Hey everyone!!!!
Well, as for this week, it was just that, a week. We have been going around and finding new people to teach and that has been fun sometimes. We have also been trying to find people who will be ready for baptism this coming transfer end. So as far as everything is going, it's just a week.
We have Elder Doffon in the apartment now. So yeah, he's pretty cool, the downside is that he is still learning English. I help him out a lot with words and stuff like that, it's pretty fun. We have had some good apartment moments, but as far as being alone in the apartment it is impossible. We have members and investigators come over all the time and they stay till like 12 or something like that. Also, it's just tiring most of the time.
As far as energy goes, I have none. Lokutshu does a personal study every morning at 5 and also does a study at night. A lot of the time he forgets to turn off the light, so I am stuck with no sleep. Other than that, it's just kind of well here.
So this week has been clockwork to say the most. Get up, go out, see people and come home. We have been working with new people and they are pretty cool. One of my favorites is a sister named Gladise. She has been living in Odoben for a while and her husband works in Accra. We have been teaching her a bit and she loves it! She really hopes to keep learning from us, and she has 3 little girls that ironically aren't afraid of me haha!!!! We have also been working with some members to track down less actives. We also have a few of our recent converts who are falling less active. That is a serious bummer!!! The problem that we are now facing is that they just don't want to come to church because they are too busy.
Well then, as far as things are going it's pretty ok. We have been working a lot and it's ok. The missionaries in Asikuma have been doing pretty amazing with their area. I'm glad they got missionaries out there, its pretty sweet!!!
Well, things are good here, and well yeah. If you have been able to figure out how to send stuff that would be amazing!!! I'd like a photo album of the fam and my friends!! Also, I can live with some nice American candy over here haha!!!
Hope things are going amazing back home!!!! I love you all and I hope to see you soon!!!!!!!
Love,
Elder Stockton Smith
Thursday, February 16, 2017
September 19, 2016 Email
Well everyone, this week was a week.
So, for Tuesday through Wednesday, it was just chaotic!!!! We had a mission conference in Accra so we had to leave our area a day earlier to be there on time. Lokutshu and I left for Accra on Tuesday and we slept at the Latabir-acoshi's apartment, I saw Lambson again!!!!!!! Lambson bro, you haven't changed a bit, and the hair is looking more relaxed haha!!!! We played Bang and we just hung out for a while. The next day we headed to Accra. We got to the temple site and I saw all my Missionary Training Center missionaries there!!!! Or, at least the ones that came to Ghana haha!!!! We took some pics and just talked and caught up with each other. I also saw Wallin, Roberts, and a few other missionaries from my previous areas haha!!!
We then had the meeting. Elder Gary E. Stevenson came to talk to us!!!! He was so cool and most surprisingly. . .he has been an apostle almost as long as I've been on mission. Chai time has flown by!!!! So, he talked to us about repentance and the amazing work that we have here in Ghana. Truly, I can't think of anything more comforting than having an apostle of the Lord give us a thumbs up for our service haha!!!!
We also had new missionaries come in. Beya is training one, but he's not American. He's from Cotevuar (I think is how you spell it). [It's actually spelled Cote d'Ivoire--also known as Ivory Coast]. He speaks French and he has just come out. By the time he gets to his year mark, I'll almost be heading home haha!!!! Although, new Provo missionaries are here as well, so maybe I might get a chance to be a "mother". That's when I finish the training of that missionary in the 12 week program we have. So maybe I'll get to train a bit haha!!!! (Hopefully not, too stressful).
So as for the rest of the week, it has just been a blur. We have been doing the same stuff most of the week. Visiting the same people, just going around and talking to people. Although we have 2 new missionaries in Asikuma, Elder Harrison and Elder Randall!!!! Randall's my TC!!!!! So, It's pretty amazing to have him here haha!!!! We had a cool chance to go to this meeting in Winneba for Institute and Seminary* training. We went there with Enoe and Eric, the teachers that are getting ready for this role. We talked a bit and learned how we can improved in teaching seminary and institute. It kind of reminds me of the time I had to teach seminary, but I didn't do too good haha!!!! We came back later and it was just a pain getting there because I had to pay for everyone going there and coming back so that was a pain.
