Out and About...

We had a nice District Conference in Twifo Praso this weekend.

I was assigned to preside at the Praso District Conference this weekend.  The branches are spread out from Dunkwa-On-Offin to Hemang, so most of the Saints came on Saturday and stayed the night at the school where the conference was held. 

Things went very smoothly until one of the buses coming to pick members up after the conference drove through some low hanging wires and cut the power to the conference center in the middle of Sister Hanlon's testimony.  She rallied and was able to continue her remarks.  After a few minutes of McGivering, a small generator had us back in business.

Gathering for leadership meeting on Saturday.

After the conference, the District President invited the missionaries to his home for lunch.

The Begging Cat.

Earlier in the week, we had zone conferences in Assin Foso and Cape Coast.  We continued teaching the principles of setting effective goals and planning to accomplish them.  During the conference, the companionships have the opportunity to practice what they learn by planning for some of their current investigators.

On Thursday, Sister Stevenson and I spent the day proselyting.  She went to Greenhill with Sister Danga and Sister Newton.

Why they call it Greenhill.  

As they were walking, they passed a three-walled classroom and saw a member of the Church teaching.  She invited them in for a few minutes to meet her class. As they were leaving, Sister Stevenson asked the teacher if she knew anyone they could visit and share the Gospel with.  She was happy to give them a referral.  The three of them were able to receive six referrals that day.

Today (Sunday), Sister Stevenson received the following text from the Sisters:  "Good evening, Sister Stevenson.  Guess what?  Two of the referrals came to Church today and three of our investigators came as well.  It was so great having them come!"  Awesome!

I went out to Komenda and worked with Elder Simpson and Elder Bramwell.  This is a picture of the first Sacrament Meeting held in Komenda last weekend.

I arrived at their apartment early enough to join them for Personal Study, Companionship Study and Weekly Planning.  

We were able to teach several of their investigators during the day, including three young adults from Germany who are in Ghana for a year working for an NGO.  The missionaries told me that the first time they met them and invited them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, they were told, "No."  This was a bit bewildering to two missionaries who had never heard that response before.  As we met with them that evening, it was like being in Sweden again--great young people, but God is not a priority.

We joined the Kissi Missionaries for the Branch Council Meeting.  It was a great meeting centered on sharing the Gospel and reaching out to the less-active members.

One of our last meetings of the day was with a school teacher who is preparing for baptism in June.  She lives on this cliff overlooking the ocean.  It was a million dollar view.  The power was off, so it wasn't long before we were teaching in the dark, not able to see each other.  It's tough when you can't see facial expressions or body language.  The stars in the sky were awesome, though.

The elders and I received three referrals.  The next day they wanted to know how many Sister Stevenson got.  They were disappointed when they found out that the sisters beat us.  We'll get them next time.  

On Monday, the Assistants surprised us by washing our car.

I had left some muddy running shoes outside after my jog that morning, so they washed those too.  Very sweet.

Speaking of mud, it looks like the rainy season has finally come.  We are very happy.

Harrison Riehle (right) is one of our returned missionaries and has been in Ghana for the last month with his business partner setting up a solar light distribution business.  They stopped by the mission home to say hello just in time to enjoy some of Theresa's corned beef stew.  It was nice to see Elder Riehle again.  He is still out to save the world.