Week 15

This week was so great!  It was so great to hear your voices and to be
a part of the family this Christmas, its true dad that is the most
important thing and you all sounded great and happy!:)  Mom don't
worry about crying I was just wondering how you were doing i
understand trust me I was pretty homesick after but like you said you
know I am where I am supposed to be and soon enough I will be home;)
Dad its true we could have talked for about 5 or 6 more hours haha but
we will have a lot to talk about when I get home!:)  Dang no coyote
this week ha I can just picture mom out there with you guys haha I’m
glad you all enjoyed though. I was able to see the pictures on dropbox
and I loved them, that coyote looked good Colby.

Well it doesn't really feel like Christmas here dang it.  Its super
hot which reminds me mom if you would I just want extra face cream
just in case that stuff is saving me out here so like maybe in
February you could send more please.  I really appreciate it!  Anyways
it’s really hot and Africans they don't really celebrate Christmas it’s
just another day to them.  At least they don't focus on the
materialistic things we do back home like presents and other things
they really understand the real meaning of Christmas.  It’s hard though
because i ask how their Christmas’s are and its like it was good and
you can't ask about presents or anything else but it makes you truly
grateful for what we have back home!!  It’s weird to think I talk with
an accent haha mom you mentioned that you were going to share my
testimony with the Matheny's were you able to I am really striving to
do missionary work everywhere!  By the way tanner and i talk
small he doesn't write a whole lot but i can truly see the difference
in him, I’m so proud of him and he sounds like he is doing great!  My
companion and i are still getting along great he is truly like my
brother!

However after we talked and enjoyed Christmas the next day we had a
huge football match between six churches haha it was so much fun and
guess what...i was the only obruny playing haha imagine that the only
cracker in Africa haha it’s so weird when i really think about it.  I
played 2 which is defense and played all three matches haha it was so
much fun and it was a great opportunity to proselyte too the other
obruny missionaries didn't want to play so they came and handed out
book of Mormons and pamphlets and i had a lot of people ask me
question so it was great. It’s cool though now i have friends in so
many other faiths and now everywhere i go i see my soccer buddies!!
After the games we had dinner at our branch presidents house and that
was great we had so much rice and chicken and salad!!:)  Friday though
my companion got sick but he is better now but i went out with
elder dike (from Nigeria)  and we went to our
investigators house who was getting baptized on Saturday and prepared
her for the baptismal questions and then met the zone leaders and
they performed the interview and it went really great but took up most
of our day!  I saw elder Wylie again and is getting ready to go home
he is a great guy i really like him!  Well then on Saturday we had our
baptism ha it was so great it brings a smile to my face as I’m typing
it!!:)  I love to see the spirit glow in our investigators after they
are baptized!  She was 28 years old and her husband is a strong
convert and they have a baby girl who is like 2 months and a small boy
who you will see in the memory card i sent home!  Anyway it was so
great to unite this family and get them in the right steps to get
sealed forever.  You can see it in her husband’s face that he is so
happy that they are on that path for eternal families dang i love it,
i love to see the lord bless and prepare the people we teach!  Well at
the baptisms i performed the baptism's in knee deep water so that was
fun to baptize in haha but i was able to get her fully immersed on the
first time ha so it was great!   So it was a great Saturday to be
a part of the baptism and help start the progression to unite a family!
 Then Sunday we had a normal Sabbath day and dang i love the members
they are so dang cool they are so full of love and you can really feel
their love!  They love to sing hyms so we always sing 4 hyms in
sacrament and the choir always sings one as well haha!!:)  Anyway
after church we went to B house and i know i mention her a
lot she is around 48 years old and she is like my second mom here haha
(she wanted me to send her greetings to you all and say she is taking
care of me)  but we have spending a lot of time there we baptized her
daughters and we couldn't figure out what was holding her back but she
committed to January 11th i think YES!!!!  I was so happy i wanted to
just jump from the couch and yell yeah baby haha but it truly bore
testimony that you just need to trust in the lord and his timing and
he will prepare them!!  Dang so that’s basically what happened this
week and something i really enjoyed from the branch was for the new
years they set goals with the Relief Society and the elders quorum 

on what they wanted to accomplish for the new years and they decided these 8 things
1.attendance at meetings
2.tithe paying
3.punctuality
4.cleaning and sanitation
5. Missionary Work
6. Temple Work
8. Home and Visiting teaching
I really like how they set goals and we had a big lesson and it really
reminded me of a scripture in Colossians about putting off the old man
and putting on the new!  I have made goals for the new years and i
think it could be something we could all do, and strive to be better
in the year of 2014.  One of mine for example is to be more like our
savior Jesus Christ and to never complain again about anything!!  So
maybe that could be something we could all do!!:)  I am so happy for
this New Year and i am doing so well!  I truly have a testimony that
this is the true church Jesus Christ established while he was
performing his earthly ministry!  I know that the church itself is not
perfect but the teachings are!!!  I know that the savior truly lives
and he walked this earth and atoned for our sins, I am so grateful for
him!  I know one thing that Joseph smith did restore this church and i
know that he isn't perfect but neither am i but understand that the
gospel was lost they had no direction for what was truly expected out
of them they had no idea about the true word of wisdom or law of
chastity just because they hadn't been taught, but i know that as
joseph smith learned and translated the book of Mormon and received
revelations for this church he followed with exactness!  I love you
all so much it was so great to hear all of your voices!  Words can't
describe how much i truly miss you and love you!  I am grateful for
the three of you Mom, Dad, and Colby and pray for you all specifically
every day!!

Me-Dowo-Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaa            
I love you all tons!!          

Elder Carson at the Mission Christmas party.  They got to eat pizza and french fries.  He said that he loved the fries. It looks like there was other food besides that as well.

Christmas Day!

Week 14

So I apologize that I couldn't get on earlier we had no power in Oda
and then the servers took forever to load so I am barely able to get
on!  On Wednesday though I will call when it’s around 1 my time which
is around 6 your time and we can talk for a while and work out time
better on the phone haha!!:)  It doesn't even seem real that I am
calling you in two days I am actually kind of nervous haha I know I
will cry of happiness haha!!:)

This week for me was kind of lame to say the least!  We had transfers
on Wednesday, which means Tuesday we spent the day with Elder Ridenour
who was leaving to Tentra hills, Accra that luck sack haha he is going
to enjoy.  Anyway we spent the day with him and then Wednesday my
companion had to travel with him because he is the only one who knows
how to get everywhere so that means I lost about two days proselyting.
On Thursday and Friday though we went on exchanges with the zone
leaders which was something new, it kind of mixed things up for me a
little.  So I traveled to Asamankase and was with Elder Wylie who will
go home in February. He gave me some really good compliments and said
that I already know scriptures that he learned like 4 months ago and
said I teach really well!

