A Really Late Baptism

Well Hello Everyone,

MIss you guys so much. This week has been eventful to say the least. But, first I wish to talk about something very important. This past week my companion and I had a Baptism.  We actually were going to baptize the Bishop's daughter because they had not done it for her when she turned eight. We have been working with her to teach her and prepare her for many weeks now.  This was supposed to be a normal, uneventful (events being bad) Baptism. However, it seems as things were not communicated well and the baptism went forward over two hours later then when it was supposed to happen. UGH!  I can't stand being late. At first I was very frustrated and annoyed and to be honest, I still am. But as things played out I just remembered that our timing is not God's.  I am sure that he wouldn't have minded if the baptism had happened as planned, two hours earlier than it actually started. Yet he looks at our hearts, though we make mistakes, though we get frustrated, God has a view of an eternal plan and the two hours of waiting probably didn't matter too much to Him.

God is not a person like us, time is not the same for Him. When we do our best and we have every intention of moving forward with His plan he knows it and understands. There may be roadblocks or distractions but in the end if we are really trying to follow with the best of our ability then He will not hold us responsible. Only when we delay our own salvation does He hold us accountable. But when we push and try we complete what we can, God will do the rest for us. 

We all must keep pushing in our own paths making sure to meet the goals that God has placed in front of us, His aim comes first and ours second. We complete our duty to Him and He will assist us in our righteous endevours. 

This past week has been insane, my companion and I have been finding new people and really helping them through lessons. Our mission changed the weekly baptism goal to 47 for a mission so we have to up our game immensely. It has already proven difficult, but we continue to try to lift our vision and grow. Wish us luck and better yet, pray that people will be willing to learn; not just in Africa but all over the world.

Love you all,

Elder Edison

Missed Meals - Rough Days

Hey people, I hope you are all doing well. As you probably know, I am with a new companion. It has proven to be very different being with a Nigerian rather then another American. The situation is different but the work is the same and all the promises still apply, so all the work I will do will never be wasted while I act in real faith.

My area is doing fine but there are a lot of things that have not gone too well this week. For example, free meals are rare in Africa and when you get one you have to prepare for them by not eating because fufu only sits in your gut and makes you feel sick if you have eaten too much that day. Seriously, it never moves. We had two planned meals this week and both fell through but my companion and I had not eaten that day in order to prepare ourselves and we ended up having really long and hungry days because of it.

Not much happened this week.... I feel as if Ghana has just become normal and all the things I would normally write about seem boring and lame......welll sorry about that, hopefully this coming week gives some awesome ideas.

I love you all and I know that god is on your side now are forever; never lose the trust that He puts in you. You are his children and never allow yourself to be distracted from such things. From now to the end of time God will love you.

Thank you for your emails and prayers.  Monday means everything to me!

Elder Edison

Count Your Many Blessings

Well Hi there folks. Ma ho te sen? 

Yes, that is Twi *pronounced tree* so enjoy trying to understand what the message means. I miss you all so much. It is so amazing to be able to talk to you all from Ghana. I miss being able to talk to you all face to face but I guess that I will have to be patient on that one.

So today I wanted to talk about blessings. Now this is a common topic but I have had a very nice experience this week focused on blessings. It all started with a very bad day. I cannot go into what happened exactly but there were moments in this day that my companion and I were the focus of many peoples' hatred (not because we did anything wrong or hurt anyone, just because weird situations materialized and it looked as if we were the cause of some negative things happening) as a result of all of this anger, we were left feeling very bad and rather discouraged. Of course, we are here offering the best message we have to offer to anyone who will listen.  Sometimes circumstances of peoples' poverty and life situations, get in the way of their understanding of the gospel and our message.

Yet as we went to our apartment for a companionship study we decided that instead of focusing on the normal set up for the study that day, we would do something different. The idea came to us when we sang a hymn (Count Your Blessings), we decided that we would list the blessings that we had received throughout the day. Together we mapped out a few of the brights spots of the day and more began to pop up. 

After this pleasant moment in our apartment, I am trying to put this idea into practice as we talk to people on the streets.  I ask people, even random people, how they have seen God bless them that day.  It has really helped me see what I get from my Heavenly Father each day. I am sure I miss things but I am trying to pay attention to every good thing that comes into my path and into my heart and into my day. 

I would ask you all to actually sit down with your families or alone and have this as a family home evening. It opened my eyes and helped me understand that my problem that day was not as large as I thought it was. I saw God was still there and I now know that even in challenges he strengthens you in other ways.

I love you all Keep moving forward.

"Be safe if you can be but always be amazing" -Clara Oswald

Elder Edison

PHOTOS FROM FOURTH OF JULY

A homemade grill especially for the Fourth of July!  Great companions and great food make for a great celebration.

