Have Joy - But No Fruit

Hello Family members and friends. I love you all so much!

1. There is no good fruit around right now......

2. Spiritual experiences happen when people are prepared (when you know it is true you know when you need to act)

3. When you smile all day you get a lot more done

This past week has been a blast I have a new companion. His name is Elder Muhlauyo (however it is pronounced Mu-Shlaa-ouy-yo) Many people cannot say his name so we end up laughing with all the people that we try and contact. It has been fun still pushing this area forward we have a lot of promising people that really know how and why they need to follow the truth. A few of the people we are working with are facing trials that are keeping them from committing, luckily my companion and I have come to know that when you are worthy of the Spirit it will make you say things that truly change the person. We have had some incredibly powerful lessons because of the Spirit's witness to them. You cannot do this work without the constant aid of the Spirit. The past week I have felt the influence a lot in our lessons! 

So recently we taught someone the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End). During the lesson we compared it to walking up mountains (because my area is nothing but large hills and valleys!) We talked about how the journey of the Gospel can be viewed as climbing a big hill. It takes faith to start, and without the faith to begin you cannot just continue. The steps you take are difficult and full of hardship (repentance) but every step you take is joyous because it means you are closer to reaching the highest point you have ever reached before. Baptism (as compared in the scriptures) we related to a gate you have to pass to reach the top, then as you pass the gate you are blessed to have somone walk beside you (the Holy Ghost) who can be with you as you continually walk to the top (enduing to the end). The lesson was so simple and plain, it felt so natural to talk about so it was a blessing that the Spirit could testify of it so completely. As Preach my Gospel quotes, "the more simple and complete a statement the more chance the Spirit has to testify of truth." 

When we went and followed up in another lesson, they came forward with concerns stopping them from making commitments. They are fully aware of what they must do to follow Jesus Christ and they Believe all that has been testified to them (from Joseph Smith to the Plan of salvation) but to act has its challenges. While talking we again related it to the hill we had talked about the lesson before. We discussed how as Christ declared, we must all pick up the cross and walk with him. This lesson was hard to talk about. We shared with her the the journey we are on is not without challenge or burden. Instead we are commanded to take up our burdens and push forward anyway. The cross we have to carry up the hill is our personal witness to God that we are willing to follow him and His Only Begotten Son. We talked about their challenge and concern and showed how, though my companion and I love them and do not want them to suffer, they have been asked to push forward (not by us, but by God) and get to the top. The Spirit was so palpable i could have cut it with a knife. We also Promised them that as they pushed forward their burden would be made light (not taken away) because of the Love of the Savior.

I learned a lot in that lesson for myself. Even as we go forward in this life a lot happens but instead of seeing it as a burden we have to view it as another chance to prove to both God and Jesus Christ that there is nothing that can stop us following and serving them. The walk up this hill is a long one, full of gullies and bumps but it is all worth it if we can reach the top. Making it is part of the fun, as we know "Adam fell that men might be, and Men are that they MIGHT HAVE JOY" (emphasis added)

love you all

Coconuts Instead of Mangoes and Say Your Prayers!

People of Earth! It is good to once again talk with you.

1. Fresh Coconuts nearly make up for no mangoes (nearly)

2. Fresh coconuts are so much better then store bought

3. When you invite everyone to come to Church and a fraction show up, it lets you see the miracle of even one investigator coming to Church

This week has been normal, to say the least. We have been busy with a lot of things and many exchanges but no giant things seem to have unfolded this past week. I am not sure if that is good or bad. I have realized that on my mission I have been waiting for the picture perfect (Golden Investigator) baptism. I can now say with a lot of confidence that those stories are rare. 

Being in Ghana, Baptisms are common; however, throughout my mission I have seen so many great and wonderful people struggle with singularities and personal obstacles that stand in their way. While they seem to be so prepared to enter into baptism, there is always something that seems to be getting in the way of them making the full commitment. However, this seems to be more of a blessing then a curse. 

I have decided to look at these singularities as God's way of trying them. No person we meet is perfect, all must be prepared. We all know one of the ways that God likes to prepare his children is by testing them. To prepare many for their first covenant many going through a trial of faith. It takes the missionaries, God, and even Satan to see that this person is ready to follow God at all times.

As we give up our natural man we are testifying to God that we are going to give our all to him. Giving up our personal desire for a greater one and being willing to follow the Father, is hard but possible and it is what God requires of all of his children if they wish to inherit all that the father possesses. 

My Mother mentioned prayer in a recent talk that she gave. I wanted to mention it here. To pray with real intent is what makes the difference in my mind. As Moroni 10 3-5 states when we pray with real intent and a pure heart that is when we get a manifestation of our answer. A story was given in a recent Liahona that talked about a little girl praying that her brother's bird trap would not catch anything. When her father heard her prayer he was worried because he had made the trap and he assumed that it would be successful in catching something. When he talked to the daughter about the possibility of the trap catching something, she proudly proclaimed that it would not. The father tried to help her understand that it very likely would catch something but she declared with unwearyingness that it would not. Finally the father broke down and asked how she could have so much faith. the Girl replied that she knew the trap would not work because she had already gone out and broken it to pieces!. I loved reading this story. It shows so much more then a common amount of faith. Faith without works is dead. When you pray you better be ready to do something about it. If you don't who knows maybe you're the reason it will go unanswered.

Love you all 

Elder Edison