You Can't Just Mosey on over to Jesus

 Good morning everyone! The above quote is attributed to Elder Hill, my wonderful and wise companion. I've felt it a whole lot this week. 

This week was good and went so fast. We had interviews with President which were so wonderful. President Morgan makes me feel like his friend. He's definitely called of God to lead this mission. 

And God apparently told him that the trio needs to be broken up. Sad day! Elder Mposhi and Elder Hill are both going on transfer this Wednesday. I'll be staying in Elmina. I'm so sad that they're going but I know that they'll do amazing wherever they go. Elder Hill was called to be a zone leader which is awesome! He'll do so well at that. And Elder Mposhi will very likely go back to Agona, the place he was before the emergency transfer, so we'll probably still be in the same district. It'll be a great transfer.

The work is going well. We've had great experiences with members this week. On Sunday we were supposed to have our weekly missionary coordination meeting with some of the leaders of our ward but our ward mission leader left. We told our Elders Quorum president and he responded by sitting down with us and having the meeting. It was great. I love Elmina and its powerful members. 

Speaking of powerful members, we visited some of them this week. The Affran family is the perfect example of giving it all to the Lord. Sister Affran is the Relief Society president for the ward and Brother Affran is a stake high councilor. They have two cute little kids that Brother Affran takes care of while his wife plays the keyboard during Sacrament meeting. In our visit they talked about four or five people they're working with to prepare for us to come and teach. I felt the Spirit in their home. The way their family is is the way I want my future family to be. 

We also had John Gyim, a wonderful old recent convert, bring two young women who live near him to church this Sunday. I think he invited his whole compound and they're the ones who could come. John is old. Like really old. He walks with a limp and has some back problems but you can bet that every Saturday morning he'll make it to chapel cleaning. I admire his fire for the gospel. 

On Saturday we felt prompted to go to a member's house to try and teach one of their family members who expressed interest in the gospel. When we got there we met Charlotte, the young member, instead of the interested family member. She had skipped school that day because she was tired. We asked if we could teach her something and she said yes.

We read through 1 Nephi 8 with her and discussed the tree of life. To preface, Charlotte is 15 and is the only member in her family. She was baptized 8 months ago and is so strong. Through the course of the conversation though, she was acting kind of closed and we could tell something was wrong. She's normally very happy and friendly. 

After some further talking we found out her uncle had been telling her that she should stop going to church. He claimed that we worship "saints" instead of God and told her she should quit the church immediately. Obedience to elders, especially elder family members, is a big part of Ghanaian culture so she was really confused.

We were able to testify that there will always be those who will mock and criticize her for her faith, and that God would help her if she doesn't stop trusting him. She said, after the lesson, "I don't think I will stop. Even if I'm coming to die korahhh ( Korah is a word that I'm likely misspelling that is used for emphasis) I won't stop.". She was there early to join the choir this Sunday. She's choosing to follow Christ, even though it's tough. Like the people in Lehi's dream who "came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree." She's not letting mists of darkness or jeering downers influence her discipleship.

Which leads me to what I've been thinking about. Coming to Christ is not an easy thing. It takes consistent good choices and sacrifice and desire. It doesn't just happen. No one else can do it for you. This week Elder Hill and I were discussing about friends, acquaintances, and members we've known throughout our missions and lives who've fallen away. Who've let go of the rod.  Most of the time it's not huge apostasy that makes people fall away. It's usually just small stuff. It's just standing still in a downstream current. We can't do that if we want exaltation. As Elder Hill says, "You can't just mosey on over to Jesus". 

Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Things are good here and I'm excited for what's to come. 

I love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Johnson

1. A cute Jesus picture shown to me by another missionary. God wants us.

2. CORRECT fufu given to us by the Sombato family. 

3. Matching ties for interviews. I told Sister Morgan that we're the most powerful trio in the mission and she said,  "You're right! You're also the only trio in the mission." So basically we're the most powerful trio in the mission. 

4. BoM con Elmina fish Market

5. Random street name in Elmina. There must've been members involved. 

6-7. Building a sic fence for the Sombato fam last Monday. Ranch work applications I guess. 

8. Fufu and abenkwan with BEEF. My new favorite food. The soup is basically just oil but it's so good.