We had a cool Sunday though. We went to church and as always they spoke Fante all the time. So I went and am now doing personal study of the Book of Mormon from front to back haha!!! You learn something new every time, I swear!!!! So, we then had some bad news. Elder Harrison got sick and he has been in the hospital since Friday. We went and saw him after church and he looks as right as rain haha!!! We played card games and talked. Randall and I celebrated our 10 months on mission with fruit haha!!! Oranges, pineapple, banana, coconut and a few other things, it was amazing!!! It's scary how fast time flies and how slow it actually is when you are in the moment. Looking back though, these have been the longest 10 months of my life with crazy ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade one day of them for anything!!!!! I'm better than who I was back home, I continue to get better and I hope to be the person my Heavenly Father wants me to be. Thank you everyone for all the support and love you have shown me on mission!!!!!!! It wasn't easy, and it still isn't easy, but I have all of you to give me strength. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, other than that it's been a week to say the least haha!!!
Love you all!!!!
Elder Stockton Smith
*Seminaries and institutes of religion provide weekday religious education for youth and young adults. Seminaries and institutes of religion also supervise elementary and secondary schools in some areas outside the United States.
So, for Tuesday through Wednesday, it was just chaotic!!!! We had a mission conference in Accra so we had to leave our area a day earlier to be there on time. Lokutshu and I left for Accra on Tuesday and we slept at the Latabir-acoshi's apartment, I saw Lambson again!!!!!!! Lambson bro, you haven't changed a bit, and the hair is looking more relaxed haha!!!! We played Bang and we just hung out for a while. The next day we headed to Accra. We got to the temple site and I saw all my Missionary Training Center missionaries there!!!! Or, at least the ones that came to Ghana haha!!!! We took some pics and just talked and caught up with each other. I also saw Wallin, Roberts, and a few other missionaries from my previous areas haha!!!
We then had the meeting. Elder Gary E. Stevenson came to talk to us!!!! He was so cool and most surprisingly. . .he has been an apostle almost as long as I've been on mission. Chai time has flown by!!!! So, he talked to us about repentance and the amazing work that we have here in Ghana. Truly, I can't think of anything more comforting than having an apostle of the Lord give us a thumbs up for our service haha!!!!
We also had new missionaries come in. Beya is training one, but he's not American. He's from Cotevuar (I think is how you spell it). [It's actually spelled Cote d'Ivoire--also known as Ivory Coast]. He speaks French and he has just come out. By the time he gets to his year mark, I'll almost be heading home haha!!!! Although, new Provo missionaries are here as well, so maybe I might get a chance to be a "mother". That's when I finish the training of that missionary in the 12 week program we have. So maybe I'll get to train a bit haha!!!! (Hopefully not, too stressful).
So as for the rest of the week, it has just been a blur. We have been doing the same stuff most of the week. Visiting the same people, just going around and talking to people. Although we have 2 new missionaries in Asikuma, Elder Harrison and Elder Randall!!!! Randall's my TC!!!!! So, It's pretty amazing to have him here haha!!!! We had a cool chance to go to this meeting in Winneba for Institute and Seminary* training. We went there with Enoe and Eric, the teachers that are getting ready for this role. We talked a bit and learned how we can improved in teaching seminary and institute. It kind of reminds me of the time I had to teach seminary, but I didn't do too good haha!!!! We came back later and it was just a pain getting there because I had to pay for everyone going there and coming back so that was a pain.
