Big Birthday Week!!

It's the big birthday this week!  Elder K turns 19 on Wednesday.  It's going to be strange to not have him here to celebrate, but look forward to hearing how they mark the day in Ghana.

We got word last night that Elder K's mission mom, the Mission President's wife, passed away.  We haven't heard yet what happened, but we are praying hard for her husband, family and all the missionaries who will be affected by this.  I hadn't written my email before I heard the news, so I was able to address it when I wrote last night.  I actually woke up to an email this morning.

Dear Mom, 

 

Yeah we got word this morning (about Sister Hill). We will be getting a new Mission President. It had an really big effect on Elder Barfuss and Kaelin because they got to know her really well. But it's God's plan, not ours.  He will do the best for us.

Thank you all so much for the birthday money.  I have some very interesting things that I will bring home.

I've finally started to write in my journal every day. It is way surprising on how therapeutic it is. It gives me a chance to write my feelings of the day.

We had a couple more snakes in the compound. One was a cobra, but it got away. The mission gives us machetes to deal with snakes because the risk of someone getting bit is too great, so the black mamba we caught, we had to kill it.  And i know that the mission says no touching, but the monkey was on a leash and i wouldn't get that chance in America. ;)

I can't wait to talk to you in 47 days. I love you all soo much!!!

Elder Keddington

I am so grateful that these missionaries have each other during difficult times.  Sister Hill's death will give them all an opportunity to learn how to support each other and will be a real experience for growth and learning.  It sounds like he will be a good strong support for those sweet missionaries.

We love that boy (and wish that the snakes would just stay way!) and are grateful for all that he is learning and the man he is becoming! 

 

Finally - a few pictures!!

Elder K's camera won't link up with the old computers that they have in Kwabeng, so we haven't received any pictures of him since he went into the field.  One of the Elders in the same apartment has a smart camera with wifi, so he was able to send me a couple of pictures today!

Don't drink the water, but the Coca-cola is safe!

It's a little rainy there

Not quite how I pictured Africa

I think this is the waterfall they climbed

Huge thank you to Elder Lords!  He says he will send a few more close-up shots next week.  I'm pretty sure I know what I'm sending Sean for Christmas - a Samsung Smart Camera with wifi!!  It's so good to see my baby!!

Short and sweet

I love that the emails are coming on Monday again.  It's short and sweet today...

Dear Mom, 

It's been pretty slow here.  My Twi is coming along well.  Contacting is pretty tough here. In the streets you'll find missionaries from different churches and people are used to it, so convincing them to listen is kind of tough. But I will keep trying. 

Dad will like this. While in my other village, Anyinem, I got to feed a monkey out of my hand. I was very nervous. Also, 2 weeks ago, there was a Black Mamba on our porch. I caught it and put it in a bucket. We had to kill it. Just some interesting wildlife stories

So for my birthday, could you put money on my debit card? There are some neat things here that I would like to bring home. If you could that would be amazing. I haven't received the first package yet, but I'm sure I'll get it. Thank you for the other two packages sooo much. (filled with candy for him to give to kids for Christmas)

Thank you, I love you all so much.  I'll write you next week with updates.

Love, Elder Keddington  

Sounds like they have their work cut out for them.  One of my biggest hopes is that one day he will truly expound in his email about what he is doing on a daily basis.  Of course, it was tough to get that kind of information out of him before.  Other information (dinosaurs, etc), however,  we got in abundance! ;)  I imagine lots of service is being performed.  NOT thrilled with the Black Mamba story!  Snakes are my worst nightmare and my child handling one does not fill me with joy.  Yikes! 

We're coming right up on his birthday, the 11th.  I can't believe he's going to be 19!  I will definitely take a 19 year old serving and bringing the gospel to others in a foreign country over some of the alternative 19 year old activities out there!  We are so blessed and grateful for this experience!

A little homesick

So, with the crazy email schedule we've had, I was absolutely delighted to find a Monday morning email!  I had asked him if they just write when they can find and internet signal.  I also asked him about some of us putting money into his debit account for him to use to buy some much needed food and supplies for some of the families there for Christmas.  We figured that it would be a much better use of resources to just equip him with the means to take care of it on that end.  I wanted to find out about how they shop for their food, etc. He's getting so much better at answering my questions!  How I love this boy!

Dear Mom, 

We do write emails on days when we can. Today we found a new cafe so hopefully we can get back to Monday email. Life here is good. 

So what we do for food is we usually buy a bulk box of ramen or 5-6 loafs of bread and make it last. Food is a big money hole here. There are a bunch of individual shops. You walk around and barter for a deal, but there is definitely a market for produce on Tuesday. Tuesday is market day.  As for the money for Christmas, I would be honored to do that. Thank Julee and Dedi for me. 

I forgot to tell you last week, but last Saturday was the day my emotions came out. I finished a very intense workout, I walked inside and saw our family picture then out of nowhere I started to cry. I sat down and thought of you guys and how much I love and miss you. Elder Barfuss came right to my side and comforted me. Then Elder Lords, who I came out with, start to cry to and told me he knew what I was feeling. I feel better now. I'm thankful for the support these guys give me.

