Mon, January 17, 2011

The Adams Family,Well another week down here in Atonsu and everything seems to be going well, pretty similar to last week. How are things there? Good I presume. Well this week we had a lot more time on our hands and were able to pretty much have a normal week. Tuesday we saw the Kiffer’s (missionary couple from Alaska) for the last time. I'm really going to miss them they were really really helpful to us. Anytime we needed something like more chairs or sacrament clothes, all we had to do was call them and in no time they would bring it to us. I hope we got everything that we need, because now we have to go and do it ourselves. The entire rest of the week all we did was contact and try and build a teaching pool so that we can get a few progressing investigators and have a baptism here in the near future. The days were long. We contacted and taught a few lessons in between each day. Our days are running from about 9:30 in the morning to about 7:00 or7:30 in the evening, and we never stop for lunch we just pick something up on the street while we are out working. It makes the days go by faster if we just stay engaged the entire time. I haven't ever gone home for lunch my entire mission and I don't plan on ever doing it. We’re more effective that way. So we get between 9 and 10 hours in each day. I will say that contacting is not the way to go. It is member referrals. We have contacted dozens of people this week and maybe only a handful we are still teaching. It's not easy, so we are going to kind of redirect our focus for the next few weeks towards the members and gain some trust by serving them and see if that brings some more referrals. Right now we are working with about 4 referrals or so and 2 or looking pretty good. Umm we were able to meet a less active family this week that was actually a referral from sister Anab. They are a whole family and they were all baptized, but now attend a different church. The fell less active because the Bishop who brought them into the church was their landlord, and then they say he kicked them out of the house. Probably because he wasn’t paying. So of course they did what all other Ghanaians do they go to other churches for money, and then join whatever church will give them money. And so now it's a money battle. Man these ones are tough battles to fight, because if they left for the money they didn't have a very strong testimony in the first place. So we'll see what happens there.

Saturday we had a sweet experience, but it totally has nothing to do with missionary life. We were out contacting and we walked through a guy’s farm and then crossed over a river by jumping rocks. One of the big boulders had a bunch of crazy marks on it that were about two feet long and one foot wide. They looked like giant footprints from some crazy dinosaur or something. They farmer told us that they all believe that is what it is, some really old fossil of a dinosaur foot. They look pretty legit but I am not sure. So we will send you the picture soon and you can decide for yourself if it could be.

Elder Smith and I also came up with a new goal to baptize a pastor of another church. Then maybe he can convert his followers. We call it the Abinadi goal. Random. Okay, now to Sunday. Sunday was good, a little down on numbers from the first week, but we had lots of visitors the first week. So I conducted this week and it was a little stressful just because the people that we assigned to speak in church didn't all show up on time. We had a youth speaker, Sis Gifty Anab who gave a wonderful 5 min talk on repentance. She is a solid beehive. Then we had a return missionary talk and he talked for about 30 min. Elder Smith was about to give the backup talk when the lady we assigned to speak walked in very late. So I announced that she would be our concluding speaker and she kinda looked at me with a "what?" look on her face acting like she wasn't ready. But After 10 sec. of staring at each other she pulled out her talk and gave a good talk on charity and love. She really thought she was going to get out of speaking haha, but she did very well. So sacrament meeting started on time and ended on time and everything went along very good with that being the only small hiccup this week. I never actually realized the things that you can see and observe while sitting up on the stand. It amazed me! You’ve got 40 year olds picking their noses like there is money inside it, laying back with their eyes closed like they are listening but really sleeping, talking about the week with the person next to them, playing with their phones, and all kinds of stuff. Haha it was really funny to see just how much people pay attention. I feel for you all serving in the Bishopric haha. Anyway we had about 15 members there for sacrament and about 25 for the whole of church, and 7 investigators, 4 of which we contacted or are teaching. Random people show up every week which is cool. So the rest of church went on smoothly. Our priesthood teacher didn't show so we had to fill in for that one but it went okay. I actually ended up teaching young women’s. Don't ask me how but there were 3 of them and they didn't want to go to relief society, and nobody wanted to teach the class, so I did what I could. It was weird, ya know just being a male haha and talking about young women. Anyway it was funny and we just went through their personal progress. Another successful Sunday, but just not quite as exciting as last week. And still no group leader so we are still in charge.