We had a cool Sunday though. We went to church and as always they spoke Fante all the time. So I went and am now doing personal study of the Book of Mormon from front to back haha!!! You learn something new every time, I swear!!!! So, we then had some bad news. Elder Harrison got sick and he has been in the hospital since Friday. We went and saw him after church and he looks as right as rain haha!!! We played card games and talked. Randall and I celebrated our 10 months on mission with fruit haha!!! Oranges, pineapple, banana, coconut and a few other things, it was amazing!!! It's scary how fast time flies and how slow it actually is when you are in the moment. Looking back though, these have been the longest 10 months of my life with crazy ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade one day of them for anything!!!!! I'm better than who I was back home, I continue to get better and I hope to be the person my Heavenly Father wants me to be. Thank you everyone for all the support and love you have shown me on mission!!!!!!! It wasn't easy, and it still isn't easy, but I have all of you to give me strength. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, other than that it's been a week to say the least haha!!!
Love you all!!!!
Elder Stockton Smith
*Seminaries and institutes of religion provide weekday religious education for youth and young adults. Seminaries and institutes of religion also supervise elementary and secondary schools in some areas outside the United States.
September 12, 2016 Email
Well everyone, I'm staying in Odoben!!!!!
So first off, we received transfer news and it turns out that Elder Seninde is finally leaving!!! he has been in Odoben for 7 months. He was trained here by his trainer and now he's finally leaving!!!! Elder Beya is receiving a new missionary, so he will be training. Luckily it will be a missionary from Provo, so I can help him out haha!!!! Lokutshu and I are staying here so that's a plus. I'm gonna try to learn to cook some mean stews from him and hopefully they work out haha!!!
Alright, so as for this week it has been kind of a downer. We have been going on a lot of exchanges lately and it's just a pain. I went with Elder Seninde to his area in Brakua, there we just walked around and met with some members. We also went into some serious bush and it was so sketch!!!!!
We have been trying to work hard in Odoben and find new people, but it has been kind of slow. We have had luck with baptisms though. We got Godson baptized just yesterday!!!! He is by far one of the coolest investigators ever!!!! we give him something to read and the next day he memorizes the book we just gave him!!!! Unfortunately, he will be leaving for Swedro for school, so it will be hard to still visit him and teach him. We have had a lot of fun working with him, and I'm pretty bummed to have him leave. So, we have a few more people coming up for baptisms, but unfortunately we didn't have the zone leaders here to interview them. We have been trying to get some in for baptisms, but they have been busy.
We have had a lot of fun this week also working with members around us haha!!!!!
Now for the bad news, I caught a pretty bad stomach bug this last Friday, so I haven't been able to go out as much as I would like. Starting to feel better, but if anything gets too out of hand, I'll call President.
Other than that, things are just chill as always haha!!!!! It will be nice getting a new missionary here. Well, hope to hear from you all soon!!!!! I also hope that I can see some pics of all of you, I'm starting to forget what you look like haha!!!!!
Love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elder Stockton Smith
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
September 5, 2016 Email
Well, this week is pretty interesting, haha!!!!!
So as for this week, I got a haircut like you wanted mom. Turns out the Ghanains aren't that good with cutting white people hair. Their hair is harder so when they cut mine, it wan't that good. Luckily, I was able to guide him in cutting hair. Not too bad, if I do say so myself.
We got word that we are having a mission seminar at the temple sight. We may be having an apostle or someone come to see us. We haven't had word yet so we don't know. Also, on that day we have transfers. So, we have no idea what's going to happen. We got word from zone leaders that we have 3 new missionaries coming to this zone. So who knows, I might be training haha!!!!
Alright, time for the week!!!! So, as for this week it has been the same. We had President come over this week and do apartment inspection. We were lucky to clean the apartment before he came haha. We had interviews and President Simpson is fricken amazing! He's gonna be a good president for the rest of my mission. Hopefully, things work out haha!!
We have been working hard with some of our investigators and luckily we have had success. We have a few baptisms coming up this month for Godson and a few other investigators. Godson's baptism is this next week. We had a baptism yesterday for brother Caleb. We have been teaching him for only a few weeks and he accepted baptism. We will confirm him a member this next week. We have also been working with a lot of members lately and we have had a lot of fun. One family in particular is helping us a lot when we go out and teach. I can't pronounce their last name, but they are amazing!!!!
