"Elder Condie Fell Down"

Sup fam? 

Seems like everyone back home had a great week! I am happy to see you are all doing well, and are safe. This week was so crazy. I think it was probably the most backwards week of my whole mission so far.

Exchange with Elder Keddington playing with some kids

So it all started Monday night. We were all inside playing uno (we were inside for special reasons, i promise i am not apostate..) and we were keeping score each game, so that at the end we would have an ultimate winner. I won, but that is not the crazy part.. so the final round came down to Elder Condie, and Elder Ndlovu, who currently were tied for last. so whoever won, could take pride in not being last i guess lol but unfortunately for Elder Condie, Elder Ndlovu had an unusual amount of +4's and +2's.. so after making Elder Condie pick like 16 cards, Elder Ndlovu won! Elder Condie was NOT happy hahaha and in his frustration, punched a brick wall about 5 times lol his face was bright red. After a good laugh, thinking all was well with Elder Condie, i went to brush my teeth when i heard something come from the main room, followed by Elder Ndlovu coming to us and telling us that Elder Condie fell down, and hit his head. As Elder Broadhead and I rushed into the room, we found Elder Condie on the ground having a seizure! It was the scariest thing i have ever seen. We ran to him and as soon as we got to him he stopped convulsing and relaxed. So we called the dr. and he wanted us to meet him that night to check on him. So we took him, got in a taxi and went to Accra.. Finally we made it to the area office, and the Dr looked at him and asked him a few questions. He couldn't tell us what 100-7 was.. haha it was so sad.

After that the Ap's took us to the mission home. We got there around 2 am. Dr. Anderson wanted Elder Condie to stay in Accra for at least the day, so we went on exchange with the assistants for the day. It went well, but i didn't have my scriptures because of the rush we were in to get Elder Condie there. So i just grabbed a soft cover Book of Mormon, and off we went haha it was a good time.

The next day, we went back to Swedru and we had interviews with president, and then another exchange with Winneba. So this week was pretty full. My schedule got kind of ruined there for a few days, but i think it is better now. So there is the crazy part of the week.

For the rest of the week, it was a bit rough.. i don't know what was happening, but it seemed impossible to see anyone. Even the people we contacted were pretty rough.

I was getting a little frustrated on Saturday after appointments failed, and contacting not going to well. The whole time i was just praying so hard to be able to find someone to teach. But it just didn't happen. After our last appointment before lunch failed, i was drained. I had never felt like that before on mission. I was confused by what was happening. And then i just got this voice in my head that said, "when are you going to learn that you are always teaching?" When i heard that, i was instantly reminded of when Alma is speaking to his son Corianton about how because of the way Corianton was behaving, the Zoramites didn't want to believe in Alma's words. And also i was reminded of the last MLC we had, when Sister Simpson gave us a quote that said, "i would rather see a sermon that hear one any day."

Exchange with the Ap's. Elder Martineau rode nick the goat

As I remembered all these things, I suddenly wasn't frustrated anymore. I didn't care that i wasn't able to teach the lessons that we had planned. it was really humbling to learn that it doesn't matter where i am, or what i am doing, i am still teaching. You never really know who is watching. I think this is something that the Savior has been trying to teach me for a long time, and i just haven't been able to fully realize it. I think that the same principle applies to all of us. We are all disciples of Jesus Christ, and we are always teaching.

At the end of the day, we had a baptism! Boakye and Nucy were baptized on Saturday night and confirmed members of the Church on Sunday. Nucy's family wanted me to confirm her which was so special. I was so proud of the both of them and the decisions they have made to be baptized.

I love my mission. I can see the Lord in each day of my life. He loves me so much, and if He loves me, i promise He loves you too!

have a great week! stay safe. you are in my prayers.

Love ELDER BEN

Reflecting

'Sup fam :)

This week was a lot of fun! we had a combined mission conference with the Accra mission on Wednesday morning, and because the Winneba zone is so far away from Accra, we all got to sleep in various apartments throughout Accra on Tuesday night. Elder Broadhead and i slept at the assistant's apartment, and on Wednesday morning, we went on a mini split with them and took trucks to the airport to pick up all the new missionaries coming from the Provo MTC. (one of which was Elder Christiansen from pleasant grove!)

These kids are the next WWE stars

It was weird being back at the airport after this past 11 and a half months. As i watched the new missionaries coming through the gates i had some major flashbacks to my first day in Ghana. I tried to remember how i was feeling, and what was going through my mind at that time.

