My Companion Falls in Love. . . with Peanut M&M's

 

Good morning everyone! I learned a lot this week. Things are good, but I've been a little bit frustrated with the lack of progress we've been seeing. However, I feel that trying to do my best despite being frustrated and unmotivated has brought me closer to God than I was before. We had some hard times this week, but also some great ones. 

One of the great ones was zone conference! We had zone conference on Thursday and it was wonderful. President Morrison, the leader of our mission, is called by God. He's also leaving us at the end of June, so we'll be getting a new mission president! We were all pretty sure that he'd be going because he was called as a general authority 70 at general conference, but we will still miss him a lot. Our new mission president will start in July, and I'm sure he'll also be great. 

That day we also had an awesome experience. As we were leaving zone conference, we parted ways with some other missionaries in our zone. As we were walking to our lesson, they called us and said they had met someone as they were walking to the bus station and that we should come meet them. We ran over to where they were standing and met Patience, a very friendly lady and member of the church! She hasn't been coming to church for a few years, but she wants to start again and she wants her two kids, Daniel and James, to be taught the gospel and baptized. We got her number and are planning to go teach them on Tuesday! It was such a miracle that everything worked out to meet her at just the right time, and that the other elders were there to meet her and that we were within calling distance. If someone is ready to hear the gospel, God won't allow them to not hear it. 

We also had a fun exchange this week! An exchange is where two companionship switch companions for 24 hours and then go work. I was with Elder Francom, who is brand new, and Elder Bukasa went to a different town with Elder Ampofo, who is about to go home. It was really great. Elder Francom is a good guy and a great missionary, and I'm excited for him. Elder Bukasa was astounded by Elder Ampofo's teaching skills. It was a good time, and I think we all learned a lot. 

We also ate an abundance of peanut m&m's on Sunday, which was something of a miracle. Here's what happened: 

I had the feeling after church to go see Patience (the less active member we met on Thursday and visited on Saturday) and her family after church, but I didn't know why. I kinda= of disregarded the feeling, because we had planned lessons, but then after church and coordination meeting (our ward misson leader is a stud also. Shoutout to Brother Vincent for being a stud) our Bishop asked us to take him to Sister Patience so he could know her house! So we went with him and Brother Eshun, who is the second counselor in the bishopric to go see her. We ended up having such a great lesson with her and her family, and she was so happy to meet the Bishop. She said that they'll all be at church on Sunday, which was awesome. 

But here's where the peanut m&m's come in. As we were walking back, we passed by the entrance to the Takoradi airport. Patience lives on the airforce base. As we passed the airport, we saw a bus full of senior missionaries! They were really happy to see us. We went and talked to them, and they were so nice! The firm handshakes and Utah accents did me a lot of good. Plus, one of the sisters gave us a big ziplock full of peanut m'ms and two baby oranges that were so freaking nice. In reference to the title, Elder Bukasa had never had peanut m&m's before and he absolutely loved them. He told me to ask my mom to send us some. So if anyone reading this feels like sending my powerful companion some peanut m&m's, we would greatly appreciate it. 

That experience and so many others really helped me to see that God knows me and is aware of me. There are so many small blessings that he gives me that show his awareness. For example, today as I was writing this email I was cooking egg stew, a nice Ghanaian food that is also really easy to cook. After you prepare a tomato stew, you add eggs to it. I usually just crack the eggs straight into the stew to save time, but I randomly felt impressed to first crack them into a second bowl today. I did so, and lo and behold that egg was rotten! I would've wrecked me whole stew and probably my day but God didn't let that happen. 

And there's more than that. On Saturday we were kinda low because all of our people cancelled and we didn't know what to do. We still had planned appointments to go to, but I was thinking about just not showing up to them and just doing some finding because it seemed like our whole teaching pool was not serious. As we were planning our next move, a guy with dreadlocks came up to us and told us we looked depressed. We agreed. He then told us that if we're not achieving the results we want, we should stick to the plan and everything would be OK. And then he walked away! I watched him go, then turned away for a moment. When I turned back, he was gone! Granted, he could've just walked fast, but I think he was probably one of the three Nephites. If I see him again I'll ask.

Whatever his status, what he said was exactly the push I needed to trust our plan and continue. And the day turned out OK. More people canceled, but some were around. And we had the strength and motivation to continue. 

The point is, God's help comes right when we need it. Whether it's dreadlocked motivation messengers, peanut m&m's, or renewed strength, peace, or love, it comes. And I'd be lost without it! We all would be. 

But yes, life is good. I love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Johnson

1. Us and our cool neighbour Dora. She got a new wig and wanted a pic with us. We look amazing I know. 

2-4. Elder Bukasa and I had a golden hour photo shoot. Enjoy. 

5-6. Me

7. We had some big rains