Da Sekondi Boyz

by dad

I know this sounds redundant but...

Okay this week was awesome. So sweet. I feel like I say that every week but I really do feel so lucky to be apart of such an amazing work. I love it. This week we had a lot go down. It was a busy, busy week. Went by fast.

I just realized how close it is to General Conference. I am SOO excited for it. I won’t be able to watch it but I’m just so excited to hear what new things, or rather, important things they have for us.

I’ll start off with what I have on my mind. I have tried not to do worrying about transfers that are coming up. I really want to stay here. Walking thru the ward on Sun, I noticed that everyone really knew me and I them. It’s home. Well, nothing I do or say will change what happens. It’s out of my hands. Things with Elder Sintim and I are going good. We haven’t ever been closer. Still the (culture) gap there, but we really are becoming brothers. We have a lot of fun and laugh a lot. I have learned a lot being with him.

A few updates for you. Patrick is moving along just sweet. Lessons are always good and he could be baptized on the 21st, but we don’t want to rush it. It will be sometime soon. He’s cool. Agyemang and Patricia are doing swell. As soon as their father will let them come to church they will be baptized.

(Raymond Mensah, Joesph Amaoko, E. Darrow, Patrick, and Agyemang)

Raymond Mensah and Joseph Amaoko are members. Joseph is a ward missionary and helps quite a bit with lessons. Patrick and Agyemang are investigators.

Meekel is doing really well also. She is ready for her baptism on the 21st as is Grace Bonson. I talked to Grace’s husband, Bro Kuman and asked/talked to him about doing to baptism for us. I figure that would be sweet. Well... he doesn’t want to. That’s VERY common in Ghana. I don’t know why. You would think they would be giddy about it but they don’t want any part of it. They usually won’t even sit in on the lessons cuz they want them to convert on their own without them pushing. I guess it makes sense somehow but I would think they would at least want to do the baptizing.

As for other sweet info, I had one of the most powerful lessons on mission so far. It was a lesson on the restoration with Isaac. Let me tell you about Isaac Mahh.

We sat with him on Wed and then on Sat. He is a Liberian. He moved to Ghana in '96 when the war stared there. He is working here and is very, very smart. He is also educated. (Smart and educated are different here). He said that his wife was baptized in Salt Lake City recently and that her and his son have been calling him and telling him that he needs to find the missionaries and to get baptized. When we sit with him he has real concern and questions. As we got to know him he said that he was really impressed with how our church actually cares about people. Some churches just preach and you just go on Sundays and nobody knows you or cares about you. He said that some bishop out in SLC really cares about his wife and family. And has helped them so much. He said when they changed wards the new bishop was just as welcoming.

I don’t think we understand how important the leaders are in our church... "by small and simple things". Isaac is a man who was prepared to hear this gospel. And that is why our lesson on Sat about Joseph Smith was so powerful.

We invited him church... figured it would be a bit early but "visitors welcome". We told him we would give him a call in the morn and remind him. As we went to call him I stopped. I said to e Sintim, "let’s not. Let’s see if he shows. See how much he cares." So that’s what we did. Waiting by the doors on Sunday I was disappointed. At 9:58 I lost my faith and turned to e Sintim and said “where’s the phone? Let’s give him a call.” He gives me the whole... “oh I thought you said we shouldn’t call him and see…” and laughs. Well, sure enough, just as my faith was shaken, in walks Isaac... smile from ear to ear. He had a lot of questions in investigators class and they are all GOOD questions and you can tell he cares. Well at one point he asked about why we are called saints... etc. Then he asked. "What do I need to do to be called a saint?” hahah.YES!!! You can imagine how awesome it was to hear that from him. I am so excited to follow up with him and see how his prayers are going.

All is going just swell over here. Thanks again for everything. Keep praying for the missionaries’ worldwide. I see the blessings everyday.

peEACEE

elder darrow

post script by dad

I spoke with Issac’s wife today. Her name is Fatu Mata. She is from Ghana and has been living in Utah for the past 6 years. They have been married since 2008. Within their culture, apparently it is not uncommon for families to live apart. She was very excited to hear the news that her husband is being taught by the missionaries. She is working in the Humanitarian Department for the Church…"by small and simple things”.