Well my companion is awesome. He is from Morgan, Utah and he knows what it means to work hard so we are enjoying and just doing work. He played football in high school and was really good so we have quite a bit in common. It makes things a lot of fun. So that is cool. Oh yeah I just wanted to add something small to end. I sat in on primary to see how it went at church and Sister Dina was teaching. Holy crap can that woman teach! She is so good with kids it is crazy. I have never in my whole life seen someone teach with such power and enthusiasm. It’s like taking Elder Holland and having him teach primary. She gets the kids to listen, to participate, and everything,. It was awesome to see. The members here really get the gospel and understand it. It is so true that the church is the same all over the world, and just seeing that passion that she had was a powerful testimony builder. Her testimony was so strong like a fire you could warm your hands over.

Great week, love you all so much and can't wait to tell you about what crazy things happen this week. Take care and know that I love you.Love Elder Adams

Answers to moms questions.....
1. How do you get around the area? We walk a lot, but our area is big so almost everyday we have to take a trotro to some farther away places in our area. 2. Do you have an oven/microwave? No we don't have anything different such as an oven. It's all the same stuff. We have a propane stove and that's it. 3. Do you have a variety of foods? Food variety is about the same. You can get cheese and stuff, but only if you spend half your monthly sub on one block of cheese. That kind of stuff is expensive, so I just eat pretty much the same things and buy the same things. And fufu is the staple food of Ghana, it’s everywhere. No changes really there. 4. Are things less or more expensive? The basics might be more expensive, but for the most part if you’re not buying the American things and stick to the Ghanaian food it’s about the same. 5. How many missionaries are in the Kumasi area? There about 30 or 35 I think but I am not really sure in 2 Zones. Hope that helps if you have anymore let me know. Love your favorite son Elder Adams

1-10-11

How are you?
Well here we go I will go ahead and just give you the low down on the whole week and fill you in. So mostly we prepared the entire week for Sunday and just tried to do all of the little things so that it would be a successful first Sunday, one that would make all of the members here want to come back the following week. The plan from the start was that we would only have a 2 hour church service because the first week we didn't want to do too much and make it a disaster. But…. we changed that. We decided that we had met with enough members in the area that had promised to come to church and we were sure that more of them would come that we hadn't ever met. We fasted and we decided that would be the best thing to do. So from there we met with some of the members that we knew were solid and trustworthy, and we began giving assignments on Tuesday for Primary, Sunday School, Relief Society, Priesthood, and all that stuff. One woman in the group named Sis Dina is amazing. She is one of those people that you can call on at anytime for anything and she will do it better than you expected. She rocks. We had her teach Primary. A man who lives across the street named Bro. Yeboah is also a strong member who was baptized about 3 years ago. He is the one with the Mercedes that drives us around sometimes. He taught Priesthood. Then there is a return missionary who just came home about 6 months ago and he is just a stud so we had him teach Sunday School. His name is Bro. Fred. Then there is a woman named Sis Anab. At first we thought that she didn't like us that much for some reason, but we asked her to teach Relief Society and she did, and she did it well. Tonight we are going to her house for FHE so it looks like she does like us after all. The speakers for sacrament meeting were me, the 2nd counselor in the Stake Pres, and then another return missionary. Oh, and Elder Smith conducted the meeting. And we also were the teachers for the gospel principles class. So that was all of the assignments for the week. We provided them the materials that were available and then wished for the best. So that was the preparation.

