Super Busy in the Office...

Hello All!!!

I come to you on yet another somehow successful week in Daban! After 3 short weeks in Bantama with Elder Burdge (awesome) I am back with Elder Anderson in Daban as an office elder.  It's about 9 pm right now as I am writing this so please bear with me! :)

This week was soooooooooo busy!!! On Tuesday was the day that I was picked up to come here to Daban. (I had to wake up early to pack my bags) Then we just dropped off my bags at the apartment and headed to the mission home. As soon as we got there, a lot of missionaries were there who were being called to leadership positions. When we walked up, immediately people started handing me things to give to the president, asking to order things from the office, making requests for me look up certain information, etc..... AHH!  I consider it now as my "Welcome Back" call! haha

Then on Wednesday, we had to wake up at 5 am to take missionaries to the bus station who were going to Tamale and Bolgatanga. (it takes a minimum of 6 hours to get to tamale) (plus 2 onto that to get to Bolgatanga) Then after that, throughout the day, we had gone back and forth from the main bus station, to the apartment, and to the mission home 5 times!!!......... 5 times!!!!! I was pretty exhausted. Also on Wednesday we had 13 new missionaries arrive in the Ghana Kumasi Mission.  When missionaries are new, they will be assigned to trainers. The trainers are just like normal companions but they help in teaching them, helping them adjust, etc.  So that night we had 5 of the trainers sleeping in our apartment.

So on Thursday, we had to get up early again, to get ready and to get the trainers in our apartment to the mission home to be assigned to their new companions.  After everyone got their companions, they talked and got to know each other for a while... then we had to start taking people to their various areas!!! That took quite a while!!

Then on Friday... We had to wake up early AGAIN! At 5 we had to get ready and then take 2 missionaries who had completed their missions to the airport to fly home.  Luckily though after that, we got the chance to go and teach some lessons! (nobody was home though)

Saturday we were blessed with an interesting service opportunity! One of the members in the Daban Branch asked us if we could iron their clothes for them! We said sure, not knowing that she wanted us to iron ALL of the clothes for EVERYONE in their family for the ENTIRE week! It took us forever! But it wasn't too bad! Both me and Elder Anderson got 2 huge baskets full of clothes!!! Anway it was fun and the member was SUPER grateful!

Now my mom wanted me to answer some questions!

Questions...
(Please answer with more than 1 sentence!) : )
Tell me about the ward you attend...  The branch I am serving in is the Daban Branch. It is a really nice branch with very very faithful members! Although it is not large, it has a lot of power with a devoted branch president, faithful auxiliary leaders, and powerful members!
How is your companion? My companion is awesome! He loves to joke around and have fun, but he also knows how to work hard and do what's right!
Have you received any new advice from President? Not very recently, but I will be having an interview with him soon and I'm sure something will be included with that!
Who are you teaching right now?  Well we were teaching a young woman named Elizabeth who just actually just baptized last Sunday!!! She was filled with tears of joy because she was so happy and excited for that day! I was super happy too and also honoured that she asked me to be the one to do the baptism!  We are also teaching another young woman named Esther who is actually a house maid for one of the members.  She is currently on track to be baptized next month! Exciting!

I love you all!!! Have a GREAT week! :)

Odo,

Elder Brandt

Back to the Office...

Hello All!

This week wasn't too shabby! This week we had Zone Conferences!! So it was nice to be able to see a lot of old missionary buddies! The instruction was all about the Holy Ghost, how to listen to him, and receiving personal revelation! 

        "We must learn to be guided by personal revelation"

                        -Ezra Taft Benson

And this week is official transfers! So I have been transferred back to Daban! I will be going back with Elder Anderson (gh). Elder Whipple will not be there because he has been transferred to Bolgatanga! (I already wished him the best of luck!) 

Now Elder Burdge will be getting a new companion, Elder Hepworth.
 

In the ward we have a young man named Isaac. On Wednesday Isaac asked if he could come with us! ALL DAY! We said that would be awesome! We had a pretty awesome day lined up and we had lots of people to see that day! 

But, it wasn't long before all but two of our appointments had failed...  So the two people we were able to see were two of our members!  When we went to both of their houses, we had no idea that they had prepared food for us! So after managing to get down the first one, which was amazing fufu by the way, we headed to second house just to find MORE FOOD! (talk about stomach exercising) (the wrong kind).

