Hyrum Alma from Ghana

 

Good morning everyone! I sure love you all. This week was good. We've had some great highlights and some small lowlights but the good is greater than the not good, as it usually is. 

The sad thing is that our friend Bernice, who has been in baptismal date twice, said she is done meeting with us and going to church. She said she feels like God doesn't hear her and that all we do is bug her and try to force her to learn even when she doesn't want to. That was pretty rough, but I think she will probably get over it. She's kind of streaky and sometimes really likes the gospel and sometimes doesn't, so I'm sure this will pass. 

That was a little hard, and honestly even before that happened I was struggling a little bit mentally. Like I just felt a little tired and out of place for a couple days. 

But God is good, and I got through it! On Wednesday we had zone conference which was cool, and that was the day Bernice broke up with the gospel. However, zone conference was good, and even though that day wasn't easy, the rest of the week was really, really good. 

On Thursday, we had an awesome lesson with our buddy Kwame. He knows the Bible super well and likes to ask tough questions, but he's usually respectful and stuff so it's OK. However, that lesson he was acting kind of belligerent and was basically just trying to prove the Book of Mormon wasn't true with the scriptures. Finally, I just told him that if he's not ready we could go. Arguing doesn't get people converted. 

Instead of becoming more angry, he explained that he really just wants to find salvation for his family and doesn't want to be deceived by "false prophets". We ended on a really good note by testifying that what we have is true, and that Joseph Smith is a true prophet. We told him that salvation is meant for families and that the message we have will bring salvation to his.

 

I loved it because it just showed us that he's a good guy who loves his family, not just an irate Bible basher. A wise man (Luke Bryan) once said that most people are good, and I agree. Especially in Ghana. 

Speaking of wise men, our ward is so awesome. We've been enjoying ourselves. Sunday we had 3 people at church and after, the Bishop called them all into his office, welcomed them, and answered their questions. We also had a bomb ward council, which was awesome. Our ward has some issues but things are already improving. I'm so excited to be a part of it. I hope I stay here for a long time.

One thing I've learned here is that the church is always true, but its members aren't always true. I was talking to a member the other day on the street and he told me that he's not as active as he was because he doesn't really like his new ward. He's a really cool guy, helps the missionaries all the time, but he sometimes doesn't go to church because of what other people have done or said. And there's so many people like him! It's easy to let small things that imperfect humans do get in the way of our discipleship. People go inactive in the church over silly things. They leave because someone said something they didn't like. Or the Bishop didn't give them money when they asked. Or their friend moved so they feel lonely at church. 

Don't let what other people do take you away from Christ. If there be faults in his church (or missionaries or leaders), they're the faults of men, just like the title page of the Book of Mormon says. Hold onto the Savior, His gospel, and the ordinances thereof. Don't put too much stock in his imperfect servants. 

Anyway, I love you all. Life is good. I'm about to go clean our disastrous kitchen and after that make some soup. Pray that the soup turns out nice because I've never done it before. Also, pray for Bernice that she'll want to meet with us again and Adwoa that she'll have a greater desire to come into Christ. Have a great week! I love you all. 

Love, 

Elder Johnson

1. I FOUND SOMEONE ELSE NAMED HYRUM IN GHANA! His name is literally Hyrum Alma. I was so excited. 

2. Us and Daniel and Benjamin after church. Daniel is the guy in red. 

3. Elder Bukasa and me in the background

4. Me and Elder Bukasa working righteous hari-kari.