I ate "coat" this week.

Hello,
Wow, it seems like you guys just got out of school the other day, I can’t believe that you are already going back in three weeks. Time really does go by fast. Maybe I will start off by answering your questions this week. (?’s Mom asked are in italics)

What do you do to work out? I got some legit free weights from Bro. Pratt as a gift that are pretty sweet, so I use those and the other ghetto weights that we have and just do whatever for the first 30 min in the morning. But it doesn’t show one bit.haha.
Do your clothes fit you? I got all my shirts tailored and fitted to my body so now all of my shirts are super tight and if I get any fatter they wont fit me, haha. My pants are a little baggy but not bad.
How are Sammy and his family doing? We haven’t been able to get Sammy and his family to church yet, but we are working on it.
Who is in the photo with you both carrying scriptures? The one in the picture is a young girl 5 years old.
How is Elder Brown liking the food? Me and Elder Brown are getting along really well and he is not picky so he actually eats most of the food, which is nice. I did eat something new this week. I had what they call "coat". It is the skin of a cow haha. It is so gross, but I ate the whole thing. Guess it wasn’t that bad. I don’t think that I have offended anyone my whole mission by not eating their food. I do really good at eating everything that they give me. We are starting to enjoy the African food a lot more too.
Is Elder Brown over the culture shock of Africa? Me and Elder Brown are having a lot more fun. He likes to spend money, so now I have been spending more money than before and buying a few more things. I don’t know if that is good or bad. But I still am good a managing my money.

So you had a ward party for Pioneer Day. Pioneers here are the people who started the church here in Africa. You should get the movie, Pioneers of Africa, and watch that. It will tell you a lot more than what I can tell you and it has a lot of sweet things on it.

This week was pretty sweet I have been going on splits a lot lately with Elder Keller. I went with him three days this week to Moree, so I didn’t get to be with Elder Brown very much this week. He has been in Yamoransa, where we live, and has been teaching a young boy for the new goal, because I have already finished it. So the Elders there are helping us out because they have a kid who needs to be baptized that will accomplish the goal. So they gave it to Elder Brown. But I think we will accomplish the goal at least one or two times together also. It is just a safety plan in case something doesn’t work out. Always gotta have a back up plan.

Right now we are teaching a man whose wife died two days before we taught him. It is so true that the Lord will lead us to those who are ready or he will lead them to us. In this case it happened both ways. A man about 1 month ago came up to me and Elder Brown late one night and told us to come see him. We forgot about it because we couldn’t get a hold of him on the phone. Then this week I felt that we should call him and try to meet him again just cuz. So we did. When I called him on the phone Wednesday he was crying. We went and visited him at his house after we finally found it, and we found his family in mourning, his wife had just died. We taught him about the Plan of Salvation a few times this week and it brought him great comfort that he could see his wife again. We are still teaching him and he is doing really well so I will tell you more about that this week. It was awesome to see just how much the Plan of Salvation can comfort someone in time of distress.

It is really cool that dad talked about priesthood blessings is his email. We had a girl at church who really needed a blessing and she wanted us to give it to her. We told her that she needed to have her father give the blessing, and that she would thank us for it later. We went to the father and asked him if he had ever given a blessing. He said no. He hadn’t even been coming to church. We helped him and taught him how to give the blessing. Yes, he had the Priesthood don’t worry. He gave his daughter a blessing and it was one of the coolest experiences to see. The talk that was given this conference about having the father give the blessings in the family is what made me think about having her father do it. It is true that when we need to remember something it comes to us at the right time. It is very important that the father is the one who oversees what takes place in the family and that he is the one to administer to them in time of need. It brings unity and peace to the home and increases the level of love for one another. There is a perfect example in 1 Nephi where Nephi asked his father to pray and ask God where he should go to get food. Nephi knew that he father was murmuring and that it would be a chance for him to repent and change. Nephi could have done it himself but he didn’t. He asked his father to do it.

