Accomplishing Mission Goals (3 new posts)

June 26, 2011

Dear Fam,

Another week has flown by. The weeks of late have been just flying bye so fast. I can't believe how fast the time is going. It's just ridiculous. It is really starting to freak me out because before I know it I am going to be finished with my mission! Having the Sabey’s, Saunders and Elder Mackay all finishing their missions within the next 8 weeks doesn't help. It doesn't feel right, it's gone to0 fast. I still feel like I just got here. I do not want to leave my mission, I love it so much, and maybe my email this week will shed some light on why. On why this has been the greatest and most cherished time of my life. But I still have about 7 months, thank goodness!!!!

Well we have officially finished our mission goal to have every missionary in this mission baptize someone who has a family member in the church, and then to also help a family to be sealed in the temple! I can now relax and breathe!!!!!! Can you believe that, who would have ever thought that was even possible? Could you imagine if you tried to do that in any other mission in the world, it would be impossible. To have 68 families get sealed in the temple in only about 4 and half months. And have 68 companionships baptize someone who has a family member in the church already. It just blows my mind. The people of Ghana have so much faith. There is no other place like this in the whole world. In the last 17 months I have never met someone who doesn't believe in God. And I can count on my fingers the number of times someone has rudely rejected me. Ghana is just different. During this goal the adversary has made many attempts in trying to block our way, to stop us if you will from accomplishing this goal. We had all of the Ivoirians come to the temple for refuge, and during that time we couldn't send people to the temple so that made the goal even harder. We had 10 families go to the temple and not get sealed because of paper work problems, miscommunication, etc. One family even did proxy sealings and thought they did their own. We had families just this last week prepared to go who said they weren't able to go now. Just everything that could go wrong went wrong. But that didn't stop us. That didn't stop this goal that the Lord had given us from being accomplished. We worked around all of those things. We helped each other. We found families in other areas and we prepared backups and even this last week we had 3 backups for every companionship who hadn't finished. We made sure they had recommends, family group records, correct records, busses scheduled to get them there, everything we could possibly do, we did. And because we did everything we could possibly do, we put ourselves in a position where we knew that the Lord could, and would do the rest. We saw miracle, after miracle, after miracle. We saw families make sacrifices; we had families call us out of the blue saying that they wanted to go to the temple to be sealed, and to be sealed on the day the goal ends!!!! And on the 25th of June the Nyanka family helped the last companionship finish as they were sealed in the temple with their young boy!! A family who called us out of the blue, and who without we would never have accomplished this goal. I have learned so much from this goal. But if I have learned one thing, I have learned that this is the Lords work and not ours. I learned more than anything that when we do all that we can do the Lord will do the rest. And that is exactly what happened, and it was amazing. It was remarkable. My mission has changed the way I look at life. I know this is the only true church upon this earth. I know this work we are doing is not our own. It is our Father in Heavens, and we are so privileged to be instruments in his hands. Nothing brings me more joy or satisfaction than to help him in his work.

Today we just had President and Sister Sabey’s last zone conference. It was sad, and it is going to be hard to see them go. I have come to love President Sabey and Sister Sabey so much. I have never met better people. I am so grateful to have served with them and to have gotten to know them as much as I have. President Sabey will do anything for the lord. I learned so much from him and I am going to miss them so much. Being his assistant has been great. We just finished having dinner with the Sabey’s and the Saunders, probably for the last time. We made the Sabey’s a video of each companionship in the mission and it was really neat. Some sang songs, some made jokes, some said goodbye, and some did really good impersonations of Pres. and things like that. We put it in and watched it with them after dinner and they loved it. Then we had ice cream. We had great time tonight with them. After the video we sat around and we just talked. Everyone there will be going home soon so I am kind of hanging around, and pretty soon it will be just me and President Shulz and a new office couple. That's when it finally dawned on me that they are going. Man I am going to miss them so much. I don't believe there has ever been a greater mission president than President Sabey.

