No Letter - Just Pictures!

Our District

Leading the Midweek...

Hello Everybody! I am doing my best but today's internet is kind of a doozy. This week was pretty good! I got to know more about my companion and had some good experiences this week! On Wednesday I had the opportunity to lead the midweek!  We talked about the Book of Mormon and the reason why it was kept in the first place. We read from Alma 37:1-20. In this section it is Alma speaking to his son Moroni and explaining to him the reason why he is keeping the records.  It explains it very nicely and there are a lot things that I learned from that section. Along with this we gave a challenge to all the members. We gave each of the members one brand new Book of Mormon. Their assignment was to give that Book of Mormon to one friend who wanted to know more or had questions. Then at midweek on 20 July, they are to bring that friend and we will have a "special" midweek. We will play a game, watch "The Restoration" DVD, and then we will explain the Book of Mormon and how Joseph Smith received the Book of Mormon. I am very excited for this upcoming activity and it should be great! On Thursday something kind of funny happened. As I was putting my socks on, my sock kept catching on something so I checked my foot to see what was causing trouble.  I found that the nail on my smallest toe was falling off!  I don't even know what was causing it to come off... but I decided to use my best judgement and just pull it off! Apparently my best judgement was not very good judgement because as soon as I pulled it off, the side that was still attached started bleeding quite a bit. Eventually I got it to stop, then put my shoes on, and then we were out the door! On Friday we had to go to a small meeting in UST. When we got in a trotro to get there, I noticed there was a man in the back making quite a bit of noise. At first I thought he was just speaking on the phone very loud, but when I looked at him and listened more carefully I realized that he was actually preaching. He was just sitting in the back of the trotro and preaching to everybody inside! Of course he was preaching in Twi, so I did not understand what he was preaching about. I find it so interesting that Ghana is an English speaking country, yet here in the Ashanti Region there are sooooo many people who do not understand any English.  Walking down the road, buying from a provision store, buying food from a seller, and etc. are all in Twi. Even if I ever do try to speak English, people will tell me, "menti brofu" which means "I don't understand English."  From what I hear, no other place in Ghana is like this. In Accra, Tamale, Ho, and other places all the people understand English. So overall I had a pretty good week! Of course I have small challenges and trials here and there... but that is how it is supposed to be!!!! I love you all! Enjoy your week! :) Odo, Elder Brandt

New Companion!

Hello All!!!

This week has been another crazy week in the missionary life of Elder Brandt!! On Wednesday Brother Asamoah and I received a surprise phone call from President Cosgrave. When I answered the phone, he asked me if I liked my companion and if everything was going well with the two of us. I responded that the two of us are doing fine. He then apologized because he said that I receiving a new companion tomorrow and that they were going to release my companion as a stake (part-time) missionary.  They said that my new companion will be coming from the Ghana Accra Mission. The Accra Mission covers Accra and the South-Western part of Ghana also known as the Volta Region.  There was a missionary who was having Visa problems for where he was supposed to serve his mission, so they were going to be adding him to the Accra Mission. Because they were doing that, the Accra Mission would now have an Odd number of missionaries. So they decided to release my companion, and then bring one of the Accra missionaries to me so as to even everything out.  So the very next day, Thursday, is when one of the senior couples from the Accra Mission brought the missionary here to the Ghana Kumasi Mission.  Going from Accra to Kumasi, you have to go through our area; Ejisu. So Thursday afternoon they picked us up in Ejisu and then we directed them to the mission home in Kumasi to meet with President Cosgrave.  So we got there safely and everything went well and President met with each of the missionaries just to see how things are going. 

As we were preparing to leave, Sister Cosgrave asked me if I saw the drum in president's office.  Immediately, President Cosgrave turned around and grabbed a nice African drum from his office. He grabbed me a chair and everybody sat around and asked me to play for them! I have to admit I was pretty unreasonably nervous.... but I began playing and played for what seemed like about 5 min or so. After some congratulations, me and my new companion were taken back home to the apartment.

My new companion is Elder Asare. His home town is a village by Cape Coast. His favorite color is white. He loves to play the keyboard, and he even has his own! Previous to coming to the Ghana Kumasi Mission, he served in the Ghana Accra Mission for 16 months! He is an awesome missionary and I have a lot to learn from him!!

I love you all! I hope your week was not as crazy as mine! Let us love and serve God and our fellow men with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength! :)

Odo,
Elder Brandt

Inspecting Apartments, Transfers, and Stake Conference!

Hello Everybody! I am happy to write to all of you once again! This week was a little bit of a fast one because we had a few major events this week! On Monday and Tuesday I was with Elder Sutherin all day since his companion had gone home. On Tuesday, I traveled to all the missionary apartments so he could inspect them and also give them supplies that they needed. Mampong, Agona, Asamang, Effiduase, UST, and Buokrum... those are all of the names of where the apartments are.  It took us all day because we have to take public transport and they are pretty spread out. On Wednesday, we had the transfer day! So Elder Sutherin, Brother Asamoah, and I all traveled to the Kumasi bus station where all missionaries go to if  they are being transferred. So there were a lot of missionaries there! My companion and I had to wait until Elder Sutherin and the rest of our district got there new companions, then we were able to come back pretty late in the evening time because Elder Sutherin's new companion had to come all the way down from Tamale.  Now the new missionary in our apartment is Elder Asabere! He is from Accra and he is a super sweet guy! On Saturday and Sunday we had the Dichemso Stake Conference! I was super cool and we heard lots of awesome and amazing talks! I was very spiritually uplifting and I enjoyed every moment of it! :) I love you all and I hope you all look forward to this week as much as I do! :) Odo, Elder Brandt :) Brother Asante My Companion...Brother Asamoah Just a few Selfies!  : )

9 months and Healthy...