With the rest of our proselyting efforts this week we contacted, taught the new investigators that we have, and continued to meet with members and less-actives. It was a really really good week in that aspect of the work. We have 12 new investigators and are teaching many that are already progressing well. It is so exciting to see how fast the work is going already. Funny story. Wednesday, Prosper, our mission apartment preparation specialist, came over and brought us our new closet (dresser), and then decided that he was going to refinish it in our room while we were having our companion study. We were listening to the conference cds and by the end of one of the talks Elder Smith was pretty much gone, and when I say gone I mean high. He was in a whole different world and he couldn't stop laughing for a while. It was so funny, and then for the next few hours he felt pretty sick. It added a little bit of excitement and entertainment to the week. Friday we had interviews with President Sabey and we talked about our responsibilities with our new assignment and all that. He said that what we are doing could actually be the first time it has ever been done in the world. I doubt that, but he had never heard of it before. It isn't often that the missionaries work directly with the stake like this. The group is the stakes responsibility, but we are somehow managing it. It's cool, but crazy. Saturday we cleaned the chapel with a few of the members for about 4 hours and got everything looking perfect for Sunday before we went out proselyting.

Sunday morning came around and I am not going to lie, I was nervous. Mostly just because the success of the day was sitting on our shoulders, and at that point all we could do was pray. 10 min to 9 there was only about 9 members at church and then us, the Kiffer’s, and the assistants. We started on time and everything went smoothly. By the time sacrament finished there were about 20 members there. The only hiccup in the day came when I started speaking. It turned out that the guy we asked to speak in church didn’t show. So things were adjusted a bit and the only two speakers for sacrament meeting were me and the 2nd counselor from the stake. But it went very well and you never would have been able to tell that there was a problem. Now the crazy part. We had 2 people that we contacted during this week come to church!!!! And in all we had 5 investigators at church on Sunday. That might be the best part of the whole week, I was so stoked. We had about 10 people in our investigator class, some members, and it just went awesome. Everybody that we gave an assignment did awesome, and by the end of church we had a total of 48 members there and that was not counting us, the assistants, or the Kiffers!!!!!! So awesome. The members here are powerful and really there isn't much we needed to do, they will do it all on there own. Now the idea to do this whole thing came from Pres. Sabey, and the Stake President wasn't 100 percent sold on it, but they thought it would be okay to try. The entire Stake Presidency came into Priesthood with about 30 min left and we had one of the best lessons.( it was in English :) ) So today the Kiffer’s told us that the Stake loved what had happened and were completely sold on the whole thing now after Sunday. The Lord really makes things move when it is time, and that is what he is doing here. I have seen the hand of the Lord in this work more this week, than I think I have recognized my whole mission. Now we can focus mostly on our missionary efforts and should have a group little sometime within the next month. We poured out our hearts Sunday night to our Heavenly Father for all the blessings he brought us this week. I am gunna love it here in Atonsu.

About Kumasi. We got lost today and we showed up 1 hour late for the activity. This place is big hahaha. Well I am tired of typing so I hope that is good for the week, I love
you and hope that all is well. The church is true and this week was awesome.

Love Elder Adams

January 3, 2011

Adams Family,
Well it is 8:30pm here and its been a very busy week with lots to do. So Tuesday afternoon we jumped on a bus coming up here to Kumasi, not really knowing what we were getting into. Driving into Kumasi was crazy. Big, big houses everywhere and all kinds of stuff. Far different than Cape Coast. The couple missionaries the Keifers picked us up and drove us straight to our new area and new apartment. Just driving there was crazy. This city is huge and very hectic, just stuff going on everywhere. We live quite a ways out of town and its in a very rich area called Atonsu. When we got to our apartment it was such a weird feeling because it was so big. The chapel and apartment are really nice. The chapel has a small area for sacrament meeting where you can fit about 50 people or so, then there are 4 classrooms about the size of my old room (in America) and 2 bathrooms. It is all very nice. Then there is one room for the Branch President’s office when we get to the point where it is time to call one. It has a small waiting area outside with a couch and a nice overhang. Then the whole apartment and compound is gated with big walls and a good amount of free space inside the compound. To get into our apartment you go through another door separate from the chapel where we have a good sized room, a big, big kitchen, a bathroom and garage area. Our apartment side isn't huge but it's really nice and there are only two of us. I don't know how to explain it other than saying it is just nice, neat, clean, and new. I do miss my green walls a little bit though ha ha.

