Well another week is behind us and it was great! Elder Kallon and I were able to teach some sweet lessons and get some solid work down.
Blessing came to church again this week and we were able to extend a baptismal date to her for the first week of February! What has been wonderful is that she has referred her some of her friends to us to teach! Even on Sunday she brought a friend along with her to teach! Wow! We also have been doing some contacting. Now that Sakumono is it's own area, I think people are starting to take alot more notice of us and they are asking us questions and starting to talk to us so there are many opportunities being presented to us to teach and share the Gospel! It really great to see that there are people willing to learn or at least take the time to listen to us. So I'm doing my best to ensure that I talk with them and also try and present the Gospel to them in a way that it will hopefully connect with them! Elder Kallon and I were able to go to the temple on Friday which was great too! I learnt some new things again, and it is always nice to do temple work. Also to refresh my mind of the covenants I have made with Heavenly Father. I'm grateful for his promised blessings and covenants he makes with us and that we are able to share the message that they have been restored to the earth. We were able to go though because one of the members from Juapong went to take out their endowment as they go on mission in March! So President allowed me to attend as I was good friends with them! Also Transfer news came! Elder Kallon was transferred to Baatsona...just the area next to us lol and I am staying! I'll be training however so that's really exciting! Keen to be doing that again, it was really fun last time. It means that time is going to go buy super fast though, so I'm making the most of my time here! Losing myself in the work and just submitting to the will of the Lord makes you happier than you can believe! I hope you are all doing well though! This week should be great! Love and miss yous! Elder Fesolai
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Well all I can say for this week is WOW! It has been such an awesome week compared to the weeks prior! It felt like we were just going in circles, struggling to build our teaching pool but we have really been blessed with many opportunities and miracles this week.
I guess to mention, we've really strived to be as obedient as we can and just improve where we can so that we are really following the Lord with 'full purpose of heart.' New years resolution? Nah, but a pretty awesome goal...definitely recommended! Results show! Miracle #1 this week was in time of kind of desperation looking for some of the Lords elect, we received a referral from the missionaries in the area next to us. A sister that stays by herself by the estates in a humble as place named Blessing is our first miracle. We called and her and booked an appointment with her and were able to meet up and introduce ourselves and share the message of the Restoration. It was so awesome as we taught, she was really humble and asked some awesome questions which we were able to answer perfectly for her! The spirit was there, and she committed to pray and also come to church! An what do you know? Surely she came yesterday! So awesome! Miracle #2 this week was meeting a brother, Theophilus, who had attended the church when he was really young like 8 or 9. He's in his early 20's now and is really intelligent. We introduced the Restoration and Plan of Salvation and also the Book of Mormon this week. As he flicked through the pics at the front of the B.o.M he immediately recognized the pic of Christ visiting the Americas from when he previously attended the church. Even recollected the song I am a child of God haha! As we taught him about the Plan of Salvation things really started to click for him and he is starting to progress! My testimony that the Lord prepares his children to receive the Gospel has really been solidified this week! I know as we do all we can to obey him and do our part, surely blessings will come, aswell as peace and great great joy! One of our investigators Ephia, kept her commitment this week in reading the introduction of the Book of Mormon and went even further to reading all the testimonies of the witnesses and Joseph Smith. She's in her early twenties. Elder Kallon and I kind of sat in awe as she then told us what she learnt about how the book of Mormon was brought forth, and it was so clear the way she explained it back to us! Reciting dates, and exact quotes...like wow! It really has been an amazing week though! Something kind of stink happened tough lol. This week an investigator dropped us! First time that has happened to me in Ghana! We called to confirm an appointment with her in the morning and she told us she wanted to discontinue learning with us! Her pastor had told her some negative things about the Book of Mormon which spooked her, so she asked we don't come again! Ah well. Kind of disappointing and sad, but that's how it can be. One thing I know though is that the scripture found in Mosiah 2:41 is indeed TRUE. Those that keep the commandments of the Lord really are in a state of happiness that cannot be obtained by any other way than through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel! The Lord will bless us both spiritually and in things temporal as we OBEY with a willing heart! Most importantly as we do these things, we will qualify for the mercy and grace of our Savior through his Atonement which will enable us to