March 12, 2012

Dear Family:

Hi Everyone!!! How are you? How is everything going? What's new? I got the package!!! The clothes are great, the wallet is perfect, and the DL was there smiling back at me!!!!! thank you so much!!!!!!And Chacha looks so happy!!! That is sweet that Guelita would send that to me. Samuelito appreciates all she does!!! Please tell her that she just needs to wait for 7 months... I miss her cooking too.... What I wouldn't do to eat one of her bean burritos, rice, warm tortillas... Good thing I can remember them. Yum!

Things here in Sekondi are going well! Little known fact: for some reason down south I am darker than up in the North. I am starting to even get a tan line from the neck line of my G's through the shirt haha! So hopefully I will be very dark for when I come home! Really for some reason I am lighter here in Ghana than I was back home! I don't know if it is just my eyes adjusting to see that there are other shades of color around, or what but I am definitely getting darker here. So here they do not do daylight savings.... It is just the same time all year round.

This week has been a pretty good week! We have been very busy and continue to try and work with the few investigators and some of the less actives.

We have had some really good lessons this past week though. I kind of feel like part of the reason I am here in Sekondi is for the less/inactives. We have been teaching an older lady named who was very active but who has now fallen inactive. We have been visiting her, but no success. Then this past week we went to go and visit her. My companion was leading the lesson, and I just had a feeling that we needed to change the lesson and teach something else. We were trying to teach about temples but she was not phased. During the lesson I just kind of kept pushing away the idea, and then finally I just redirected the lesson the way the Spirit said. She was really touched by the lesson and then opened up and told us why she had not been coming. We helped her with the situation she was facing and she committed to come this week to church (which was in Takoradi for stake conference). Well sure enough, she came! I was shocked that she even came! It was far for her to come, it would be the first time in months, but she came! I really learned that I just need to follow the promptings of the Spirit! I just have a hard time at times telling if it is me or the spirit! I am constantly reminded of a talk that Elder Bednar gave where he said, it doesn't matter. He said if you are doing what you are supposed to, it is always the Spirit! He said if you are living in such a way, the Spirit is always guiding you! It was a really cool thing and just something I can improve on. The funny thing is that I will just do things and later realize that it was the Spirit and that I am working by the Spirit!

We also have been working with the other brother. He is doing great! We didn't see him on Sunday because like I said, we had stake conference. It is not that far, but far enough. It is only like a 15-20 minute car ride but still. We have been reading with him the "prepare to enter the temple: pamphlet that the church has! He has really enjoyed it and it is our goal to help him get ready to go back at the end of April! We think that if we can help get him back to the place that is the center of his testimony he will never go away!

We also had a really sweet lesson with one of the former missionaries recent convert. He is about 18, and we were just teaching him about the temple since we are now teaching him Lesson 5. We taught about the temple and then showed him a video on temples. It is a really sweet video! It is on the "Doctrine and Covenants DVD's" that is for like the seminary teachers, it is entitled "Strength Beyond My Own". It shows just pictures of all the temples and has a very powerful song that plays during it! It is super powerful!!! It always gets me!! Anyway we showed it to him and he began to cry! An 18 year old kid crying as he watched the video! It was a super powerful, Spirit filled lesson! I really miss the temple, but when I see that video I feel like I am in the temple!!!!

We had zone council this past week! It was really good! Just talked about a lot of different stuff! We had Stake Conference this past week and Pres. and Sis. Shulz came and gave a talk! They did a great job!!!!!! It was exactly what the stake needed to hear. Sis Shulz talked about referrals and President did a great job about 2 Nephi 31: 16-18. He talked about a how we stay steadfast in Christ and that is through missionary work. He shared a quote from Bruce R. McConkie about how if we die and are on the straight and narrow path that then our calling and election is made sure, how we can't fall of the path when we are dead. He then shared the parable of the sheep on the right side and the goats on the left and said the sheep are those that home teach, those that do missionary work, and the goats are those who do not. He then asked "Brothers and sisters, are you a goat or a sheep?" It is a really great talk, Pres. gives that one often, but it is great! Just what the stake needs to hear!

Saturday was some how a hard day. We only had 2 lessons and everything else failed! We were teaching a girl, about 25 or so, and her father is the Anglican Bishop. A car pulled up during the lesson and called her over to get water. As she went and got it for them, the man said to us "you are the most wicked people in the world!" I was very surprised at his comment. He asked the girl if she forgot that she was Anglican. The girl ignored the man and told us, "I am old enough to make my own decision, you can continue." I was proud of the girl! It is not the first time to hear stuff like that, but hearing it just makes me smile! It is comments like this that just prove to me that the church is true!!! If it weren't these kind of comments wouldn't be voiced! But it is true, and there is opposition in all things! For me I know that the church is true, without any doubt!

I love you all so much! Thank you for all that you do for me!!! I love you!!!!

Love your son and brother

Elder Ryan S. Alba