So that's the building side of things. For the whole of this week we mostly met with members that live within our area and will be transferring from the Asokwa and UST wards into our group in Atonsu. When we showed up the first day nobody told us what we were to do, they just left it up to us to figure it out. And really we still don't know a whole lot. So Wednesday morning our first day in the area we just left the apartment and walked. We walked for about 3 hours seeing the area and that kind of thing. The very first thing I said we needed to do was find a member, because then that person can show us other members and we can go from there. So for the whole of Wednesday we were on search for a member. For several hours of no luck, we began to doubt a little bit that we were not going to ever find a member that lived in this area. For some reason we walked back the way that we had come from early that morning and amazingly a women from a balcony yelled "Elders of Israel!" Immediately I knew we had found a member. She turned out to be the most powerful woman and just from meeting her we have come to learn of 20 - 30 members in the area and where many of their houses are. I feel we are going to have a good number of people at church this Sunday. So this week we met many members in our area and are getting to know them pretty well. Three live very close to us and one man with a Mercedes drives us around a lot, haha. So awesome!! I don't even feel like I am in Ghana sometimes. We have about 7 Melchizedek Priesthood holders we know are strong and active, and a good number of women that have been Relief Society Presidents or something like that. The leadership is there. I think within 3 months it will be a branch. I bet it will be that fast. We didn't have church this Sunday, we just went to another ward the UST ward.

Oh yeah I almost forgot my new companion is Elder Smith from Morgan, Utah. He is pretty cool guy, and we get along really well. He's a pretty good athlete and into sports, especially American football and wanted to play in college. He still has the greenie spirit haha pretty bad. It's pretty funny but he is really hard working and I think we will get along good. We just got finished cleaning, mopping, and doing that kind of thing at the chapel. Boy, am I tired, more tired than I have ever been on mission. We have got a lot to do and my brain hurts a little to be honest haha, but I am loving it. This is going to be a really sweet experience to see how it all goes. We did get a little time to proselyte and contact and it was so different. You have to knock on the gates. You go in and sit in a nice house on nice couches, and they offer you malt and all kinds of amazing drinks. And they are very educated and many are in the oil business or something like that. Ehh it is crazy oooo. Oh and Twi is way different to hear and speak than Fante at first. It's been a big, big change, but I am ready for it and we will see what happens. It's gunna be good, solid, hard, working fun!! This week I found myself on my knees a lot more and relying on the Lord a lot more. I felt at first that this was just way too much for me to handle, but now I am beginning to see that we don't have to do any thing amazing, just do your best and the Lord will do the rest. I think this is going to help me a lot more spiritually also. I know this work is divine and I am grateful to be engaged in it. The church is true and I am more grateful everyday to be a member of it. I love you guys and I hope all is well. Take care and may the Lord's choicest blessings be upon you all.

Love Elder Adams

ps. I could have written a 100 pages about this week, but I am tired of typing haha.

Transfered to Kumasi

The Adams Family,
It was nice to hear from you all on Saturday and I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas. I know I did. Well I didn't think I would have anything to tell you today, because the phone call pretty much covered the majority of the week, but this morning I got a phone call from President Sabey. He started by asking how my Christmas was, and asked a few other questions regarding what we did and how are family meal went. I thought at first that he was calling and asking questions because we did something we weren't supposed to do on Christmas, and I just kept thinking what did I do what did I do, because I knew we didn't do anything wrong. Then he said he was glad we had a good Christmas, and he went on to give me a new assignment. Usually transfers are always done every six weeks, but because of Christmas he never transferred me and Elder Brown because he wanted us to be in our area so that we could really enjoy our Christmas together and have a good meal with a family we knew very well. What a nice guy President is. But he was planning to transfer us this week. So anyway, he gave me my new assignment.