Our investigator though that we are going to baptize next week had to
come to church this week and she came aww I’m so happy!  We should
baptize two but for sure one this Saturday I’m so happy!  It’s crazy the
love I have for the people and for my investigators, it’s crazy as soon
as you commit to just learn this gospel and focus on the people the
negatives seem to go away dang I love this work!  Well this email
doesn't have a lot because everyone is waiting to email and so I will
be able to talk to you in just a couple of days!!:)  I love you all
very much and think of you all the time!  I love the 12 days of
Christmas and the treats ha dang I can't wait to call I love you
guys!!

Love you all so much!!:)

Elder Carson
Duke

Week 13

Hey mom, dad, and Colby!  I loved your emails thank you again for taking the time to email me!  I can't believe we still don't have moisture I have been praying and fasting so we can fill the reservoirs so I hope it will come soon.  I am so sad about Uncle LaVerre I love that man but I know he is in a happier place and he is with the rest of our family in the spirit world! I am so glad that I was able to spend those couple of days with him and Mary I knew that I was supposed to so I’m glad I did!  I will miss him!
I am so glad things went smooth this week and you are all healthy and doing well, thank you for letting me know how you are doing!  Mom you sound like you are busy haha with shopping and presents but I’m glad you and grandma were able to go to the temple and spend time together!   I love the 12 days of Christmas too my companion can hardly wait to open his presents he just wants to open them all at once haha but we are enjoying them!  It really has been helping me because it’s not easy being away from your family on Christmas and sometimes I get feeling a little homesick and I read the story and I realize the blessings I have and heavenly father comforts me!  Thank you for the gifts family I love the food that I have opened I am so glad to open the other presents and eat my m and m's I am saving them for Christmas haha!  Dad and Colby it sounds like you had a lot of fun hunting coyotes I can just imagine the two of you laying down and dad giving Colby a hard time for one breathing behind the both of you haha but I’m glad you dropped one and had a fun time!  You will have to let me know how uncle laveres funeral is and how this next week will go! 

This week was so great for me haha it started out just crazy though!  Tuesday was a normal day of proselyting we gave a man a blessing and he was a nonmember and now he wants us to have the lessons with him so that really is a neat way to gain an investigator! 

Thursday we traveled to Accra and weren't able to go to shop-rite.  The conference was great though we had French fries, holy cow they were so good, and we ate rice, chicken, and they gave us a snicker, and mars little candy bar haha it was so dang good!  It was nice to see some of my mtc buddies though I hadn't seen any of them besides elder bianucci in asmankase so I was able to see my boy elder van de graff and my boy elder jones!  Elder van de said his mom found my blog and loves it so that was nice to hear but it was great to see everyone!  As well they gave us are chips to call home so I can call whenever it’s been tempting me but NEXT WEEEK BABYY!!  

Friday was a great day I went on an exchange with elder dike and we went to their area!  Literally I am so grateful for my area because I live in my area basically and they have to ride about 5 miles to get there I was sweating so bad haha but it was fun I was able to see one of their investigators that knows me pretty well and get her to church so I felt successful on Sunday!!:)  

Saturday was normal we went out on time and were able to teach a lot of people!  The woman who had her baby blessing is a nonmember but her husband is so she came to church this week and committed to baptism at the end of the month it really gave me a testimony on praying for our goals of baptism each month!  Ours is two and we had no idea who but we both felt like it needed to be two and the lord has prepared this woman E to be baptized so I feel so blessed to baptize her!  We taught a lot of people on Saturday and it was so funny we went to this one house and asked for this woman well she wasn't there so we started to leave and the mother called us back and said isn't your message for everyone why don't you want to see me!  So we sat down with her and taught her.  Well transfers was on Saturday or we found out at least and I’m staying in Oda with my companion which is unheard of for a trainer and his trainee stick together I guess it rarely happens but president said he has confident in us so I’m so glad that I will be able to spend Christmas in Oda I love it here, it’s just not crowded and it’s like the country I love it! The only bad thing is things here are a little more expensive but it seems everyone knows me here wherever I ride I see someone I know and the kids are always yelling elder Carson, elder Carson so I love it here!!  As well it will be nice to share Christmas with elder dranii we are both grateful for that!  Elder Ridenour though is going to the city haha that lucky guy gets fast internet, nice restaurants so I will miss him but I’m happy for him!!

Sunday was a great Sabbath day I loved it!  My recent converts were all there and as well the B family (The three little girls) the ones I baptized gave me a letter that had written on it we love you elder Carson and inside had written merry Christmas we love you!  It really made me feel like a successful missionary to just see the gospel bring this Idaho, country boy to this crazy country of Ghana and develop this love we have with the family!  Dang I love seeing them shine with the holy ghost and their family being blessed!  For Christmas I am giving them those ctr rings, the bubble gum, pass along cards, glow sticks and they have never had a wrapped Christmas present so I am going to wrap it for them and take it to them Christmas eve!!  I love serving and I love giving literally when I get something I am just like I need to give this away haha I feel so blessed!  As well the father is a stubborn man and when we would teach he would just put his head down and never talk to us and especially me!  Well he was really sick this week so B asked us to give him a blessing!  Well I gave him the blessing and as I was giving it I just felt so prompted to say we bless you that you will soften your heart and feel the truthfulness of this gospel and after we gave him the blessing he was full of gratitude and he was talking to us and asking questions it was great!!  This church is true haha!!:)  This week we are going to focus on E and B the mother of the three girls and we are going to drop a lot of our investigators and do a lot of finding!!:)  We are struggling with them keeping commitments it’s just hard everyone goes to church here I mean everyone!  So they have been raised in a certain church and they will know that this church is true but won’t go!!  I love them and have gained a lot of patience with them, but they just live day by day and expect miracles to happen haha "faith without works is dead," is what we always tell them haha!!!:)

Well family I Love you all so much I love the dear elders and the letters I received a lot of letters from the ward and bob and Jackie I loved them make sure they know how grateful I am for them!  I love you Mom, Dad, and Colby so much I think of you all every day!!:) 

I love you all!!

Me-Dowoo- Paaaaaaa

Elder Carson

As well twi is going great I can hear a lot of twi but it’s hard for me to speak but I can hear it and communicate small!! As well I remembered something hard this week was just wanting to call home with my chip haha it’s so dang tempting lol but I was reminded of something dad said while we were in featherville and the tree had fallen over by the road!  He said the tree closest to the river didn't have to grow that strong of roots so the tree wasn't strong but the tree's farther away had to grow long, strong roots so they were strong.  Well the one closest to the creek didn't have to work that hard and the one farther did!  We he used this parable like life and when things are given easy to you you’re not that strong haha but when you have to work for it, life is more rewarding and you are a stronger person!:)  I love that so much haha! So I decided that I need to just wait and realize the easier way isn't the best way haha!!:)  

week12

So another week has come and gone they are going by so dang fast haha but I’m not complaining I am just immersed in the work and trying to be obedient and work as hard as I can!  I loved your emails again you all sound happy and seem like you are doing well so that makes me happy and feel at peace here on the mission!  I appreciate you telling me everything literally the more the merrier and don’t be afraid to tell me opinions and if someone gets sick or hurt I want to know!  Dad you sound great and normal as ever haha I love you pops and am so grateful for you don’t worry about me these holidays I sometimes have my days where I get homesick but overall I have learned to stay busy and focus on the task at hand and serving my heavenly father.  Colby thanks for the email bro I love hearing how you’re doing man I’m glad to hear the sleds are running great and pulling hard haha I can't believe mom was more prepared than you and dad though haha usually you guys are on top of that but mom is always worried about being cold so it makes sense.  I am glad to hear though that everything is good and you have the tree, mine is up as well I love it...thank you mom!!:) I love you little brother I am so proud of you and proud to be your older brother:) I hope you really enjoy these holidays and enjoy the cold weather haha it’s so hot here dad haha it’s hard to put into words its weird because I will take a cold shower and still be hot haha its just humid and consistently around 30 to 37 degrees Celsius but I will get used to it!!
  

