Happy Easter!

Hello all my beloved friends and family!

This week has been a pretty good week! This week is transfer week! Although, me and my companion are staying the same! Elder Udobor, formally one of our zone leaders, was called to be an assistant to the president! Replacing him will be Elder Sutherin from Utah! 

I was very happy because this last Sunday we had another baptism! This was Ernest Owusu! He is an absolutely great guy! We began teaching him my first week in Ejisu, and he has been progressing all the way up to this point!

Also this last Sunday was Easter Sunday! :) We had an absolutely amazing church service and you could very strongly feel the presence of the Holy Ghost!  I really made that in life, sacrifice is required of all of us, which includes Jesus Christ. What set his sacrifice apart was the eternal importance and significance of it. We learn that because of Adam's necessary fall, it brought into the world Spiritual and Physical death. And also because of Christ's necessary Atonement, he suffered for our sins that we may repent and be forgiven, and he died and rose that we may conquer the chains of death and resurrect. There has never been any greater sacrifice as that one of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I hope and pray that we may all recognize and be so eternally grateful for this sacrifice. I know I am! :)

I love you all! Enjoy your week! :)

Odo,
Elder Brandt

Learning Patience and DIligence and Bikes are Great!

Hello all my beloved friends and family!

I am very happy to write to all of you today! This week was not as eventful as I had wished but it was still a great week! This week we found 10 new people to teach and all of them are really great people! :)

The bikes here have some great benefits! 1- We spend less time traveling from house to house so we can spend longer teaching each lesson! 2- My legs are getting really strong! 3- I am losing more weight faster! The only downside is when it rains... then our backs get covered with mud spots :/

Every week as missionaries we try work on some of the Christlike attributes, and work on applying them to our lives. This last week I was focusing on the attributes of patience and diligence.  I was learning about how for all of us we can endure through things. It is not about just enduring through something, but it is about HOW we endure through our certain trials. On our own we can endure, but to endure well takes extra strength. The way we can get that extra strength is to simply, rely on the Lord. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I love you all and certainly hope we are all able to endure our trials well!

Odo,
Elder Brandt

Happy 19th Birthday Obroni!

Hey All!

I want thank everyone who sent me birthday wishes! 

This week was a pretty cool week and all!

A couple days ago me and my companion were leaving the chapel and there was a very large group of kids about 20 or so all shouting obroni. (Obroni is "white guy" in Twi)

So I decided to stop and talk to them small.  Their English was not very good so I was doing my best to communicate with them in Twi.  They were all asking me what is my best food here in Ghana? When I told them fufu, they were all cheering, screaming, clapping, and running around in unbelief that a white man actually likes fufu! Then they asked... with what soup? I told them ground nut (peanut) soup and they did the same thing! It was just a pretty funny sight. Then as me and my companion were riding away, the kids were running after us trying to keep up.... eventually they had to stop because their mothers yelled at them for going too far away haha!

Also this morning we unfortunately saw a pretty big accident. Luckily we were nowhere near it. A huge 18 wheel truck carrying cocoa beans ran right into the back of a bunch of public transport vans (trotros)! It seemed like the brakes on the truck had gone out or something because the truck did slow down at all, it just turned and rammed the back of these vans. That was pretty crazy to see!

Life goes on! I love all of you and thank you for all of your support! Thanks for all of the birthday wishes again!

Odo,
Elder Brandt

BTW - you might have noticed I pulled extra money recently.  That is because for my glasses, one of them does not fit anymore.  When I put them on, then look down at all...they just fall off.  I believe due to weight loss.  And the other pair got spoiled.  One of the other elders in the apartment accidentally fell on top of them and broke one of the arms.  So I had to buy new frames.  The eye doctors place just used the same lens from one of the pairs and cut it to the size of the new pair.  They work and fit very well!  Just thought I should keep you informed!  : )

Mom's Q&A...

How was your Bday?

- It was kind of cool! The day was just over all good!
What did you do to celebrate?

- We went to KFC :)
Did you get your package?

- I just received a package from Poppa B. and Gigi! Thank you! :)

 Yes Thank You Poppa and GiGi!!!
How is the bike?

- The bikes are cool! I feel like I am mountain biking all day and it's a great way for me to sweating a lot and losing more weight! ;)

FuFu and Soup

I ate this!

Chasing Lizards...

Hello all of my beloved friends and family members!

This week was a pretty cool one! 

A couple of days ago, we were coming into the chapel and saw that somehow a big lizard had somehow gotten inside! So for about 10-15 minutes I got the chance to chase around this lizard and eventually get it outside. Just kind of a funny situation. Also just this last Sunday me and my companion got the chance to teach the primary in church. We taught them the song about the wise man and the foolish man building their houses. Made after the parable taught by Jesus Christ in Matthew. They got very very into it and it was pretty funny!

This week I have been studying a lot about being humble, and also being thankful! As I have been reading in the book of Matthew I am of course learning about all of the amazing things that Jesus Christ was doing among the people. Healing lepers, causing the blind to see, curing palsy, and even raising the dead. When I read about all of these things I think about how blessed I am to be in good health and I am also so very thankful for Christ going through the atonement and suffering for me.

