August 8, 2011

Dear Family:

Hi everyone! How’s it going? What’s new on the home front? Any of my friends engaged? J

Guess what?!? Next week Monday, we are going to go golfing!!!!! I am so excited to be able to walk the fairways of heaven again. We are going to go golf at a course in Kumasi that I have heard is pretty nice! Either way golf is golf so I am excited! Quite the birthday gift wouldn’t you say? I can’t break tradition even if I am hereJ

Today I am Kumasi and that is why I am emailing kind of early today so sorry if you are still asleep, I don’t know what time it is back home?

This week was a pretty funny week. We had 17 lessons on for the week, but that is because we had to travel to Kumasi on Friday, and then on Saturday we had a Sunyani Unit Party that was all day, so two of our days were preoccupied, but it happens. But we still worked hard and tried to do all that we could with the time we had.

We have some really solid investigators right now that we are working with and trying to direct their focus on baptism. Hopefully in this coming week we will be able to help. The ones we are trying to focus on are investigator who is in his 60’s, the sister in her 30’s, and a Couple. These are really solid and we are hoping that they will be able to come to church. Really that is the only thing that they need to do. All of them are still early in our lessons, but I have no doubt that they will be converted, it is just getting them to church.

We had 26 people at church yesterday! We continue to have a great number of people coming, we just need to get all of these people baptized! Robert’s entire family came to church which was great, he had to work but we were able to get everyone else there. We had a couple of other people at church as well which was great.

Yesterday we went to go teach one of our investigators who is pretty young, early 20’s. He is a preacher/evangelist guy who we have been teaching for the past month or so. He has come to church lots, about 3-4 times but the only thing is that when we teach him he takes 1 step forward and 2 steps back. He really feels like he is a member and wants to help it grow, but he really needs to change his mind frame. But anyway we went to teach him on Sunday, (he came to church), and I just did not feel like we should teach him, I didn’t know why I just felt like we shouldn’t and my companion did as well. He went to go collect his things for the lesson and a girl came over while we were sitting there. He came and started to talk with her and tell her that he has been praying about her situation and had the “oil” for her. He went and brought out “holy oil” for her to help her with her problem. I was just in shock. He didn’t fulfill his promise to read from the pamphlet so we couldn’t teach him anyway but when I saw that I was in shock! We are going to see him tomorrow so we are going to talk to him about that.

Yesterday also we went to go and teach an investigator who is 22. She is one of our solid new investigators. Her father is a leader of some no name church but he likes us and wants us to teach his daughter. Anyway we went to teach her yesterday and her uncle was home. He is a pastor for Church of Christ. We were teaching her and he came out and just started to debate us on everything that we said! It was super frustrating and we talked to him forever. He would not listen at all to what we said! There are some people that just aren’t ready to hear the gospel. But oh well it was just frustrating.

The unit party went great! All the members of the four Sunyani units got together and it was just good for all of them to have fun and meet each other!

Well I must go but know that I love you guys so much and appreciate all that you do for me! Celebrate my birthday for me! Do something fun and think of me! And Dad I just realized I don’t think I have said Happy Fathers Day, Sorry! But Happy Fathers Day two months agoJ Love you guys!

Lover Your Son and Brother,

Elder Ryan S. Alba