May 9, 2011

Dear Family:

Yesterday was so much fun! I loved every minute of it! It was great to hear from everyone and it sounds like everyone is doing well! I miss you guys so much and I appreciate all the love and support that you give to me! It helps me keep going and motivated to do all I can! Everything I do here is not just for the Lord, and not just for me, it is for all of you as well. I pray that God will continue to bless you for my service! So sorry this weeks email will be kind of lame, but next weeks will be epic I promise! If you have any questions you want to know something that I didn’t say when we talked, just email me and let me know and next week I will answer them!

So this month I want to share and experience that I had this past week in which and investigator taught me instead of me teaching them. Her name is Ekewa and she is about 19 years old. We had taught her pretty much everything, but this past week we taught her about the apostasy and Joseph Smith in detail and the entire lesson she kept smiling and putting her face in her hands. I asked her how she felt about what we had taught. She said she felt very happy and that the message was true and important in her life. My companion then said, “So now that you know that these things are true, what do you need to do?” She said “I can’t really explain it but I have an example.” This example is what my companion and I are calling “the Parable of the Taxi Cab!” It goes like this: She said it is like she standing on the roadside waiting to take a taxi to Sunyani town. She has always taken a taxi, it is always the same driver and he is even one of her friends. But while she is waiting a man comes to her, slams the door of the taxi closed, and says not to take the car that it will crash, that she won’t make it to town safely. The man says, “Instead, take this bike. It will take longer, it is not what you usually take, but you will get to the town safely.” But her family is in the taxi, telling her to get in, so she begins to get in. Again the man slams the door to the taxi closed and says to trust him and take the bike. Now she is left with a decision to make: the taxi she always takes, or the bike. She said the town is Heaven, the road is life, the taxi is her church and the driver is her pastor, the man who came and closed the door to the taxi is us the missionaries, the bike is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She said “I know which I need to take, I know just need to decide. I have always taken the taxi, and even my family may ask why I take the bike, but I know that the taxi won’t take me to town safely.” This lesson, she taught us! All of this from a 19 year old, Ghanian girl, who doesn’t speak English too well, but truly understands the path that she must take and the path that her Heavenly Father wants her to take! We have since used this parable in several of our lessons and each time the Spirit has been so powerful, and has borne witness into the investigators’ hearts the “means of transportation” they must take! This has helped me to see the influence of the Spirit it is truly the teacher in each lesson!

Alright! Thanks again everyone! Yesterday was the best! I love you all so much and thank you for all that you do for me!

Love your Son and Brother,

Elder Ryan S. Alba