We have also gotten word that they might open Asikuma area again. So, maybe things will change for me this next week. We don't know haha!!!! We have been trying our best to find more investigators in Asikuma and we have had some luck. We contacted a lot of people this last Friday. I can't remember their names, but they seem cool. At least we'll be able to visit them and start teaching them soon. That apartment though, it is so sketch!!!!
Well, things are going well here in good old Odoben. Hopefully, things work out now that new missionaries are coming in. Hope you all are having an amazing time!!!!
Love,
Elder Stockton Smith
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
August 29, 2016 Email
This week on survival guide in Odoben:
Smith is close to strangling Beya for drinking from his soda. Lokutshu travels for interview in the midst of confusing the district. Seninde is a dying missionary who wants so badly leave this area. Almost 7 months in Odoben and he is about ready to loose his mind. . .
Well everyone, as far as this area is going, these 3 crazy African companions may just get the best of me haha!!!
This week was a week to say the least. We have been pretty busy trying to get a few people ready for baptism. Esther and Isaac. They had their baptism on Sunday after church service, but I'll get to that later.
So for most of the week it has mainly been the same each day. We have gone out and tried to meet with some of our investigators. Unfortunately, we lost our phone like a week ago, so we haven't been able to call anyone to confirm appointments. So, we have mainly been doing "hit and miss" with a lot of people. We have also been going on a lot of exchanges lately which is a little strange, but it's normal here. As far as everyone is doing, it's been pretty good.
Elder Lokutshu's aunt passed away this last week, so on Saturday, we had a funeral day. So, for this we sat at home and Lokutshu made food for us!!! The bummer about this is that I have no idea if I'm allergic to any of the stuff here. As far as how the food was, it was good. But downside, was that I felt really weird after I ate some weird fruit. So, if I die, I know I'm going to a better place haha!!!
As for Sunday, it was pretty cool. We had Esther and Isaac be baptized. The unfortunate part was that I missed it. I had to run to the other apartment in Acikuma and grab more baptismal clothes for other baptisms that day. We had to split for that. Lokutshu stayed with the candidates and I went with a member to get the clothes. It took like 2 hours to get up there, grab everything and come back. I saw Esther and Isaac later, but I didn't have my camera so I couldn't take any pics that day. We have had a lot of fun and a lot of work to do here, but sometimes it's just too tiring.
Love you all, I hope you all have had an amazing week, and I hope that you all are enjoying!!!!!
Love,
Elder Stockton Smith
Smith is close to strangling Beya for drinking from his soda. Lokutshu travels for interview in the midst of confusing the district. Seninde is a dying missionary who wants so badly leave this area. Almost 7 months in Odoben and he is about ready to loose his mind. . .
Well everyone, as far as this area is going, these 3 crazy African companions may just get the best of me haha!!!
This week was a week to say the least. We have been pretty busy trying to get a few people ready for baptism. Esther and Isaac. They had their baptism on Sunday after church service, but I'll get to that later.
So for most of the week it has mainly been the same each day. We have gone out and tried to meet with some of our investigators. Unfortunately, we lost our phone like a week ago, so we haven't been able to call anyone to confirm appointments. So, we have mainly been doing "hit and miss" with a lot of people. We have also been going on a lot of exchanges lately which is a little strange, but it's normal here. As far as everyone is doing, it's been pretty good.
Elder Lokutshu's aunt passed away this last week, so on Saturday, we had a funeral day. So, for this we sat at home and Lokutshu made food for us!!! The bummer about this is that I have no idea if I'm allergic to any of the stuff here. As far as how the food was, it was good. But downside, was that I felt really weird after I ate some weird fruit. So, if I die, I know I'm going to a better place haha!!!
As for Sunday, it was pretty cool. We had Esther and Isaac be baptized. The unfortunate part was that I missed it. I had to run to the other apartment in Acikuma and grab more baptismal clothes for other baptisms that day. We had to split for that. Lokutshu stayed with the candidates and I went with a member to get the clothes. It took like 2 hours to get up there, grab everything and come back. I saw Esther and Isaac later, but I didn't have my camera so I couldn't take any pics that day. We have had a lot of fun and a lot of work to do here, but sometimes it's just too tiring.