Anyway it was a great week and we are having lots of success in Moree. I am having wonderful life changing experiences and much much more. I love my mission and thank God everyday that I am here. It is so sweet in every way. I love you guys and pray for you every day. Keep up the good work and never quit. The church is true. I love you all. Take care.

Love Elder Adams

E-mail 7-19-10

Dear Family,

This week was an awesome week, but not crazy like the week before. It was one of my favorite on a spiritual sense. Well I’ll come to that. I just wanted to say that my infection or whatever is almost gone now and that I’m healthy as an ox. And, yes don’t worry I told Sister Sabey. Thanks for the update on everyone, sounds like everything is about the same as before. I just want to wish Raegan a happy birthday so that I don’t forget her and and her mother, sorry sis. Still love ya. You can give her a big fat kiss for me as a birthday present. That is really sad about the Buckmasters. You can give them my best. That would be really rough. Thank goodness for the gospel. That is also awesome that they have Rutledge as the new coach for basketball. That’s pretty bomb. Well it sounds like all is going well back home, dad carries guns, Miles has another car he can crash, Whitney has a pretty spiffy job now, moms out of school and loving it, and Tristin and Raegan are celebrating one year! Wow, you really don’t realize how much is going on until you’re not there.

Well this week was pretty sweet. We taught Sammy the other day and he bore his testimony to us about 5 times during the lesson about the Book of Mormon and stuff. I had a pretty sweet experience during that lesson. As I was bearing my testimony about the Book of Mormon, I had a feeling I had never felt before. It seemed different this time than all of the other times I had felt the spirit. It was more. I was completely overcome by the spirit. They always say that at one point in someone’s life they have their conversion story. Well this is mine I think. I always new that the Book of Mormon had to be true, I had prayed about it and felt the spirit before. But this time it was as if someone was really speaking to me telling me the Book is true!! It was as if I was hit over the head and told here is your answer. Now you know for sure. I don’t know I really explain it, I just know 100 percent now that the Book of Mormon is true!

We have also been teaching someone that is going to be able to accomplish the goal for us. We taught him all of lesson one and we’ll see what happens this week. But right now that is really all we have for the new goal. So we need your prayers. I studied the Share But Don’t Compare topic. I found some good stuff in Mosiah 4 and Jacob 2. Where else was there any good scriptures? I’m not sure if I found it. Well I don’t think that I really need anything that I didn’t tell you last week or the week before so go back and look at those emails. Thanks for everything. I just want all of you to know that I know the church is true and that there is no greater thing we can be doing in this life than sharing it with others, so look for every opportunity. Take care and stay strong. I leave you with all my love.

Love Elder Adams

ps. Sorry I have no time to email today we are in a hurry so I will answer all the questions next week. Sorry whit I will email next week I promise, and you to Miles. Thanks for the emails

Great Week - Hit by a Taxi, may have shingles!

Family,

This week was actually a sweet one. I might have sounded a little worried last week and overreacted, but really everything is totally cool and going along smoothly. This week was awesome. We worked super hard this week, harder than I think I have my whole mission. We're supposed to proselyte for 9 hours a day, but this week we proselyted for 10 or so hours each day, and Sunday for almost 12 hours! I don't know what got into me, but we have found lots of things that we wanted to do in the ward and in the area. And so we got to work on them right away. I am really enjoying training Elder Brown and we are having a lot of fun together as well.

I few things that we have been doing is helping young men become ward missionaries and try to get them to be excited about going on missions. Bishop really wants us to help. We had ward coordination meeting and we got one of the MTC teachers in our ward to talk to them all about a mission and their duties as ward missionaries. We have about 10 boys that we have now begun proselyting with, and we will be having ward coordination meeting every week now. I’m excited. We also went to ward council meeting on Sunday for the first time since I have been here. It was pretty interesting to see, and we are beginning to work more with the leaders of the ward. I think that is going to help a lot.

