Time is Flying

Dear family and friends,

What a week. Is has it only been one week, or one month? or one day? I cant even tell. Time has been playing tricks with me recently. Some days seem to fly by incredibly fast, others cant seem to go by fast enough. I'm learning to enjoy all of it!

We have discovered some incredible families recently who are progressing so very well. One is a sister and her daughter who is engaged to a member. She has come to church three times now i believe and is preparing for baptism on the 29th. Another is a sister who is convinced by the feelings in her heart that this is the right church for her, after only attending once. She has been a member of many many different churches, little education and lives very humbly, but has a feeling in her heart that this church is right. Incredible! She and her 7 yr old son came to church and she is praying that her husband's heart will be softened and will eventually come, although he is currently opposed to the church. Her understanding is very low in our lessons, but the spirit does its job very well. I am reminded of my experiences teaching humble people of Liberia who have very similar situations. I dont think there is a more blessed missionary than i am who has experiences teaching the humblest of people and in return, learning much from them. I am grateful for these precious souls I have been given to work with! 

On the other hand, my companion and I spend the majority of our time searching to expand our teaching pool. We make a lot of new contacts every day. One such man was probably an experience i will never forget. We contacted him in his front yard one afternoon, he gave us a seat and we began our lesson. He was super kind and my companion and i were so ecstatic about his receptiveness. I think i'll save the rest of the details for another day about our visit. it was extremely interesting :)

My companion and I have been enjoying sharing jokes and riddles with each other as we walk around each day. It has been quite entertaining. We get an unusual amount of laughter from the smallest jokes. Feel free to shoot your favorite riddles and whatnot my way if you get the chance. We sure enjoy them!

I am very happy to report that this week i didnt have to endure mental deterioration of my mind by going to any shopping malls. I have decided that i prefer dusty roadside markets to shop rather than expensive, fancy, air conditioned buildings. Its an african thing, im sure you would understand if you lived here. 

I had a very sweet experience this week teaching a woman who we had earlier deemed as "not serious" because she lives all the way in tim-buck-two and has asked us to come out 3 consecutive times only to suddenly dissappear when we get there. We finally sat down this week with her and while teaching, I felt inspired to have her read Joseph Smith's own words from Joseph Smith History in explaining his experience. Unfortuntately, i didnt have our blue copy of his testimony, nor did i even have a book of mormon to let her read because we had given thema ll out that day, so she read from my scriptures... you would be interested to know that she would hardly listen to our words, she hasnt read any of our pamphlets, but as she started reading Joseph's testimony, she just couldnt stop! I asked her to read only two verses, and she literally wouldnt stop reading! haha it was incredible! I just sat there and held the flashlight and smiled at my companion as she read, and read, and continued to read. finally, she stopped and said, "i think im finally beginning to believe now?!" haha. We also read a passage from 3 nephi 11 in which the same experience happened. she just couldnt stop reading, she wanted to know the whole story! 

My testimony was strengthened that the Spirit will always direct us to what people need to hear/ read to be touched. Sometimes, the spirit needs to put the words into our mouth and sometimes, he simply inspires us what words they need to read. It is wonderful to see people come to recognize truth, especially this truth that will change their lives forever. The Gospel is wonderfully true!

Well, thats all i've got for this week. Sorry no exciting forest adventures or pig slaughers, but rest assured that the mission life continues on at full speed. Challenges, rough times, exciting times, happy times, they are all what make up my life. And i sure do love my life, no doubt about that! :) my mission has blessed not only the lives of those i have met and taught, but my own life has been changed and blessed most of all. I am grateful to be a missionary here in Ghana! It is the greatest blessing to my life!
Have a great week, 

love, Elder Fairwell