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

Office Elders are BUSY!!!

Hello All of my beloved friends and family!

This week was a pretty good week! My new area is very big!!! But as being part of the office elders, we are 1 of two companionships who get to use a car. It is only us and the assistants to the president. Our area is also a much wealthier part of Kumasi, so almost all of the houses are really big and have huge gates out in front of the house! So sometimes it is difficult to try contacting and meeting new people.

Things here in the office is very busy! For us we do work for the mission in the office, but whenever we do not have anything in the office we are to go and proselyte just as normal missionaries! So we are ALWAYS busy! Because we are so busy we don't get any down time. Which is actually good because it makes time pass really fast and also when we get home to the apartment in the evening we are super tired which helps me fall asleep fast and stay asleep!

It is pretty cool in this area I get to be closer to our mission president, President Cosgrave and I will get to know him better! He is a super great guy! 

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

Odo,

Elder Brandt