26 April 2010

Hey everyone I hope you guys are doing great! Ellery happy birthday! I can't believe you'll be turning twelve this week. In no time you'll be serving a mission. That's crazy. It's funny you mentioned the hair, because I've gotten used to it by now. President Smith likes really short hair, and it's a lot cooler, and no one gives a decent haircut around here so now I just get it buzzed. And buzzed super short, usually a 1 or a 2. (3mm or 6mm). This week went pretty well. Both Elder Kivaya and I were a little sick all week. Elder Kivaya was feeling really bad Friday so we came home in the afternoon. He still has somewhat of a cold. On saturday we traveled to Koforidua for zone conference. The north zone did awesome last transfer and our goals were solid this transfer so there wasn't really much in the way of chastisement. President Smith gave us good instruction. I'm really coming to admire him as a leader. He is really intelligent and his style is correct. Pragmatic, and building step by step. If we do as he teaches us we really can't help but have success. Happy Birthday Ellery! Sorry about the allergies everyone. Tell Aunt Emily congrats for me and good luck. Love you guys. See you in 18 months! Love, Elder Bradford Chambers

From Sister Bevan

We are a senior missionary couple serving in the Ghana Accra Mission. We are the Area Family History Advisors. We attended Church in the Oda Branch on Sunday and met your handsome son. He appears to be healthy and happy. He and his companion seem to get along well, and they had some investigators attend the meeting. Oda has one of the most beautiful buildings in Ghana, which is situated on a large piece of property which has been landscaped beautifully with native trees, shrubs, and grass. I am attaching a photo we took which you might enjoy.

With Love, Sister Bevan

19 April 2010

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing great. This week was pretty normal, except for one thing I guess. We were walking all week because Elder Kivaya's bicycle got tired and needed a rest. It wasn't a big deal for me because in New Legon we walked all the time. We are getting it repaired today, though, so we'll be able to ride this week. By the way,I think we had a bit of a rainy season in the middle of the week.

Yesterday, we had a pretty good Church service, except that all of our recent converts disappointed and went awol. Also, Michael Kim was out of contact with us all week (he doesn't have a phone) and whenever we went to his place (almost every day) he was gone. We found out he had traveled to Accra. So anyway, we ended up cancelling his baptism. I guess this is the second time he's disappeared after getting a baptismal date. (The last time was before I came, I guess his father died so they had the funeral or something.) So because of that we're still going to try and work with him, pray for him, etc., but we won't set a goal on him next transfer. Everyone has their agency, I suppose. Despite that disappointment according to the Zone Leaders our Zone and the Mission was able to surpass their baptismal goal.

Also to let you guys (ie Mom) know, the district is back to four missionaries again. That happened last week, Elder Moses from Sierre Leone will be with Elder Stout. Both the Chapel here and the 'apartment' are awesome here in Oda. The Chapel is super nice and built on this hillside. It's really beautiful and stuff. The compound is huge. The branch President said it was put up in only 6 months. I'm not sure about that. He has an enthusiastic mind and tends to exaggerate. But compared to the other buildings around it probably could be said to be put up in a week. I think most buildings, especially big ones like churches, around here take years and years to build. 10-15+ I'd guess. The apartment here is super nice, because it's actually a house. It was rented for couple missionaries, but the couple missionaries never came to Oda so we get to enjoy. There is three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. And just 2 missionaries...

It's good you guys are staying active. I'm looking forward to playing frisbee again. I can't believe Connor's 14. By the way, Connor, happy birthday again; I love you lots. Tell Micah good luck for me. Rome! That's pretty crazy. I'm sure he'll do well there. Tell Grandma, Grandpa, and all the family that I love them. I'll try to write them a letter to mail them this Saturday when we go to Koforidua for zone conference. Well I hope the rest of the world is doing good. I love you guys.

12 April 2010

Hello everyone! Happy Birthday Connor! I hope you guys are doing good. From what Mom has said it sounds like you guys are really busy this week. We've been pretty busy here too. On Saturday, we were able to have the baptisms for stephen, charity, and janet. They are doing great. Stephen was late to both the baptism and to sacrament, but he made it in time to be confirmed, and next week he'll be sustained and ordained as a priest. We are going to be working this week with Michael Kim. In fact right after the cafe we'll be going to try and see him. We just have a couple things left to go over with him and he'll be ready to be baptized on Saturday. Time is really flying here. I can't really tell what's up with the weather, I don't know what it's supposed to be doing or what it will do tomorrow. It's rather unpredictable. Excepts it's always hot. Always very hot. Some days it's humid, some days it's dry, some days it's rainy. Anyway, everyone here is really vague and unsure about when or whether the rainy season is. I'm glad to hear you guys are helping Vera. She'll need lots of support as Satan tries his best to shake her. We are always struggling to help our recent converts here. Our Branch President said that in 2008 200 people were baptized into the branch and now today only 10 are active. That's one of the reasons President Smith took all the missionaries out of the bush. And now he's opening the areas up one by one as Accra has become stronger. Well I love you guys a ton, and I pray for you always. Cya later.