Love you all, I hope you all have had an amazing week, and I hope that you all are enjoying!!!!!
Love,
Elder Stockton Smith
August 22, 2016 Email
Hey everyone!!!!
Well things are going pretty well in the Bush haha!!!! As far as the area is going, it's good, and the people are amazing!!!!
So, first off, we have a few investigators who we are teaching. My favorite though is a man named Godson. He has a lisp but he is crazy smart!! We give him a lesson to ready and by the next day, he has read it and has a lot of questions!! We have been teaching him for a little over a week and so far, he is hoping to be baptized in September or maybe October! As far as he is going, he's pretty cool. He has a friend in the church also, Oboson I think, and he's pretty cool with helping us teach and things like that!
We have Isaac, he was supposed to be baptized last Saturday, but the baptism didn't work out. The water wasn't working so we had to put it off till next week**. He barely speaks English so we always need someone to help translate for us. He's ready for baptism and can't wait!!!!!! We hope to have him baptized this next Saturday, so let's cross our fingers!!!
We have a lot of other investigators that I can't remember their names quite yet. I haven't had the best time at memorizing names out here haha!!!! But, we have had a lot of success in meeting new people!!! We had the amazing opportunity to go out and help with the ward!!! See, we went and did a service project at this one hospital place and it was pretty fun haha!!! I found a wheelchair and I was riding around in that a lot haha!!!! Some members took a lot of pics with my camera, so that's pretty lucky. Other than that it was pretty sweet!
We also had a zone conference on Friday! President and Sister Simpson were there! Man, they are so cool! Unfortunately, we aren't getting iPads for the mission. So, most likely I'll have to get a members phone to skype you all on Christmas haha!!! We learned that we can download church videos and use them for proselyting haha!!! We really hope to get our DVD players soon so we can use videos out here. Other than that things have been pretty cool.
I haven't had the chance to talk about my roommates yet haha!!! Elder Lokutshu: he comes from DR Congo and he is able to speak 8 languages in his own country and also speaks English and French. He has been in 3 mission fields and will be leaving in a few months. He has been in Ghana about 10 months, almost as long as I've been on mission. We have Elder Beya: also from DR Congo. He speaks French and is learning English. He has been on mission for about 5-6 months. Elder Seninde is from Zimbabwe. He has been on mission for 7 months. Unfortunately, he has been in the same area for those 7 months haha!!! So, that's just a little about my roommates.
Hope everything is going amazing back home!!!! I love you all so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love
Elder Stockton Smith
**We believe that baptism is done by fully immersing the person in the water. That is why they had to postpone the baptism because they didn't have enough water.
Matthew - Chapter 3
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
The baptismal ordinance is rich with the symbolism of sanctification, death, and renewed life, and we enter into this covenant humbly, having repented of our sins with a commitment to keep God’s commandments. First submerged into water, we then rise from it, in similitude of Jesus Christ’s Resurrection and our own future resurrection. As we emerge we are “born again” of the water and of the Spirit. Baptism is a saving ordinance; its importance is spoken of by Jesus Christ in John 3:5: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The Savior Himself had already been baptized by immersion at the hand of His cousin John the Baptist, who held the same priesthood authority to do so that exists on earth today.
August 15, 2016 Email
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Surviving in the heart of Africa is changing me. . .I hunt for a decent rice stand every day, I feast on fresh bread right out of the oven, I work with my 3 African companions: Lokutshu, Beya, Sininde and I fight for survival. Who will be the first to draw blood. . .
I will survive, maybe. . .
Haha, sorry, I just had to do that!!! So everyone, this week has been pretty good. Elder Lokutshu and I have mainly been working in Odoben this week because we don't have the money to go to the other area as often as we would like.
As for Odoben, it's pretty amazing! We have a few more investigators and we have a lot of people getting ready for baptism this coming Saturday. The cool part also is that we have been working pretty hard with members to help us translate what the people are saying haha!!!!