So the Shulz’s will be arriving on Wednesday and the Sabey’s will be going home on Thursday of this week. Things are going to really change around here. It will be sad but at the same time it will be so exciting. I am really looking forward to serving with President Shulz and Sister Shulz and I know that I will learn so much from them and come to love them just the same way I love the Sabey’s. It's gunna get crazy around here in the next few months. I am really looking forward to it and can't wait to meet the Shulz’s.

Holy shnikeze!!! What a week you had. I can only imagine how stressful that was. And I think that some days for me are stressful, but I can only imagine what that was like. I talked about doing all we can and then the Lord will do the rest, and I think you can understand what I am talking about by recent personal experience. Sorry about the crazy mess, but at least it wasn't anything that you did. I am glad things turned out okay. Well Tristin you should just name the baby Garrett because that is the most powerful name that starts with a G and anything else would just be a step down. jk. But I hope everything goes well and that the baby isn't ugly, haha okay jk again. That wouldn't happen with our genetics. Well I hope you have a better week this week mom and dad and that things are a little less stressful. I love you guys so much. I pray that the Lord will bless you everyday. Take care and God bless.

Love Elder Adams

ps. I got the packages. Thanks so much. The back brace works! Love you.

pss. The answer to the Holland question was the latter one you gave. You got it!

June 20, 2011

My family,

Well it’s been another crazy exciting week. We've seen many miracles this week and had many great experiences. The goal ends this week so things are getting down to the wire, but we only have 6 elders left to complete. We will accomplish this goal. Sorry I haven't emailed, to be honest I forgot to email last week. Sometimes I forget what day is p day and then I forget that I was supposed to email. Well we got back late last night from zone conference in Kumasi, Presidents last conference, but it was really good, so that’s why I didn’t email yesterday. I love you and I just want you to know that I am doing great so don't worry about me. I hope the shingles get better this week paps, and forgive me for the late Happy Fathers Day, but just know that you are the best father a son could ever ask for, I love you. Hope you had a good day and enjoyed that lobster. I love you all and hope that you have a great week and that you enjoy Disneyland or whatever it is that you are going to do. The church is true and it really is moving forward in this wonderful country. The Lord is blessing this land tremendously due to the faith of these God fearing people. It's a wonderful place to be. I couldn't think of anything I would rather be doing than serving amongst these people. It’s changed my life forever. Talk to you next week, if not maybe the one after that ha.

Love Elder Adams

June 6, 2011

My Family,
Well it's been only a few days since I last emailed so there’s not a whole to tell, but I got a little something. This last week was Zone Leader Council which is usually a mini version of zone conference where President gives us a little instruction. But before he instructs us we will discuss a few things with all of the zone leaders. Our main focus right now is the current goal that we are working on, which is to have ever missionary help a family go to the temple and get sealed. Sounds impossible right? That's a 130 + missionaries, and in Ghana its hard to get people to travel that distance and pay that amount of money many don’t have.. Well we are down to about 10 left, maybe a few more, and we only have 3 weeks left to complete. It's getting a little to close for comfort. We had many families go to the temple this week, but for some reason 5 of them that actually went ended up not getting sealed for a few different reasons of paperwork or something. Now the reason why I make the goals in this mission seem like such a big deal is because when we set a goal we are going to accomplish it!! There is no way that we won't accomplish a goal, unless by our own disobedience because President Sabey only sets goals given to him by the Lord that are meant to be accomplished! It's true! President Sabey has set 8 goals and every single one has been accomplished, many of which were accomplished on the last day, and many of which required great miracles. That’s different than many missions. Many missions set high goals for baptisms and never accomplish them. So right now this is really our main focus. And one of the families who still needs to go is mine and Elder Mackay’s candidate. Anyway, after we discussed thatPresident taught us about something I found very very interesting. He quoted Elder Holland who said " we are to accustomed to 220 volts of M.
Priesthood power being forced through what should be 110 volts of Aaronic Priesthood power" He was talking about Bishops when he said that. I will let you see if you can figure out what he means. But it is definitely something that is true about the church in many places. Tell me what you come up with. We also talked about how in a democracy it is run from the bottom up. Meaning that the people elect their leaders, and it’s the people who ultimately decide. That is also true in many, or you could say all other churches. But in the Lords kingdom it is run from the Top down. Meaning that all things come from God first, then the prophet and so on and so forth. Just another small piece of evidence verifying that the church is true. We went on to talk about meetings and he is another quote you might like. "It takes a darn good meeting to beat no meeting at all," President Packer.

