"As I stood watching everyone gather, singing the final verse, I began to tear up a little....I was so happy to see this unity, the entire branch gathering for a baptism. I was also so happy for Christina. It hit me then that this is what mission is about--- bringing souls unto Christ, and rejoicing together in His gospel."

Dear Family and Friends,

     Christina was baptized this Saturday. She is so powerful.  She was a referral from a member, Sis. Woode. Christina is her daughter, recently returned from Nigeria. When we first started teaching, she was shy and a little unanimated. But as soon as she came to church, that all changed. She saw the truth and felt the Spirit immediately. Ever since then, she has given us time to see her everyday---and she has worked really hard to learn everything. So I know church attendance is very important for every investigator, especially in Ghana.

     We had such a powerful baptismal service. Christina was the first person to be baptized in the new font at the new Ntranoa building (we're just waiting for furnishings now). I was a little worried about having members at the service in light of Linda's baptism back in December. But the last few days, Elder James and I visited every member of the branch personally to invite them and gave some of them assignments for the program.

     As we waited inside for the font to fill, the few of us present sung some hymns. As we sang all 7 verses of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief", there was such a sweet spirit as all the members began to show up. I got up to stand in the back because we ran out of chairs. As I stood watching everyone gather, singing the final verse, I began to tear up a little. The final verse is really cool, go read it. I was so happy to see this unity, the entire branch gathering for a baptism. I was also so happy for Christina. It hit me then that this is what mission is about--- bringing souls unto Christ, and rejoicing together in his gospel.

     There was such a peaceful spirit there for the whole meeting. I was so pleased to see the support of the members. They gave talks and said prayers; everyone played their part so smoothly. We recently taught Linda to pray in Brofo(English), so she said the closing prayer. So proud of her. Bro. Myers was holding Jojo, Linda's baby boy. Afterwards, everyone congratulated Christina; Sis. Myers gave her a huge bear hug. Our other investigator, G., was there, and Maame walked away with him afterwards talking his ear off, being a missionary. Just so much UNITY. Having the new building here, with a font, just got everyone so jazzed and motivated. Branch President Thompson made a goal of 50 convert baptisms by the end of 2013. I think the branch is ready to give it their all. It's a high goal, but not impossible. The members here have been waiting for their own building for years; they're ready to convert the place, haha.

     Christina was very happy to be baptized by Elder James. She's quiet, reserved, and doesn't smile much, but I could tell she was pleased. We visited her and Sis. Woode that evening and she couldn't say 'thank you' enough. She said she was surprised to see so many people there, I think that will really help her integrate into the branch. Sis. Woode was so excited all day, she called us ten times throughout, haha.

     Christina apparently thought G. would be baptized with her, and she was actually concerned for him when he wasn't. She feels how important  this gospel is, and she wants him to feel it too.

     And that brings us to G. We found out on Tuesday that he's started drinking again. He told us it was in his past when we taught Word of Wisdom, but he told us on Tuesday he had it again, and he gave no clear reason when we asked. The problem is, he didn't show any remorse for knowingly breaking God's commandments, he just felt sorry for doing something his white friends told him not to. He even said he asked God for forgiveness with the drink in his hand, then downed it. So he doesn't understand repentance either, like we thought he did. We have no idea how much he really understands, and he just sees us as his 'white brothers'. So we're going to lean on the members a lot from now on with him. We're not giving up.

     This entire week had me down, mostly because of G.’s relapse, but we also ran out of people to teach because nobody would keep commitments. This week was hot, slow, and hard to bear. But  the weekend made up for every minute of that.

     We had a miracle at church this week, too. We were only expecting one investigator. We had 5. And we're still at the Elmina building! I was amazed. As each one showed up I was just so happy to see them. A few came before meeting started and 3 came during the meeting. One girl was a 13 year old.  We told her she had to come to church if we were going to continue teaching her. That was weeks ago. Finally she showed up out of the blue---wearing blue, actually now that I think of it--- all alone. But she loved it. After sacrament was passed, Elder James nudged me, "Felix is here." He pointed to the right and I didn't see him so I looked to the left and saw another sitting at the back. "Dude, so is Appiah," I said. Haha we just looked at each other all wide eyed and split up to go sit with them. Even Sis. Salasi showed up today with her son, Prince! I was honestly flabbergasted to see her walk in, but I was ecstatic. We had tried everything in the past to re-activate her with no success. Mom, I don't know what you wrote in that letter with the package, but it must have worked! She hasn't been to church in 2 years.

     I had the privilege of confirming for the first time. Christina sat in front of the congregation and I performed the ordinance and gave her a blessing, with a member of the branch standing in. I was a little nervous, but it turned out well. I was really excited that some investigators got to witness that.