This week was great though my companion and I are still getting along great and I feel a lot more confident with my teaching ability and the way I speak and everything it really is just a mental battle here on the mission but thank goodness I’m used to mental things because of baseball so I am just overcoming the mental part of everything!  For Christmas I think it’s a good idea as well for you guys to get a calling card and I will buy more credit here as well so we can talk as long as we want!!:)  Thank you for doing that for me though with cami I just feel I need to talk to her if I can!!:)  Yeah mom they talk that way here it’s like broken English is what they call it but it’s a little different to get used to haha but you do I am glad you enjoyed it, I will be able to email him while I’m away and call him too!  We found out transfers on the 18th so I’m sad about that I think I will leave but I’m praying I will stay we will see I guess only the lord knows haha!  I got some letters though from the ward so express to them in my behalf how grateful I am for them and I love them dearly!   As well the Matheny's sent me a package and I opened it I will be honest!  It’s crazy because I wanted to start studying the old testament and they sent me a book about the old testament so I justified it that way haha plus I have some recent converts who will love the soccer balls, soccer is huge here and you will never guess who Ghana plays first game in the fifa world cup this year haha USA  I hope we win but I will never voice that just in case they get mad haha but I thought that was funny!!  The Matheny's sent me nerds and as I ate them with my companion...their his favorite candy by the way, I started to have tears run down my face,  I was so grateful for the candy haha then I felt dumb but truly I was so grateful and happy for them!  I thought about how we go to the movies and buy whatever we want and how selfish I was haha and took so many things for granted but I was indeed so grateful for it haha!!:) 

This week we taught a girl named G haha and we started discussing the holy ghost and she told us how she goes to 7 day Adventist and how she has a prophetess and how the holy ghost enters certain people and they fall to the ground and can't control themselves haha and they start praying for someone and how it can be dangerous haha I thought it was funny! I explained to her that the holy ghost is a comforter and used the example of how a mother comforts her new born baby does she throw it on the ground and is it dangerous or does she hold it haha and comfort it so I used that to describe the holy ghost and it went well the people here though are so confused about so many things we battle so many different beliefs, I literally feel like joseph smith and all the churches in that time literally there are so many so that’s are biggest challenge here!!  

haha I actually love fufu now it’s so good it’s amazing how your body adjust I love it haha heavenly father is really blessing me!  This week we taught around 15 lessons and contacted around 30 people but we could do a lot better than that for Christmas we are going to have activities at our church and go caroling as missionaries and just spread the Christmas joy and try to stay busy so we don’t focus on ourselves to much!    haha I have recorded so much for you to see haha I can't wait until you get it haha I recorded this drunk guy this week haha it was safe don’t worry but it was so funny he was counting these bags and he would be like 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 16, haha it was so dang funny!  I feel great!  This week will be hard for us with going to Accra on Thursday and we will go to asmankase on Wednesday as well so we will see how we will do!!:)

This week though I was amazed on the youth in our branch they have such strong testimonies I love it because the members are never afraid to bear their testimonies I love it there is never an awkward silence in fast and testimony meeting the youth though had institute and we joined them and they shared a small lesson but then made a goal to bring as many of their friends as they can the next time, here these 19yr old youth don’t care about what the world thinks and strives to share the gospel with everyone it really strengthened my testimony!  As well this week I was amazed how conference talks are geared for us I read every one this week and I loved president monsons talk I will not fail the nor forsake thee it really was meant for me at that point in the mission I love our prophet dearly!  Well family I love you all so much I think of you daily I love the letters and the dear elders I love you all so much continue to email me as much as possible!!:)  I love you all very much, stay grateful and pray always!!:)

Elder Carson

Duke

Week 11

Well family this week was great it went by so dang fast I can't believe it! I am on this old computer haha so it’s hard to email on haha so I'm African styling it right now!  Well I'm so glad your week was good,  I loved your emails it sounds like everyone was happy and doing good!  Thanksgiving sounded like it was a blast haha I bet you were enjoying with all that food I'm so glad you got the whole family together!!:)  Mom thank you for the email I really do enjoy your emails and how in depth you go it helps me while I'm here on the
mission to know how everything is going!  I can't believe the Tongans are trying to talk haha I wish I could hear them ha by the time i get home they will be talking for sure haha!  Dang you went paintballing
too and bowling ha that’s awesome I'm so glad that you were all happy and everything went smooth!  I opened the packages not the presents but I loved the saying that that plaque said the gift of Christmas never ends because we always have family and friends!! That is so true the most important thing about the holidays is to celebrate them with your family and to feel of our love for one another!  I would literally give everything I had to just be able to spend time with you all again and just feel of that love I miss it

dearly but I will feel it soon enough! Mom with your class just help them know how important it is to be prepared before you leave haha I was so unprepared lol but it’s so important to just be prepared and to
know this gospel!  As well help them know that the mission isn't easy but it’s worth it when you go through the mission with a positive attitude the negatives disappear!  Dad everything is safe and okay don't worry I’m doing good and adjusting well its way safe the only thing that is different is it is getting hotter haha a lot hotter
but other than that everything is safe and normal I promise you!  I am so sorry family about pictures the internet is sooo slow and I can't send them but in my next letter I will send them!  As well something
bad happened this week my companion accidently deleted all but 20 of my pictures on accident I literally started crying but the ones I wanted to send thank goodness he got them printed the week before so I
will send some in my Christmas letters to you !!:)  Thank you so much for the presents and the gifts I can't wait to open them haha I'm so excited!  As well the m and ms will be a great treat for Christmas ha I put the tree up and my companion and I love it ha we are so excited for the holidays and to call you all!! Mom that is what I have to do though is write things down in my planner that I want to send because I would never remember when I sit down it all just goes blank haha so I write it down on my planner so that’s not a bad idea but just simple emails mean so much to me!!:)