Hello To All! :)

We had yet another successful, sunny, and miraculous week here in the Ghana Kumasi Mission! I would just like to give all of you the 9 month health report! I am happy and healthy! A few sicknesses have come and past, but as for now, my sky is clear!

This last Wednesday we had our Zone Conference!  The instruction was based on two General Conference talks.  The first one was "Clean Hands and a Pure Heart" by Elder David A. Bednar in Oct. 2007. The second one, and my personal favorite, was "Beware of Pride" by President Ezra Taft Benson in April 1989.  The reason I love the talk by President Benson is because it goes into soooo much detail about pride and what are some of the different symptoms/ faces of pride. He also talks about the antidote for pride, humility, and how are some ways we can use our agency to apply it in our life! I strongly encourage ALL of you to read it!

In our apartment we have 4 missionaries/ 2 companionships. One of the missionaries, Elder Ojok, has completed his 2 years and just left this morning to back home to Uganda. So on Saturday, Elder Sutherin and I planned a surprise party for him. We first invited the rest of the district to come. We planned for a member of Ejisu branch to prepare fried rice for everyone. We all met at the Kwamo chapel (his area) and set everything up, then we had the bishop call them and tell them to come. When they came, we surprised him and everything went well! We all enjoyed, had fun, talked, and made him feel happy and missed.

This last Sunday, in Ejisu, we finally received copies of General Conference! Unfortunately, they watched it in Twi so I didn't understand anything being said. :(

So ladies and gentlemen.... That was my week in a nutshell! I love you all! Have a good week!

Odo,

Elder Brandt

I had my scriptures wrapped in Kente Fabric!

3 Day Fever and a Test of Patience!

Hello All of my Family, Friends, and Acquaintances!

This week was not a very eventful week. Maybe it was to balance out the craziness we had last week.  Most of this week I was sick with a fever. It was a some how serious one. It lasted for about 3 days. Friday - Sunday. But now, I am feeling fine and ready to roll again! :)

On Wednesday one of our members told us about a friend that he had who was interested in learning more about the church. He was the head master of a school in a Village called Donaso. So we went on Thursday to go and see him. It was too far to walk but we had to take about a 5-7 min car to get there. When we got there we had to call him again for directions. When I called him he said to ask around for the cemetery road. Then he cut the call.  So we did. Then we began walking on the cemetery road. After walking about 5 min, there was a fork in the road so we called him again. He said turn right and walk past the Muslim Mosque. Then cut the call. So we turned right and walked for another 5 min past the mosque and reached another fork in the road. So we called him again and said where we were. He then told us turn left and ascend the hill but do not descend down the other side.... Then he cut the call.  So we walked another 5 min up the steep hill and stopped at the top. We called him again saying we were at the top of the hill he then told us, take the road on your left and the school should be on the right side....... Then he cut the call. So we took the road on our left and walked for 10 min. We reached the end of the road without seeing any schools. So we called him telling him what we did then he told us go back to the top of the hill and then he will send someone to come and pick us............................. Then he cut the call. So we walked another 10 min back to the top of the hill and waited there for about 10-15 min for someone to come and pick us.  Eventually a student came and directed us back to the school.  To get there, we had to first descend down the other side of the hill and then turn left and walk on that road 10 min until we got to the school.  My companion and I figured that God has different ways of testing everyone's patience............ This was ours.

God speaks to us. Just like anything else, you will never hear him unless you are actively listening.  If you also never talk to him, he will not talk to you as often, but he will still speak. He loves each and every single one of you. Remember that. I love you too. I hope you all have a good week and remember that whenever you are being tested, you are also growing. :)

Odo,

Elder Brandt

Do you think I could wear this to church when I get home?

Dressing Up for Church...Ghana Style!

Emergency Transfers and a New Stake Missionary for a Companion!

Hello all of my beloved friends and family!!!

This week was nothing short of an interesting week!

To be honest I don't remember much of the week besides Thursday and Friday!

Recently the First Presidency of the church released new instruction that Stake missionaries (part-time), were not allowed to be staying in Full-time missionary apartments. Because of this, we had emergency transfers this week!  The actions taken were that stake missionaries all had to go home, and thus, some missionaries had to be moved around to fill empty spaces!  

Thursday evening at 9pm me and my companion, Elder Akpan, received a phone call from President Cosgrave.  He told us that my companion was being transferred tomorrow. He said that he needed to pack his bags A.S.A.P. because we needed to be at the mission home by 10am Friday morning.  He was being transferred to Obuasi.  

Now for us our apartment is in Kwamo, but we proselyte in Ejisu. So my new companion was a stake missionary, Brother Asamoah. The only reason this works is because his father is the Bishop in Kwamo. So every morning by 9 he comes to meet me at the apartment, and then after we finish, he goes back to his house to sleep.  Kind of crazy! But that really put me and Elder Akpan in a daze. It almost seemed like a dream.  But it happened, now me and Brother Asamoah are doing well and life is great. He is a super great guy and he loves to laugh and joke around which I really like!

I hope all of you are doing well! Send me snail mail! Love you all! :)

Odo,

Elder Brandt