Service this week

Hey everyone.

   It sounds like all is going well back home.  I bet you are glad that it is summer now.  This week has been good.  Elder Makuni and I have been working hard.  We had a bit of problems working together this week.  It is his first time being senior companion (because he is DL is why he is senior even though I am older (in terms of being out longer).  He had a problem with my scheduling things saying that I was wasting time.  I think that he just misunderstood me as we were making our schedule but him saying that really made me mad for the day.  We had an interesting companionship inventory this week where we worked some things out.  He wants to stretch our numbers, which I have no problem with and I asked for just a little respect as the person who has been walking these streets for 3 months. (stretching the numbers means to contact more and set higher goals)  Now we seem to be working better now that we have those things worked out.  I hope that we can continue to keep up the good work because he is a great guy, just a little number crazy.

   Man this week it really rained a lot.  There were a few times we had to take shelter under a roof or stay in the apartment a little longer than normal to avoid getting wet.  The only thing that I think that Ghanaians hate more than rain is the devil himself.  It is almost impossible to teach while it is raining. (The rain on the metal roofs gets very noisy. I'm not sure he has even heard about the major flooding and explosion of the gas station in Accra.  Now that was a lot of rain)  But we did do some cool service this week.

   We helped our ward mission leader move into a new house that he and his new wife have now moved into.  We stopped a random box truck and hired it to move the stuff.  We loaded all of our stuff into it and drove to the house about 20ish minutes away.  There was only room for one other person inside the cab, the ward mission leader, so the 4 missionaries sat in the box that it was pulling and kept everything we loaded from falling everywhere.  There was no where to sit so we tried to stand and keep our balance and hold some rails on the walls as best as possible and hope we don't fall as the truck goes over old dirt roads.  It was so hot inside that truck.  Because of the rain, the truck got stuck not far from the house and it took us forever to get it out.  It wasn't easy, but it was fun.  Eventually we got everything inside the house and set up his room.  As a reward, we got some really nice fufu for a late lunch.  He was really grateful for the help.

   Another little service we did was for another missionary.  He had asked Elder Adams to help him find a washing machine for him to buy.  So last week, he and I walked around Asuoyeboa looking for some that he might like, and today we showed him them.  They made a deal that he would bring Elder Adams' washer to us and he would pay for him going back to their apartment.  The two of us left the apartment to wait for them to come here and when we got back with the washer, we find that our companions have left and locked the door  (neither of them like going to town so we split ways for a few hours).  Neither of us have a key to unlock it and all of our stuff is inside, including our white shirts we are supposed to where.  We were just wearing slacks and t shirts because we were planning on coming right back.  So we leave it on the porch and go with the other missionaries to buy the new washer.  When they leave, we went back to our apartment, (which is the same one, by the way, we haven't moved yet.  Maybe this week, who knows) and the door is still locked.  My key is hanging by the window in my room, which has small holes in it due to glass shades falling and cutting it small.  So we widen one of the holes and push the window open.  We can see the key but it is just to far for our fat arms to fit without making a huge hole in the screen.  So we grab a stick and pull the key out and let ourselves into the apartment. So all is well in the end and I am now a professional thief. And we have a washer again, yeah. (He was sad when Elder Adams was transferred from Obuasi and took his washing machine with him) And don't worry about the hole in our window.  The way we have them shut, you can't open without anyone inside hearing and people wouldn't try to take anything during the day with there always being people around.  Plus I don't leave anything too important on my desk and also that we are leaving in a week, hopefully.  Our window will be fine.  Also a point to add to my story for today is that both our phones were dead so we couldn't call each other.  Kind of pathetic that it was lights out, door locked and dead phone.  The elements were against us.

   For the lady that we met last week, we went to her house on Saturday, but she said we should come back later and when we did, it was very late and she wasn't very attentive.  Hopefully we can have better luck next week.  We did have a new guy come to church this week that came on his own.  He seems very cool.  His name is Benjamin and we look forward to working with him.  We have tried seeing Mark again.  We gave him a small break but we started teaching him again.  We are trying to get him to read the Book of Mormon, but he says the words are to small and he can't really see them.  He is supposed to get some glasses so he can read on his own.

   We are teaching Family Home Evening at Bishop's house again.  Elder Onen is teaching again and I have a game. I fear what will be taught tonight.  I will let you know next week what happens.

Have a good week. Enjoy summer and all the camping stuff you will do this week.

Love, Elder Warner Ashby