Well this week was great I really had a great week ha it went by so fast but it was great!!  On Tuesday I gave my first instruction for district council and all the elders were like wow if we didn’t know you
were a new missionary we would have thought you were a dying missionary so that was kind of a nice compliment it brought my confidence up a ton!!!:)  On Wednesday it was just normal we went out
and taught the gospel in this very hotttt weather I sweat sooo much but it’s just part of the work and I love it ha my color is changing though so bad all the Africans were like you know that your color is changing right haha.  Thursday was thanksgiving so I made those potatoes that grandma and grandpa sent me awwww they were so good, and gravy, rice, and chicken!! We as well bought fan ice for my companions one year and burnt his shirt ha we did take some pictures,  Anyway on Thursday we got together with the other oda district who are like my brothers like elder ridenour, essien, edehire, fornaro and we went to a river for fun just to strengthen our district and to celebrate thanksgiving haha well I knew we weren't going to do anything so I was really looking for a way to serve I literally was saying silent prayers like help me serve someone, well we walked into this jungle and there was a woman carrying a ton of plantains on her head so I told her to let me do it haha so I packed a bucket of plantains for almost half a mile haha my neck was so sore but I loved serving her than she asked what we were and we gave her a pamphlet so it worked out in the end!!  Ha anyway we crossed the river with the canoe that was carved out of a tree trunk.  Than Friday and Saturday were the same just teaching and proselyting its cool though my companion has enough trust in me he will just say lead us for the day and I will lead the lessons, questions, and finding so its nice he has that confidence I have to remind myself that I am still in training because my companion just treats me like I’m not haha but its giving me a ton of experience!!:) Sunday was so cool we had a baby naming and the ladies baby we were blessing she invited about 50 people so we had about 50 people visit our church haha we were so happy and in our investigators class the man teaching was nana and he knows the bible from front to back he was literally one of the reasons we have the church here in oda and Ghana, actually the church sent him to south Africa to learn more about the church so anyway this man just answered all the questions and awww it was just great I literally look forward to Sundays I love them so much the Sabbath is such a special day to me now as a missionary!!:)

As well this week we are kind of sad because we found out the Nielsons are going home :( Sister Nielsen has something wrong so they are leaving to America tomorrow we are so sad it was a sad day for us in
oda when we found out they were going home! So now if I stay in oda I may not get mail for months because they were the ones who brought us mail and everything else they were so great to us missionaries I love them so much but it may take months now but I think I will leave at transfer so we will see but dang I will miss them!!

Well that was about my week I am so happy that you guys had a great weekend I loved all of your emails,  save them and send them through dear elder again I know I ask a lot but I think it would be cool if you saved all my emails and I saved yours and when I get home  mom we can make like a scrap book with it and the pictures so I love the dear elders thank you for doing that!  The Christmas packages were great
haha I love our tree it really livens up the room!  ha anyway I have started recording things and I can't wait to send the letter home with the card but now the nielsons are gone so who knows when I will have
the opportunity to send a letter home but I have all the Christmas letters wrote and other letters so it’s just when I can send it but I am recording things for you I thought since I am so far away the only
thing I could do was that and I thought you would enjoy it haha you can see firsthand how eating fufu is and hearing me I know it helps!!:)  I love you all so much and think of you everyday again thank you for the emails I loved them and I can't wait to talk to you next week!!:)  I love you all so much, Dad, Mom And Colby I love you so much I am so happy and I am glad you are all healthy, happy, and safe!  I love you so much and am so proud I am a carson!!:)

I love you all so much!!:)
Me-Dowoo-Paaaa

Duke
Elder Carson

Its so weird being the only white person haha but its kind of cool because sometimes I forget I'm white haha but at church the other day I was the only white person haha of hundreds of people I thought man this would
be a great picture all these black people and here this white obruni is in the middle of them but I forgot, I bore my testimony sunday in fear it was my last sunday well I started to cry I will be honest well
the people are so nice they all started crying as I was bearing my testimony I just really felt impressed I needed to bear my testimony for the visitors and the people so I trusted in the lord to help me
know what to say and the visitors were all crying and then I saw the people I baptized starting to cry so it made it harder for me to hold back the tears you know how I am it wasn't like I was bawling just
tearing up haha but it was a cool experience!!:)

Week 10

Hey family I am on kind of early because we are traveling to Amankese today for a zone activity!!  So I am on If you want to talk I know it is very early and this keyboard I am using is terrible so if my spelling and things are off I apologize haha!!!  Mom and Dad thank you so much for the emails I love how you tell me what is going and what you are thinking, the drama, the everything it helps me feel like I’m home with you!  As well thank you for the pictures I was able to look at dropbox yesterday and saw the sunset pictures and Colby with Cami I love them so much they load fast over email so I can see them so please keep sending them!!

Mom and Dad I really love the emails and how in depth you go please keep doing that and mom please keep sending the dear elders with them please I save them all and re read them I really love doing that!   Mom I would love if you wrote down movies for me we need to see please do that for me I would appreciate it, I know I have asked you to do a lot but know I am sure grateful for everything you are doing for me!!:)  I love you both so much!!!  As well mom I am sorry I haven't put any pictures up the internet is to slow but hopefully this Wednesday or Sunday we will see just know that I am happy and safe!!:)

Hey so I have some time haha I swear I think I am either getting faster at typing haha or the time is getting longer!!  As well the weather has been great I can feel myself adjust haha I love it the other day I didn't even sweat in the morning!!! OH YEAH!!! That reminds me this week I wanted you to know that I will have to dip into my personal money a little because this week our branch went to the temple! So my companion and I gave some money to our recent converts that really wanted to go we only gave about 15 us dollars away is all but to see the joy and appreciation of the people I would have gave them 100 us dollars to see that joy and that love and appreciation for when they got home! This puts me to tears writing this because I love missionary work and I love the temple!  So know that you have helped people get to the temple from home and the people who are supporting me as well have helped members get to the temple you are doing missionary work back home!!:)  Anyway one of our converts didn't want to walk alone in the dark by this park so we woke up at three a.m. and walked her to the members and I didn't even sweat haha it was great! Sometimes I don't even sweat when I’m ironing any more haha!  I can feel myself getting used to the heat though and its weird before I used to just keep sweating after I sat down but now when I sit down and wipe the sweat away I usually stop sweating its cool to feel myself adjust!  I can eat fufu now and banco and actually enjoy it and want more of it haha!!:)  When I go home I am going to be freezing!!!  I am actually getting cold at night with my fan as well haha so I have had to use my blanket and turn my fan down sometimes haha so the lord is helping me adjust I am so grateful for it! 

I don't think I will ever get fully used to it it’s just so hot here everyone sweats!! Make sure future missionaries know how important hanker chiefs are I love mine they are so important to wipe the sweat away!  I love the people though they are so much fun and they are always laughing!!  The lot we live on though we stay in a person's home that we are leasing and they are way nice people they have a bunch of kids!  But sometimes they come in our house and we let them watch movies on our portable dvd player and they love to do that it’s kind of fun just a bunch of little kids on the floor surrounding a dvd player they come to church with us too and they aren't members so it’s nice!!!  The other day they were watching tom and jerry haha it is so hard to not just go out there and watch with them haha but I just get bits and pieces and do the lords work!! I have to say I have almost fully lost myself in the work I can feel I am almost there!  It is weird because all I care about is how I can better myself to teach more effectively to be diligent, and to love the work to the best of my ability!

