Teaching Pool

Hey, everyone,

this week was one of the busiest weeks of my life! Our area is full of great people ready for the gospel, and the Lord is helping so much to find them. Our teaching pool is getting bigger and bigger and right now our biggest task is figuring out who is ready for the gospel and who needs more time. I have felt so much joy this week as my mind was constantly thinking of others and what they need.

We were finally able to teach a referral from the elders in the area next to us, and we had an awesome lesson with him! He has been investigating the church for about a year and a half, and hasn't been baptized because he was afraid he was just following his friends and his heart wasn't fully into it. We asked him if he had prayed about it and he said he has prayed many times, but still wasn't sure. He said that as he prayed he had a sense of peace come over him and that it was a good feeling. So it turns out he already received a witness, but he just never understood it. He chose his own baptismal date for the 12th of August!

It is awesome to see the Lord's hand in the work as you do all you can to share the gospel. I am loving the work right now. This gospel is true! I know the Savior lives! I see His influence everyday!

Have a great week!

ELDER ELDREDGE

Finding

Hey everyone,

hope you all had a great week! We had another week in paradise. Our focus is still to find like mad, and so far things are going great. This is the busiest I have been on my mission. Always something to do, and someone to see. We have been so blessed with some prepared people this week. One lady was a referral from the assistants. She is a nice lady who has two sons who are members in other parts of Ghana. She is really smart and I talked to one of her sons and he was so happy we found her.

Right now I feel completely overwhelmed trying to plan each day. I don't know how to fit everyone in that we need to see. Some nights we feel like we did a lot, but there was still so many people that we needed to see, but couldn't. It is a good problem to have i guess.

Angela was supposed to be getting baptized this coming week, but we weren't able to meet with her all this last week and so we have to push it for next month. Pushing people's baptismal dates is becoming too normal. All in the Lord's time.

Gyan, our recent convert who got baptized in June is doing great! Every week he brings a clan of like five friends to church! haha it is so funny. It almost looks like a church service at home by the third hour, all of them are in class, but dead asleep. I think it is from them running around and playing during the first two hours. I love his effort to share the gospel.

I got to visit kasoa today. I went to go say goodbye to friends. I got to see Lydia, my first convert! She is still doing well and is active in the church. She said she is thinking about serving a mission. It was sad to say goodbye to them.

I love my mission so much. It will be so bitter sweet to go home. Luckily i am still here! There is still so much work to do, and i am so happy to be here.

The gospel is true!

Elder Eldredge

dad, this is the food we tried making at home! It tasted a lot better this time though!

bye Lydia 

Bye Theresa 

Bye Margret 

Exchange

From July 17th

Hey everyone,

Exchange with Elder Paulsen

Things are sweet here in Accra Newtown! We had a really solid week here. The weather was great, and one night I even slept without the fan on. I might just be used to the heat though, because it was still 83 degrees. We spent a lot of our time trying to find new people to teach, and we were super blessed with some cool new investigators. We also got to do some service on Tuesday, which was really fun.

Tuesday morning, we woke up and went to one of our investigators place to paint their restaurant for them. It took us about four hours and now their chop bar (restaurant) is looking good ha. After we painted for them, we walked across town just in our normal clothes to grab our clothes from our wash lady, and we talked to a ton of people it was amazing. No one was even running away from us! Maybe we will have to proselyte in street clothes for a few days, until they catch on to who we are.

This week we had two investigators tell us that they prayed about the Book of Mormon and about Joseph Smith and they know it is all true. Such sweet moments when they said that. Unfortunately, both of them have obstacles that are holding them back from getting baptized right now. Probably one day down the road they will come and be ready.

On Sunday, we were desperate for investigators to come to church, so we woke up early to go and get them and bring them with us. We got to two of our investigators and they were just waking up and said they would get ready and come, so we went to church without them, and they didn't come.. That was a shot in the heart.

I went on an exchange with Elder Paulson this week and it was an adventure. I am super grateful he is here and that we got to work together for a day.