That was pretty much the highlight of the week. Other than that we had a few days in our area, and they were very productive. We have a few really good people to teach right now and hopefully we can prepare someone for baptism soon. I am getting frustrated small with it because we have such a limited amount of time in our area it is really hard to make much happen and keep investigators progressing when we don't see them for weeks at a time sometimes. But we are managing and things are getting better. One of the apostles said that "Assistants should be powerful master teachers that you can send to any corner of the mission to help lift and encourage and teach other missionaries in need" I read that and I thought "are you kidding me". Master teacher! That is a high expectation. So of late I don't care about learning doctrine, reading the scriptures just to read them, but all I am working on is becoming a master teacher by working on my teaching weaknesses and studying PMG a lot so I can do what that apostles expects. I know it is hard to become a master of it but I can become much better.

You were saying that the mission presidents send a letter saying that one of the elders form the ward received a position in the mission. Well I can tell you the reason why President Sabey doesn't send one of those is because he hates the "mission ladder" and in this mission there is no mission ladder. I can attest to that. He hates aspiring to positions too. And he is right in all of those. It's wrong. It goes back to the way the Lord governs the kingdom from the top down. There is no reason to send one of those letters if you ask me. It sends the wrong message, as if one missionary is more important. We were all called to me missionaries, not to be zone leaders or assistants. Some of the best missionaries in this mission have never had a position; it's just where the Lord wants them to serve. I am just guessing that that is why President Sabey doesn’t send out any letter, because to him position means nothing about who you are, it's an opportunity to serve. Not that what leaders do isn't important, but he wants to send the right message, that we are equal missionaries. Well that was a little much, but I believe that is why you haven't ever received a letter from our mission. I would have to agree with it.

Well I just want you all to know that I have a testimony of this gospel, of the church, and of the Prophet Jospeh Smith. I know it’s true. How grateful I am for the atonement. Though I may not comprehend how he suffered for us all I know he did, and I am grateful with ever fiber of my heart. He taught us how to live, how to love, and how to die. He has secured our salvation. I love you and pray that the Lords choicest blessings be upon you.

Love Elder Adams

Catching up again! June 1, 2011

Well we just got back from Accra and finished orientation with the new missionaries at the mission home and then took care of transfers, making sure everyone got to there various areas. It was a great trip to Accra. The temple was really sweet and I was able to get 2 sessions in on Tuesday. Man I love the Accra Temple. I drove too, around, and back home from Accra so that was pretty crazy, but fun. Driving a stick in traffic for hours really kills your left leg man! It was an experience for sure. We stayed at the MTC and I got to see the Froerers which was sweet. They are awesome. The Lambs also went home this week which was sad because they were so awesome and I really enjoyed having them around. The most selfless people I have ever met. It will be hard to replace them. They are great people. I love them so much. It's been a busy few days but the stress of transfers is over and done with so that is kind of nice. That's one thing off the to-do-list. I do love getting to meet all of the new missionaries they always have a great spirit when they come from the MTC. It's kind of late and I don't want to spend to much time emailing, we still have a number of things we need to do tonight before we finish for the day. Happy Birthday paps! You getting old in years, but you still got the energy of teenager. It seems like you never stop going. I hope you have a great day! Your examples strengthen me and keep me going. The church is true. How privileged we all are to be engaged in such a wonderful work. Trust in the Lord and he will guide us all. I love you guys and wish you the best this next week.

