Transfers

Happy Easter Mom! 

Hey, big news! I got transferred! I am going to a part of the city known as Lartebiokorshie! I'm still close by the temple, so I still have basketball! (Ah yes, the important things!  Haha!)

Elder Samuel, I'll be honest, was not a fun companion.  He demanded perfection and would yell at me if I screwed up. He was always saying how he was a model missionary and us Americans are not serious. He even told me that it would have been better if I had stayed home and never come out on mission. So in total, I guess our personalities are too different. My next companion is named Elder Friday.  I'm hoping he is better.  :'(  Me too - however, learning experiences like this are important.

Other big news - we had a baptism yesterday!  It was for that girl, Grace!  I was so happy I almost cried. We had worked hard and prayed for this girl and it happened. 

Other than that there's not really anything else going on right now.  For Easter, we went to a member's house and I had Banku! It was very good - look it up. (I did:  Banku is a Ghanaian dish which is cooked by a proportionate mixture of fermented corn and cassava dough in hot water into a smooth, whitish consistent paste. Served with soup, stew or a pepper sauce with fish. - it is absolutely amazing that he is trying these foods!  He would never try anything different!)  But everyone here says that its not Easter, its Palm Sunday. I have no idea why.

Well mom, I love you all! Big news coming next week after the transfer! I'll tell you everything

Love, Elder Seanshine Keddington

Lartebiokorshie

Lartebiokorshie

The work moves along

Dear Mom, 

My week was pretty good. At the beginning of the week Elder Samuel and I spent a little time talking our differences. We are working together a lot better.  (Something (mother's instinct) has been telling me that he is having a more difficult time with this companion.  They definitely come from two different worlds with very different backgrounds.  It's never a bad thing to learn to compromise and get along with others and a mission is one of the best ways to do this.  When I wrote this week, I mentioned that I had been getting that impression and it looks like there may have been some truth to it.  Keep learning and growing, kiddo!) We are biking everywhere so it is really hard work, but I am getting in really good shape.

Well, the lady I told you about is kind of pulling away.  She is getting tired of visits and just wants to be baptized, but we have to help her understand that just burying your sins in the past is not true repentance. We will get there.

We met an amazing family this week who all seem very open to teaching.  If we baptize the husband, the wife says she and their 3 kids will follow.  We would baptize a whole family. Please be praying for them.

Unfortunately, I haven't received my box yet. When will it get here?  I want to take pictures so badly. We played basketball today and I felt like I did in 11th grade!  I am really feeling the benefits of hard work in the mission field.

I love you so much, every day, every week, every month.  I miss you guys.

Love,
Elder Seanshine Keddington  

Short, sweet and to the point. (or several points)  ;)   We'll be praying hard for his investigators.  Baptism is not always an easy choice.  There are so many precious covenants that we make in our eternal progression, even in Baptism.  We need to be prepared to accept and keep our covenants.  I'm  sure these Elders are learning patience.  ;)

We are trying to locate his box.  Julee's sweet friend (bless her!) tried to deliver it to the mission home a couple of times, but never caught anyone there.  She took it to the Temple office and left it with the sister in the Temple office who said she would get it to the mission home.  I was able to get to him before he got offline, so he can do some searching.  I'm dying for him to get the camera.  I want pictures!  I grabbed a couple of pictures off the mission page of him playing basketball earlier today.  Isn't technology great!!

 

A visit from Elder Rasband

Dear Mom,

This was a great week.  I met Elder Rasband today, so I'll tell you about that. So, we got to the temple site this morning and I started greeting all my MTC friends and they all commented on how skinny I looked.  It was very good to see them.  I was also reunited with Elder Barfuss for the first time since Christmas.  He said he is very proud of how far I've come.  Then we all sat down and ate lunch together.  We shared stories of our time together in Kwabeng. 

After lunch, we all went and sat down in the chapel and waited for Elder Rasband to enter. There was a sense of anticipation. Then he came in and we all rose.  Then President Snow told us that we would all get a chance to shake his hand, so I waited my turn.  I have to admit, I was a little nervous, but when I shook his hand all that nervousness was swept away.  When I looked into those calm gentle eyes, I remembered that those eyes have seen Jesus Christ face to face. 

It wasn't just Elder Rasband who spoke, it was the entire Area Presidency.  They bore their testimonies and then Elder Rasband spoke.  The first thing he said was that Thomas S. Monson told him to tell us that he loved us.  The second was a thank you from the general authorities of the church.  Then he came down with a microphone to have us ask questions.  So I was thinking to myself "this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to stand in front of the mission and talk to an Apostle", so I did.

He called on me and I started shaking.  My heart had never beat so fast in my life. I told him that in the last general conference when he talked about his reaction to being called an apostle, he read the scripture "Ye have not chosen me, but i have chosen you".   I told him that when I opened my call, Ghana was the last place on my mind and that I was nervous about coming here, but now that I've come to love it so much, I'm so glad and grateful the Lord chose me to come here because I didn't know how wonderful it was and I wouldn't have chosen it back then.  He said he was nervous when he was called as well. He thanked me for my support and comment and that I had used his talk, but grown my own testimony. I sat down, thankful that I did not pass up the opportunity to share what I knew to be true with an Apostle of the Lord.  It was an experience I will never forget.  This day was wonderful!  

I haven't received my most recent box yet, but I did get my instant potatoes.  The Elders loved them.  Mom, I love you so very much and I'm glad that I got to share this experience with you.

Love,  Elder Seanshine Keddington

At the lunch before hearing from Elder Rasband

I'm so glad he had such a wonderful visit.  He is becoming very mission minded.  I love it!

A Man of Few Words

He started out by answering a couple of questions I had for him.  I should really start writing all his letters this way.  I get the information that I need!  ;)

Hi Mom! 

1.  How is your nerve pain?  Have they decided what it is?  Again, if it's shingles or if they can't figure out what it is, take that Lysine that I sent in the package.  It should help. (He's had some bad nerve pain in his shoulders and along the top of his back.  They were wondering if it was Shingles, even though he hasn't had a rash)
1. Its getting better. Definitely getting better. It just irritates me.

2.  Did you lose your original camera?  You said that you just watch everyone else take pictures.  Please tell me you haven't been able to take pics for 6 months just because you didn't tell me something happened to it.  When you get the wifi camera, please use it and SEND ME PICTURES!!!

2. No, I still have it.  The screen cracked so I couldn't see the pictures. I will not abuse that camera. 

This week was great.  I finally met President Snow. He is an amazing man. OK, big news! Elder Ronald A. Rasband is coming this week to speak to us! He is going to speak to us and I will be able to meet him. I'm so excited! 

The work is good now. I'm getting use to the change of pace.  We finally worked out the problems with one of our investigators and she is ready for baptism. We have 3 coming up.  Two on the 19th and one in April. 

I'm sorry its short too. hey one last thing, can you have Connor send a flash drive with my (appropriate) favorite music on it.  I would love that so very much.

I love you tons and tons,

Elder Seanshine Keddington

What a great opportunity for these missionaries!  I love that he is so excited about Elder Rasband's visit.  He is a man of few words, but I cherish each one!