July 2, 2012

Dear Family:

How is everything going? What's new?

This week has been a crazy week! Seriously it has been a crazy! We have been traveling everywhere, going from place to place, finishing everything up for the split, working with missionaries, just been super busy! To be honest it has been a little stressful and not easy, but I have learned a lot from the whole week.

So our focus right now throughout the mission is working with members. We have been trying to help teach the missionaries what they can do to work with the members. Members really are the key to our success as missionaries. They can be a powerful 3rd  witness to the things that we as missionaries teach, a fellow shipper and a friend, and will be the means of helping our investigators to remain in the church. So Elder Nzuki and I have come up with a step by step plan on how to work with the members. It goes through the principles of working with the members and an outline of the lessons: focusing on giving the members specific assignments, how to ask/receive referrals, etc. We have been giving it to a few companionships in the mission for them to try and then give us feed back on how it is going. In all the zones, about 2 companionships have it. So this past week we went traveling around our mission, delivering it these companionships and then going on splits with them to help them grasps the concepts. We've done a lot of driving around, but in the end it will be worth it. We are having combined district meetings starting this week into next week and these companionships are going to help us teach this to the elders/sisters.

Well this past week I had an experience that I will never forget. It was one that testifies to me that everything happens for a reason, that our Heavenly Father places us in specific situations for a purpose, that we can be used as instruments in His hands to bless the lives of others, and one that manifested to me the power of the Holy Ghost and the priesthood. I went on splits with Elder Randall and Elder Mbeson, two elders we have given the members plan to. We were having a great day, good lessons, good Gospel Conversations, and learning a lot from one another. The night was drawing closer, and we had to travel back to Cape Coast. We had planned to visit one last member before we left. I was on the phone talking to my companion, and the elders were talking to this member. I hung up the phone and walked over to where they were. As I approached the sister told me that she had seen before. She said that last night she had a dream, and I was in it. She proceeded to explain, in broken English, that during the middle of the night she fell very sick, it came out of the blue and that her husband had given her a blessing. She said that after she was given the blessing, she went back to sleep and had this dream. She said that in the dream she was sitting in a chair and that surrounding her where four missionaries. She said that all of them were white and that they all had my face. She said that I was trying to tell her something in Fente but she couldn't understand. She said that she felt very happy in the dream, she felt safe and secure. Then her husband came home, she had told him the dream, and told him that I was the elder in her dream. As she and her husband were telling about the dream I felt the Spirit hit me and I knew that I was there for a reason. The husband retold the dream to us, and then said it seems as though you are here for a reason. The Spirit prompted me to say Do you think that I should give her a blessing, but I pushed the thought to the side not knowing if that was what really needed to be done. Then Elder Randall all of the sudden said, "Do you think that he should give your wife a blessing?" The man said yes and we all went inside. Our Heavenly Father had placed me there that night for a reason, and I was honored and blessed to heed to His call! I will never forget that moment and the Spirit that was felt.

Know that I truly do love you guys with all my heart! I miss you so much! Continue to pray for me! I really do see and feel the blessings come from them! I love you guys! Until next week!

Love your son and brother

Elder Ryan S. Alba