Brother Isaac, an investigator, only knows Fante. We have been working with him for a bit and we have made sure that he is ready for baptism. We hope to get him in the interview by Friday. We also have Sister Esther, she is a young girl who we have been trying to see as of late. We have taught her a lot, but her English isn't that well, so we need a lot of members to help us with her. Her Mom also is a less active and we are trying to get her to come back to church.
We went on splits with some of the members and we had a lot of member-present lessons that day. I was serving with a brother names Raphael, he's cool. I helped him feed his ducks and I got to hold some chicks so that was fun haha!!!! Also, we were able to go visit Sister Debra. She lives a little ways from us. We have been teaching her and trying to get her to come to church, but it's been hard. We have also been seeing a lot of other investigators, but I can't remember their names yet haha!!!!
As far as this area is, it's pretty cool. We have a lot of work and a lot of places to go. We really enjoy the fact of being in a nice area. I especially am grateful for the cafe and resources we have in this zone. See, we travel about an hour to cafe each Monday, but for this one, we came to Winneba. It's near the beach and a few elders I know are here. We are here today and it just sucks. Everything is slow and I've wasted like 40 minutes waiting to have this page load on here. So hopefully next week we'll be in our normal cafe haha!!!!
We went to Acikuma this week for church. We don't have a lot of members there, sad to say haha!!! So, when we got there, it was maybe 7 members in the chapel, and Lokutshu and I had to bless the sacrament. Later, a lot more people came which made it about 20 or so members in the building. Luckily they spoke English rather than Fante or Twi.
I've been really blessed to know that I'm doing something amazing here!!!! True, at times I want to pick up the phone and come home, but I know that this is where I need to be. I've learned a lot of who I am and who I need to become. When I get back however, I'm going to take some big steps, and I hope that I'm able to take them this those I love.
Also fun fact, WE MIGHT GET iPADS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, we got word that the mission might get iPads, but if that's the case, sooooo many missionaries are going to use them badly!!! Welcome to Africa!!!!!!!!
Hope you all are doing amazing back home!!! Family, also when I get off the plane I want HoHos, Ding Dongs and chocolate Zingers. Also, a Mountain Dew Voltage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really hope to see you all there when I get off and I'm definitely going to hang out with each and every single one of you when I get back haha!!!!!!
I love you all!!!!!!!!!!
Elder Stockton Smith
Surviving in the heart of Africa is changing me. . .I hunt for a decent rice stand every day, I feast on fresh bread right out of the oven, I work with my 3 African companions: Lokutshu, Beya, Sininde and I fight for survival. Who will be the first to draw blood. . .
I will survive, maybe. . .
Haha, sorry, I just had to do that!!! So everyone, this week has been pretty good. Elder Lokutshu and I have mainly been working in Odoben this week because we don't have the money to go to the other area as often as we would like.
As for Odoben, it's pretty amazing! We have a few more investigators and we have a lot of people getting ready for baptism this coming Saturday. The cool part also is that we have been working pretty hard with members to help us translate what the people are saying haha!!!!
Brother Isaac, an investigator, only knows Fante. We have been working with him for a bit and we have made sure that he is ready for baptism. We hope to get him in the interview by Friday. We also have Sister Esther, she is a young girl who we have been trying to see as of late. We have taught her a lot, but her English isn't that well, so we need a lot of members to help us with her. Her Mom also is a less active and we are trying to get her to come back to church.
We went on splits with some of the members and we had a lot of member-present lessons that day. I was serving with a brother names Raphael, he's cool. I helped him feed his ducks and I got to hold some chicks so that was fun haha!!!! Also, we were able to go visit Sister Debra. She lives a little ways from us. We have been teaching her and trying to get her to come to church, but it's been hard. We have also been seeing a lot of other investigators, but I can't remember their names yet haha!!!!
As far as this area is, it's pretty cool. We have a lot of work and a lot of places to go. We really enjoy the fact of being in a nice area. I especially am grateful for the cafe and resources we have in this zone. See, we travel about an hour to cafe each Monday, but for this one, we came to Winneba. It's near the beach and a few elders I know are here. We are here today and it just sucks. Everything is slow and I've wasted like 40 minutes waiting to have this page load on here. So hopefully next week we'll be in our normal cafe haha!!!!
