December 12,2011

Dear Family:

Hey everyone!!!!! How is It going? Can you believe that?!?!?! It was amazing!!!! Happy Birthday Dad! How was your first week in the temple mom? How is everyone?

First things first, something else that will add to your joy... WE CAN SKYPE!!!!!! We went down to zone council and talked wIth Pres. and he said that the brethren had sent a letter approving Skype!!! It will be so sweet to not only talk, but to see each other as well!!! It will be amazing! So what I need you to do is set up a Skype account for me and then send me the information: the passwords, names, how to do It, etc. and then I will print It next week. We will be able to do it on Sunday, so Sunday night I will Skype you guys!!! Just tell me the time and I will be there!!! It is going to be amazing!

So this week has been super busy and crazy, but it has been probably my best/favorIte week on mission yet!!!! We traveled down to zone council on Tuesday and then Wednesday we had the conference. It was a lot of fun being wIth the other zone leaders from Bantama and Sunyani. There was Elder Briggs who is one of my good friends here, Elder Hernandez who stayed in the same apartment as me in Sunyani, Elder Speechly my old companion, Elder Brown who I have known since the beginning of my mission, and Elder Hailemariam. It was so much fun being wIth all of them, traveling together! The zone council was great! By far the best one yet!!! We were able to discuss somethings wIth president and really get a lot done this time. I really can see that God is helping me to become a leader. You guys know me, I am kind of a quiet, simple guy, but I feel that I am also becoming more of a leader, more of who God wants me to become. But the council went really well. One of the best parts of the council was Sister Shulz took us on a blind walk, because that is going to be part of our Christmas Devotional. Anyway we were all blind folded and held on to a rope and walked around as they pulled us along. They asked us not to speak and to pay attention to how this applies to life. As we walked around I really learned a lot! I had so many thoughts and feelings come in to my mind. The Spirit really opened my mind and taught me as we walked around. We then came to a stop and she told us to waIt there until further instruction and had me let go of the rope. She took the rest around and did the same thing so now we were totally alone. As I stood there I thought back to what had occurred and what I had learned! I saw similarIties to the temple, and really felt like I was there again even though I haven't been there for over 14 months. I thought about how this paralleled wIth life and how sometimes we walk blindly, but are being lead by the Lord. Then I started to hear "Come Follow Me" being sung. I was kind of confused and didn't know if that was the instruction. I could hear others walking around but just stood there waIting for my further instruction. LIttle did I know that that was the instruction. Thank goodness I was not the only one, but even from that I learned a lot. It was a sweet experience and will be fun to do wIth the whole zone at the Christmas Devotional. All in all the council was great and I learned a lot!

Then on Thursday was the big day, we had the interviews out at Bibiani! We took two of the district leaders in our zone, Elder Bunker and Kinikini to come and do the interviews. On the way there we got word that one of the candidates, D the one that was pregnant, was in the hospItal in Kumasi Sick and wanted us to give her a blessing. We went to the hospItal and she wasn't sick, but had given birth to a lIttle boy! We were so surprised by It, but she asked us to give her a blessing so Elder Zoll anointed and I sealed the anointing. By the end of It she said that she still wanted to be baptized, so we checked wIth the Doctor and he said It was ok, so we had Elder Bunker interview her and she was all set for Saturday. The best part, she named her baby Ryan after me!!!!!!! It was so sweet!!!!!! Now there will be a lIttle Ryan running around Ghana!!!!! It was sweet!

We then headed out to Bibiani for the interviews and then to Bekwai as well. To our surprise a few showed up who had come only a few times to the lessons, but to church every week and they were interviewed as well. By the end of the day, much to our pleasant surprise 30 people were interviewed and passed for baptism that Saturday!!! We were so happy and excIted! Truly It was a miracle that the Lord had blessed us wIth!!!!! So we finalized all the plans for Saturday and then headed back to Kumasi excIted for what lay in story in just 2 days.

The next day, Friday, we met wIth Pres. Shulz as a zone and had a district meeting wIth him. It was a great meeting! He taught about the plan of salvation, talked about a quote that Bruce R. McConkie said about perfection etc. and then went over a list of rules that he wanted the mission to work on! It was a great meeting and I have faIth in my zone will follow through wIth what was said. After the meeting we were telling them and the AP's about our plans for the next day and then Pres. pulled me aside and asked to meet wIth me. So the two of went and just talked for a while. We talked about the zone, the Kumasi stake, everything! It was great just to meet wIth him and to talk about things wIth him. He then expressed his gratItude for what we are doing in Kumasi. He said "You know I can't do It alone and really need your help. I am glad that you are here and helping the work in Kumasi." It was a sweet experience. He is a great man and is leading the mission in the right direction, the direction that leads to God!

Then there was Saturday!! THIS WAS BY FAR THE MOST AMAZING DAY ON MY MISSION YET!!!!! It WAS INCREDIBLE! All 30 people were there, dressed in whIte, we had the meeting at the rivers edge and everything!! It was so cool!!!! We had the Zolls, AP's, President and Sister Shulz, and also the Queen Mother and Chief of Bibiani there!!! It was so cool! I don't know how the Queen Mother got there, but the candidates and church leaders there pulled It off! We then had the 30 people and also tons of the members and their families!!!! It was so cool! I baptized 9 of the candidates and then confirmed 6 of them as well! I baptized the lady that named her baby after me, and then guess what one of the ladies her middle name was "Winifred" like my Grandma "Winnie." It was so cool and I got to baptize and confirm her as well! It was just an amazing experience seeing them all standing at the waters edge and then to enter in one by one and be baptized! It was amazing!!!!! Among those baptized was also a Husband and wife and their 2 children, another husband and wife, a chief of a tribe, etc. It was just so incredible!!! The long awaIted day, the day that some had waIted for years to come, had finally arrived, and I got to be a part of It! It was such a testimony! I know now, more than ever that the Church was true, that God blesses those that exercise faIth and long suffering, I know that God truly prepares his children to hear the message of his restored gospel and that It is true. This was an incredible experience! This is a once in a lifetime thing! Something that you only read about in the scriptures, yet It has become a realIty! This coming Sunday we are going to go back out and give them the Aaronic priesthood and continue to get things organized there! But seriously the Spirit was so strong there! Each one was smiling from ear to ear! They have waIted so long for this, and I am just grateful that I was blessed to have this opportunIty to help them continue to follow the Savior by being Baptized! We alternated doing the baptisms and helping them in and out of the water, and then for the confirmations we invIted Pres. Shulz and his counselor Pres. Amoako to help so the five of us set up station and confirmed 6 each! It was so amazing! Words truly cannot describe the event! I hope that you guys enjoy the videos and the photos!!!! It was seriously just amazing!!!!!!

The Church and the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ is true!!! Joseph SmIth was called of God to be an instrument in his hands to restore the church back to the earth! The Book Of Mormon is another testimony of Jesus Christ and contains the fulness of the Gospel. We are blessed to be lead by a modern prophet, Thomas S. Monson who is God's mouth piece on earth today! Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and the Savior and Redeemer of the world! We are blessed through His atonement and can be forgiven of all of sins and imperfections. Through him we can be made Perfect!

I love you all and appreciate all that you have done for me!!! This was my birthday gift to dad, and my Christmas gift to all of you!!!! I love you! Until next week!

Love your son and brother

Elder Ryan S. Alba