5 April 2010

Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed conference. I can't wait to get the Liahona and be able to read the talks. I hope everyone had a happy easter and ate lots of candy. On Saturday I got the two packages you sent mom. Thanks for everything. The letters were good to read and the candy was good to eat. The taco mixes and things should last me for awhile, thanks again. I love you. On Saturday we had zone interviews so we had to travel to Koforidua in the morning, it's like 2.5 hours away. It went pretty well, but we ended up coming home with an extra companion, Elder Stout. So he's tagging along with us until he gets a new companion. It has made things a little more complicated, but you know you just have to deal with what life throws at you. He's been pretty cool to have around though. In the afternoon we went with him to attend the baptisms he had in Kade. On Sunday we had just the normal old fast and testimony. It was weird to think that general conference would be going on this weekend and I wouldn't be watching it. It was a really hot day, and we spent the afternoon walking because we only have 2 bikes. This week the biggest things we have on our to do lists is help Steven Owusu and Janet and Charity get their baptismal interviews and then their baptisms this saturday. They all seem really excited and we all are too. Well I love you guys tons. I hope you are all happy and enjoying life. Love, Elder Bradford Chambers

29 March 2010

Hey everyone, how's it going? Spring break sounds like fun, I hope all of you get over the vacation sickness. It sounds like you guys will be in for a busy couple of months. Say hello to Uncle Bryan for me when he gets here, and tell Aunt Emily congratulations. So yeah, this last week we were really busy, I think we ended up teaching 34 lessons. Right now we have 40+ investigators in our teaching pool, and that's really too many. We have to really be in tune with the spirit as we drop people that aren't serious. President Smith wants us to have about 25 people in our teaching pool at any given time, and he also wants us to have about 9-10 new investigators per week. So we're kept pretty busy. A lot of people are willing to listen to our message, and a lot of those will recognize the spirit and gain testimonies of the truthfulness, but only a few are willing to make any changes in their lives. It can be kind of frustrating. In one of our lessons this guy asked us, "so can people be baptized and then leave the church after they receive the gift of the holy ghost?" and "so what if I pray and God tells me that your message is true, but I'm also told that where I am now is good?". He for sure knows the truth, but he is just looking for anyway he can to keep from following it. Well, while it's sad to see people reject the truth that we've given them, it is exciting to teach people with enthusiasm for the church. The funerals here in Ghana are big deals. They are the biggest party and the most expensive expenditures for any person. In one of the nearby villages that we proselyte in the queen mother had died and the funeral was over the weekend. No one from that village came to church (including 4 recent converts that were confirmed last week) except for our three baptismal candidates. I was so happy to see them on Sunday. So I say, "Hi" to everyone, and I'm excited for Donovan. Wyview should be fun, hopefully your roommates will be cool. I'm jealous of Spencer, I miss playing Ultimate. And yeah, this place is aka Akim Oda. Anyway the work is moving forward, and I'm happy to be here to do the work. I miss my little brothers, and I love you all. Keep the faith, the church is true. Love, Elder Bradford Chambers

22 March 2010

Hey everyone! How are you guys all doing? Well the big news of the week is transfers. I went on transfers last wednesday and am now serving in a town called Oda. It's pretty nice here. It's kind of up in the hills and somehow far from Accra. It kind of reminds me of some town in the Appalachians the way everything is hilly and farms. The work is going really strong at the moment up here in the villages. Saturday we had a really nice baptism for five of the investigators my new companion, Elder Kivaya, has been working with. Unfortuanately the water we had wasn't really enough so the people basically had to lay down in order to be immersed. But we got it done and they made their covenants so we and the hosts of heaven rejoiced. We still have 3 with a baptismal date and are hoping to prepare 1 other person to be baptized on April 10th. Then we'll need some more referrals, because it almost only the referrals that get baptized here. My new companion, Elder Kivaya, is pretty cool. He's from Kenya, but was in medical school in Ukraine when he was baptized and decided to serve a mission. He's been out like 19 months or so and knows a ton. It's just me and him in the apartment here in Oda, and no other missionaries nearby. The rest of our district is in Asamankese which is an hour or so away. The whole north zone is really spread out and sparse, but the work is moving quick here because we are in the villages were the people are more humble. One of our big challenges here though is that our Mission President, President Smith, won't let anyone be baptized who can't read and understand English or at least can read Twi (but almost everyone that can read Twi can read English). This is hard for some people here to accept and understand so it gives us some problems. Anyway I'd say that I'm really lucky to be here in Oda, it's got the sweetness of the bush and enough development to have an internet cafe. Most of the other places in our zone don't have that luxury. Well I'm praying for you guys. Build your testimonies and stay true til I get home. Love you guys tons! Oh yeah I guess I'll write something for you to send to Sis Potter right now and send it to you real quick. Love, Elder Bradford Chambers