have the greatest of God's gifts....Eternal life! It really is a plan of Happiness that Heavenly Father has devised for us. We just have to be humble enough to see it! And LIVE it! I always find myself saying this but I am eternally grateful for the Atonement that was made for us and me.. I don't think we will ever be able to fully comprehend this awesome event that was undertaken by the Savior. Millions and millions of lives are blessed including mine, and I am grateful that I can be better tomorrow that I am today. The Atonement can bring a mighty change of heart as we submit to the will of the Lord! I know that he can make more out of us that we can ourselves. Heavenly Father really has so much love for us! I feel so blessed to have this knowledge and share with others in Ghana! Elder Kallon and I are doing well though! We are just really stoked with the way things are going in our area at the moment! We are finding a lot of people to teach, and it feels like the hard work is paying off! What an awesome start to 2017 though it has been! I don't think I say this enough but I'm really grateful for such an awesome family! I love you's and am so blessed to be raised by such loving parents! Hope ya'll can look for new ways (or remember forgotten ways lol) in which you can apply the Atonement to your lives! Have an awesome week Mom and Dad! Elder Fesolai Well I can't believe it to be honest! We are already in 2017? Where did 2016 go lol? Maybe the second coming will happen before I come home...
Anyway this week for us wasn't to busy. We tried teaching but everyone has been away travelling to home towns or busy going to their churches for their cross over programs! So we have been managing! Streets have been dead! At the moment it is Harmattan season here and it's cool in the morning and dusty and dry during the day! You can literally see the dust/haze in the air! I'm getting killed with like hayfeaver lol! This week they are planning to move the Sakumono ward into the new building they have been preparing here in Sakumono which should really help us get our investigators to church! Because of the distance and starting time it has been a little difficult lately. I've been back in Nungua/Sakumono for 4 and half months now! Add it to my time previously being here and it will make it a year and almost 3 months lol! All good though, the Lord has something I need to do here? New years eve was cool though. We didn't really do anything at all haha. New years day though was pretty hectic! After church we got a bunch of FM appointments. So much rice and chicken! I feel like chicken fear Christmas time and New years here in Ghana lol! Anyway, I guess my New Years Resolution or more so goal this year is to become more like the Savior in developing charity! I plan on doing this by reading the Book of Mormon again, and learning of him and following in his footsteps! I studied that as we develop faith, hope and charity, we will ALWAYS be abounding in good works. I know that this brings true happiness to the soul! So that's why it's my goal :) Maybe yall can read the book of Mormon this year too hey? But think of a reason why you want to do it and write it down! Alright, that's its for me though! I'm grateful for my opportunity to serve and the strength that I receive in the Lord to do his work! It is truly humbling to be here in Ghana, helping the work go forward! Happy NEw year again! Thanks for being the best family! Love yous heaps and am grateful for your continuous love and support! I definitely feel it! Till next week though! Elder Fesolai Well, this past week has been wonderful! It was so awesome to be able to skype with yous this Saturday gone! Technology is really sweet, and I'm grateful for the Howard family for the opportunity! Last week was good though. We had our Mission Christmas conference which was fun. We were able to catch up with a bunch of missionaries and it was just an awesome day. We were teaching one of our investigators (patrick) during the week and straight after we had finished teaching him, a truck with all these cans of liek fruit drink rocked up. They sell like fizzy drinks in bulk. So we helped him unload it as the other dudes that work with him went to a wedding that day. Reminded me of the warehouse days lol... Christmas here was awesome though! We had our 1 hour service, and immediately after church the Boakye family invited us over for a feed. Was nice as. Then straight after them, the Howard family invited us over, and it was safe to say that I ate more than I should of that day lol...BUT it is Christmas so it is a good excuse to indulge right? But really, us missionaries have been blessed and looked after this Christmas by some wonderful members! Many more are inviting us over during the week...so I'll probs put on some KGs lol. Hopefully the new building that is being prepared for Sakumono to worship will be ready soon too. AS soon as it is it will really help the missioanry work move forward rapidly as a big problem at the moment is getting our investigators to church. It is a bit of a ways for them to get to the Nungua and chapel and transport can be a bit much for some. Elder Kallon and I are doing well though. Everyone is happy and enjoying this time of the year! We are grateful to be missionaries and serve the Lord here in Ghana! Looking forward to the new year! 2017 sounds cool! Anyway Love and miss yous! Hope you have a wonderful week! Elder Fesolai I cant believe Christmas is this Sunday! Where has this year gone? Looking forward to being able to chat though!
