March 8, 2011

Dear Family:

Sorry I wasn't able to email yesterday! We went to Kumasi yesterday which is two hours away and when we go to Kumasi it is too late to go to the net cafe, so when we go to Kumasi we are allowed to email on Tuesday instead. So if i don't respond on Mondays we have probably gone to Kumasi, but an email will come soon. I promise :)

Yesterday was nuts though! Kumasi is huge! It is the largest market in Central Africa! There were so many people and cars and everything! Sunyani and Kumasi really don't even feel like Ghana! It feels more like an area/city in Mexico or something like that. But so we went and met the other people in our zone and in the Kumasi zone, played futbol, and then went to the market. I bought lots of Kentay (look it up) which is the really colorful fabric they make here and you can make scripture bags and stuff out of. It was crazy though yesterday we went to the bus station to go home and waited for 4 hours, two of which were in the pouring rain! I was soaked it was crazy! All of us were soaking wet and it was crazy! But Kumasi is awesome it is so cool!

So now for Sunyani (Pronounced Soon-yani)! It is a really cool place! They have stuff from the US here which is sweet! Were we are is more on the outskirts of town in more of the "neighborhoods" in Fiapre. This place is huge! The homes here are actually legit homes and some of them are huge! The craziest part...they have door bells!!! Since the area is new we are contacting, contacting, contacting!!! It is crazy! But we are actually ringing doorbells and knocking on gates. It’s crazy! It is really quiet too! It is a very peaceful area! The weather is nice up here too! It is very hot though! The weird part though is it is more of a dry heat so I really don't notice it that much! And I am starting to get dark!!! Do you remember how before I said that the sun is different here and how I fell whiter than before my mission? Well now I am getting really dark! It is great! The best part is that the Ghanians don’t know where I come from. They know I am not from Africa, but too dark to be from US it is funny!

Sunyani really is so different from my old area! Here we are literally starting from nothing and trying to make it into something! It is so different! Our first week all we have done is contacted! The other missionaries wanted us to go to one area that they haven’t been to. So we are starting there and have gone all over that area and have found some people to teach. The hard part is telling who is serious and who is not. In Mankessim you could totally tell, but here it is harder to tell. Oh well, everywhere is different. We taught 26 lessons in the first four days which is sweet, but really we can teach even more! I am hoping this week we will teach even more! We taught four today, but we also had District Meeting so that's why, but still the lessons went really well. Elder Speechly is a great guy and we get along really well! We will be working very hard! All the lessons we taught last week were the promise pattern lesson and so now this week we are beginning to actually teach which I am excited about! It should go really well!

Church is awesome! We are in charge of everything! We conduct, we give the talks, we teach sunday school, everything!!! Our unit only has maybe three members. The elders who are with us opened the area and haven’t baptized anyone yet, but like you said all we are really doing is planting seeds into people’s hearts. It may be a while until I have another baptism, but I did find out that the baptism we had last week four of the five were baptized so I am at 11 thus far, and Elder Bunker said that a couple of the guys we taught and taught everything to now have baptism dates which is great! But anyway, we are in charge of everything! Elder Speechly and I gave talks, mine on Faith and Repentance, and then we team-taught Sunday School which was on Gospel Principles "Christ’s Earthly Ministry." Oh forgot to tell you, Church attendance: 14 people (the four missionaries, two adults, and eight children that came in and out). It was tiny! But the really cool thing was that the Spirit was so strong!!! I felt the Spirit more there in that tiny church service that is two hours, then in any other church service I had in Mankessim. It was really neat! I love being part of the church meetings and figuring it all out! It is great!

Sunyani might become a Zone sometime in the near future! They were going to do it this transfer supposedly, but didn't for some reason so maybe next time or at least sometime soon! We have a set couple missionaries up here that are great! They are older maybe Lillian and Claron’s age. They are from Utah and they are the Bennetts. They are great! They take good care of all of us up here and help us with anything and everything! They are great people!

Sunyani really is such a cool place! Steve was right when he said that I would probably be in charge of church here! The four missionaries up here in Fiapre (there are a total of 12 including the Bennetts here in Sunyani each companionship except for the four in our apartment are in charge of their own units) are in charge of everything for the church. It is a really neat experience and opportunity. The one thing I have really noticed, and noticed as I write this email, is how perfect the Lord's church is organized! It starts from a basic unit such as us, grows to a branch like the one in Sugarhouse that you two started in, to a ward, to a stake, and so on. The church is organized perfectly! It all starts small, but grows and grows till it is the kingdom of God. But even the smallest unit is part of the Kingdom of God! It really is neat to be a part of this work and help start from the ground up, instead the first floor up! Like I said though it is a lot of work! We contact a lot, don't have too many investigators right now, are trying to tell people about us and where we meet, it is a lot of work! The people are great here, but it is hard to tell who is serious and who is not! A nice thing is that people will be honest to you and saw "Oh I am Catholic and will never change," our substitute all the other religions, which helps us to see who will progress and who won't. Mind you, we still try to meet with these people, but they often don't want to. But a lot of people tell us that. But we keep working! Plant seeds here and there then as they say here to everything "one day one day." I honestly believe though that here I will improve and truly learn the language of the Spirit. I need to rely on Him to guide us to those people. I need to rely on Him that He is preparing the people. I need to know what to say to everyone, I need Him. Right now I am trying very hard to be on the same frequency as the Spirit, I pray that the Spirit truly will guide us to the people. Oh and Elder Speechly says Hi! But really it is great up here! I love this place, the people, my companion, my district and apartment, everything! This is a great opportunity I have before me! I need to make the best of it!

So as you said packages may take a little while in getting here! I’m sad! But still send them and with stuff that will last!

I really love you guys so much! I appreciate your prayers and support on my behalf! I hope I am serving well and making you proud and am becoming who I am suppose to be, and who the Lord needs me to be! I know that this is where I am to be! There is someone here I need to teach, I just need to find them!

Thank you again for everything!

Love your son and brother,

Elder Ryan S. Alba