Howdy Folks! Seasons Greetings
from the western coast of Ghana! Merry Christmas! Dec. 15, 2014
One wonderful week it has been,
and it just keeps getting better! I just convinced the cafe manager to play
some Christmas music and Michael Buble just erupted from the computer speakers!
wow, what a magical spirit Christmas music has! Its too bad Ghanaians dont have
the tradition of playing Christmas music everywhere. It sure is something i
have come to be a lot more grateful for!
One of the highlights of my
week, among many which I dont think I will be able to write, was Tuesday
evening when I was able to put up my Christmas decorations! It was about 9:45
pm and i put on my Amy Grant "rockin around the Christmas Tree" and
opened my 2 ft christmas tree, fluffed the branches and had a most excellent
time decorating my tree! wow, a little bit of tradition sure does make the
season feel real, no matter where you are in the world! So now i have a
beautiful Christmas tree on my desk with a little Rudolf postcard underneath,
and a few small self given presents and some books of mormons to give out to
some special people. How wonderful is the season!
I enjoyed my opportunity to go
to our Bi-Zone conference on wednesday. We not only were blessed with a sacred
experience inside the temple going through a temple session, but also a sweet
talent show, indescribably delectable food (I literally cried inside and
savored each swallow), and a special surprise... we got to watch a newly
produced film called, "Meet the Mormons". I found it to be pretty
entertaining and a great description of who mormons really are! Im not sure if
ya'll have heard of it but it was fun to watch. There is a scene describing the
family of a missionary which brought back memories of my own mission departure
which feels just like yesterday... i cant believe this is my last Christmas on
mission! too easy!
The brother I once mentioned
who was incredibly receptive and open hearted to learning more about the gospel
came to church this week. Wow, it was so sweet to see him come into the chapel
only 15 minutes late. He stayed for the entire 3 hr block and loved the
service! He has some wonderful YSA fellowshippers and agreed to come back this
coming week as well! EEk!! man, we are excited about him. He was such a sweet
find and is making such great spiritual progress. Pray that he will continue to
have the courage to make the decision to actually join with the saints and be
baptized!
I have been asked a few times
as to if and how ghanaians celebrate Christmas. It is a recognized holiday
here, more so than in Liberia in my opinion, but the traditions of Christmas
Lights, music on the radios, decorations in the shops and in people's houses,
reindeer and Santa Clause dont seem to be very prevalent here. It helps me
forget the commercialization of Christmas, but it also looses some of the
symbols Christmas decorations and traditions have. Oh well. It seems that
Christmas Day itself is celebrated by most people by families gathering
together to have a nice feast and exchange presents if any could be afforded.
Other than than, i dont see much else celebration in Ghana (or in Liberia). We
are hoping to find some friends here to spend some time with on Christmas Day,
but will most likely celebrate as an apartment of missionaries with some type
of special dinner... some suggested another pig roast but i dont think it will
happen here in the city... haha :) maybe we could slaughter some chickens!?
Boil some yam and make some mashed yam and gravy? we'll see!
I sure have been grateful these
past few days for the wonderful gifts and surprises our Heavenly Father
continues to give us. I love the time of year we have to surprise eachother
with gifts of kindness and generosity. I suppose that we are only
attempting to emulate the incomprehensible gift of love our Savior gave to us
when He was born into this world. I am touched to be able to learn more each
day of my mission of the endless power of that gift and the effect it has on
each of our lives. I pray that I might in turn learn to always be generous and
giving with all I am blessed with to those around me just as the savior was.
Truly this is the most wonderful time of the year when we are able to do that!
Merry Christmas!
Love you all,
Elder Fairwell
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