This week has been great. Elder Kallon and I have been proselyting a lot in the area that was added to Sakumono called Lashibi. A lot of humble people there willing to learn. Only struggle at the moment is them coming to church due to the distance at the moment. They are currently preparing a meeting house for the members of Sakumono, so until it is ready we are still worshiping at Nungua chapel. In Lashibi there are alot of people from the Volta Region so they speak Ewe and it's good to be talking and learning more with them. Feels like I'm back in Juapong lol! There is a member who stays in that area, Doris, who is so firm in the faith and loves missionary work. She is a bit older, but she still took us to meet some people she has been trying to share the Gospel with. She is a great example to us missionaries seeing her love for the gospel and her desire to share it with others. We've been teaching Patrick still and he has been progressing. Went from not really believing God hears and answers prayers and not praying to regularly praying with us. As we've been teaching him we have really seen his faith grow, and we will keep doing our best to help address his concerns and keep commitments. On Friday morning we helped one of the Sisters in Ward 2 with her shop. We pretty much just sorted out a bunch of clothes into sizes and what not. There were soooo many to do, but it was really fun and we smashed it all out in a few hours as there were 6 of us missionaries. It is always great to be able to serve others, and we've been doing our best too look for service projects to do each week. The joy from helping our father in Heavens children is real! Saturday we attended a funeral in the morning of one the Recent Converts of one of the missionaries in the District. The guy has been a member for just over a month before he passed away. Pretty sad, but he was a super solid member! The knowledge we have of the Plan of Salvation helps us keep the eternal perspective of things though ay! It was a great moment for members to help comfort the family and close friends. Elder Kallon and I are doing great though, super pumped for Christmas this weekend! I think all the missionaries are just really keen to call home...including me lol! Hope you's have a fantastic week and reflect upon the true meaning of Christmas this week! I know that Jesus Christ was really born of the Virgin Mary and he came to this Earth to Save us all. Love yous! Elder Fesolai Well this week wasn't that great. This week the elections for the new President were underway so people were anxious and getting involved in all sorts of things. Which really made it hard for us missionaries to be teaching people, especially in our area. Everyone was out and about and those that were around seemed to just be busy and occupied with whatever was going on their T.v about the votes and all that lol!
During the week we had a good lesson with one of our investigators Patrick. He's been reading the Book of Mormon and praying which is great! So we invited him to be baptised next month and he accepted, so looking forward to continuing to help and teach him! We had Zone training on Tuesday which was good. President Heid and Sister Heid came too, and they gave us some great instructions and council. I think we will have our christmas conference next week so that will be sweet! It really doesn't even feel like Christmas...gong loL! Whether or not it feels like Christmas, it is always great to reflect and ponder upon the mission of our Savior, his Atonement and it's wonderful blessings that we are able to partake of as a result. Even I'm so glad to be able to share that awesome news with others, that we can be redeemed from death and be able to receive eternal life according to our own choices. Sorry this one is short though, next week will be filled with much more missionary action...and pictures lol. Hope you's have a wonderful week! Love yous! Elder Fesolai Well how is everyone going? I cant believe it is December already. Entering into my 13th transfer, only 4 more left after this one! Still, keeping my mind busy and we are doing our best here in Sakumono.