     It was funny, in Priesthood, we were talking about the branch goal of 50 converts and how we can accomplish it. And our investigator Appiah started pitching in ideas to bring more people---and he's a youth leader in another church! Ha ha, it was only his first time with us, too. Little does he know, he's a part of that number himself. I was praying that he would feel the Spirit all meeting, he's a really smart guy. He would be a powerful member.

     I really do not want to leave this area right now. Transfer news is at the end of this week. Elder James and I feel like we'll both be staying, though. I know that when I do leave this area, I will really miss it. I've gotten to know the members so well, and we've gained their absolute trust as missionaries. Not to mention, leaving my converts. There is a special connection between a convert and a missionary.

     Dad, thanks for the pictures! Mom, I hadn't heard about the Accra mission. News travels really slow here... Thanks for the recipe, I'll try it soon. I made mashed potatoes from scratch the other night and it was awesome. I really didn't know what I was doing and Elder Carstens was giving me guff because I'm from Idaho. But I showed him!  They were super good! Oh and I made unhealthy, oily french fries again. Love you Mom! :)

And I love everyone else, too.

Elder Clinton Doggett

"So the last two weeks, Elder James and I have been waking up from this stupid toad croaking just beneath our window all night. This week, we decided to declare a jihad on the thing and catch it."

Dear Family and Friends,

     Our meetinghouse will be finished in 3 days. Pumped. The work really has slowed down as we are waiting for that roadblock to be removed.

      Mom, I got your package this week to Sister Salasi. She was a little shocked when I handed it so her. We visited a few days later to ask how she liked it, she got all giggly. I could tell she really appreciated it. It's easy to tell when Ghanaians are really happy :) I hope the testimony you wrote to her helps in some way!

      So the last two weeks, Elder James and I have been waking up from this stupid toad croaking just beneath our window all night. This week, we decided to declare a jihad on the thing and catch it. So we did. We pulled off this huge cement drain cover under the window, and there was this fat, ugly toad chilling there. So we used some buckets to wash him into the gutter, and lure him into the bucket. We took some pictures and poked him with a stick a bit, then threw him out far from the window. We didn't feel like killing him, but we vowed to put him to death by stoning if he returned. So far, all is well...

     We also found out we can get on top of our flat recently. You can just follow the stairs all the way up and the doors are open at the top. We've been going up there to watch the lightning when storms roll through. The lightning storms here are really intense, the sad part is they blow through in like 40 minutes. I miss storms in the States where the rain hangs around all day. Here, it will rain, the storm blows through, and the sun comes out to steam everything up like a rice cooker.

      The highlight of this week was the meeting with Elder Cook. He was actually coming through just to see the slave castle, but President Shulz invited him to speak and he accepted. So it was pretty impromptu, he didn't really have a script. Which was awesome, because you could see that he was a real person. He talked about his thoughts going through the castle. It reminded him of the Great Awakening going on in the US when the church was brought forth. As all these Reformers were doing their work, Jospeh Smith had the first vision. Then only three years after the church was organized, in 1833, Wilberforce passed legislation in Parliament to abolish slavery. He bore his testimony about the truthfulness of the Restoration, how it seriously came about in the perfect time in this world, which had been prepared by the Lord. I would have never connected that from seeing the castle. To me, it just shows that you can connect anything in this world to the Gospel, and somehow Apostles can do that. That's just how they're minds work, I guess.

     Elder Cook was a huge part of writing PMG (Preach My Gospel) so he had some killer insights on how to use it and such. But one of the things he said really stuck out to me about missionary work: He said, 'I see you all as branch builders, to help in any way you can. Converting people is only a part of your work.' That's something our mission really needed to hear. Honestly, a lot of guys get obsessed with numbers in this mission. It's a baptizing mission, and Africa is the fastest growing area in the church right now. Sometimes our leaders get pressured to produce numbers, numbers, numbers. But Elder Cook reminded us all that it's not like that. These people are living souls. They're real people. They're not numbers. Getting a baptism is about a person and his or her commitment to follow Jesus Christ, it is NOT a trophy to wave in front of people. Elder James and I have been trying to be very conscious of that.

     At the end, he gave our mission an Apostolic blessing. It was really cool. He blessed us with strength and courage to press forward in the work. He blessed us that we may open our mouths and our tongues will be loosed to proclaim the everlasting gospel. Then, he gave us a specific blessing. He promised us that sometime in our lives, we will see the blessing of serving our missions--- in ourselves, in our children, in our future spouses, in church callings, and in the lives of those people we teach and bring to the gospel. That was really comforting to me, because it's a blessing. From an Apostle! If I can continue to live worthily and diligently, I WILL see that blessing in my life.