We went to Acikuma this week for church. We don't have a lot of members there, sad to say haha!!! So, when we got there, it was maybe 7 members in the chapel, and Lokutshu and I had to bless the sacrament. Later, a lot more people came which made it about 20 or so members in the building. Luckily they spoke English rather than Fante or Twi.
I've been really blessed to know that I'm doing something amazing here!!!! True, at times I want to pick up the phone and come home, but I know that this is where I need to be. I've learned a lot of who I am and who I need to become. When I get back however, I'm going to take some big steps, and I hope that I'm able to take them this those I love.
Also fun fact, WE MIGHT GET iPADS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, we got word that the mission might get iPads, but if that's the case, sooooo many missionaries are going to use them badly!!! Welcome to Africa!!!!!!!!
Hope you all are doing amazing back home!!! Family, also when I get off the plane I want HoHos, Ding Dongs and chocolate Zingers. Also, a Mountain Dew Voltage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really hope to see you all there when I get off and I'm definitely going to hang out with each and every single one of you when I get back haha!!!!!!
I love you all!!!!!!!!!!
Elder Stockton Smith
August 8, 2016 Email
Fun Facts:
1. Now I'm in the Bush.
2. We have two areas to look after, which means double the work. Those areas are Odoben and Acikuma.
3. I live in a four man apartment with all Africans. They speak French, and it's hard to talk sometimes.
4. We have a forest in our area called "Ghost" mainly for the reason of people disappearing and juju people living in there. . .so if I don't reply back next week, you'll know why.5. I have 3 fans on me at night so it's cool!
6. We have had low current on electricity for the past few days.
7. I bought a new SD card, but it's too much power for my little cheap camera.
8. I bought a new new SD card that fits my camera, so that's good.
9. I have looked everywhere and I can't find a good pineapple to eat, or a good coconut to eat.
10. I'M IN THE BUSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, those are just a few of the fun facts for this week haha!!!!!
Hey everyone!!!
Well, this week has been pretty decent for a new area. My new companion, Elder Lokutshu, is from DR Congo. He went to the MTC to learn English and he's doing pretty well. He's been in 3 different mission fields. First in his own country, then in South Africa, and now here. See, he had trouble with his Visa and he couldn't come. He was originally supposed to serve in South Africa, but he got moved here instead.
Now, as far as the new area is going, it's pretty cool. With the small Twi that I learned back in Buduburam, I'm amble to kind of talk to most of the people here haha!!!! We have been pretty busy this week, and it's pretty cool. The only bummer part is that my companion wakes up at like 5 in the morning for a separate personal study. He turns on the light and so that wakes me up and it's just a pain sometimes. Luckily, we have fixed that with me being super super tired haha!!!
We already have a lot of people that we are teaching. My personal favorite is brother Samson. See, he's been coming to church for a bit, but then had to travel. When we saw him, he committed to baptism and he really wants to be a member of the Church. We have plenty of other people that we are teaching. Many of them are committing to baptism on the 20th this month. We are hopefully going to baptize about 4 people. Hopefully things work out haha!!!!
Something I've learned is that we should all be grateful. . .especially for what we have. From the country we live in to the small simple joys of smiling every day. I know that this is where I need to be. True, I wish I was back home with those that I love, but I know that if they do love me, they will wait for me to come back. I know that when I get back, I'm going to hang out with all of you!!!!!!!
Hope everyone had a good week!!!!! And, I really hope to hear from all of you soon!!!!
Love you all!!!!!!!!!!!
Elder Stockton Smith
August 1, 2016 Email
Well everyone,
I have some news!! I'm being transferred!!!!! I'm going to Odoben and my new companion is going to be Elder Lokutsu!!! He's from Congo and he sounds cool! So I will leave for my new area tomorrow! The major bummer is that its the Bush. Or, at least the nice Bush haha! So it may be difficult for me to send out as many emails as I can now, like with pictures and stuff like that.