On Sunday (yesterday) we confirmed Portia, who was baptized last Sunday. She was at church super early so that was awesome and things went smoothly. Fast Sunday was great though. Only 6 more till July lol. We taught the youth in Sunday school about the temple and baptisms for the Dead, as they were preparing to go to the temple for a trip this week. We also have a new tract about temple work to which we now are using to teach investigators and recent converts. This week is going to be interesting though! The 7th Dec, Wednesday is when people will be voting and they are also electing a new President this year. So we have been told to stay inside on Thursday! People have been driving around with big trucks blaring music though to promote a peaceful election! Ghana really is peaceful though! During the week we were proselyting in the new area that was added to our boundaries. It is really on the far end of our area, but that place is awesome! It's called Lashibi and it seems to be a really fruitful spot. Alot of people that live there come from the Volta Region, where my old area was so it feels cool to talk to them in Ewe again. There is a member there we visited who gave us 2 referrals and the people are really keen to learn which is so so great! It was a miracle as we were wondering what we can do to increase our teaching pool. We've been teaching Patrick this young guy about the Plan of Salvation and he has a minor concern about faith and prayer. he doesn't really believe that God would answer if he prayed as he has been stuck in confusion for years going to and from churches. But we taught him about the Godhead, about How we communicate to god and how HE communicates back to us through the Holy Ghost. He has a book of Mormon and committed to Read, ponder and PRAY about it. He is very sincere and it was wonderful to hear him pray at the end of the lesson. you could really feel the spirit as he done so. Last week though on Tuesday and Wednesday Kallon and the other Africans in the district went to the temple so we done an exchange. SO I proselyted in my old Nungua area TUesday and Wednesday which was really awesome. It was sweet to go and visit some of the people I used to see regularly and also see many of my Recent converts who are on fire in the Church! Seeing them keep the faith just fills my soul with joy! I was able to also show the Elders there some of the people we used to teach and some houses of members so it was good. Elder Kallon is doing well, and he is all good and happy now. I'm doing fine too. We're just steadily trying to help the ward grow and go about doing good wherever and whenever we can. It's been super hot lately though. And for the first time since I came back to the city it rained on Saturday! And it poured. We didn't get caught in it though since we were at a members place lol. Looking forward to the upcoming weeks though! The Christmas hymns have begun in Sacrament and missionary meetings lol. Keen to get to talk soon! I hope you's have a wonderful week! Especially to Mom! HAPPY BIRTHDAY for this Saturday! Dont send too many pics of desserts or anything...lol. Love yous! Elder Fesolai Well this past week has been a nice one. I guess to begin yesterday we were able to have a baptism which was sweet! Sakumono isn't the easiest of areas, but it was really awesome to see one of our investigators enter into the waters of baptism. The first baptism for the Sakumono ward as we are the 'pioneer' missionaries for this ward haha.
As for many of our other investigators it has been interesting. Patrick the young guy we have been teaching has been progressing little by little. He has alot of different ideas and wants to understand things. We've been teaching him about the Plan of Salvation which is great. It has helped him understand some questions of the soul and sparked more interest in the church and it's teaching, and grow in faith in Jesus Christ as we taught him about the Atonement. We've been teaching this lady Efia and her daughter Gladys about the Restoration and Plan of Salvation too. It's reall interesting how many questions and concerns the PLan of Salvation sparks. Alot of people lack guidance and direction in terms of if death is the end. It's always a great opportunity to teach them of the Savior and the great power of his Atonement and how it is central to Gods great plan of Redemption! This next week we are trying to get as much as we can done though. I remember Christmas this time last year and it was not easy to teach people as they are all celebrating. So we are gonna do our best to teach and keep on teaching and finding. I cant believe how fast November has flown by! I hope you guys are doing well though! Only some few weeks till we get to call or skype! Last Christmas away from home doesn't sounds too bad hey (mom) lol. Anyway hope you's have a wonderful week! Love yous! Elder Fesolai What a week it has been. So during the week Elder Kallon and I have been teaching Patrick. We had some interesting lessons about the Book of Mormon and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He asked us what is it that makes this church different, and we helped him to really understand the Priesthood authority, and the Great Apostasy. He accepted it and accepted the commitment to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, Keen to see how things go this week.