Hey is Colby still working out!??  Mom I seriously love that idea of you keeping a record of the movies we need to watch so please keep doing that!! As well take a lot of pictures on Grandpas birthday, and thanksgiving please I would love that!  Thank you for sending the dear elders as well I save everyone and love them so please keep doing so maybe when I get home we can make a missionary scrap book for stuff like that mom!! Dang make sure Colby knows how proud I am of him I am so proud of him!  Dang I write a lot but seriously all I care about is my family!!:)  I love my dad and mom so dang much haha so much and am so grateful for the both of you!  As well I have been blessed with such a great brother in whom I love a ton!!:)  

This work is not easy but I love it so much!!  I just feel so grateful all the time for my family and for this gospel!!  You know some people complain about washing their clothes by hand and some complain about our living conditions but the way I see it is we know what we are going back to so just be grateful and just try to help your family know and understand how blessed we truly are!!   You know just a quick memory I remember my first Sunday here and as I rode my bike into the church there is no parking lot and there was no cars and I was like is anyone here haha and I went in and the chapel was full! The members will walk 5 to 20 miles to come to church rain or shine! Talk about fully converted!  It makes me feel so ashamed to know how selfish I was and to think about i took for granted this gospel!!  We have been blessed with so much but you know to us it seems like a sacrifice but to the members here it’s a privilege!   This gospel is true my testimony has strengthened every day of the truthfulness and fullness of this gospel I am so humbly grateful for my heavenly father blessing my family with the peace, and happiness we have in our home and more importantly the love we have for one another!!:)  Today gosh I am so grateful for my first area too and my companion the lord really has blessed me and knew that I needed to be here in Oda I remember mom in your email you said the lord knows you need to be in

Oda you might now know why now but you will in the future!! Well I truly know that the lord knew that i needed to be here gosh I am so blessed!!  my companion and I were talking last night on the bed for about four hours haha and he said when he walked into the room he knew I was his companion and as well I remember looking over my shoulder and seeing him and thinking man if that guy is my companion that would be crazy and sure enough he was haha the lord always has a plan for us he knows us and he loves us!!  Well I have written a lot today I love you all so much! 

Enjoy a milkshake for me please!!!!:)  I love you all sooo much!!!!!!!:)

Duke

Elder Carson

week 9

Wow I can't believe another week has gone by just looking back on the weeks is crazy they just seem like a big blur!!  I really love this mission I just love to meet new people and to share with them the happiness of this gospel!!  I loved your emails thank you so much again for taking the time to share with me some things back home I know things probably don't change much but when you’re in this whole new world, man it worries you sometimes haha but thank you again!

Cami is such a stinker I love hearing her stories they always make me laugh!  Dang I pray every day for her and I really have a good feeling about her for some reason!  I can't wait to have another mountain dew too I will probably say "I love you” as well haha except instead of dancing with it I will probably start bawling with gratitude haha:)  It’s amazing I have wrote in my journal things I won't take for granted ever again and that’s one of them, there are things on there that back home I would have never thought of but when you get here you are just so full of gratitude!!  You will have to let me know when that rec building is finished and how it is, I’m curious to know what it will be like!  You know don't worry about sharing too much the more you share the better I know holidays are coming up and yeah I will be honest it brings back some homesickness but overall I want to know everything!!  TAKE A LOT OF PICTURES and send them to me please!  I got all of my packages this week; I got the one that was sent from October 9 haha thank you mom I loved it so much! My favorite CANDY awwwww it was such a treat tonight I’m going to buy a big coke and eat my candy and drink my coke and watch the restoration video haha that is my treat!  I loved the pictures though whenever you send a package please send photos and take as many photos as you can! Wherever you go take photos!   Anyway I got a total of 7 packages this week holy cow you guys are spoiling me!  First I got grandmas package with peanut butter holy smokes thank you so much that food sealer works perfect and it was so much peanut butter ehhh it is so good! As well I think all the Christmas packages are here too there was 4 from you guys and 1 from grandma!:)  Thank you so much you are spoiling me!  As well I sent some letters back and some I wrote like last month so bear with me haha Elder Clark gave me some stamps! 

 Mom I’m happy for your calling that will be nice to have a little older kids!  You’re a great teacher and the Lord knows that with your great personality and love you can really influence a lot of people!  If you need help with anything, like what to say or anything let me know because I can try my best here on mission to help you! I seriously just want to help everyone it’s so cool I’m always asking people for my help I love it!!:) Dad thank you for letting me know how cami and grandma and grandpa are as well it gives me peace here on the mission to know everyone is okay!! Anyway I love you all so much thank you for the emails!!:)

So anyway transfers were this week and it was kind of a dead week to say the least for my companion and I let’s leave it at that we didn't work as hard as we should have due to transfers and due to the Neilsons coming down for apartment repairs and our water...which we have its sooooo nice!!  But are numbers weren't the greatest but my companion and I were just like lets not talk about it and work extremely hard this week so I’m excited to work hard! I feel adjusted, I feel confident, I overall am starting to feel like a Ghanaian!  So yeah transfers were this week and we lost Elder Clark and Elder Botkin so now we have Elder Dike from Nigeria in our apartment and he is a really nice missionary that I get along with very well! It’s funny the Africans always tell me how much they love me but i'm really striving every day to adjust myself to be like a Ghanaian so I can get along with the people, my investigators, members just basically everyone in Ghana!  Its hard right now because we don't really have anything I can just talk about so I’m learning about things that I can relate to them with!!  But I am still here in Oda with Elder Dranii and we were happy about that Oda is getting bigger due to our missionary efforts we now have split the districts so that’s why my companion is dl so its growing fast and we should be splitting the branch soon too so our work is really paying off! But the Christmas transfers are on the 18th due to missionaries going home and traveling so I pray that I will stay here in oda but it looks I may leave unless they let me and dranii stay together one more transfer! So I think I will just give him his Christmas packages and then with a new companion just get to know him I guess but I’m so excited to talk with you all!!:) 

Hey with thanksgiving share everything and have a great time!!:)  Grandma sent me some potatoes and gravy so I will buy a chicken and some fried rice haha and eat it with potatoes for thanksgiving but have a great time and take a lot of pictures for me!! 

The gum you sent me I love sharing with the kids they love it mainly because it’s from America they have stuff very similar here but to know it’s from America it’s a whole new thing haha and the glowsticks they like it for a minute and then it gets old for them haha but I took some too my recent converts who I just baptized and her three daughters and little boy and they loved it so it was kind of fun to see them smile and laugh with them!  I sure love them her name is Beatrice and dang she is like my second mom here! Every time we go into her home she always yells Carson and Mate haha she doesn't know dranii's name lol and gives me a hug so it’s fun she always feeds us banco and rice all the time she is awesome I love her!!:)  So Justin Beiber came on the other day and dang it made me miss cami so much ha I started to tear up!!:) 

It’s so hard right now in the cafe a boy is playing video games on the first xbox haha so they basically have everything from home here just a lot older and slower but they have all our movies everything!! 