Zone conference this week was sick. We had more of a mission conference and had six zones meet all together. It was sweet to see my father again (Elder Mackay). We had some sweet instructions and even heard from Pres. Sabeys son. We had everyone meeting together because President was asked to help out with the whole Missionary Rape case in Accra. So he had been gone for a bit helping to work that. At the conference he gave us a big talk about obedience and how all of those things could have been avoided if the missionaries would have been following the rules. Seems like it has boosted the level of obedience in the mission.

I had some interesting things happen this week. I have had what we think is shingles or a staff infection, I don’t know which, in my armpit. It has slowly been growing and getting a little worse everyday. The worst part is that I can’t use deodorant and I freakin smell by the end of the day haha. I feel bad for Elder Brown. I also got hit by a car on Friday. It was funny. I was getting out of a taxi and there was a stopped tro tro right next to the taxi, side by side, but facing opposite directions. Then while I was waiting for Elder Brown the tro tro drove right into me and pinned me between the taxi and the tro tro. The dude was an idiot and I don’t know what he was thinking. Then he just glared at me and sped off ha. I got a nice dead leg and some tire marks on my shoe but that’s all. Luckily I was near the back of the car and slipped out the back. I laughed.

Okay maybe I will tell you about Elder Brown. He has 1 bro and 1 sis. He is the first to go on mission in his family, he enjoys sports a lot, but he also has that smart side and knows like all kinds of just crazy nerdy facts. It’s funny. He eats a ton, but he is super skinny. His dad is a doctor, a ghinacaulogsist (Gynecologist) haha that’s the best I can spell it. Elder Brown is way tight though and I love the kid. We will get along just like me and Elder MacKay.

Oh yeah I also broke my camera lens this week. It still works the shutter just makes really bad noises and doesn’t open up anymore. But I think it will still last for a long time so we’ll see.

Okay so our prime investigator that I have been talking about for the past while named Sammy is still going strong. He has already told us that he knows the church is true and everything. We have had some really powerful lessons with him. We have finished lessons 1 and 2. We started teaching his wife this past week also. She seems not interested, but he still wants us to continue meeting with her so we are doing our best. But Sammy I think could be baptized in the next two months. We are taking things really slow with him. But he is definitely ready.

A few things that are worrying me are well 1. That I am getting really
fat!! Yes I know hard to believe but when all you eat is carbs for every meal that’s what happens. So maybe you should like send me the P90X ab workouts somehow hahah 2. My back still, but you said you’re sending me stuff so that’s cool. 3. Tristin's birthday. Freakin, I knew it was her birthday. I even planned to write her an email, then I forgot. So sorry sis still love ya :).

You can send me some pics of me so that I can send them to other people that are writing me with some letters. Some ties, I need a few more maybe. I would like to hear an update maybe on like the whole family cousins and my friends if there is anything interesting to tell. If not don’t worry about it. My CD player really sucks and never works. I think it was just super cheap. Some more scriptures markers. And I want to know if there is anything that you want me to send to you. I haven’t been doing very good at sending things home. Oh and send more pictures of just anything. People just ask like all the time to see pictures and get mad when I don’t have many. Send the picture of me doing a flip wakeboarding. Like 10 missionaries keep asking me how to do a flip and I can’t explain it so then I can just show them a picture.

Okay wow that is a lot of stuff. Just some ideas to keep in mind. I am loving my mission and my area. My new comp is the man, and I know that there is no greater work than serving the people of Ghana. My testimony of the truthfulness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has never been stronger. Love you all

Love Elder Adams

New Companion and now a Trainer

The Adams Family,

Well the past week a lot has happened. More than I think I was ready for...