Love-
Elder Adams

Monday May 23, 2011

Adams Family,
Well let me start off once again by apologizing for not emailing last week. It's somehow becoming a regular thing; me apologizing weekly, whether it's not emailing, not telling you something, or forgetting someone’s birthday I seem to miss something on a weekly basis. So I apologize in advance for this week’s mistakes haha.

So the reason that I didn't email last week was because we went on splits in Assin Foso, Dichmeso, Bantama, and Sunyani zones the whole of last week beginning on Thursday and we ended up being in Sunyani on Monday. It was a crazy road trip. On that Monday in Sunyani we got my drivers license. Yup, I can drive! I have been driving a stick now for about 6 days and I can get along just fine, now it's just a matter of making everything become natural where I don't have to think about what I am doing. I have been doing all of the driving just so that I can practice. Today I drove a big group of missionaries in the mission van to Takoradi to play some football and then back home afterward. I think I am getting the hang of it. I think that I will be driving in Accra next Monday so we will see what happens when I get thrown into the fire, but really I am not too worried. After we got my license in Sunyani we drove back down to Kumasi and stayed the night there because Tuesday morning we were starting the first of the four zone conferences. So this past week was zone conference week. We did Kumasi on Tuesday which was about 52 missionaries, and then Abura and Swedru on Wednesday which was about 22 missionaries, and then Takoradi on Thursday which was about 28 missionaries, and we finished up on Friday with Cape Coast and Assin Foso which was about 30 missionaries. It was a long but very enjoyable week. The experience of being able to instruct was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed seeing the differences between the four conferences and how each time something different would come to mind that you didn't think of in the previous conference. I was a little nervous at the 1st conference but then after I got the 1st one out of the way and gained a little more confidence in my instruction things went a lot smoother and I really began to have fun teaching it. I think I am beginning to see what you meant dad when you said that you loved teaching in zone conferences and stuff like that. Once I get a little more comfortable with it I think I will really start to love it just like you did. Overall President Sabey said that he was pleased with how the conferences went and feels that they really put across the message that we were trying to relay to the missionaries. If you are wondering we instructed about asking inspired questions and teaching people not lessons. But the way we presented it I thought was really sweet.

Sunday was Stake and District conferences which both went really well. We went and listened to President Sabey speak at district conference and then we all went over to the stake conference where he also spoke. There were too many people for the stake center to fit! The stake really needs to be divided soon because it is getting really big. With the rest of our free time during the week we just took care of the things in the office that we hadn't done over the week and then we spent time in our own area teaching a few of our investigators which was nice, because that doesn't happen as much as I wish it did. Right now we are preparing for transfers which is next week so we will probably spend a lot of time at the transfer board figuring it all out this week. We have 16 greenies coming this next week so we will have to find a lot of people to train and stuff like that. It's going to start getting pretty crazy around here pretty soon. We have a new couple coming on the 7th and another one July 1^st. I believe, as well as President Sabey going home. So things are going to get busy and things are really going to change as well, it should be interesting. I will be the only one really who gets to see all of the changes happen and see the direction things go assuming that I stay in the office for a while when President Shulz gets here. So it’s exciting for sure. The Lambs are going home next week which is sad because they are really amazing people and I wish I could have gotten to know them a little bit better than I did. They have already done a lot for me and Elder MacKay just in the short time that I have known them. You should probably thank them for all that they have done for your wonderful son!!! I am sure she has a blog somewhere. You should probably thank the Saunders too if you can. They take real good care of us. Other than that there is nothing real crazy or worth my time or yours to tell so that’s all from me this week.