My next baptism might be on Sunday. I cant believe I'm almost 19. I'm dropping weight like crazy. I look like I did a month after our cruise and its still coming off!  Tell the kids I love them all so much. I love you all a ton and I miss you. I'll write you about my progress this week.

Love, Elder Keddington

I am so incredibly grateful for this wonderful trainer that he has!  He has been so great for Elder K.  I am just so happy that these wonderful young men and women are having these great experiences.  It's unlike anything that they could have dreamed of here and it's so good for them!  We are very very blessed!

Life in Kwabeng

I am learning patience.  It's something I desperately need to work on and always have.  Having to wait until Wednesday this week to hear from my boy gave me another opportunity to exercise that patience.  I imagine it is just about grabbing an internet signal when they can.  This is good for me! 

I asked him to send me some examples of the way the kids there lived so that I could share with my kids how blessed (ahem, spoiled) they are.  The wait was well worth it:

Dear mom,

I have seen some pretty jarring examples of poverty here. For example, showers consist of a big bowl of cold water that the kids sit in and wash themselves. Every kids shoe has a hole in it and they live in concrete shacks with tin roofs. But they are always so full of energy and excitement. For them a piece of bubble gum is like Christmas.

This week is a bit of a slow one, but on Sunday we hope to have another baptism. I confirmed Prince last Sunday, but I messed up on the prayer so they had me do it again after the meeting. I'm losing weight and my belly is almost gone again. I promised the Lord that I would stay humble this time and not gloat about my physique this time.

Tell Seth Happy Birthday for me.  I've got the kids some souvenirs already but I will keep getting them things. Hows everyone?  Tell Hayden Bush I miss him and I will see him in 3.

Mom I love you all soo much and I am doing alright out here.

With all my love, Elder Keddington 

I love how he says things are slow, but they should have another baptism on Sunday!  Sounds like the work is good.  And I love that he promises not to gloat about his physique.  He did tend to do that when he got so skinny before because it was rather unlike our family, but good for him!  Yay for a belt!

I've been wondering what to send him to give to people at Christmas.  I think I will just send a couple of packages stuffed with candy and treats.  I've heard many times that it's so hard to get there and they love it when they get it.  Done and done! 

I'm so proud of this kid!  He makes my heart happy!

Some Answers

I'm starting to wonder if P-day has been moved to Tuesday because 2 weeks in a row now, we've gotten Elder K's email on Tuesday instead of Monday.  Regardless of the day - we are always so glad to hear from him!  Here is today's letter:

Dear Mom, 

 

Life out here is very camping like. My diet consists of mostly ramen, bread, eggs, rice, and chicken. We cook on a gas lit stove because the electricity is unreliable. It goes in and out. Every day there is a thunderstorm. we do our laundry every Monday. A sister from our branch comes and hand-washes all our clothes for 10 cedis. 

 

The church is very nice here. It is actually a very nice building with open hallways and class rooms. The talks are all in Twi, so I can't understand them. Oh well, I still feel the spirit. Sunday was our district conference and President and Sister Hill came. All us elders sang Press forward Saints then a verse in Twi.

 

The confirmation is this Sunday and I will do it. Besides that not much else is going on. 

No one got transferred so I'm with everyone for at least 8 more weeks.

 

Love you Mom soo much and I will find a way to send pictures.

 

Love, Elder Keddington

 

It's nice to finally get more information from him about the way he is living.  I need to figure out how much 10 cedis is in American currency.  My kids are getting off way too easy!  ;)  We sure love this boy!

It came!!

It was a day late, but I was oh so happy to get my email today!  Sounds like he's starting to figure out this whole missionary work thing...

...Last week was a slow start but it ended beautifully. We didn't teach that much. Teaching in the bush is super slow and appointments fall through all the time, but we keep trying. I'm continuing to lose weight, but the big thing that happened this week was my first baptism! His name is Prince.  He plays futbol and is 20 years old. He is really shy, but last Sunday he was baptized by Elder Barfuss. Next week I will confer the Gift of the Holy Ghost. After the baptism itself, he got up and gave a 10 minute testimony about how as soon as he came out of the water, he felt the spirit so strongly. It was an amazing testimony builder.  Our focus now is on a man named Kojo. He is a 50 year old man from Anyinem.

Me and the elders are wonder if there will be changes. Transfers are next Tuesday, but besides that, pretty much the same.  We won't see conference for 3 weeks.

...I love you all So freaking much. Tell all the kids I love them a ton

Love with all my heart,

Elder Keddington

 p.s.  Just be sure you use small parcels and plenty of tape with the package. Elder Barfuss is from Oregon and when we go again he wants to be there

My heart is so happy!  A fun little coincidence - Elder Barfuss is in Jeff and Janet's stake in Oregon.  After getting today's letter and seeing that he is from Oregon, Janet looked up their stake missionaries out of curiosity and sure enough - he was there!  What a small world!  Grateful for the friendship these two have started!

**Still no pictures, so I'm putting up some of the village he's in, Kwabeng:

Kwabeng Chapel

Kwabeng School

The Kwabeng Health Center