We loved talking to Ryan on Christmas Day. The phone rang about 11:45 in the morning.(Jason and Jenny got Elisa and Melissa on speaker phone and we all listened to Ryan - It was the best Christmas gift!!)
Ryan told us about their experience of baptizing 4 new converts on Christmas Day. They had to find a driver at the last minute but they were able to work it out and loved the opportunity to baptize them in the ocean and to make it a “WHITE CHRISTMAS.”
He told us that his companion’s name is Elder Zach Bunker from Pleasant Grove, Utah. He said they get along so well and Ryan has learned so much from his companion. The Zone leaders came to their baptisms and brought packages and letters for both of them.
He told us about the area he is in. He told us that it is centered around the market and that most of the people in the area work in and for the market. He said it reminded him of the trip he took for the church to Leon, Mexico just a few weeks before he left on his mission. He felt that experience has helped him to feel at home. He said that the country is beautiful. It is plush and green.
Ryan told us that the church does not have a building in the city he is in. They meet in a school building and it is really too small for the members and the investigators so the missionaries usually sit in a hallway. He hopes they will soon get to have a building.
Ryan said that they start their day early because it gets so dark during the night that the President wants them to be home early for their safety. He said the church provides water filters for each missionary apartment so the Elders and Sisters will always have clean water.
He asked us about his friends and we have only heard from a couple of their parents - so we will have to do better to keep track of them.
He said that he only gets 1 hour to read his emails and then he writes one letter to the family. And often the computers are really slow!!
He said that the people in Ghana are very good to the missionaries. He said some think that they are angels.
Ryan said that he is very happy and he hoped that we would not be offended, but he really hasn’t been homesick. He said that he does love us and thinks about us but that he doesn’t long for home.
He said that he loves to get letters and packages that and that they help him to fill him back up during the week. He also said that he could write letters to us but it takes a very long time get them.
We talked about the number of lessons that he and his companion teach in a week (35-40 per week). That is a lot of teaching!! He is hoping to learn some of the other languages that the people in Ghana speak.
Ryan told us that he is very happy and feels that serving a mission is a great blessing to him. He said that he feels his testimony growing and strengthening every day.
His sister asked if he gets to go to the temple in Accra. He said I did get to go a few times while in the MTC. He heard that they got to go just before he got to the mission.
He said that his experience at the Ghana MTC was wonderful! He had great companions and he loved President and Sister Froerer. He thought his experiences there were incredible.
He feels that his Mission President is a deeply spiritual man. He loves to listen to him teach. Ryan feels that he has many things to learn from him.
He realized that his time was almost finished and we asked what one thing he would say to us and that was that he loved us and that he loved this opportunity to serve his Heavenly Father and our Savior and then the call dropped.
Hearing Ryan’s voice was WONDERFUL!! He is so happy and so excited to have the chance to be in Ghana. How thankful we are that he has such a great companion and that he loves Ghana. He would love to hear from all of you.
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