Popping the cork on some sparkling soda!

The fire watcher!

Edison's companion is all smiles about his delicious dinner.

These guys made Edison's Fourth the very best!

A pretty great team enjoying the fruits of their labors after a great cook out!

Love this photo of the grill - these guys know how to have a great time despite circumstances and limitations of their surroundings.  These friends made the day great for each other.

FROM EDISON - An Awesome 4th of July!

Well Hello people of the world. This week I do not have too much time as it seems to happen often. I just wanted to send the pictures (My mom will forward the photos) and a small note.  District Leader paper work takes forever and that seems to occupy lots of my time these days.

My companions and I did manage to have an awesome 4th of July celebration. That is what the photos are focused on. The area is our "backyard" and the grill we are cooking on is a homemade creation that we came up with to enjoy some different food for a change. We all contributed and bought lots of meat for the occasion.  "Hot dog" type things and skewers with various types of Ghanaian food.  It was pretty good but it won't compare to the menus you all enjoyed so don't even tell me what you ate......we had a good time and relaxed for a while celebrating America's birthday.

I have now lost almost 25 pounds since my departure last September.  That's not good and I wish it were different but we walk everywhere and the food we are offered is often stuff that we cannot eat because it is perhaps not cooked correctly.  I have not been sick too much so I don't want to take the risk.  We are grateful for the food offered but we have to protect ourselves so the work can move on.

We have found several new people this week who want to hear more about the gospel. They seem prepared to learn and that is rare in Telecom 2.

I just want to let you all know that God has a plan for everything, for example this week I had many meetings and conferences that took me out of the area in which I work. During this time no work could take place because no one was there to go visiting.  Yet with the end of our week my companion and I saw miracles in many people's lives and were even able to exceed some of the weekly goals that we had set. Now God has a hand in how your time is used, when you are following Him, He will give you the time or the resources needed to do what he would have you do. God does not leave those who faithfully follow him in every step.

I love you all so much, I miss food and all that is American but Ghana has it's nice things......like...... sun lots of sun..............yeah, yep, sure. Well I love you all talk soon.

Love, Elder Edison

So Much Paper Work For A District Leader

So I do not have enough time this week. I had to do a lot of paper work for people in my district.  This District Leader calling brings with it quite a bit of busy work but it is necessary. I am learning that the church is all about records and record keeping.  Sorry but this letter may be a little fast but it comes to everyone with lots of love and gratitude for my birthday cards that came from all over.  I am so grateful.  There are not too many moments when the elders out here can feel very close to home so those cards were so important to me. Thank you for thinking of me.  I really appreciate it and they make my desk look happy.

This week I have had my mind blown by the intense power of God and His love for us. I have come to realize that I have been praying wrong my whole life. I have seen that most of the time I have indirectly been asking for things to be solved for me. I didn't mean to be running from my problems and I wasn't trying to get out of trials but I always just asked for them to go away without giving much thought for what my part was in those trials or troubles. This is not how it should be, just as the Brother of Jared we must make sure that our prayers are not asking God to fix everything but to ask for the power to do it ourselves. 

I should have known this and paid attention to it much earlier.  My brother and I have always loved Power Rangers and our "sign off" to each other is always "May The Power Protect You".  I recognize now that the Power comes from our Heavenly Father but I have to put that power into action and do something on my own without just assuming He will come to my rescue without my own efforts. 

Too often we ask for problems to go away or ask for assistance in things rather then asking for the knolwedge or power to do it ourselves. We must make sure to put our best foot forward to ensure that we allow ourselves to grow. That is why God puts trials in our way, not so that He will solve them but that we will grow above them. Every challenge and trial is supposed to test us as individuals, it is not something that will ever just disappear.

I have begun to see that instead of asking for things to be solved I have decided that it would be better to ask for the knowledge to grow beyond what I face. I never imagined facing the trials and issues that are here in Ghana. Everyday brings new difficulties and challenges but they aren't impossible to handle.  For instance, it is not always easy to find ways to bring the missionaries together in this place.  I don't know if it is culture or poverty or just differences in attitude.  I have tried hard these last few weeks to bind the missionaries in my apartment together and didn't have much success.  But, with lots of prayer and some creativity, this week I discovered that gathering all of them in the evening after our studies and prayers, they were all interested in martial arts so we have a exercise/martial arts session each night and I am able to use my skills to bring all of us together working/laughing/exercising and growing together.  It is helping. I will keep trying.

I love you all and am so grateful for all you do for me. Especially the prayers.

have a great week praying for inspiration in all things -

Elder Edison