So as far as this week has gone, it's been pretty chill. Lambson and I have been working hard with some of our investigators and we have decided to let some of them take a break. WE have been Seeing Foster and Linda a lot and we hope to get them baptized soon.
Speaking of baptism, Nana Akua was baptized this last Saturday!!!! So anyway, the other days of the week have just been hard. We have had to do a lot of work for Nana Akua's baptism and it's just kind of been a pain to get everything ready without the ward's help. We have fortunately had a lot of fun with the other missionaries around us haha!!! It's going to be hard leaving Chantan, but luckily Elder Ben is coming with me to Winaba, and we have Elder Scogg coming with us as well. He's pretty weird, but he's pretty cool to talk to haha!!! We have been working pretty hard with some of the members, but they aren't too excited to come out with us sometimes.
We also had a stake center dedication this last Saturday!!! We literally did Nana Akua's baptism and had to run over there to help our with the missionary activity. We took a lot of the youth around Ofankor and that was pretty fun haha!!! We also had the chance to meet a lot of the missionaries in the zone haha!!!!
Well a fun fact that we have is freaky!!! Yesterday Lambson and I were int he apartment getting ready to head out when the cops come into the compound. We thought that she called the cops on us!!! we literally sat in the apartment most of the day and when they finally left, we could go out. We saw some people and told them that I was leaving. Telling them that I was leaving was hard!!!! I hate saying goodbye and especially hate leaving an area that I'm really enjoying!
I think the hardest part about leaving Chantan will be leaving Lambson. . .he's helped me a lot when I first came on mission. Having him in the MTC and now in Chantan has helped me in keeping strong on mission! You all have helped me out so much, and Lambson helped me in ways I know he could only help. Talking about things back home, having a good time, just an amazing companion! I hate to leave!!!!!!!
Well that sums us this week, and hopefully things will work out for this next transfer! I'm gonna need as much help as I can get if this goes south, but I hear Lokutsu's a cool guy, hopefully I'll keep strong haha!!!!
Love you all!!! Hope you're safe!!! Also, I hope all of you are enjoying back home haha!!!!
Elder Stockton Smith
I have some news!! I'm being transferred!!!!! I'm going to Odoben and my new companion is going to be Elder Lokutsu!!! He's from Congo and he sounds cool! So I will leave for my new area tomorrow! The major bummer is that its the Bush. Or, at least the nice Bush haha! So it may be difficult for me to send out as many emails as I can now, like with pictures and stuff like that.
So as far as this week has gone, it's been pretty chill. Lambson and I have been working hard with some of our investigators and we have decided to let some of them take a break. WE have been Seeing Foster and Linda a lot and we hope to get them baptized soon.
Speaking of baptism, Nana Akua was baptized this last Saturday!!!! So anyway, the other days of the week have just been hard. We have had to do a lot of work for Nana Akua's baptism and it's just kind of been a pain to get everything ready without the ward's help. We have fortunately had a lot of fun with the other missionaries around us haha!!! It's going to be hard leaving Chantan, but luckily Elder Ben is coming with me to Winaba, and we have Elder Scogg coming with us as well. He's pretty weird, but he's pretty cool to talk to haha!!! We have been working pretty hard with some of the members, but they aren't too excited to come out with us sometimes.
Well a fun fact that we have is freaky!!! Yesterday Lambson and I were int he apartment getting ready to head out when the cops come into the compound. We thought that she called the cops on us!!! we literally sat in the apartment most of the day and when they finally left, we could go out. We saw some people and told them that I was leaving. Telling them that I was leaving was hard!!!! I hate saying goodbye and especially hate leaving an area that I'm really enjoying!
Well that sums us this week, and hopefully things will work out for this next transfer! I'm gonna need as much help as I can get if this goes south, but I hear Lokutsu's a cool guy, hopefully I'll keep strong haha!!!!
Love you all!!! Hope you're safe!!! Also, I hope all of you are enjoying back home haha!!!!
Elder Stockton Smith
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