This week was kind of cool because there was an open house in Asmankese that I traveled to with Elder Dike yesterday and for basically three hours we just invited people to the church and walked them to the church for this open house it was really fun we had a great turn out!!  A Great experience!!  I guess transfer weeks go slow sometimes because on Tuesday we found out who were leaving and so we spent the day with them and then on Wednesday they travel to Accra which is 5 hours away from us so my companion went with them and then Thursday and Friday the Nielsons came and spent three hours repairing things in our apartment so we had late days and then Saturday I went to Asmankase for the open house and then got back late again so it was kind of just one of those weeks we just forget about but we were still able to make the most of our days and see recent converts and to meet some new people!

Next week I will be able to tell you more about some of our investigators!!

This week was Gideon's birthday and the poor kid has no family I feel so bad for him just this 17 year old boy that stays with friends and aunts and his aunts didn't even know it was his birthday!!  So I bought him three seasons of the walking dead and we had a candle that we lit on some crackers and we had as much fun as we could with him us missionaries he loved it he said he was way happy so it made me happy!! I love giving though I get packages and I share my peanut butter and I share candy it’s kind of fun.

The biggest challenge that we face here is everyone is very religious! Jesus is everywhere and there are churches everywhere!! Presbies, pentacost, methodist, jehovah witnesses, 7 day evangelist, church of Christ everything so everyone is a member of these churches and know of Jesus but the bad thing is their pastors say to never talk to us or to never go near us haha so we face that a lot here and we pass JW's  Jehovah Witnesses all the time doing missionary work as well hahah it’s kind of funny but they are nice to us, only because they know we will finish them with scriptures haha!!:)  It really reminds me of joseph smith and what he was facing so we are always praying for heavenly father to soften their hearts because they are very stubborn people who really believe in god and Christ we talked to one lady who believes in trinity which is god the father, god the son, and god the spirit are all one haha and I was like so you mean to tell me Jesus talked to himself on the cross or when he was baptized that other voice that said this my son in whom i am well pleased was just another person and she was like oh oh oh oh uh uh uh I don't know but there all one haha I was just like wow but they are stubborn people we already reached our goal of two baptisms this month but next month I want to baptize three people that I think we can baptize but we will see!! 

As well something in my planner when we were visiting the Beatrice family the boy was misbehaving so Beatrice went and grabbed the willow haha and threatened him it was so funny he took off running and my companion grabbed him so Beatrice could beat him but she never did she is to kind! It reminded me of the story of grandpa telling the boys to grab theirs!!!

I want you to know that I am safe and praying for you everyday, I think about you all the time and love you so much!! Thank you again for the Christmas packages and other packages I loved them so much thank you for everything I truly have been blessed with a great family in whom I love dearly!!!  I am okay though I am always thinking about safety dad and always listening to the spirit so don't worry everything is super safe here!! I love you all so much  I will talk to you soon just a couple more weeks!!!YESSSSSSSS!!!! I love you all SOOOOO MUCH!!:)

Me-Dowo Paaaa

I love you all so much!!:)

xoxoxooxxoxoxo

Elder Carson

Week 8

So I actually got your letter mom from October 9th haha and the package hasn't come yet but what do you do!  Elder Clark said one of his packages came three months after it was sent but most get here on time so lets pray that the Christmas one will get here on time!!  I loved the letter mom and I love the dear elders it helps me sometimes to just look back on them and read them, it feels like I’m talking to you sometimes!!

Dad I can't believe you don't have snow yet?? Hopefully in December it just dumps on us so you can go sledding but as wells so it feels the reservoirs!  Cami's comment made me laugh I love to read things that she says or that you guys say it always makes me smile! I read in one of my dear elders dad and you said mom is ornery as ever haha and I can just imagine you typing that and laughing while you type it haha it made me laugh this morning!:) That’s good the dodge is done though that means I will have a Cummins when I get home haha just kidding but it will be nice to have that done so you can tow the trailer to the hills this winter!! Dad keep taking Grandpa out like that I always love those memories when I think back on us going shooting or going to the hills I just cherish those now that I’m here they are just perfect memories I can't wait to come home and be able to go shooting and to go to the hills again ha it will just be so nice to have cold weather!!  Dad thank you for teaching me to be mature and to think about situations and sacrificing so much for me to be here on this mission I truly appreciate it and truly am just full of gratitude for my parents and family I love you dad so much thank you for everything!!:)

So this week was great we had the opportunity to go to the temple it was well needed!  I love going through sessions and sitting in the celestial room and just have a great conversation with my heavenly father!  As I was there I really had a spiritual experience I just sat in the celestial room and the spirit testified to me that what I am doing is right!  That I am supposed to be a missionary in Ghana Africa and things were going to be okay!!  This brings tears to my eyes as I type this because I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost and the comfort it has brought me here on this mission!!  The temple is so beautiful though and it’s cool because we got to watch the old film and really makes you grateful for the new one! I was able to take some photos and I will try to upload them soon but this computer won’t let me haha they are just old, slow computers!!  It was nice to see president hill too he is a great guy!  He is a really intelligent guy holy cow he has wrote books that church has asked him to write and he is very smart but he is still very new you can tell!  He is only two transfers ahead of me so he was like we are learning together but it was nice to sit down with him and he said I look great and I’m adjusting very well and I am going to be a great missionary!! As well we had a meeting about what we can and shouldn't eat haha which was helpful as well sister hill and sister wall taught us how to make bisquick and other things so now I can make pancakes but in the bush we don't have the luxuries the Accra missionaries have!  I really love it here though it has just humbled me, which I have read in the scriptures is so important to have humility in your life and I sure needed it!  I love the scriptures I look forward every morning to reading them and just learning this week I read in Alma and gosh he is the best missionary there is I just strive to be as humble, and confident as he was he was a great man!!

