Fridge on a Bridge

 

Good morning everyone! I hope you're doing well. I didn't have time to send an email last week, so I'm gonna just write this one first thing in the morning so I don't run out of time like I did last week. This is a gospel of progression. 

This week was great. First of all, transfer news came and WE'RE BOTH STAYING! It's a miracle. I really thought one of us would go because we've been together for two transfers, but we're still here! I'm so grateful to be spending another transfer with Elder Bukasa in the promised land of Takoradi. We have a lot of fun together and do good work. This will also be the first time I've had a companion for more than two transfers so hopefully he doesn't get tired of me. 

On Wednesday, we had exchanges with the zone leaders. I was in our area with Elder Clemons, who is awesome and who is also not going on transfer. Even though we live with the zone leaders so we see them every day, I feel like I still learned a lot. I love having good role models, and Elder Clemons is definitely that. 

His main counsel for me was to still be a person and not just a gospel of Jesus Christ preaching robot. He told me that connecting with others and building friendships and then using that to teach is so much more effective than, "Hi, we're missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we want to teach you about Jesus." I think I agree with that.

 

We also had some great lessons this week. It's been really fun to see us improve our teaching as time has gone on. The more practice we get teaching together, the better we become. Elder Bukasa is doing more than great. His English, or "brofu" as we call it, is becoming so sweet. He's a soldier and he has the Spirit with him.

 

In other exciting news, our friends Kwame and Godfred came to church for the first time! I've mentioned them in these emails before. They're both really, really good guys who have a strong belief in God and in the Bible. Godfred is a mobile phone repairer and Kwame is a welder whose shop is conveniently right next to our chapel. They both are very active in the Church of Christ, but have been investigating The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Book of Mormon for a couple of months now. Kwame was already being taught by the previous missionaries when we came, and we've been teaching him and Godfred once or twice a week for the past 10 or so weeks. 

They came though! We were running a little bit late for church because it took forever to cook in the morning, and as we were running in, we saw them waiting outside for us. They came and wrote down a list of I think ten questions that have kept my personal studies busy since then, but I think they had a good experience. I'm really happy with how they've been doing. 

It's awesome when people act in faith. I've seen that this week a lot, both in our teaching, our movements, and the movements of some of the people we are teaching. We can't progress unless we act on faith. We have to do something that pushes us outside what the mediocre man is comfortable with to have the Spirit with us. Whether that's calling someone you're a little afraid to talk to, starting a gospel conversation with someone you don't know even though they might reject you, reading one page of a pamphlet, meeting with missionaries, or coming to church, The way we invite God's power into our lives is through acting in faith. I know that's true, and that's why I'm here. 

Also, speaking of acts of faith, I'm a District leader now. Pray for me! I'm excited but also very nervous. 

Have a great week. 

Love, 

Elder Johnson

1. Us and Francisca, a member of our ward

2-3. Us and Francisca, Vero, and Jewel. 

4-8. FRIDGE ON A BRIDGE. Francisca, a member of our ward pictured above who stays not far from us, is moving and asked us if we could carry her fridge from her old apartment to her new one. We said heck yes we can. We carried it down a street, through a neighbourhood, and then across a bridge! Thus the "fridge on a bridge" title was born. 

9. Elder Bukasa looking strong and carrying a tub full of brooms for one of our neighbours. I also carried one but was not pictured because I didn't look near as epic. Ghanaians have strong necks! They carry a lot of heavy stuff on their heads, which is tough for me because I inherited my mother's bird neck. 

10. Our cooking gas was out for two days. This is us on the second day waiting for the guy to come fill it so we could cook, eat, and then go proselyte.