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

Hello All of my friends, family, and loved ones!

Unfortunately this week my letter will not be super long. I hope you find room to forgive me, but we had a pretty rough week.  This week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Tuesday, we were coming home from District Council and it began to rain on us. So me and my companion started jogging home. Then the rain began to pick up so we began to sprint to the apartment! Unfortunately the rain was faster than both of us and we were destroyed by the rain! It was so heavy and windy. The rain was going sideways and it did not feel like water, it felt like gravel! So we got home soaked, changed, showered and waited for the rain to stop. Finally it stopped around 5:30 - 6 so we had enough time to get dressed and then go see one person.

Wednesday and Thursday were fine, no rain, but super hot. Although, from the time we left our apartment at 10am, we were walking, walking, and walking. Appointments were falling through, people were making excuses, people not being around because they forgot we were coming, trying to find and teach new people...... none of it was working. We sat down from 12:30-1 for lunch, then continued. After lunch, the same pattern continued. Nobody was meeting with us. We had appointments, but ALL of them were falling through. Until finally at 4pm our appointment came through! Then after that we just one more lesson. Then we were so tired around 6:30 we decided to go home. Luckily this time, we got home just before some small rain came!

On Thursday the same thing happened, only someone came through at 3 and 4! Then from there for the rest of the evening.... nobody :(

Life goes on doing its normal crazy things. Uncontrollable, crazy, unpredictable, fun, sad, joyful, boring. You just never know! BUT! God knows! He gives you exactly what you need exactly when you need it! So for all I know, that was what I needed at that time and I don't know why.

I love you all, I hope you had a better week than I did! Thank you for all of your love and support!

Odo,
Elder Brandt

YAY for Mosquito Nets!!!

Hello Everybody!

I love so much hearing from home and hearing how everybody is doing! Thank you for all of the support and prayers you are giving to me! I guess I will begin by answering some questions from my mom!

1 - How was your week? My week was pretty cool I had some sweet stuff happen this week!
2 - How is the companionship going? What is his family situation like? My companion is great! He is great guy and he is pretty knowledgeable, especially about the gospel! He has a good family situation! Both his mom and dad are converts to the church. In his family, both him and his brother are serving missions! Great family!
3 - What was your Sweet? This week I finally got a mosquito net! I have finally been able to sleep in peace the past few days! :)
4 - What was your Sour? I had a few headaches this week, but no big deal!

Now maybe I will tell a few stories from my week in paradise! :)

On Wednesday morning the Senior couple missionaries, the Wardles, brought us our mosquito nets! You have no idea how happy I was that morning! I know I already mentioned this in my sweet for the week but it was SO sweet I had to mention it twice! :)

On Wednesday we had an appointment with an investigator named Nana Yao. He lives in a town called Akyawkrom. It is quite a walk it takes you about 45 mins to get there. Eventually, we did get there and meet with him, then when we finished and began to walk back, we saw someone who was preparing to leave. He was driving motor tricycle with a bed on the back for carrying things, except it was empty! So we decided to ask him for a ride! He motioned us to hop in the back, so we did and it turned our 45 min walk into a 5-10 min ride! That was fun :)

On Thursday I got to go on exchange with Elder Sutherin! Unfortunately the rain was pretty prominent that day so we got captured a few times inside of buildings waiting for it to die down enough for us to go and see someone! But other than that, it was fun! I learned a lot from him and we had a great day even though we had quite a bit of disappointments!

I love you all! I hope you all had a good week as well! Remember that God loves you!

Odo,

Elder Brandt

I am a new District Leader and I have New Companion...

Hello Everybody!

I hope everything is well! This last week we had transfers! So my companion Elder Anai was moved to an area called Bantama. For me I will be staying and my new companion is Elder Akpan! For him he is from Nigeria and he is now 4 months on mission!  He is a cool guy and I am excited to continue working with him for at least the next 6 weeks!

Recently we have been working with one of our recent converts, Nicholas. We have been teaching his wife and now she wants to be baptized! She absolutely loves learning, and she really loves all of the things and lessons that we have taught her!
This week I got some Kente ties! Kente is a Ghanaian pattern that they use in a lot of traditional clothing! I will try to include a picture! ;)

I love you all and pray we may all be able to put our FULL trust in God and allow Him to bless us as he sees fit!

Ether 12:27

Odo,

Elder Brandt

My new companion, Elder Akpan from Nigeria

My new Kente Tie!

Watch Tan!