I have to say this basically feels like home now!! I love Oda and our branch they are such sweet people that would do anything for you!!   If I left Oda tomorrow I would be very discouraged and probably be emotional because I love the people here!  It still hasn't sunk in yet and I don't think it will you kind of just lose yourself in the work and forget that you’re in Africa!  It’s so weird to adjust because really for the first time I don't think about myself I think about how I can better myself in order to bring my brothers and sisters back to my heavenly father!  At times I’m not thinking and its weird haha I sometimes don't like it because I’m like awww I should be thinking something but really its going well!!  It’s so fun I can feel myself adjusting to the food and to the people it’s almost just like I feel like they are my people!  I catch myself talking English like them and it’s really cool!  At times your head feels like you have to change who you are but really you don't have to, over time the culture will just grow on you and change you for the better is what I keep telling myself!!  I just have to be patient I just want to be Ghanaian already haha and my companion is Fijian but he is basically Ghanaian and he always tells me to just take a step back and be patient and everything will come!!  He is a great man though I really have grown to love that guy 

So mom for your questions the best thing this week was the temple and the spiritual experience I had in there but the second would be a Ghanaian woman asked my companion and I to attend like a baby tradition!  So Tuesday morning we woke up at five and went to her house!  What Ghanaian woman do when they have a baby is keep it in the house for two weeks!  When it has been two weeks they invite family members and friends to attend what is like a baby blessing!  Well what they do is the father usually will get a glass of water and a glass of alcohol or beer!  Well then they give the baby a name and a blessing but in the blessing they give it a drink of water, and mumble some words in twi and then they give it a drink of the alcohol.  What this represents is the difference of good and bad and for the baby to differentiate the difference of the good and the bad it was really neat!  Then they get the baby and introduce it into the sunlight for a couple minutes and everyone takes pictures!  It was a really neat experience!

Me-Dowooo Paaaaaa

I love you very much!!!!!

 

Elder Carson

Week 7

Awwww another week has gone bye!!!! They are going by faster and faster I swear before we know it I will be calling you!!:) 

Hey!! I read a talk about gratitude and I am so full of gratitude sense I got here but what I really wanted to express was how grateful I am for all three of you !! This mission is a family affair and we are going through this together I know its not easy on you either but one thing I have learned is you just have to trust in the Lord and pray faithfully every day and he will provide a way baby!!!  I am so grateful for you all I love you all very much!!

Oh there was an eclipse here yesterday and it kind of got dark in the middle of the day it was pretty sweet mainly because it cooled down for a couple hours haha but it was kind of cool!!

Hey I love your emails thank you again for sending me emails I really like reading them haha they make laugh and helps me know that you are safe!!  I really like how you go into detail and tell me everything its very hard sometimes but when you go into detail and tell me how your feeling and what your thinking and what you think about my emails and pictures it helps me a lot!!

So another week wow!!  Mom that's so cool you went to that baptism I'm so proud of Brandon that really is a neat story I really have seen that as well the happiness that baptism brings into a person, and families life this gospel is so true and its the only way we can have true happiness in this life!! Dang I sure miss trunk or treat  mainly just the cinnamon roles and chili haha rice and beans is all good though haha:)

Im glad you liked those pictures that sister Nielsen took haha I almost made her not send them because I thought they might be gay and my companion was giving me a hard time lol but I'm glad I sent them I sure love you guys!!  Things are so good here I have to say I'm settled in and its starting to just feel like home!!  I have been here a month and the people think I have been here for years they say the way I speak the twi and my English is changing already to their culture way fast!  A Ghanaian who lives with us Elder Andoh said with the rate I'm going I should be able to speak fluently twi by the end of my mission dang me and that kid get along great!!  My companion and I are getting along great we sit and talk every night, me, him and Elder Andoh just sit for an hour eating our food and talk every night about home and things we are going to do haha we get a long great!! 

Dang this week ha there is so much to write about in such a short amount of time!!  It is getting hotter here haha its getting into hammer time or something like that and holy cow its super hot haha the Americans we just have sweat lines on our butts and in our white shirts all the time haha but its just part of the work baby, I'm getting such mean tan lines though haha my arms are just dark and my face just burns all the time haha but its so much fun to ride around and talk to people and learn ha I really have been loving it!! 

 

This week we killed and ate a full pig lol I have pictures and I will try to upload them on Sunday but we will see haha!!  It was crazy we just had this pig in a bag and it started to try to get out and Elder Andoh an African just started beating its head with a rock and then knocked it out kind of and slit its throat haha that was a whole new experience so I now know how to kill a pig and clean it out and cook it baby it was a lot of fun!  We got our district and ate it Saturday night after the baptism and played ludu and ate pig and yams(potatoes basically)  It was a blast!!  Little Elder Ridenour was like haha after we slit the pigs throat he was like I don't think I feel like pig anymore haha but he ate it and we had a good time!!  So yeah we baptized two more this Saturday and awww I did the baptisms and they didn't fill the font up all the way lol so I had to baptize a guy three times and a girl twice lol but then the others I only baptized once haha but it was a great time and us missionaries presided the meeting due to the branch pres being gone and our branch is kind of small so that was different but we did a good job and you could feel the spirit!!


I love our branch so much though ha its so funny I just think sometimes here I am in Africa with everyone being black and my big white face is just right in the middle haha its kind of funny!  It really hasn't like kicked in yet though I must say it feels like I'm going home soon ha its a weird feeling but I really love Africa it really is a whole new world though!  Its hard to put into words how people live here and how we eat, and buy food but its just like Africa haha and it really is just starting to feel like home!! 

Some things that I have faced is people yelling at me to go back to my country and people sometimes swerve at me with their cars but really they won't do anything!  Things are safe I have so many experiences where the spirit is just like woah don't go over there or woah don't do this at this time!  One time a guy was yelling at me and calling me so I asked him what he needs?  He yelled your serving God right so come? Well the spirit was like don't go over there just keep walking, well as I started to walk away he started yelling go back to your country nobody wants you here boy and my companion stopped and wanted to beat him but I just pulled him and said lets go haha but just know that I'm safe and always listening to the spirit!!

One thing that has really strengthened my testimony while I have been here is as soon as you learn to put your trust in the Lord and in the spirit things just go so much smoother!!  Its not easy sweating very very hard every day and eating food that is way different but when you pray with true faith that you seriously want the strength to get through the day happy and with charity the Lord will always somehow give you the strength to do so!!  I have put myself in his hands and put my family back home in his hands and I know with all my heart that he will bless you all!! I am so thankful for fasting as well!!  I can feel your prayers and your sacrifice while I'm here just know that I'm working very hard everyday to honor my family and my Heavenly Father!! 

I saw my first green momba actually today on the walk over to the cafe gosh they put raddle snakes to shame they are just evil looking snakes ha but that was my first one I saw since I have been here and my companion that was only his first too and he has been out a year now so its a rare thing so dad don't worry ha I'm safe and doing well!! 

Well I feel like I wrote a lot haha but just know that I miss you all so much and I am so grateful for your sacrifice for allowing me to be here and experience this culture and the joys of being a missionary!!  I love your emails and am so grateful for the emails and letters!!:)  I sure love you all so much please if there is anything I can do here let me know! Let me know things you really want me to answer and I will try my best!! Well family until next week it will go by fast!!:)  I love you all so so so much and think of you all every day!!:) 

Me-Dowo-Paaaaaaaa

I love you very much

Elder Carson

 

 

Week 6

So this week has really been a good week!!  I loved your emails!!   I sure do miss motorcycle rides don't ever take those for granted! That's the thing my companion and I were talking and its like the first few weeks out here you are adjusting and yet you are just overwhelmed with gratitude and overwhelmed with joy!!  I literally am so grateful for everything that have and I am so grateful for my family back home.

