First Ghana Thanksgiving!

The Elders of Dunkwa gathered for Thanksgiving Dinner - two chickens (a real treat as meat is super expensive here) and all the trimmings! Look at those smiles!

The happy Thanksgiving Chickens.....he will never forget this meal.

From above, the feast looks impressive and it makes me happy to see watermelon on the table - Edison's favorite fruit so he might not die of malaria.

Letter 11: Lifting A Car!

So this week has been crazy!!!  (I  know I say that every week but this Ghana life is beyond anything I imagined - something new every day and an adventure every minute). Before i go into what I really want to share today I need you all to know a few things. For one, I have come to the realization that I live in a minecraft world...... Yes that is right a minecraft world. It is a perfect comparison:  the land, the layout, and even the houses are all similar to minecraft houses and cities!!! Me and my companion came to this conclusion some time ago I just forgot to tell you all, but now you know that I live in the world of Minecraft, so that is good. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, everything is made of building blocks and looks very choppy and pretend.  Dunkwa is similar to this because everyone builds their homes, stores and other buildings with materials they find laying around.  So everything looks very pretend, very clumsily put together and very much like building blocks.

Best story ever:  Last Monday after I got finished emailing and finished my proselyting for the day, we started walking home. On the way, we saw a car drive into a huge gutter ( There are giant gutters that line the sides of the road - often people park their bikes in these gutters because it makes them harder to steal - the gutters are probably four feet deep). We, and a few other guys (there were a lot of us) picked up the car and pushed it out of the gutter!!! It was so cool!!! It was my super hero moment for the week! Okay, well those were just some cool moments and ideas I wanted to share.

I didn't have something prepared to write about which wasn't smart.... Hopefully I can say something inspiring.

I want to concentrate on 1 Nephi 7 and 8 ( you can find this online if you don't have a Book Of Mormon) It talks about how Lehi returned to his house after receiving a vision (I suggest reading those verses and their footnotes). He returned home and cast himself on his bed because he was overpowered by what he had been shown but as he rested he was again shown another vision. I want to talk about how this relates to homes. If His home had not been a place where the Spirit of the Lord could dwell, he couldn't have received more, he would have been left with what he had already seen. It was only because his house was clean and invited the spirit that he could have received more. We must strive to have a home where the Spirit can be, if it is not the environment where that could happen how can we expect to feel anything in our homes. We have to keep it prepared to feel the Spirit. Now I am not saying it has to be a perfect house, at my home there were still arguments and disagreements, but love was always there (even when it didn't seem like it was). We don't have to be perfect just make sure that your home is a place the Spirit can be if you will let it.  

I miss you all so much, and love hearing from all of you.

-Elder Butters 

Photos From Stormy Cape Coast

The local pastor had a good thing to say!

Too much fufu for any one person to eat but these missionaries ate and ate and ate just to be polite! They were filled to brim and then had another appointment and were fed again....thankfully they understood when Elder Butters and Elder Stephens couldn't clean their plates.  And, yes, that is ONE serving of fufu for these boys....

The marketplace outside the apartment.

Getting ready to head into town and taking photos of that storm that is coming in behind them.

Letter Ten from Dunkwa

FROM ELDER EDISON:

This week is insane I have been non-stop busy so I have been able to do very little study, I hope that changes but i do have a message to send this week that I thought about yesterday.

In the hymn "if the Savior stood beside me" there is a line that talks about if we would change if we could see the Savior standing by us. I want to concentrate on the part "if we could only see" (or something like that). It implies that the Savior is standing by us! He is there to guide us, lead us, and Love us. It seems strange that this is the truth but it is. I want to cross reference it with the Scripture verse "when ye are in service of the least of these my brethren , ye are only in the service of your God". The people around us are those that learn from us. They are the ones who can teach us, lead us and show us Gods love. When we take this into consideration what does that really mean when we are walking around school, a park, or just with friends. We may always think of it as we are constantly being judged but I like to look at it a different way: we are being given the opportunity to let others feel closer to God in all we do. Every action we take brings others closer or further from the path they need to be on. We must understand our role in God's plan. We are important and we are essential, you can never forget that. We each have something we need to do, so be brave and make someone else smile. But remember you cannot give what you don't have. I love you all. I hope this letter makes sense. I know a lot of what I type isn't what is in a usual email from a missionary but I really do hope you can get something from this.

Life is hard at times but remember no matter how hard it gets, you are a child of God, nothing is hard enough to keep you down if you want to stand. So do not decide to let life hit you down, don't let life be in charge. Get up and hit life in the face!!! You are stronger than you could ever know. No matter what anyone tells you be ready for life, your value is not based on what others see. It is not even based on what you see. God Loves you, someone who is perfect, someone who is greater than any on Earth right now has decided that you are worth loving. Never forget that. You are loved by God

Yesterday we went to a members house for a meeting. They told us they wanted to prepare food, which was fine the only issue was when we finally got there she hadn't started preparing the food. This was an issue because we had a full day planned. We ended up having to cancel a few appointments and re-scheduled some because it is seen to be rude to deny a meal. After three hours the food was ready. It was the largest amount of FUFU I had ever seen!!! I about died. I think a picture will come with it this week. It was way too much but we had to finish. It took us close to an hour with both of us rushing it. When we finally got out we had one last appointment scheduled with more members!!! They prepared us more food. I nearly threw it all up twice and ended up not being able to finish but they understood. I swear it was one of the hardest things I have had to do my entire mission.