Sorry this week the computer is somehow slow.... and my brain too.....

hope you all enjoy your coming week!!! :)

 2 Nephi 25:26

Odo,

Elder Brandt

Hello to All!!!! 

I hope you all had a great week because I did!  Well somehow.. haha but that's ok because I just happy to be writing to all of you again!!!

Every Tuesday we have our District Council, so this week we had our council... like normal... then we went home around 12 or 1230.... like normal... then we prepared lunch..... like normal.... then we ate lunch.... like normal.... then as soon as we finished eating...... we had a HUGE 4 HOUR LONG RAIN STORM! (not normal) I wasn't very fun because the roofing in Ghana is sheet metal... so when you have super heavy rain pounding on sheet metal over your head then you feel like you are stuck with your head in a tin can for about 4 hours! Headache anyone?! :)

On Thursday we had a very special day!  Elder Burdge had his birthday!! My companion is now 20 years old! So to celebrate, we invited some of our other MTC buddies to come and join us at a restaurant call Piri Piri's!  It is really nice for Ghanaian standards, but compared to back home it's a little rinky dink, hole-in-the-wall restaurant.  But long story short, we went there, had a good time, enjoyed each other's company. and wished Elder Burdge a happy birthday and good luck with his future remaining year on Mission!!!

I would also like to wish all of you good luck with your coming week!

Odo!

Elder Brandt

Life in Bantama...

Hello to All!

This week was great!  I am stillo getting used to the new area and the members...but we have still had a pretty good week!  For us we have a 4-man apartment.  The other companionship is in Bantama Ward 1 and we are in Bantama Ward 2.

On Tuesday I met one of the members from the ward named Derick!  He has a real special talent... He plays the piano very very well and has an incredible voice!!!  It was really nice to sit and talk with him and watch him show off his skills!

On Wednesday we had a small miracle!  Me and Ilder Burdge were trying to find people to teach.  We had been going on for about an hour and decided to take a small break.  I grabbed some water and we had just sat down for maybe 5 min and a young man came up to us and said that a woman had asked us to come and bring us to her house just around the corner.  When we got to her house we saw that the woman  there was one of the last people Elder Burdge had decided to greet.  She said that she just felt like she should call us over and talk to us. 
So we began to sit and talk with her, and then she presented a question she said she has had for a long time! She asked if there was a life after death. We were amazed and happy at her question and we answered it with happiness in our souls.

Truly God lives and does work in miracles!!

I love you all and hope you enjoy your week!!!

ODO
Elder Brandt

Getting Muddy and a Special Assignment...

Hello Everybody!

I am really happy to be able to write to you guys again after yet ANOTHER crazy week for Elder Brandt in the Ghana Kumasi Mission!

On Wednesday I had gone with Elder Whipple and Elder Anderson on an errand for Sister Cosgrave (our mission mom). She had sent us to go and buy disposable plates, cups, and etc. for the mission home. So we went, bought the stuff, and as we were coming back, we saw a bunch of people in the road. As we were approaching I couldn't tell what they were doing. But as we got closer, we saw that while we were gone, one of the huge trees on the side of the road had fallen down and all of these people were using chainsaws, axes, cutlasses, and anything they could get their hands on to try and remove this tree from the road! Because of this, we had to take a detour on a back road to get to the mission home.  As we were going, there was a part in the road that had a huge mud hole covering the road and only a small path of the road was open. Except for it wasn't open because there was a broken down car right in the middle of that open part. So our only option (luckily we were using the truck) was to drive through the mudhole!  So we put the truck into 4 wheel drive and gunned it through the mud. We mad it through! And got some pretty school mud "tribal marks" on the side of the truck to prove our glory!

Well, this adventure was unfortunately my last with Elder Anderson and Elder Whipple. On Friday, we had gone to the mission home to get some supplies before we went somewhere. While we were there, President Cosgrave saw me, then he grabbed me and pulled me into his office! Completely by surprise!  He told me that he really trusted me and that he was going to be sending me on a special assignment..... He then told me how there was an elder in Bantama who had gone home early. (I don't know why).  Now he needed someone to go and take his place! Well, you could probably guess that this was my special assignment.  So now as I am writing to you all, I am sitting in Bantama and my companion is ELDER BURDGE!!! The same guy I was companions with in the Ghana MTC (missionary training center)!!!! :) So now we are having a great time! I am really happy to be here and this is a very fruitful area!

I love you all and I hope that you all have a great week this week!