The baptisms were so good though gosh I love the girls we baptize I love to see it change their lives and their families love!!  You can see the joy the holy ghost brings into their lives and that's one thing that I took for granted but how important the holy ghost is to have in our lives! Its truly the greatest gift we can have here on earth to allow us to make right decisions!!   

The language is going good I'm starting to understand it better I can hear more than I can speak its very hard to speak because you have to like lower and higher your voice and some words if you don't you like insult them haha so I'm learning!! 

As well we will baptize two of my boys that I have helped teach this Saturday so I will be at five in my first month and then we will baptize two more at the end of the month haha its going great!!  On our pdays we get up in the morning and we fetch water to wash our clothes and we start hand washing our clothes and that takes about an hour and half and then we clean the apartment and do any other things!! Then we walk up to the market and get some things and get haircuts!!  Then its football time baby the locals say I'm really good too I wish I would have played in high school because they say I'm the only abruney they pass to lol buts its so much fun and then we go to a mans house and he is like a father figure here who gives us bread and honey and we play games its like family home evening and we invite our investigators its so much fun!!

I sure love the people here they are so nice and they always are saying how happy they get when they see my face and they are always offering to make fufu for me!  
I sure love Oda though I think that I will be here three more transfers!! My companion will finish my training and then leave due to him being here almost one year and by that point he will have been here a year so I bet I stay and lead and he leaves!!  I love Oda though its so beautiful and its like home kind of haha kind of country!! Its still very hottttttt I am getting so tan my arms are like brown and I have only been here 4 weeks!!  

 But family I'm doing great and one thing that has been on my mind is in the book of Nephi in chapter 18 verse 21  we are counseled to pray in our families and we will be blessed!! I know we strived to do that every night but we weren't perfect!! Keep that in mind and try your best to always pray and to trust in the lord!! That is what I had to learn was to trust in the lord!!!  If you have trust in him than you know that whatever he places in front of you there is a light at the end of the tunnel!!

 

Family I love you so much and am so grateful for you!!! I think of you all every day!!!!

Love you All so much!!

Elder Carson

 

 

As well we are gong to the temple on the 5 of November so that will be sick I'm so pumped for that!!  Just to go back to Accra will be so cool!!  Our well will be done as well on Tuesday and I'm so happy for that because that means we wont have to fetch water and we will have clean water!!  The people and the members mom I just can't describe how fully converted they are into this gospel some walk miles to get church and some wake up at 5 am to get ready and leave by 6;30 to walk and be there by 8;30!!  They are truly converted people and I really love what they teach in our church is they teach that in the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints we are equal!!  No one is better than anyone and to never judge!  They don't either when someone makes a mistake or when I make a mistake they never laugh they always smile and kindly tell you what you did wrong!!  I really love their examples and they always keep me on my toes haha.  I can't understand twi in the church so I just read my scriptures well now they are comfortable enough with me to just say elder Carson tell us about this and tell us about this haha and I have to be ready always because the people here look up to the missionaries!  

 

I wanted to share a word with you in twi to and try to learn it haha its basic!!

Me-Dowo    =I love you!!!:)

I sure love you!!!:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 5

So this week was awesome!!!! We got rained out almost every single day though so that was kind of a bummer we weren't able to work as hard as we wanted but what do you do you can't fight the weather!! Basically my schedule is way busy! When I get up I start boiling water and make oatmeal, a boiled egg, and bread lol, sometimes I make omelets  usually on Sundays   We have all types of food here I eat a lot of rice and beef sausage for lunch and dinner which is way good and indo-mie which is like top-a-ramen!!  Ha so I am eating good lol!  The other day at church someone said I'm getting fatter lol!!  Then we go out and just find people and talk with our investigators until about 9 and then come home and fetch water for our shower and then prepare dinner and then bed haha its way busy!!

Haha thats the other thing its not rude to tell someone they're fat here haha so my companion will like tell woman their fat haha it makes me laugh!  

This week was kind of cool I was able to eat snail and fufu haha so that was interesting. Snail is kind of good though just really fishy!  As well I will be eating some fufu tomorrow some members are making us some!  But you just get a big bowl and eat with your fingers so that is going to be hard for me but what do you do haha!!:)  Fufu is weird lol you don't chew fufu you just swallow its like trying to swallow a pill every time!!

Its crazy we are going to baptize five people this Saturday I'm so excited and they want me to do the baptism haha I'm pumped for that!  As well I have been adjusting so well its super hot you literally are always sweating its hard but its just part of the work baby!!

The days are flying by so fast though I can't believe it!  I have to say I really love the people here!  They are always so nice to me and they love Americans and they always offer me things!!

I'm a  firm believer that Satan knows that the first few weeks are the most vital time for a missionary!! He was sure eating me up but I was on my knees a lot and I'm so grateful for prayer! I know heavenly father hears our prayers mom so please continue to pray!  Try to have a family prayer every night and your personal prayers as well!!  

The language is going good! I'm learning slowly but surely!! The people are really patient with me and its hard because I have to learn to talk slow and dumb my English down and to emphasize every letter in a word so its been tough but its sure been fun haha!!  I have to say I'm still homesick but I have just learned mom that you have to trust in the Lord!!  I am so grateful for this gospel and to know that we will live with each other for eternity I'm so grateful for that!!  This gospel is true mom my testimony strengthens of it each and every single day!! Its so cool every Monday we have family home evening at a members house! He always feeds us honey and bread!  He is a wealthy man in Oda and always feeds us and helps us feel at home!! He is like family here and its helps!!  I am so grateful for everything I can't describe how much gratitude I have developed sense I have gotten here!! 

So a spiritual challenge this week is to write down 25 things the lord has blessed you with!!!  It has helped me to understand why I'm here on this mission to just write down everything that I have!! I always write in my journal and every day I write down what I'm grateful for!!  It has helped me a ton!!  I love my Heavenly Father so much and am so grateful for him in my life!! It's been a great week though the locals always giving me compliments and saying how happy I am!!:) They always compliment how they can feel that I don't feel that I'm better than them and they can feel of my love!!

Know that I'm so dang happy and I'm so dang glad that I'm serving a mission!! I have been so blessed in my life and to just give back two years of my life is the least I can do!!  

Just a quick thing before my time runs out haha but the children are always yelling abruni haha which is like white man. I get them chanting it and they are all like chanting abruni abruni abruni and I raise my fist and say it with them its so much fun they always come and run and give me hugs and always jump on me!! I really am so dang happy and I am grateful you are all healthy and doing well!!

Its cool too because Africans play music everywhere so its fun to always hear the music and I always dance and they love to see me dance haha so I dance and gosh dang its just a blast here and an adventure lol I'm so happy and enjoying it!!  I love you all so much!!

Dad I love you so much!!

Mom I love you so much!!
Colby i love you so much!!

I think of you every day!!!

I can't wait to hear of your week next week!!

I love you all!!
Love Elder Carson

Taylor's Chapel

This is where Taylor shops for food

Pounding FuFu