Dear
Family and Friends, Nov. 24, 2014
What
a spectacular week I have been blessed with. I have really enjoyed myself this
week- it was full of exchanges, family home evenings, special interviews, my first
stake conference and of course, going to the beach!!!! woot!
Unfortunately,
Ghanaians do not celebrate Thanksgiving (Liberians do celebrate thanksgiving)
so i am not sure what will happen as far as our traditional feasting and turkey
bowl, but rest assured that we will definitely be giving thanks for our many
blessings this Thursday. I was given multiple experiences this week which have
caused me serious gratitude for my wonderful life. I would like to share one.
Our
baptismal candidate for this weekend has a wonderful family. Just last weekend
they were able to certify the marriage by traveling to visit her parents and
accomplish what we call here as "knocking". still not sure what it
really means. Anyways, the man she married is a strong member of the church and
since dating him, has had a strong desire to also become a member of the
church. I have been privileged to prepare her for baptism! She is so receptive
to the spirit as we teach and has helped me learn what it means to truly learn
by the spirit. This Saturday will be her baptism. Pray everything goes
smoothly!
We
were visiting the family this Saturday afternoon and I was deeply moved and
became profoundly grateful for all my many blessings as I watched them
interact. Brother P, her new husband, is a carpenter by trade (he makes
tables, doors, desks, cabinets etc...) so work comes and also sometimes goes
unpredictably. I was surprised to meet sister C. cooking so late (it
was around 6) on a Saturday. Usually ghanaians eat midday on a weekend after
the chores are done and everyone is hungry. Brother P. was obviously
famished after a long day of work. We later came to determine that the money to
buy the food was not there until P came home from work. One of the
younger children was whining and eventually crying by himself in the outskirts
of the yard. the other children were annoyed saying that they had just eaten a
snack around 3 o'clock and he shouldn't be hungry. Dont get me wrong, this
family does not starve and they all went to bed with full stomachs of banku and
fish, but they do live a completely different lifestyle than any of us.
I
dont imagine this family lives like this every day. I suspect that the trip to
visit the wife's parents the weekend earlier plus the gifts he was forced to
bring for the in-laws must have used up any reserve fund the family had. But
the lesson i learned and the feelings i felt in admiration of this family will
always be in my heart. I pondered about my own family that night, where each of
them was and what they were doing. I even wondered if we are as happy and
grateful and faithful as this family was that night. Did the sincerity of my
prayers match those of brother P's that night as he thanked the Lord for
his daily bread? Did my love for my family match that of sister C's as
she continued to sustain her husband despite the hard times? Was my
humility to the Lord equal to this family's as I pondered my own
circumstances, far more comfortable and luxurious than theirs? I
might have been sitting at home that Saturday evening complaining that the
popcorn had too much butter than my preference as i watched a movie off my
high-speed-internet connection netflix account. Yet, rather I was blessed to be
surrounded by this family here in Ghana spreading the gospel. I am so
blessed!
If
this lesson wasn't profound enough, after viewing all of this, before we left
this family brother P had sent one of the children to buy a soft drink
for my companion and I. I dont even drink soft drink often, but this day it
must have been harder than i can ever remember. If i had to guess, although the
money came late to this family for their supper, it seems as though dad had
done well that day at work and received a generous pay for the day's labor. He
decided to spend his surplus by treating the missionaries to a bottle of soft
drink. I hope i am not the only one deeply touched by his sincere and heartfelt
kindness to two servants of the Lord. I prayed and pleaded with the Lord to
continue to flood his blessings upon this wonderful family that night. I cannot
think of a greater example of a family who is rich in happiness and yet very
very poor in the world's regard and standard of happiness.
At
this special time of year, I cherish my ability to have so many blessings in my
life to be thankful for. I believe if there is one lesson the Lord has
continually and i am confident WILL continually teach me in my life, it is the
marvelous and incomprehensible blessing of my Eternal Family. I know that my
family knows how much i love them, and I pray that we all can reflect on the
greatness of our own individual families this time of year for truly, they are
the greatest blessing we will ever receive from the Lord.
I
also had a special experience this weekend. I attended my first STAKE
conference! what a treat! and some of the missionaries in this stake gathered
and learned a hymn in twi, How Great Thou Art, which we sang Saturday
afternoon. It was a hit. We plan on learning one or two more twi songs we can
sing as we go caroling these next few weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed the
conference and gathering with so many wonderful saints. There is true spiritual
power that comes from gathering the saints together. We had a general broadcast
for West Africa from Elder Bednar, Elder Gay, President Utchdorf and the
general 1st counselor to the primary presidency. It was a neat experience, one
similar to what the saints in the early days must have felt when the Apostle
Paul or Peter wrote to them in Ephesius or Galatia. What a marvelous work and
wonder it is to have such technology to hear from them all the way out here in
ghana. SO wonderful!!!!
I
received an unexpected phone call from President Saturday evening informing me
that I will be transferred. SHOOT! i wasn't expecting to leave after only
spending roughly 4 weeks in this area. He explained that he has a specific
assignment for me in my new home, it is called Kaneshie. Should be pretty
sweet! i am sad to leave, as always, but ready to go where the Lord calls.
Wednesday i will leave for the new place. Dont know any deets except my
companion is ugandian. Cant spell his name though... haha never met him either.
Exciting!
Another
interesting note. Thursday it seems as though the phone slipped out of my
pocket while riding in a taxi. We were pretty discouraged until I remembered
that I had contacted and collected the taxi driver's phone number!
unfortunately, he wasnt able to find the phone in the car... so we have been
phone less for some time now... kinda a bummer! we should get a new one this
week.
Last
sweet news! The beach is not too incredibly far from us, so today we were able
to make a trip to see the Ghanaian beach! woot! man, it was a blast to see the
ocean again. Not quite like the beaches of Liberia, although very similar. The
sand and waves are just like Galveston. I wont lie, i felt a bit of yearnings
to go to Destin while we sat on the sand and just relaxed. It was incredibly
tempting to get in and go for a little swim, but i managed to resist. too easy!
haha The only problem is that my feet and ankles are fairly sunburnt. My legs
are used to seeing sun every now and again, but i am afraid i cant even
remember the last time my feet were exposed to some UV rays... haha
I
suppose if all the interesting and wonderful events that happened this week
were recorded, even the internet itself could not contain it all... haha just
kidding. But i think that is all i will share for this week. I love my
missionary experience, and I do not think i could be blessed with a greater
place with greater people to serve. Truly, this is the most WONDERFUL time of
the year!!! have a most excellent week! love,
Elder
Fairwell
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