you guys know about transfer news so ya I will be with Elder Ferrin again, it will be fun.

Some of the Scenery in Elder Peters area.

I wanted to tell you that I haven't spoken a lot of Twi since I left Kasoa because I am in Ga land. in greater Accra everybody speaks twi, but most people are from the Ga tribe and the Ga's were this small group of people that came from Nigeria and were overpowered by the Ashanti tribe so they kinda have this small man syndrome and every time you speak twi to them, they get after you for not speaking the Ga. its hard to find motivation to learn Ga though because not only is it very difficult because of the pronunciation, but only a small portion of the people in the mission boundaries speak it. So that’s why my Twi was kinda rusty. Also I have several Congolese elders in my zone so I have been trying to learn as much of there local language as well: ingala. Enye easy kra!

Elder Peters sleeping on the balcony in his MOSQUITO NET

Most of the highlights of the week I told you about in my Skype call but I wanted to answerJosh's and mom's questions for all of you cuz they are good ones.

Please USE YOUR MOSQUITO NET! Are you taking your doxy? Yes I am taking my doxy and sleeping under my mosquito net. I went through a phase around December for some reason that I didn't use my net for about a month and a half, but I didn't get malaria during that time. I’ve never had malaria symptoms on mission so far.

1 - In one of your previous emails you said that people don't like to read the Book of Mormon because it's really hard for them to understand. And you've also said that some people can't read. What do you do with those people? Do some of them deeply desire to be part of the church even though they can't read the Book of Mormon? The picture book is money. We honestly hand those out nearly just as much as we do normal Books of Mormon. Right now we have a woman named Pascaline. She has two little boys and a daughter named Eva who is going to boarding school in Asamankase soon. Eva speaks English but Pascaline doesn't speak English very well so we usually teach her from the Book of Mormon stories picture book. This is also why it is so important to work with members because no matter how good you’re Twi, Ga, or whatever gets on mission, it’s never as good as a members. Pascaline has come to church and really shown a lot of faith and we will baptize her very soon.

The Area board...with the "Cows" "Cowboys" and the "Barn"

Elder Miller in the Great and Spacious apartment

2 - In the United States most people know or have at least heard of the LDS church. In Ghana, have most people heard of the church? Have you met people who haven't heard of Jesus Christ at all? Or anything thing about the gospel? How do you start teaching someone who doesn't have any knowledge of the truth at all, without overwhelming them? A lot of people have heard of the church, sometimes they call us funny names though. The other day we were riding our bikes and a drunk guy started yelling at everybody, "look out here come the black and whites, it’s the black and whites yo! The billionaires church!" it’s interesting too because most people don't refer to us as Mormons, they refer to us a latter-days, or latter-day saints. People also think we have ridiculous amounts of money and that only elitist billionaires can go to our church. I’ve never taught someone that hasn't heard about Jesus Christ before; I don't think most missionaries run into that, the only place you would find that is deep deep bush. Most people are very faithful Christians. I’ve learned that you have do start with very basic beliefs and gradually move into more complicated ones. 1. Do you believe that God loves us? Everybody will always say "yes". 2. Ya and God calls a prophet. That makes since to most people. 3. So can anybody just say oh hey me I’m the prophet? No 4. Why not? They need some sort of permission from god right. Ya. And it just flows from there.

3 - Have you encountered anything with blacks and the priesthood? How'd you answer? I have encountered it; it’s not a very common question at all though. Most people don't really care. 2 Nephi 26:33 is a really good scripture for that one.

4 - You said in our Skype conversation that there are 500 members, but only 100 are active. How have you found is the best way to reactivate an inactive member? Why have most of them gone inactive? Have you noticed differences between those that you've converted to the gospel, that give you a hint as to if they will stay active, or go inactive?  The best way to reactivate an inactive member I have found so far is to help them develop a regular habit of praying and reading your scriptures everyday, then doing it as a family. First you have to be their friend, because every less-active knows exactly why you are there without you saying anything, so you have to really love them and be understanding. the number 1 thing that makes people go inactive is when missionaries baptize people who are not ready to keep their commitments, sometimes they are converted to the missionary, other times they haven't reached that point in their conversion process where they are challenged by something and have to ask themselves, "am I really committed to this?" all lot of people are baptized too fast and don't ask that question until after they are baptized and the wrong way is the easy way so they take it. the 2nd biggest one is a member has said something or done something that has offended them like they expected a paycheck for their house from bishop after they are baptized and bishop will say no we don't do that.

5 - My last question for this week isn't really about the gospel. What did you do with your friends in high school that is most memorable to you now? a lot of things, I talk about my St. George trip a lot, TP-ing houses, going ATV-ing, shooting josh's potato cannon, camping stories, races, dates, workouts, runs, even lawn mowing and working as a lifeguard. There’s a lot of fun things I did, I wish I would have made more time to do fun things with my family though. often times I made the excuse that I was tired and needed an hour nap or whatever, well every one of those hour naps was an hour of my life wasted so I wish I would have used that time more wisely.

Helping build a weight bench to "do gym" using the all purpose Leatherman to saw a 2X4

Alexa good luck at South End

James those Cabelas pictures were awesome

Josh good luck at region, I know you got this.

Mom, I love you so much and it was wonderful to talk to you and see your smiling face

Dad, I liked your picture of the old men pants and I liked your questions about patriarchal blessings. I will use mine more often and look into finding out where most Ghanaians are from as far as tribes go.

Also Grandma and Grandpa thank you for the questions about pioneers in West Africa. I should use more of their stories more often the only thing is I don't really have access to a lot of information about them. I only really get the books I give to investigators and pmg and whatever you guys send me in the mail, which is awesome by the way!

I got 5 min left so I love you guys a ton and I will write more to you next week!

Elder Peters teaching in TWI

I love you a ton!

Love, Elder Peters