Merry Christmas from Ghana!!

Dec. 22,2014

Howdy all friends and family! I wish you the greatest Christmas season today from this humble internet cafe here in Ghana! what a treat it is to have electricity and internet to email you today! too easy!

What a wonderful week it has been. I sometimes find myself thanking the Lord for allowing my strength to exhaust as I serve Him because it helps me feel like I have truly served with all my might, mind and strength. We have been working so hard this week and have some sweet experiences from it! Life is good! I am looking forward to this week of Christmas even though we dont have too many exciting plans. Its still the most wonderful time of the year! :)

The greatest moment of my week must have been in a visit with our baptismal candidate for Dec. 28, sister F. When we went to visit her, we found she had taken time to go through every single one of the "additional study" questions and scriptures in the back of each of our pamphlets we give her. She doesnt read too extremely well, especially from scriptural English, but she stayed up late into the night because she was so caught up in the scriptures. Not only did she stay up late into the night, but reading by flashlight because he power was cut off! My companion and I were pretty excited to see how serious she is about her learning. She brought her neighbor to church with her on Sunday too, DOES IT GET ANY BETTER? haha our investigator is already doing missionary work. so awesome!

She also has a neighbor who is a pastor whom she has confounded multiple times. its pretty funny for us to hear her stories. When he comes home from work, he used to ask her what her missionaries taught her, then she goes on to share with him (with scriptural support) concepts such as apostasy and his lack of priesthood authority, the book of mormon, how to pray correctly (they are Pentecostal and get pretty excited in their prayers), the real nature of the gift of tongues (charismatic churches here enjoy some hard rock/ babbling/ screaming version of tongues) etc.... Then he always just sits there dumbfounded! Most times she is able to describe it to him so clearly that he also believes! and then compliments her missionaries, he says we really know what we are teaching... haha i enjoy the compliment. but unfortunately, he simply tells her that "we dont teach that in my church" and thats the end of it... I've never met him, but someday we hope to!

F. is a single mom with one 4 year old girl who was once afraid of the white man, but who now has a best friend forever relationship with me. She calls me a name from a white actor in some famous ghana movie. haha i enjoy it. We hope to maybe surprise them with some Christmas carols on Christmas. they are so wonderful! i am looking forward to her baptism on Sunday!

Lets see, what else was sweet this week. I lost my voice on Wednesday evening from caroling. found it again by thursday morning. Our missionary district gather together on our bicycles and visit members/ less active members/ investigators ect... and carol to them. They really enjoy when we find a way to clap and add some dancing to our carols. I really enjoy adding some African drums and beat to traditional Christmas carols, too easy!

I went on an exchange with an elder from the UK this week, elder Miller. That was a lot of fun. He came in August of this year, he was an elder originally assigned to the Liberia mission, so it is fun for me to get to know him. I feel a bit more connected with these elders assigned to Liberia for some reason :) The apartment they live in is just a small little 2 man house in the middle of the community. It really made me remember Liberia and It felt like home again! unfortunately, because it was so run down, but it still brought back some wonderful memories! :)

Sunday, a stranger came to church for the first time. He was the first person at the church that morning. He explained to me that he has seen missionaries a lot, but never had the chance to talk with some. He has also been passing by this chapel often and has always wanted to go inside, so this morning when he woke up he had a feeling he should come, so he did! By the end of the 3 block service, he came up to me and asked if he should come on the 28th for the baptism (he heard the announcement of a baptism for F.). Ahh! I was pretty bummed that he doesnt stay in my area, but we were able to refer him to the correct missionaries and hopefully he will be baptized in the near future! it is pretty fun to see myself led to those prepared to receive this gospel, but it is also so fun to see the Lord lead them to US! too easy! :)

My companion and I were driven out of a house on sunday, that was a bit of fun. In the middle of our lesson, the landowner knocked on our investigators door and asked what was happening here, then sternly told us to get off of his property. It was strange for ghana, i dont think that has really happened to me like that before. At least not so bluntly. it was a bit sad to see two innocent young men so feared, all from delivering a message of good news. but it was a good experience for me! 

Anyways, this Christmas we look forward to hopefully catching a meal at a members house, caroling and visiting and hopefully surprising all of our friends in the area, and most importantly, CALLING HOME! Even for this old missionary, im pretty darn excited to call. i sure do miss my family! Im glad for the christmas season when we get to gather as families to share those gifts which are of greatest importance. Life is good! :) I hope all of you have a most wonderful Christmas this year as together we celebrate Him whose birth and life was the greatest gift to mankind. Im grateful for my Savior! Merry Christmas, Every one!

Love,

Elder Fairwell