October 8, 2012

Dear Family:

THE FINAL EMAIL!!! Can you believe it!?!?! It so crazy to think that this is my final email!!! I can still remember the very first time i emailed home, how emotional I got reading your emails, then writing my very first email. Amazing how even a mission is "one eternal round." Even today as I read your final emails I got emotional!! I just can't believe that next week I will be home!!!

On Wednesday we had my final Zone Council meeting! It was so cool! The whole meeting was great, but before we closed they had Elder Nzuki and I give our departing testimonies. I went last. I started out by talking about the advice that Dad gave to me before I left, "These two years are going to be the best two years for your life. Take advantage of these two years and learn all that you can from it. Consecrate these two years to the Lord, doing His will and work as hard and diligently as you can!" I said that this was what I had strived for these past two years. I have devoted and consecrated these two years, giving all my time, effort, and ability in serving the Lord! I said that when I lost myself in the work,  was when I found myself. I discovered who I was, and what I could become with the help of the Lord. I talked about how I have learned so much in these past two years that are truly going to help me to do whatsoever the Lord asked and required from me! My voice was shaky just because I was trying hard not to be emotional, but it went really well.

We are preparing to have a baptism on Sunday. He has been living with the Stake Pres. for the several months and has been coming to church! He is a great young man and will be a great example to his whole family! So that will be a great way to end.

This past week the stake presidents son came home from his mission in South Africa. It was cool to see the family getting excited getting ready for him, and then we went that night to go and say hi to him and to talk to him for a while. It was so crazy to think that next week that is going to be me!!! It was cool to talk to him and hear from him. It was at that point that it really hit me that I was going home! I am so excited for that time and to be able to see everyone!!! He was so excited to be home and to be able to see his family again, it was cool to be a part of that!

Today we had a little feast here with the zone to celebrate my fairwell! We ate Eba (a nigerian meal) and played games! IT was a lot of fun. I am going to miss these guys and all of the other missionaries as well! Elder Macaulay has been a great companion! It has been fun being with someone who is also at the end of their mission and be able to work till the end!

Tomorrow we will be having a combined district meeting with the zone and pres. will be coming too so it should be a great meeting!

It is so hard to believe that these two years are coming to a close! It seems almost like a dream! But I am so excited to be home again and to be with all of you! You have been my motivation each and everyday that I have served here in Ghana! I always thought about all of you and all that you have sacrificed on my behalf and have done all that I could to serve the Lord and to make you proud! I don't know what I did up in heaven to have been blessed with such a wonderful family! My entire life you have helped me,motivated me, and prepared me for these 2 years! And I know that as I take this next step in life, you will be there every step of the way!!! I am ready for that next step!

These past 2 years have been incredible! I have loved my mission so much and am really going to miss Ghana! i have come to love the people, culture, everything! But I am excited for what is to come! My mission has truly taught me so much and has been the MTC for my life! I know that everyday after my mission, I will look back on these two years, and daily apply what I have learned here! I have given it my all, done all that I could for the Lord, and consecrate these two years to him! I have truly grown so much on my mission, and have learned from every experience! I have felt that every experience, everything I have learned, every person I have met, has just been to build and strengthen my testimony! As I lost myself in the work, I found myself! I came on my mission because of my Love for the Savior, and as I have served Him, my love for Him has grown as I have felt of His love! The church is true, Jesus is the Son of God, and the fulness of gospel was restore through Joseph Smith. Thank you all so much for what you have done for me! I LOVE YOU!!!

See you on Wednesday!

PS I will try and email on Monday but might not be able to! I might even be able to call I am not too sure! But be ready for Wednesday!

Love your son and brother

Elder Ryan S. Alba