On Monday night we found out all of the transfer news, and that me and Elder Mackay wound no longer be companions. Elder Mackay was called to be a zone leader in an area called Sekondi, and I have been asked to train and stay in Moree. My new companion is from the Dallas Texas area, and seems like a pretty cool kid. Another white boy. He loves golf and I guess he is really good at it, he played in high school. But once again I have been given a companion who loves to sing. He was in the flippin mens choir at BYU. I don’t know, but I think the Lord is trying to teach me how to sing or something, but it’s getting annoying because I still suck just the same and haven’t seen any improvements. All my companions are super good. But im still trying. It just isn’t my thing. So his name is Elder Brown and he is super smart he took like 6 religion classes at BYU before his mission too, and knows the scriptures better than I do already. SO let’s just say that I feel pretty inadequate to be training Elder Brown. To be training at all!!!

Right now I am still very nervous and really am trying to learn still myself. I just don’t know very much at all and don’t fully understand why I would be called to train so early. When I found out I would be training I immediately started to freak out. I didn’t know what to do, so I just prayed and asked for help. I think I have prayed more in the past few days than I have my whole mission. It’s been a very humbling experience to realize just how much I don’t know, and see how much I thought I knew, but really didn’t. I have a much greater appreciation now of Elder Mackay and all that he did. Well the days that we went out and proselyte went pretty well. The first day I just showed Elder Brown around the area and introduced him to as many people as possible. I seemed a little shocked at first when he saw our area, but it’s totally understandable. The past few days have been okay. We haven’t taught as many lessons as normal, and the area is even slower now than before. So get this. Fishing season just started last week and everyone has gone to sea. All of our investigators who were progressing are now gone, ever single one. So there are no men in the village at all. All of the women now go to the beach and collect the fish, smoke them and then sell them, so there are no women in the house all day long. So the entire town is gone, and everyone still left is super busy with the fishing season. So right now we don’t have a teaching pool at all, and are basically starting from scratch. We have contacted quite a few people during the world cup and so we are now just beginning our new teaching pool. Things are kind of rough right now, but were still working hard. The past few days we have been proselyting for about 10 hours. Yesterday Elder Brown was so tired and hungry that we went back early. I didn’t realize how hard I was working him, so I felt bad. Now I feel that everything that happens in Moree rests solely upon my shoulders so I have been just trying to do as much as I can. They also changed our entire zone around. We had one district and one zone before, but now we have 3 districts within our one zone, and two new areas that have opened up. Our apartment has become a district now, so I have gone from being in a district of about 15 to being in a district of only 4. Our first district meeting will be tomorrow, so we will see how the change goes. SO the biggest news is that our goal to baptize a husband and a wife family is now officially over. Yesterday was the last day. Do you remember how I said that it would be impossible for us to accomplish this goal, and that the only way we could is if it were a miracle? Well we received that miracle we were so desperately needing. We had 31 missionaries or so and only 2 weeks left I think. Last week we had still like 10 or more missionaries and some didn’t even have a promising family to baptize. Yesterday was the last day of the goal, and the last person that needed to accomplish the goal finished. I don’t know all of the details, all I know are that it wasn’t us that accomplished this goal. It was completely impossible for us to do it, it was all the Lord. It has been a crazy experience to witness. Sometimes I feel that this mission runs solely on the faith of President Sabey! Just that man alone does more than all of us missionaries together. It is crazy! I will give you more details on the goal after zone conference. As for the Ghana match everyone was super sad, and nobody wants to talk about it anymore. They all wouldn’t shut up when they beat the USA but now that they lost they won’t say a word. It is actually pretty funny. But I’m super sad that they lost because it would have been so sweet to see how crazy this place would have gone.

Well it sounds like you guys all had a wonderful 4th of July. I bet that was a fun family trip to be able to go to Smith Creek with everyone and do some fly fishing. That sounds super fun. I am also glad to hear that you got a taste of what the weather is like here in Ghana. Not so fun is it haha. I sure hope that grandma gets better. Give her my best and tell her that I love her. I will be praying for her everyday. Did you ever check up on the workouts that I can do for my back to straighten it out? I also need you to send me some Floss things, some sharpie colored pens, and I need an adapter for Africa if you can find one. Also I want to have President Egbert’s address and stuff I want to send him a tie and a letter too. Well I don’t know that I need anything else that I haven’t listed but I will let you know. Thanks for all that you do. Well to sum it all up I am training, I am in a small district, I am freaking out and really trying to do more than I think I know how, but I know that it is all for my good and that it will all be a character building and life changing experience that I can look back on in years to come. I need your prayers more than ever. I love you all and thanks for everything. You are the best. Keep it up and I will let you know how the next week goes. Love you. Keep the faith!
Love Elder Adams.