I would encourage you all to think about what you are thankful for this week!

Matthew 5-7

Ether 12:27

Odo,

Elder Brandt

Questions and Answers with Dad...

We just learned he got a bike...

 I was pretty excited to receive these bikes, but they are very small bikes, like Lauren or mom sized and the seat is way to low. It is pretty funny to watch me ride because as I ride, my legs come plenty above parallel with the ground. haha.  I actually already raised the seat as high as it goes. It has a short rod. 

Did they give you bikes so you could go farther?

Actually in this mission anyone can request bicycles if they would like them. For us we requested them because our area is HUGE and sometimes it takes us a long time going from one appointment to another.

Mom's Question and Answers...

How do people celebrate their birthdays in Ghana? Or do they? 

They do not do anything super different than us! Sing happy birthday song, maybe give a gift or two, wish them a good day.

I saw on my weather app that you had a lot of rain last week...
Is my app correct? 

We are just outside of Kumasi, and we did not receive really any rain last week, just two sets of drizzles.

Are you healthy? 

I am healthy! 

Do you need anything???? 

Just  letters! :)

Love you so much!

2 Nephi 28:30

Odo,

Taylor

PS - Taylor said he would send pictures this week - Check back later to see them!  

Nicholas was baptized and I would love more snail mail!

Hello Everyone!

Sorry today the Internet is no good and I am typing on a garbage keyboard so this week might not be long.  This week was pretty cool. Just yesterday we were able to have another baptism! The man's name is Nicholas and is one of the best people I have ever met here on my mission!  He is a teacher and also owns a small phones shop for extra cash. He is a super super nice guy and he loves the gospel and all of the blessings it has to offer!

This week was kind of a normal week other than that! Elder Anai and I are doing very very well! Elder Udobor and Elder Ojok are very cool guys and they make the apartment very fun! I will try to include pictures of them soon! I love you all and appreciate support! Do not forget I LOVE getting snail mail! Do not be afraid to throw something this way!

Odo,

Elder Brandt

Elder Anai and I being goofy

More views of Ejisu

Baptism and Baggy Clothes...

All my beloved friends and loved ones!

This week was kind of cool! I had a couple of realizations this week about how much I have physically changed since coming to Ghana! 

-Let me begin with my shirts. The collar on my shirts is 17.5 and they fit well upon departure. I can now fit my entire hand between my neck and the collar!

-My arms. One evening in the apartment I was wearing shorts and just happened to notice how much darker my arms are than my legs! (since my legs are always covered and my arms are not)

-My pants and belt.  Also upon departure, they fit well.  I was on the second hole in my belt and now I am on the last. I am even about to make 1 new hole in belt.  For my pants I can now hold the button about 4 inches away from my actual waist!

You can see in the pictures I will send!

My new area of Ejisu is sweet! It is also very big! We probably walk an average of at least 5-7 miles a day, and that is just walking around inside of our area from appointment to appointment!  In Ejisu there is a main roundabout called Yaa Santewaa Roundabout. That is the name of the most fierce Ashanti female warrior, supposed to be the most fierce female warrior ever. It's kinda cool. 

Just yesterday we were able to baptize a woman named Rebecca Adubofour! Her husband is a member of 2-3 years and we were finally able to teach her and she was even baptized by her own husband, Asante! It was a great experience!

As part of being a missionary we get to do lots of studying and learning. The past couple of days I was able to study about receiving personal revelation! We know that it comes "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little." We should not expect that that revelation will just come in some crazy dream and answer all of our problems! I will be some idea... that will seem to occupy our thoughts and press itself upon our feelings!

Good things come to those who wait!

Odo,

Elder Brandt

Here are some Twi (pronounced chi)words I use everyday...

Akwaaba - Welcome

Medase - Thank you

Matiase - I understand

Ma che - Good Morning

Ma haa - Good Afternoon

Ma jo - Good Evening

Me, Asante, Rebecca, Elder Anai

Branch Counselor's son...so cute!

Weight Loss!

Darkening of Skin!

My daily views of Ejisu, Ghana

Hello Ejisu...and 27 new bug bites, fish eyes and cow heart

Hello all!

This week was exciting! I have transferred to a town called Ejisu
which is just outside of the big city Kumasi.  My new companion Elder
Anai is awesome! He is from Ghana just in Accra. The other people in
the apartment are Elder Udobor from Nigeria and Elder Ojok from
Uganda. Elder Udobor is actually a very hilarious guy and he is
cracking jokes all the time!  Elder Anai is also a really funny guy.
We get along great, love to share jokes and stories, and we also know
how to work hard!

This week I decided to take an inventory of my bug bites. The count is
currently at 27. It continues to increase. All just part of the work!

This week, I also got to add to my "interesting" foods list! The first
thing is fish eyes! I am sure most of you know Gushers! They're kind
of like that. The second is cow heart! I got to eat some of that this
week! It was actually pretty darn delicious! :)

I love you all and appreciate all of your support! :)

Odo,
Elder Brandt

Ejisu, Ghana

Elder Anai (from Ghana)