During the week we were also able to go out and teach with one of the RM's in the ward which was awesome. Bro Francis came with us to teach Efiya and her daughter about the Plan of Salvation which was great. It's interesting hearing different peoples beliefs and understandings about where we came from and where we will go even though they follow and believe in the bible. We helped her understand some doctrines like the need for the Atonement and it helped her to see the power of the Restoration of the Gospel. That the Plan is simple and has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. On Saturday night we went to the Howards for dinner. Sister Howard prepared a heap of fufu for all the missionaries in the apartment so it was awesome! So much food lol. This Sabbath just gone there was an African West conference broadcasted from salt lake so that was awesome. Elder Stevenson from the 12 presided and spoke along with Elder Dube from the q70 and some other people. They have some great talks that the people here really needed to hear. It's really cool to see how they recieve such inspired guidance and revelations for people all around the world to help the Kingdom grow here on earth. This Sunday we will be having a baptism which should be great. Was supposed to be on Saturday just gone but the family had to attend a wedding so it has been postpones to this Sunday. I'm doing well though. Keep Elder Kallon in your prayers, he has been unwell again. We're still doing our best to keep on working and keep the work going forward here in Sakumono. Hope you's have a great week though Love and miss yous! Elder Fesolai Well this week has been great. Every one has been happy and healthy and we've had some cool things happening throughout the past 7 days!
To begin the week we had a massive multi Zone Conference in Madina with 4 of the other zones. It was crazy long, but overall there were alot of things I took from it to apply in my efforts as a missionary which was sweet. One of the things I learnt is that sometimes you get caught up in looking for the Lord's elect that you dont stop to observe yourself and question if those you meet can recognize you as a servant of the Lord. That can happen as we are do what the Lord expects and have the spirit. So an awesome experience I had this week was when we were wrapping up our proselyting for the day about to head to our co-ordination meeting in the evening. I wasn't sure why but I felt prompted to go talk to this man in his shop. We found out that he had stopped going to any church (rare in Ghana) and told us that he thought they were all wrong, as if they were missing something. So it was a pretty golden moment as we were able to briefly introduce to him the message of the Restoration. So far things are progressing really well. We've been able to introduce the Book of Mormon and he is really determined to seek and find the truth. By the way his name is Patrick. So we are looking forward to continue helping him in his search for the truth by helping him receive this amazing Restored Gospel. We also contacted the guy who worked at the shop next to him and to our surprise he had attended the church for a while when he was really young but the family stopped! So we are also going to try and visit him and his family! I know the Lord guides and directs us when we exercise faith and most importantly ACT on impressions from the spirit. As I've been reading through the Book of Mormon this week, I went through specifically Mosiah chapters 2-5 which is King Benjamin's sermon to the people, and wow it is powerful! Most importantly it got me thinking about the Atonement and covenants. When we live the Gospel and keep our covenants and the commandments it allows us to access the FULL power of the Atonement. But we have to remember them and see that we do them! This Gospel is great, but it can be easy to be taken for granted because of it's simplicity, but I know it is true! I know that if we do these things Eternal Life with our families can be obtained! Heavenly Father has so much instore for us that we cannot really comprehend. The Sabbath yesterday was amazing though. In the morning we were about to leave the house on our bikes when one of the members drove by and offered to take us to church. Blessings! But the primary had their primary presentation and it was so cute haha. We helped out alot as they performed like a little drama/skit so we were involved a bit! Te kids here are crackup, but they love the Gospel and it's teachings, we really can learn alot from them. I suppose for the week that's really all though for now. Christmas is just around the corner and we are already half way through November! Time is going by quickly! We are hoping to have a baptism this SAturday too so that is really exciting! Hope yous have a blessed week though! Love you Mom and Dad! Elder Fesolai |
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May 2017
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