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Happy Monday, Everyone

Service Project

This week has been another adventure. Lots of ups and downs and also side to sides.. We have been so busy lately i cant even keep track of what week of the transfer it is. I almost forgot that transfer news was this week until the assistants called and told us our news. Looks like i am leaving Swedru. We also went on another exchange, and rode through the bushiest trails possible to shake things up a bit. All in all it has been a great week.

After 30 of the best weeks of my life, my time to be in Swedru has come to an end. I will miss this place and these people dearly. My testimony of the Savior and his gospel has grown so much while serving alongside these great members and companions. He truly is in the details of our lives. We closed out the transfer with a great baptism. Sister Grace was baptized this last week. The purpose of this gospel is to bring us joy, and it brought so much joy to me and also to Grace as she applied it into her life. This gospel changes lives, and builds us to become more like our father, who knows complete joy.

I will be leaving tomorrow to New-town, my new area! It is in the heart of Accra, and really close to the temple, so i am excited. Should be an adventure. My new companion is from Nigeria and his name is Elder Udo. I have known him for a while, and he is a great missionary. I am excited to get to serve with him.

We went on an exchange this week with our district leader out in Odoben, and it was great. Elder Parker came to be with me for the day. We had a bit of a crazy day, with an emergency travel down to Winneba to drop off a sick Elder to go to the doctor, so we rode in the tro tro for most of the day. But we still got to see some people and we had a fun time.

Riding bikes has been an adventure. We have been finding new ways of getting to places and riding through a lot of bush! So fun. This is such a beautiful place. God is wonderful.

I gotta cut this email short, I haven't started packing yet so i am toast.

This gospel is true. Jesus Christ lives!

have a great week!

Love Elder Ben Eldredge

Omni 1:26

Service Project

sweet river we found on one of our adventures through the bush

sweet river we found on one of our adventures through the bush

tuo zafi, a not so local, local food. They make if primarily in the norther part of Ghana. Super delicous tho.

Corn is a Big Hit

Hey, fam!

The work is continuing to move forward in Ghana. I loved this week so much. This week, we had an awesome couple of exchanges with the assistants and also out in the bush with some elders in our zone. We were also able to have interviews with President Simpson on Saturday. All made for a busy, great week.

Tuesday, we went with the APs in our area on an exchange. It was awesome. i have loved going on exchanges with Elder Martineau. We were also able to teach a nice little family for the first time. They live pretty far away in Asafo, but they have such a strong faith in Jesus Christ. The Spirit was so strong during our lesson with them.

On Thursday, we went out really far to the bush to go on exchange with the Elders in Asikuma. Asikuma is one of the coolest villages i have been to. So far away, you just come out of the forest into a nice town with paved roads. I felt like i was in a Ghanaian version of a Hallmark movie town. I spent the day with Elder Burt. He is a great missionary, and we had a great day. We taught one man who lately has found it difficult to go to any church because they are all so different and he feels like the pastors don't care about him, they just want his money. This gospel truly is for everyone. When we learn of the truths, and ask in faith, we will know.

On the way back from Asikuma we had a bit of a scare. We left town a little late, around 7:15, and it takes about 2 hours to get to Swedru. Not too long after we left town, we had to stop because a semi was parked in the middle of the road. Just seconds after we stopped, we got slammed from behind by a tro tro carrying a ton of corn.. We were parked on a hill facing down, so as soon as we got hit we started flying down the hill, right toward the semi. I don't know how, but the driver had some crazy reflexes and steered us around the semi and we flew into the bushes and came to a stop. Some of the people were a little banged up, but nothing too bad. Elder Wiscombe and i woke up with some sore necks and head aches, but we were blessed so much. It could have been a lot worse. After everyone calmed down, we got back in the tro and made it to Swedru lol

So now a days we are doing interviews with President once a transfer and it is so nice. It gives us time to talk personally with him and ask him questions about the area, and some advice. I learned a lot from him.

On Sunday, our bishop announced that they will be able to move to the new chapel on the first week of March! That will be so great for them. I probably will never worship there, considering transfers are this week and i have been here forever so i will probably leave. But it will be great. I think the Fourth Branch will also get their own missionaries so the work with progress a ton there. Soon they will all have to split again haha. This work is great. I love my mission. I wouldn't trade this opportunity for the world. It kind of sucks to think that i only have as much time as i have spent here in Swedru as i do on mission. This will be the best 7 and a half months of my life!

Just heard that Parker got engaged! That is sweet! Proud of you brother. Bummed i wont be able to be there, but it is alright. I am happy for you and Amber!

I love you all so much! Have a great week and remember, the Savior lives!