Ghana is a great place, and i am loving my mission. I am excited to see what this week has in store.

have a good week!!

ELDER ELDREDGE

Painting project, shirtless man in the back..

Serwaa's Birthday

Elder Paulson's first fish in Ghana! He was a little sick after ha

Grandma's Birthday

'Merica

Hey, everyone!

Abdul

Being a missionary just keeps getting better and better, sadly time is also going faster and faster. Gotta make the most of what time I have left. This week was such a great week though. It had some sweet moments. We made some tacos for our stake president and his family on Monday night, celebrated the Fourth of July on Tuesday, had a great MLC on Thursday, and got some good news on Sunday!

Monday night, we had some missionaries staying at our apartment because they are training and needed to come in close to the mission home because their areas are so far away. We all went to our stake president's house in the evening and made tacos for him and his family. President loved them, but most everyone else couldn't eat theirs.. haha so all the missionaries had to eat five or so to finish all of them. I don't think they will want us to make anything for them again..

We have four Americans in our district, so on Tuesday we celebrated the Fourth of July by going to Eddy's Pizza and bought the biggest pizza's possible. I couldn't finish more than half of mine and my stomach is still in pain... Cheese is a killer if you haven't eaten much of it in two years.

We had MLC on Thursday, and it was really uplifting. Our focus for this transfer is finding in all its forms. That is something we definitely need to work on too. Sometimes it is easy for us to get lazy with finding new people because it is kind of easy to get a big teaching pool, but it is our duty to continue to find all the time. 

One insight I liked is in Moroni 7, where tells us the role of angels: 

31 And the office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfill and to do the work of the covenants of the Father, which he hath made unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men, by declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of him.

32 And by so doing, the Lord God prepareth the way that the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the Holy Ghost may have place in their hearts, according to the power thereof; and after this manner bringeth to pass the Father, the covenants which he hath made unto the children of men.

Angels are declaring the word unto the chosen vessels constantly so that they can bear testimony of Him. We are the chosen vessels as we keep the commandments and are willing to obey the Lord. This is how we can become an instrument in the hands of God so the residue of men may have faith in Christ. Awesome!

The rest of our week was great and busy as usual. On Sunday we had ward council meeting, and got some good news! Jeremiah will be able to get baptized as soon as we finish teaching him the lessons! Thank you everyone who prayed and fasted for him. The ward has been so loving to him and they are all still looking for a job for him. Hopefully we will find something for him to do.

Life is good. I love it here. I know this gospel is true, and that the Savior lives, and loves us. If we turn to Him, he will make life worth living.

Have a great week!! Love,

ELDER ELDREDGE

Tacos

Fourth of July

Lots and Lots of Walking

Hey, everyone

another week has just flown by. Can't believe it is already July! Things are still going great with Jeremiah. He is progressing quickly, but not sure when things will be in place for him to get baptized. This was the last week of the transfer, and it is crazy how fast the transfer went. Things need to slow down a little. 

This week was full of walking. Lots and lots of walking. We are getting a lot of great investigators and referrals, the only thing that makes it hard is that all of our investigators are on the edges of our area, so we have to trek pretty far to see all of them. It is a bummer when you walk super far and then people are not around, or busy or something. 

We had some really great moments this week though. One of them was on Sunday evening. We started teaching a sister last week and in our first lesson we basically taught her all about Joseph Smith and the Restoration, which isn't very common. Usually we don't get to that point in a first lesson with someone, but Sunday's lesson was perfect because of what we taught her last week. She gained a lot of trust in us and she told us a lot of what she is going through and some addictions she is having. We were able to answer all of her questions and give her peace by reading from the Book of Mormon. We read like 4 different passages from the Book of Mormon with her that day and it taught her way better than i could teach her. I felt good after the lesson feeling like the Lord lead us to know how to really help her in what she needed. 

I love the Book of Mormon so much. It can change lives, and it does change lives. 

Despite having a bit of a slow week, there were still some great moments. I love it here so much. 

Hope you all have a great week! 

love,

Elder Eldredge