the week of slow internet, packages from home, and homemade chicken pot pie

I hope you are all enjoying your week! I dont have the fastest of internet here in Sakumono, so i will have to keep this email pretty brief....

This past week has been pretty awesome. We have been getting fed by a lot of our members and enjoying some good Ghanaian dishes.

There is also a Family that lives in one of the other wards in our stake that invited us over for dinner this past week. The wife is from Fresno California and loves to cook, so we went over there and she made us Chicken Pot-Pie! we had an awesome time and then right before we left, she pulled out a tub of Blue Bunny ice cream!

(It was about 100 cedis for one small tub... That is like 25 dollars...) So we had an amazing night!

I also go my first package from home on saturday!

That means I have almost hit my 6 month mark!! Time Flies!!! I am almost a quarter of the way done! (it seems like not that much of an accomplishment, but 6 months is quite a long time)... it was Amazing to be able to eat some good ol' beef jerky again! (they dont have it here... every other African country has it, but not Ghana)...  

So long story short, I am enjoying the missionary life for now!

Have a great week y'all!

Love,

Elder Williams

Hello from Sakumono!

Hello from Sakumono!

I hope you guys all had a great week and arent completely annoyed of my weekly emails! Either way, here is this weeks latest update!

Monday was our Zone Activity for the Kpong zone (Akuse) and that was a real "bash" of a time! We were at the Ensign medical college (it's like an extension of University of Utah) playing some games on their campus including wheelbarrow races, soccer, three legged races, and blindfold running(it is exactly what you think it would be) (please dont ask why, we missionaries are not the smartest breed) But we were having a round of blindfold running and and our zone leader ran head first into someone else and gashed open his forehead... so that was a pretty exciting trip to go get him stitched up... (luckily because it was a medical college, they had a doctor on campus, so they stitched him up right there and then... On the way home, our tro-tro mate was wearing the coolest shirt i have seen here in Ghana a "Keep calm and rock the Ag swag" t shirt.... that was cool.

Tuesday was my last day in Akuse, so we went and said goodbye to some of the members... we got a call at about 12 saying we had to be at the mission home that night, so we left around 4... that was a super long ride... imagine yourself in a 15 passenger van (a hunk of junk one) filled to capacity, plus my giant suitcase, a bike, and some ladies 5 50 kilo bags of fish... we rode for about 15 minutes with one of the ladies in the back seat yelling in twi the whole time... every now and then you could pick out an english word such as "police, uncomfortable, too crowded, and stopped"... so when we got  to the police barrier, this lady yelled at the cops and told them to pull us over... and then she sat there and argued with the driver for about 45 minutes with the cops holding them away from each other... (the cops here all have ak47's strapped to their chests at all times, so that was slightly scary)... after that, we got back on the road... just to, 5 minutes down the road, run out of gas... that hour and a half long journey turned into just about 4 hours... 

Wednesday was transfer day... and it was one sad day... I had to say goodbye to Elder Hayes (basically my best friend on mission so far)

and then grab all of my luggage and climb into yet another tro-tro to come to my new area... What i didnt know about Sakumono, is that it is just about a 5 minute bike ride from the ocean! so i got a nice picture of the beach as we drove past it! That night, i decided my hair was too long,

and instead of going and getting it cut, i just decided to cut it myself,

I dont think it turned out all that bad!

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, i was trying to learn the area... I have met some super cool people and eaten some super nice African home cooked food... It turns out that we actually have two area seventy members in our ward! Both of them are rather well to do and have fed us... (super super good food)

I have so far had 4 companions (not counting the MTC), 3 areas, and i am only 4 transfers in... at this rate, i will have 17 companions, and 13 areas... that is a little outrageous if i say so myself....

The Book of Mormon has become my best friend, It is very true, and i encourage you all to read it.... like Elder Jeffery R. Holland has said “For 179 years [The Book of Mormon] has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other religious history – perhaps like no other book in any religious history- and still it stands.”.... This book is true

I hope to hear from you all next week!!!

Love,

Elder Williams

Almost 5 months, yet another transfer, and just life in general...

Ummm, i dont know how to start these emails, so i will just dive in... 

As the subject line says, I am almost 5 whole months out!! thats pretty cool (at least i think so)... It also says another Transfer... that was probably a low point of my week....

so we got a call about 10:15 on saturday night... The zone leaders were calling everybody and telling them the transfer news... it turns out, i am getting transferred yet again.... i guess President just wants to keep me on my toes right? but now i am headed to Sakumono... (Sack-oo-mo-no)  That is in the Tema area.... and guess where my companion is from!! I will give you a hint... he is going to be my third one from this country.... (Nigeria)   so that will be a challenge... I have heard that he is pretty cool, so i guess i will find out on wednesday! 

Life here in Akuse was pretty great! we found out this morning, that our community that we live in actually has a basketball, volleyball, and tennis courts along with a soccer pitch and a giant swimming pool (too bad missionaries cant go swimming) but I love the "small town feeling" that this village has... it reminds me of home... I like the "bush" much more than the city... 

Here are some pictures that i missed out on sending last week... i will send a few more in a minute as well....

The first one is our "chapel"

The second is the outside of our apartment

The third is our Meeting house

and the fourth is a spot we found on the Volta River

Our 

Love,

Elder Williams

 first through third: Some pictures of a cool sunset we went and watched from on the banks of Lake Volta

and the last one is one of my best friends here in Akuse... his name is Serum

Love,

Elder Williams