I am leaving Moree tomorrow morning and I am headed to Kumasi to open up a new area there. He said the apartment there is finally ready. It is the very first area and apartment in Kumasi were they are starting the new expansion program. They have some of the big new apartments open in Sunnyani already, but none in Kumasi. This one is number one. So I will be going to open up a new area where no missionaries have been stationed, we will be holding sacrament meeting every week in our apartment, and when we get there tomorrow we don't know a single person and we are starting from scratch. Talk about exciting!! I know it won't be easy because we are going to be contacting 24/7 and will have a lot to do in finding people before Sunday for church. My companion is Elder Smith from the U.S., but I have never met him and know nothing about him. It's going to be only us in the apartment, which will be weird because I have never been in an apartment alone, but it will be fun. He is about 3 1/2 months out on mission or something I think, so I will somehow be the Senior Companion I guess. Elder Brown took my place and is now the District Leader and his new companion is from Kenya.

Well anyway, I am way excited, but I have a lot to do today I got to wash, pack, and try and see as many people as possible this evening in Moree before I leave in the morning. It's gunna be crazy! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love Elder Adams

Dec. 20, 2010

Merry Christmas,
I don't know about you, but I can't even tell it's Christmas time ha. 95 degrees and getting hotter doesn't really feel like Christmas, but it's still sweet. I got a feeling it's gunna be an awesome Christmas. Well about last week and transfers....... umm not much to tell. Nothing changed I am still staying in good ole Moree for another 6 weeks and Elder Brown is still my companion and I am still the district leader. Crazy uh? In my first year on mission I will have had only one area and 2 companions!!! I doubt that happens..... ever. But I'll take it how it is and just keep doing my best. It's really kind of sweet just to see how much people have changed and how the ward has changed over the past year. SO staying has been a real blessing in many ways. I wouldn't want to do it any other way. And who knows, I could stay even longer than a year. One thing that did change was our district. President has started moving missionaries around for the new expansion we are working on and now there are 8 missionaries in my district and 4 areas including mine, so I get to visit some other areas and see a little more of Ghana. But I am definitely a lot more busy having to do lots of interviews and planning district meetings and just stuff like that. It really makes time go by so fast.

This week was ridiculous. So Fast! Well as for this week it was good. We did some farming for a member in Yamoransa named Jobi and he is the coolest Ghanaian ever. He speaks English in the funniest way and has the craziest way of pronouncing words. He's funny. But we went to his small farm this week and helped him plant some lettuce. We planted about 900 or so heads of lettuce and weeded some. Gardening or farming is actually pretty fun when you get to see how well the things you plant grow. Kinda enjoyed it a little bit, plus service is always the best part of missionary work. Right now we have 12 investigators with a baptismal date, we are teaching 1 husband and wife family, a really powerful and intelligent guy named Seth about 28, and then a bunch of young men and a girl between the ages of 24 and 16. Things are going pretty well. You know you have a lot of people to teach when you can fill every hour of the day for Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday and part of Friday before you week even begins. That's what happened this week. So sweet! Maybe I will tell you small about Seth. He is a guy that we just contacted late one evening while we were out tracting on our way home. I didn't think that much would come from it because contacts are not usually very successful here. But over the past few weeks he has been progressing really well. He never lies to us and always keeps his promises. He accepted a baptismal date and everything last week. It seemed like things were going to good to be true. So we gave him a bigger challenge to come to church this week. He said he would. On Sunday we were going to pick him, but he said he would come by himself so we waited for him at church. Church started and he wasn't there. But right when I was about to lose hope here came Seth walking toward the chapel. He seemed really nervous. I sat with him at church and he was so shy and nervous that everyone was watching him, but by the end of church he actually had a lot of friends in the church and even knew many of our recent-converts including Andrew Aikins. It was an awesome Sunday just because he came. But we'll see what happens, he says he is traveling soon, so we might have to try and rush things a little. Albert Essoun our recent-convert who has gone less-active came to church also. He hadn't been 6 months straight. It was a good Sunday.