E-mail 6-28-10

Hello from Ghana,
Well this week was definitely interesting. That is all anyone really talks about is the match between the USA. It has actually been petty rough proselyting during the matches, there just isn't a whole lot of work you can do when everyone is glued in front of the TV. Our numbers have gone way down the past few weeks compared to normal. We do a lot of walking and not much teaching. However, it is cool to get to see how the country is responding to their team. The people are so cocky here it is ridiculous. Everyday leading up to the game, anybody that we met with was just talking smack on how it was going to be a repeat and how they were going to finish the US. So of course I dished it right back saying how Ghana didn’t stand a chance and all kinds of stuff like that. I talked way more than I should have. When the match was over I knew that we were in for it on Sunday at church. Well Sunday morning came around. When we got to the chapel in the morning we hadn’t even made it through the door, and as I looked up I saw huge smiles on everyone’s faces, some were holding up fingers indicating the score, others we just shaking their heads, and others would just smile and laugh. It was a rough day. We got a lot of crap. I didn’t phase me at all, personally I am glad that Ghana won, but Elder Mackay wasn’t very happy about it. He loves the US team. So the whole day I was just laughing about what the people were saying to us, but we was getting mad some of the time, haha it was so funny. The sweetest part about the whole game was being able to see everyone celebrate right after the match. I was standing outside on small hill near to our apartment waiting for the last few minutes of the game to finish. The entire town was silent no one to be found anywhere. As soon as the game ended the place went nuts. Out of a tiny little shop about 50 people came running out, and out of every direction people were just flocking together and celebrating. About 5 min after the game there was a group of a few hundred people partying in the street in front of our apartment. It was cool to be able to see the whole thing. I tried to video it but it was to dark and you can’t see anything. The place was loud for the rest of the night.

Today was one of the sweetest P Days. Because none of the missionaries have watched any football President was kind and rented a super sweet football stadium for the day. We had 4 zones come together and played to see who would win it all. We made it to the championship, but lost in a shoot out at the very end. My new position is left defender. It is actually way fun because you just push and knock people over and then kick the ball as hard and as far away from you goal as you can. I’m not goanna lie; I am starting to like soccer again. Today was way fun, and now I have small respect for it. It’s still not my favorite, but its growing on me.

President’s son just finished his mission this week and came straight to Ghana to see them. So he was there to and we got to play for a bit. It was a pretty sweet day the stadium was cool. Well transfers are today and it is another high possibility that I could be getting a new companion, but I am pretty sure I will be staying in the same area. So I find out in just a few hours so well see what happens. Other than that everything is going well. When you get the chance, it’s not important but I would like you to send me the workouts that the people at the Reno Orthopedic clinic gave to me to strengthen my back and shoulders or whatever. The workouts that were supposed to help me get rid of my bad posture and stuff. My back is bothering me small because when ever I am sitting down I hunch over. So look into that please. Hope you understand me. If not ask questions and Ill try to explain. I want you to also tell me about the whole rape story of the missionaries that are in the Ghana Accra mission. We keep on hearing about it but we don’t know much of what really happened, so I am just curious if you know anything. Well other than that not much to tell this week from me. As for you guys it sounds like you are enjoying yourselves. You got this week and then the 4th of July coming up so it sounds pretty fun. Well I love you all and pray for you each and everyday. Ill talk to you guys next week. Much love. GO BLACK STARS!!!!!!!!
Love
Elder Adams