Do your best this week and I will do my best here in Dunkwa.  Happy Thanksgiving!  I will be using mashed potato mix sent to me by my grandparents and cooking two chickens for the special day.  The four missionaries in my District will eat together and I will share my precious mashed potatoes with them.  Another hard thing to do on my mission...ha ha!

Love, Elder Butters

Photos from Week Nine

The market after closing time - sometimes they teach sitting at these tables.

The Plan of Salvation by Elder Stephens and Elder Butters

This lady is especially kind to the boys and treats them so very good -

I am grateful that Elder Stephens is side by side with Edison in these early weeks of life in Ghana.

Week Nine! - Swollen Ankles

In 3 Nephi 18:31 and John 10:14 it talks about how Jesus Christ knows and has numbered his sheep. This is a very important line: He has and never will forget you. You are never and have never been alone. At times we may feel forgotten. In the Garden of Gethsemane (don't know how to spell it.) The Savior himself asked why God had left him, he had to go through what he did alone, that was the trial he had to pass. As long as we strive to be by Him He can have a place with us.

When we stray too far from the path it may seem impossible to get back. But we have been told that the Shepherd would leave his nighty nine other sheep to ensure the safety of the one. We can know that we can return.

This has been something that has been very hard for me to accept, it is so easy to say that we are not important enough for a miracle, that we can be passed over. These are lies, don't listen. You matter. In the sight of the Lord why wouldn't He try to save you. You are worth more to Him then anything else.  I have struggled to come to terms with this myself. I can't always see why I would matter, there is no way that i hold an important part in his plan. This kind of thinking leads to many unwanted and scary situations. Don't let them stop you. You are important, you are a child of God. You are not and never will be someone that gets passed by the Lord. You are the one that he would leave the others to go and find. You are the one that will not be forgotten. I wish I was there to tell this to each one of you. I wish i could show you the love God and Jesus Christ hold for you. I know without a shadow of a doubt that they do and it will never change.

Remember if I can see your importance from Ghana and without being able to see you as God sees you imagine what they can see. Imagine the power they see you hold. You are the person they need you to be. So remember that you are not forgotten. If you ever feel like you have been, pray and see what the feeling is like. Ask for comfort and pray to feel his love. And listen.

This week has been crazy with lots of new people wanting to talk and many people willing to listen. I cannot wait to see How this area really grows in my time here. It is incredible to see what has already happened.

This Tuesday i noticed that my ankles were incredibly swollen (like four times the size they should be) I finally called it in to the mission home nurse and they said it happens when you walk as much as I have been. I now have to sleep each night with my feet elevated to get the swelling down. It is not fun at all. I hope you are all doing well. I miss you and Love each and everyone of you. Keep working hard

Love, Elder Butters

Photos from A Week of Zone Conference and Illness

Meetings for zone conference at the mission home - this provided for lots of socializing with other missionaries and lots of food options.

Love that smile that belongs to me!  He looks surprisingly terrific considering he was super sick all week and had a fever of 102!  He smiled through it all and managed to survive the bus ride over bumpy roads for four hours both ways to and from the meetings.

He is on the left side of the photo peeking out from behind two elders.

The Praso Zone - front row left side of photograph.

Love this kid of mine - the missionary next to him seems to be a perfect match for Edison!

Random backyard wildlife.

Elder Nash was visiting for the Conference and I think this is the only photo that you can tell Edison is not feeling very great on this day.  My poor boy - chin up!!

Letter Eight - First Sickness and It Was a Biggy!

Hey guys I hope you are all doing well, it is another week and I have more to talk about!!!

 There Was a talk given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf this past general conference (i was able to ready it thanks to it being sent from America). It talks about three sisters and how each and everyone looks at life a little differently. It stood out to me because of the accuracy of the depiction. for the sad, she id described as feeling like the victim. She believes that she is only acted upon and cannot act for herself in a way. The second sister is angry at the wold, she blames the trends and people in it for all her problems. The third sister looks at the world glad to be alive, and doesn't care what others say.

These are all parts of us, first i want to concentrate on the victim. When you believe you are the victim you allow others to take choices and you remove possibilities from yourself.  The only person that is hurting you is you. When you say you have never had control because others take it from you (for some things it is possible but not for all) you need to realize that you always have a choice, you can choose to sit down and take it, OR you can Stand up look them in the eyes and prove you and not a punching bag.

When you are angry at everyone else (it is easier to blame the world rather then yourself). It is simple to think that when someone disagrees all they are thinking of is the worst for us. We cannot think of it this way, if we continue down this path we won't like the outcome. When others are better or have different ideas, listen learn (even if you just learn more about their desires). Do not be angry for not being the best only be frustrated when you realize that you only gave 99 instead of your full 100. Each day we need to be able to look back and say we gave our 100 (not the 100 of the person next to us or our siblings 100 but our own). 

Be glad, if life hits you down, why show it that you can be played with. Stand up and hit it back; put a smile on your face and gleam in your eye and keep going. Nothing can hurt life more then you taking a punch and not being effected. Now i am not saying there are not hard times, times when we all drop into a bawl in pain. There are times like that. But remember those times only end when we decided to get up and keep walking forward through life. 

I am always here to help if you need it.

SO this week has been crazy, on Tuesday i woke up with a fever of one hundred and two!!! That was a lot of fun. It took me out for a few days which wasn't the best. But getting back to my area (I was at a Zone conference) took four hours on a very very very bumpy road. It was not fun. SO this week I have not been able to do much. I am sorry that this is my only story. Hopefully more will come.

Love you all

Talk soon

-Elder Butters