Odo,

Elder Brandt

Conferences with Elder Bednar

Hello! All of my dearly beloved friends and family!!!

This week I have but one experience I would like to share with you all. 

This last Saturday and Sunday, I had the privilege of meeting with and hearing from 1 of the 12 apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ!!!! Elder David A. Bednar came to Kumasi on Saturday to meet with all of the missionaries in the Ghana Kumasi Mission! We were able to have a 3 hour meeting with him and most of the time he was asking for questions and contributions! And afterwards I got to shake his hand!!! Then on Sunday, we had a combined stake conference with the Kumasi stakes! Also on both days we got to hear from Elder Terence Vinson (President of the Africa West Area Presidency) and from Elder Vern Stanfill (1st Councilor in the Africa West Area Presidency)!  There were soooo many things that I wish to share with you from this last weekend!!! But I will try to keep it short and sweet!

On Saturday, as Elder Bednar was instructing, he was talking about the Holy Ghost and its role, and we was asking for contributions. I contributed and he was asking me questions about the Holy Ghost and how it can work in the learning environment we were currently in.  It was truly amazing how as he is speaking, the Holy Ghost can come and speak to you just by bringing thoughts to your mind about subjects related to what the speaker is talking about! That is how the Holy Ghost teaches us! And as Elder Bednar and I were conversing for people to hear, I wasn't even having to think of words I was saying! As soon as I opened my mouth, words came by the influence of the spirit!

Before Sunday, I was having a personal question regarding the Atonement of Christ. I knew it was true, and I knew it could help me. My question, however, was how could I make the Atonement more personal and more powerful in my life? Well... the answer came on Sunday.  At the end of Elder Bednar's address on Sunday, he pronounced a blessing upon everyone there. He said that we would be able to know how to more powerfully know and feel the strengthening and sanctifying power of the Atonement in our life! Exactly what I had been searching for! 

I know that truly we can always learn to rely on the strength and power of the Atonement. Christ is unfailingly, lovingly, and urgently waiting to help us whenever we ask. He loves you more than you can ever know. 

I love all of you more than you could ever know! I thank you for all support you have given me! I hope you all have a great week!

Odo,

Elder Brandt

Lots of Paperwork, Eating Fufu, Teaching the Gospel - LIfe is Good!

Hello Everybody!

This week was a very busy one!!! This week was transfers week so we were very busy with transporting around people and supplies, getting office work done, and trying to teach as many people as possible!!! 

I do have to admit... I am a little jealous that I am missing out on the Olympics... but Fufu and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ makes for a suitable replacement! 

My mom told me that I should explain further the responsibilities of an Office Elder. Well we get to do a lot of the paper work for the mission. We record and submit all of the baptismal records that missionaries give to us. At the end of each week when all missionaries report on the work for the week, we record and submit all of that as well... (that's 160+ missionaries by the way...) The mission home also has supplies and materials that missionaries can purchase to help assist them in the work. Things like scriptures, scripture bags, pamphlets, church produced DVD's, hymn books, etc..  So it's a little bit of a busy job! And just on top of that, whenever President Cosgrave needs something done in the mission home and he's too busy, he will just call us and tell us to come. It doesn't happen very often... but it still happens.

This morning I was with Elder Whipple in Adum (which is like "downtown" Kumasi) and we were out and about getting some stuffs we needed for the week. As we were heading back to the car, a guy stopped us and started talking to us just like we were his best friends! As we were talking, he was trying to talk somehow like a "thug" telling us how he was a sailor and went down to Central America all the time. (And from his vocabulary, I am pretty sure he actually was a sailor...) But eventually someone came over and distracted just enough for Elder Whipple and I to slip away! *Count your Blessings* 

Also being in a Tri-Companionship is pretty cool. Whenever your are teaching someone, or any other situation you may have, the testimonies of 3 are always more powerful than 2! That is probably the greatest benefit of being in the trio! 

Right now I am most excited for this Saturday! ELDER DAVID A. BEDNAR IS COMING TO THE GHANA KUMASI MISSION! On Satuday we will be privileged to have a 3 hour devotional from Elder David A. Bednar from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to us missionaries of the Ghana Kumasi Mission! And then on the next day, Sunday, we will be having a combined Stake Conference in which he will also address us! I am soooooo excited!

Anyway..

I love each and every single one of you! I hope you had a good last week and I hope you have a good week coming up!

Odo,

Elder Brandt