This also made me reflect on my mission so far. I was almost in tears thinking about my mission memories, companions, areas, investigators, and just Ghana in general. I truly love my mission and being here has helped me to realize how much my Heavenly Father knows and loves me. It amazes me to think about. I am so grateful to be here, with such wonderful people. The Lord's hand really is in the details of our lives. Everywhere i look i can see His infinite love for us.

Franklina Again

We also had the privilege to listen to an Apostle of Jesus Christ speak to us. Elder Gary E. Stevenson is such a great speaker. He talked a little bit about Christ-like attributes. He quoted in PMG when it says, "just as important as what we do, however, is who we are." It made me think about who i am, and what i am doing. We need to ask ourselves each day if what we are doing, will make us who our Heavenly Father wants us to be.

It was also really nice to see some friends from the mtc who are in the Accra mission. I felt like the sons of Mosiah :)

I love this life so much. I love the Savior, and He loves each of us individually and infinitely. I love you too ;)

have a great week and keep living!

love ELDER BEN

Content

Hello, everyone,

this week was great! We were busy traveling back and forth from Accra for our MLC meeting that we had this week, but it was great. Our MLC was awesome, and we got to stay the night at president's house again which was fun. We got to know Sister Simpson a lot more and she is an amazing person. She prepared burritos for us and i was in HEAVEN. it was amazing. plus she gave us a&w root beer. Great night.

Because of MLC, we didn't have a whole lot going on this week, so i don't have a whole lot to write, but i thought i would just share some thoughts i have had during my personal study of the Book of Mormon:

So this week i have been studying in Alma, and about Ammon and is brethren going to preach to the Lamanites. Ammon had so much success, but Aaron and those who were with him got off to a bit of a rough start. They suffered a lot, and no one would listen to them, and they even here beaten and thrown in jail. Then Ammon came and they were released, and as soon as they were released they continued to do what caused them to suffer so much - to preach. But because of their faith, and willingness to obey, they were blessed and they brought many to the knowledge of the truth.

Then Ammon talks about how he wishes he were and angel with the voice of a trump so that he could cry repentance to the people. But he says that he sinned in wishing that, and that he should be content with the assignment that the Lord had given him. That he should be happy with what the Lord has already done for him.

This particular passage really struck me. It reminded me of times early on in my mission where i was really struggling, wondering if i was being 'punished' in a way for how hard it was at points. I wasn't content at all. I wasn't being very grateful. But i have come to realize that this is the best possible place i could be RIGHT NOW. And i have been blessed beyond what i deserve to be here with these wonderful people. I love it here. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. I wouldn't want to serve anywhere else.

We can all feel like we got the short end of the stick sometimes, but we need to make sure and enjoy where we are in life, and not look forward too much or outside of our sphere. We might just look past all the blessings right in front of our face as we look for blessings to come.

I hope we can all enjoy where we are, and be grateful for all that we have been given.

I love this gospel so much. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It changes lives.

I hope you have a great week. i love you all!!

ELDER BEN ELDREDGE

Portia x 2

Hey everyone,

I had another great week here in Ghana. Each day is always a new adventure. You truly never know what is going to happen. Things always go the way they are supposed to go if we are willing to submit to Him and follow His guidance. We have continued to look for those who are prepared to receive the gospel. This week we have been praying half way through the day still to Receive help from the Lord. It has been cool to see how powerful those prayers have been for me. Seeing those who are ready has been so much easier. They are beginning to really light up. We have found some new people in the last couple weeks who have had such a strong interest from seeing relevance to the message of the restoration. These people have been looking for this, and wanting to know the truth, and i know for sure that they weren't found by my power.

Over the span of the last three or four weeks i have been learning a lot about the correspondence between obedience and blessings. At our zone training a few weeks ago, we talked about d&c 93 which talks a lot about light and truth. When we are obedient, we receive more gifts from our Heavenly Father, one of those gifts is knowledge. But i think the greatest gifts that comes from obedience is the blessings that come from the Atonement. Peace and happiness can flood our lives if we are humble and willing to do things the Lord's way. The Lord commanded us to be perfect even as our Father in Heaven is perfect. I have a long way to go on the way to perfection. But it is possible for all of us. Line upon line, precept upon precept. Here a little, there a little. Grace by grace.

He loves us so much that He doesn't expect immediate perfection from us. He just wants us to progress immediately.

I know that when we are obedient, we will feel the true happiness and love that our Heavenly Father wants for us.

I love this gospel so much. I know it is true. I love you all so much. Keep progressing and trusting in the Lord.

Have a great week

love,

Elder Ben Eldredge 

Portia and Portia = dunked

Traditional Ghanaian wear. Sorry it is kind of blurry

Franklina, one of the recent convert's daughter. She always tells Elder Broadhead and me that we look like goats.