ELDER BEN ELDREDGE

my companion with a dried up camileon 

elder wiscombe broke the radio with his knee when we got hit by a tro. cafra (sorry)

The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning

Hey, fam

this week was awesome! I cant believe how fast it went. Every day is just packed full of activities and there is no time to look back. I am having the time of my life out here.

We had an awesome multi-zone conference this week and we finally got to watch the world-wide missionary broadcast. I guess Ghana man time applies in all aspects of life here.. lol

We went to Nsaba this week to follow up on sister Victoria, the one who i used to teach in Kasoa, and it was awesome! She is great. She just lives really far away. It takes like 40 minutes or so to get to Swedru from her house. The stake president is working on starting a branch in a nearby village which would be great for her, and everyone else in those small villages.

We had a baptism yesterday before church. It was really awesome. Sister Wendy was so excited to get baptized. The Spirit was so strong that the church literally caught on fire... Luckily it was just the outside wall. We went outside to leave to go to the fourth branch and we just saw huge flames coming over the wall, and someone with a hose trying to put it out.. so we ran and got a bunch of buckets and put it out just in time for the fire service to come.. remember what i said about Ghana man time? no one was hurt, except for the compound wall.. Funny memory though. 

I have loved being here in Swedru. It has been a blessing to see people's progression over time. It has really helped me see that I am not the one doing this work. It is all the Holy Ghost. As they feel His influence they have a natural inclination to do what is right, and to repent. It has really been awesome. This Gospel is true. 

Can't wait to see what comes this week! 

Have a great one. Love you all

Love,

Elder Ben Eldredge

Swedru

Hey fam,

i feel like i don't even know what it is like to proselyte anywhere other than Swedru. This place has become my home. I am still loving it here, working with Elder Wiscombe.

This week was pretty special. Most of the week was a blur, but that is okay, we are staying busy. We rode the bikes the last couple weeks, and i dont think i have sweated so much in my life. it is really nice to ride them because our area is so big, but my legs are kind of dead.

We tried watching the world wide missionary broadcast, but the internet at our stake center was a joke, so we couldnt watch all of it.. The parts that we did watch were awesome tho. They made some changes with the schedule, but not too much changed for our mission.. We still go out and come in at the same time, they just gave us more flexibility to choose when to do our studies and have meals. Crazy right? haha The work moves on.

Cool experience:

This week we went on an exchange in Winneba, which was probably one of my most fun exchanges i have ever been on. Elder Seninde and Elder Clauson are hilarious. Elder Clauson went to Lone Peak, and it was fun talking to him about some people that we knew. He is a great guy and missionary. Elder Seninde also had an emergency when we went to the beach, and long story short and to save you from an upset stomach, all i am going to say is, no toilet, and one ashamed looking Ugandan.. lol

Anyway, getting to the COOL part.

We left the Winneba apartment pretty late to go home, and i wasn't sure if we were going to be able to get a tro tro back to Swedru at that time, but we got to the station, and right as we got there, there was a tro with like two seats left. So we got in and off we went. About halfway home, there was a sister who was sitting right in front of us, who turned around and said, "do you remember me?" it was dark and i couldn't even see her, so i said, "no, sorry, what is your name?" Then she told me that i used to teach her in Kasoa (my first area). I still didn't remember her even when she told me her name, but then after a bit i finally remembered. We were teaching her until she left to go live with her father in her home town. Turns out, her home town is in my area! It is just this small village about a 45 minute tro tro ride out of swedru that is right out on the outskirts of our area. It just so happens that i switched my name tag just before we left to go to Winneba. Who knows if she would have recognized me as ELDER BEN. Hopefully we will be able to teach her and help her again.

We had two baptisms this week, and they were both awesome! One sister who got baptized is called, Portia. She left her home in Kumasi, to come live with her uncle here in Swedru because she got excommunicated from Jehovah's Witnesses.. She has changed so much. It has been so amazing to see how far she has come, and to see the mighty change of heart that took place in her. At first, teaching her wasn't easy, and she had a LOT of questions, and a LOT of doubts, but she really put it to prayer and the Lord softened her heart. She is so powerful now. After her confirmation, she bore such a beautiful testimony. I wish she would have spoken English, because i couldn't understand most of what she said, but i felt the Spirit so strongly. She got teary eyed as she testified of the Restored gospel and the blessing of the Savior's atonement.

This gospel changes people for the better. It is the source of true peace and happiness. My testimony of this truth has been strengthened through these people, and my mission. I am so grateful for this time. This is amazing.

Have a great week! Emily goodluck with your baby situation! that is exciting. Love you all,

Elder Ben Eldredge