Well nothing much else I can think of to tell y’all this week. We did just play some b ball against a bunch of wanna be ballers (who were pretty dang good actually) and I still can play alright. Man I miss basketball, all this soccer is getting to me ha-ha. As for the phone call I will call the number at exactly 9 in the evening here, so I will let you figure out what time for you. If you set it up a few minutes before 9 then when I call we can get right into it. Umm I got one package today with the Jesus sticker so I will have that one for Christmas. Got one from grandpa and grandma today too. Its gunna be a sweet sweet week, we have lots of awesome Christmas activities scheduled and it should be a lot of fun. Love you all and wish you a Merry Merry Christmas. Talk to you Saturday.

Love Elder Adams

Christmas Letter

Friends and Family,

It's a privilege this Christmas season to be able to share with all of you a few words. My prayer is that it will encourage and lift each of you. Now, Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year. It's the best time of year because everyone is always so much happier. Everyone is in the giving spirit. Everyone puts on a nice big smile. Families gather together for the holiday season. The best Christmas music is played all around town and on the radio. Gifts are given. Gifts are received. And there is plenty of food to go around. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. However, with all of the excitement and festivities that the holiday season brings, the true meaning of Christmas is often overlooked or forgotten, and is lost amongst the giving and receiving of presents.

My Christmas message I would like to share with all of you is simply this. Do not miss the real meaning of Christmas, but make our Savior Jesus Christ the center and focus of all we do this holiday season. Bring to life the birth, mission, and life of our Lord. That is what Christmas is all about. Growing up our family would watch the video “Luke II” together every Christmas Eve, and share with each other our testimonies following the film. I will never forget the power and influence that my parents testimonies had on me and my life on those nights before Christmas. My greatest memories aren't the gifts I received or the food that I ate. But I will always remember most those feelings that entered my heart and testimony I gained from remembering our Lord Jesus Christ in that way each Christmas Eve. We can all remember the In-Keeper mentioned in the 2nd chapter of Luke, who told Mary and Joseph there was no room in the inn, and that they had to go elsewhere. This Christmas each and every one of us is the In-Keeper, and we decide whether or not there is room enough in our lives for Jesus Christ. Let us all put Christ at the center of all we do and say this holiday season. Love him. Adore him. Admire him. And emulate him. Thank him for the greatest gift ever given to mankind. The Atonement. No greater gift can or ever will be given.

I would like now to share an experience that I cherish and love from my mission, one that has a great impact on me. One that helped me understand more fully the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the example he set for us, and how we can emulate him. Late one afternoon while proselyting were walking along a dirt road on our way to our next appointment after church, when it started to rain really hard. So we stopped and waited for sometime underneath the overhang of the nearest building. While we were waiting for the rain to stop a little 5 year old girl was running down the road, on her way home I presume. While she was running she slipped on some mud and took a hard fall right on her face. She lay in the middle of the street crying. There were a lot of people nearby but nobody would stop to help her. It was as if they didn't see her. I couldn't just stand there and watch this little girl lying in the street scratched up and crying, so I ran over to where she was and picked her up in my arms and carried her over to the building we were sitting under. I washed her face off with my tie and then wiped off the rest of her body the best I could. She was still bawling. I talked to her small in Fante and after a while I was able to cheer her up. I got her to smile and talk a little. When she was smiling again and happy and cleaned up we sent her on her way and continued on. Afterward my tie was covered in thick muddy clay and my shirt was completely covered in mud from top to bottom from carrying her in my arms. There was no white to be found. But I couldn't have been happier. I will never forget the feeling that came to me afterward. I had never felt more in my entire life what it really meant when they say; "We are the Lord's hands" "We are his servants" "We represent the Savior and do what he would do". I have never felt closer to the Savior. It was a simple and small act of kindness. But I was the Lord's hands and I was doing what he would have done.