So I should probably say congrats to Miles on the state championship (Nevada 3A Golf) that's big time! It must be a different feeling now that the town is winning all of these state championships and stuff. It must have a whole different attitude than the expecting to lose every game syndrome they used to have haha. So it looks like I am just the failure child when it comes to sports. Tristin is, well, she is in her own league we all know that, Whitney played college volleyball so she's a baller, and Miles won a state championship and is a baller in golf, and then you have me haha. Nothing to show for my 4 yrs of high school haha. Well I am not complaining it doesn't get any better than what I am doing right now! I wouldn't want to be doing anything else right now. The church here in Ghana is growing so fast and it is the people of Africa's time to receive the gospel so I am just glad to have the opportunity to see the gospel come to this part of the world and bless so many lives. It truly has been the best 15 months of my life and boy am I glad it's not over. The church is true and how grateful I am for the testimony the Lord has blessed me with to know that with such surety! Thanks for everything and I hope that you have another fantastic week back in F-Town. As for me everything is peachy so don't worry, at least for another week......... haha

Love Elder Adams

Mother's Day Call 5-9-11

Well we had a good chat. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!!!!!!! I hope it was a fine one. Sounds like everyone is doing really well and I am glad to hear that Paul and some others are going on a mission. Well I hope its okay but I am not going to write much this week. I think we covered most of it yesterday. Well I love you all and I am grateful for your support and encouragement. May the Lord continue to bless us all. Have a great week. I am going right now to play some small basketball down at the beach side Ghanaian Rucker Park with a bunch of hoodlums. Hopefully I still got a little game left, so wish me luck. Love you all. PEACE.

Love Elder Adams

May 2, 2011 Catching up emails from the last month.

Fam

Shoot it felt like it was just Monday yesterday and its already been a week. Time is going way faster now than ever. At first it was going really slow, especially my first week here because of all the stuff that we had going on, but now it is all going really fast once I got used to the schedule. That's crazy that they shot Osama! It's about time they did, but I can see how that might help Obama maybe win the election again or something so it could be bad now that he thinks he is the man. Well as for the phone call it would probably work best for me if I could call you around 7:00 pm my time so exactly noon your time only because we have to get numbers for the whole mission beginning about 8 to 8:30 or so. So really that is the only time that I am available so I hope that works for you. Well in 1 month you will be finished with school and you will have all of you kids out of the house very soon, how does that make you feel?? OLD???? haha jk but really that is pretty crazy. So what exactly is Miles going to do and when does he plan on going on a mission and all that. He could actually leave right before I got home from my mission if he really wanted to. You might want to make a list of things that you want to ask me when you we talk because I will only be able to talk for a small amount of time. So make it worth it. Well I guess there is no point in asking you any questions because I can just wait until Sunday to ask.

Well as for me I had another great week. Things are just so much different and at times you don't feel much like a missionary because you don't have all that much time in the area because of travel and other things, but it is always full of sweet experiences that you couldn't have any other way. I love it. I still don't have a drivers license I tell you more about that. Um, we went on splits this week in Takoradi and we got to spend a lot of time with the Lambs and man are they sweet. I have never gotten to know them my whole mission and even when I became an assistant they didn't really even know who I was. But I am glad I got to know them a little bit they are great people, and man can Sister Lamb cook!!!! They leave at the end of this month. Other than that, not much else to tell for the week that I won't talk to you about on the phone. I got my package with the jump rope and then the one with the food. Thanks!!! The one with the tie from Jeff or whatever you said still hasn't come yet. IDK about that one. I used the jump rope today and I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I have a long way to go before I can come home, because I ain't coming home like this haha. We also had a long conversation with President and Sister Sabey on Saturday evening, mostly with Sister Sabey though. I could tell that she really enjoyed it because since we became assistants she hasn't really gotten a chance to talk and get to know us personally. We just talked about dating, marriage, Ghana, and all kinds of other things. It was really fun and they are such wonderful people. Well that is all for this week. I love you and look forward to hearing from you. You are they best family a son could ask for. I love you and hope all is well. Talk to you later.

Love Elder Adams