I wanted to share this story because we need to always be on the look out for those that are struggling, not only physically, but also spiritually. It will bless your life more for helping , than it will bless the one in need. I have never been happier in my entire life and felt more joy than what I experienced after helping this little girl. How many times has the Savior picked you up, cleaned you from your cuts and wounds? How many times has he come to the rescue when there was no one else there? I encourage each of us this Christmas season to stand firm as a representative of Jesus Christ and do what he would do. A heart-felt act of service is the greatest gift you can give this Christmas, and the blessings and feelings that follow are the greatest gift we can receive. There is no better way to put Christ at the Center of this holiday season.

I share my testimony with you that Christ is the center of everything. I know that he lives and that this is his church. And that he is our Savior and Redeemer. That he truly did suffer all things that we might not suffer, if we would repent and follow him. I've come to know that more than ever this past year. Serving amongst these humble faithful people in Ghana has been the most remarkable experience of my life. I am not sure I will ever want to leave. I have come to love the people of Africa in a way I can't express. In a way similar to the way Christ loves them. I love all of you. Many of you have a special place in my heart. You have made me who I am today, and I have you to thank for that. Thank you for your prayers. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May the Lords choicest blessings be upon you.

Love, Elder Adams

December 6, 2010

Fam,
Well we had a good week once again. We did a lot of contacting this week, which isn't something we do very often. We have had a lot of baptisms lately and right now our teaching pool is pretty small and the ward isn't pumping out as many referrals as they normally do, so we seem to not have many people to teach. We contacted in the wealthier part of our area, if you can even call it that, and met some smart people that speak pretty good English. We are excited to see if any of them progress. I've only baptized 2 contacts my whole mission, but they seem ready. At church on Sunday we had 19 of my recent converts there, 6 others are fisherman and have traveled, 3 were sick, and 2 are somehow having problems and have fallen a little less active, so we have some work to do there. One is a boy who Bishop asked us to teach and baptize who had been coming to church for over one year, but as soon as we baptized him he got sick and then hasn't come since. The other one was the 1st person I ever baptized like 3 weeks into my mission, and he was baptized because his girlfriend was a member and they were going to get married. He was active and strong for a few months, and then the girl broke off the marriage and now he is less active. Can't really blame him there. That's tough. So out of everyone of my recent converts in the last 10 months all are active except two! My goal is to get them coming again before I go, then I can leave Moree in peace and feel good about what I did there.

Lately I have been studying and pondering about the spirit. Preach My Gospel chapter 4 really gives wonderful advice and instruction on how to become more acquainted with the spirit and understand it better. I've been really having some good experiences, and the spirit is really becoming apart of my everyday prayers and study. It makes all the difference in the world. Something else I did this week that I don't normally do is read my Patriarchal blessing. I haven't really studied as much as I should. . Sunday I sat down and read it before church and boy was it sweet. I had some great insights and saw some things that I had never before realized. It's packed with amazing promises and blessings if we just stay faithful. It has some powerful blessings related to my mission, and I feel that there is a lot for me still to do here in Ghana. Read yours this week. See if anything new comes to your mind.

For Christmas we will be having a party at the mission home with another zone, Fosu Zone. It should be pretty awesome, and some good food which is always exciting, not to mention the air conditioning in the mission home is a little piece of heaven. I did receive your Thanksgiving package this Friday so that was awesome. I had a lovely meal that night. I'm still to eat the pie. Can't wait for that. Sorry if I have been spending more money leately from my account. I have been kinda of buying a few more things than normal. Anyway how is school going? Are you loving school right now or what? Are you guys all ready for Christmas this year and excited. Anything new to tell me?? I haven't heard from anyone of my friends in like 3 months or so. Sounds like Miles is tearing it up on the court. Is the competition still at a pretty high level and fun to watch? Well anyway that's about all I have for this week. Ma, I love you and thanks for all that you do, the packages, the emails, the 20 dollar bill. You’re the best. I hope everything is going well for you right now. I can't wait to be able to talk on Christmas. It will be a lot of fun. Love you always.

Love Elder Adams