     Ha,ha, something else was kinda funny he said. Elder Cook and Elder Holland served in the same mission in London in like 1962, they were even companions toward the end of their missions. So I guess they're like best friends. Elder Cook was telling us he was making fun of Elder Holland for something he said on one of our missionary training videos. Elder Holland said, 'When one of your investigators doesn't read from the Book of Mormon the assignment you gave them, be DEVASTATED!' When Elder Cook visited some pacific islander missionaries, they asked him about that [after watching the video]. The only thing they knew about devastation was from like hurricanes and stuff, so they thought that he wanted them to wreck the room and go crazy or something. So Elder Cook told Elder Holland he should have said 'disappointed' or something. But what was funny is that every time Elder Cook mentioned Elder Holland, he called him 'Jeff'. Ha ha, it just made me laugh to think of all the members of the 12 being on a first-name basis.

Cook: 'Hey Jeff, way to go on that training video!'

Holland: 'Quentin, I don't find your sarcasm amusing.'

     

     Hahahaha I have too much fun. Anyhow, all is well down here in the heat and stuff. 

Love and junk,

Elder Clinton Doggett"

"Elder Curtis also gave a commentary on the 'eye of faith' mentioned in Alma 32. He explained that 'looking forward with an eye of faith' is to look at people and situations as they COULD be....  I guess when you look at people like this, you are seeing a person who is still yet to be. You have to look forward with an eye of faith, trusting that through the Lord's will, and influence of the Holy Ghost, people can change for the better." 

Abura and Cape Coast Zones 

Elder  James, Elder Doggett

"Dear Family and Friends,

     This week has been pretty promising. We have 2 investigators progressing very fast, and the building should be finished in two weeks. 

     Meanwhile, we've been cooking up a storm.  I'm having a blast.  I got your last envelope this week, thanks a ton for the dictionary! I need to hold on to me English roots, Ghana has a way of making you... furgete eenglishe.  Also, the Chex mix made it okay, just a little smashed. I'll have to eat it with a spoon. Oh, you should send more tootsie rolls, they held up fine, and they're amazing. 

     The pictures you send in that envelope about made me die! Sam got married??? Holy smokes, you have to keep sending me the wedding announcements and invitations of people I know when you get them. Also, the picture of Zach and Tyson at Zach's farewell killed me. Tyson and his lame goatee, ha, ha. That guy still hasn't written me back. But thank you, the pictures are great.

     Recently, we've gotten pretty close to the members here, and we found out some cool stuff. Two guys, Brother Myers and Brother Ampiah, were some of the first members in Ghana, or as they say, 'Black Africa'. They were part of this preacher's congregation back in the 70s, his name was Patriarch Johnson. Apparently he went to the USA, found the Book of Mormon, and brought it back. He baptized his entire congregation the right way, by immersion. They tried to follow the teachings the best they could. Then, when missionaries finally came, they taught them about authority, and everyone was baptized again, and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. Some of these guys down here are pioneers, seriously. Brother Myers cracks me up, the guy has to be like 65 years old but he acts like a teenager. Most Africans have a pretty good sense of humour, and these guys are ridiculous. But, they do know there is a time and a place. 

     So the meeting on Wednesday was really uplifting. President Shulz and his wife spoke, and so did Elder Curtis and his wife. We met for about 4 hours. Elder Curtis is a powerful man. A few things he talked about stuck out to me. First, he was talking about filling the shoes of your calling. He related a story about him being called as the bishop of his ward. He said, 'You know how sometimes the Spirit just whispers to you that you need to be better? I think sometimes the Lord gives you a calling to tell you that you need to be just a little bit better.' He talked about how even being a Seventy, he gets the feeling he should try harder. I was thinking back, on how I felt about being a missionary before I came and stuff. I felt that same way, I felt that I couldn't live up to it or something. But you just learn as you go. I definitely agree, the Lord gives you callings to shape you up, and make you better than you were before--- only if you let Him. 

     Elder Curtis also gave a commentary on the 'eye of faith' mentioned in Alma 32. He explained that 'looking forward with an eye of faith' is to look at people and situations as they COULD be. Look at situations asking, 'What is the Lord's eternal purpose for this?' And try to imagine people how they could become. It reminded me of President Monson's talk this last October, 'See Others as They May Become'. There was a missionary who had great success, and one of the general authorities asked him how he did it. He said that he pictured everyone he met in a better situation--- clean shaven, standing in white clothes in the temple. I guess when you look at people like this, you are seeing a person who is still yet to be. You have to look forward with an eye of faith, trusting that through the Lord's will, and influence of the Holy Ghost, people can change for the better. I think it's a powerful tactic, I'm going to try and employ it more in the future.

     So, last time I said that we wouldn't be meeting with Elder Cook. Psych! Apparently, since he is down here, he will be doing all that he can while he's in Ghana. He's meeting with bishops and stake presidents, and touring all three missions. We will have a meeting with him on Wednesday. Elder James suggested that we go to the meeting fasting. I think that's a good plan, you don't get to meet an apostle every day. I'm really excited, I got a lot of good insight from Elder Curtis, so I'm expecting more from Elder Cook.

     Now I want to talk a little bit about our investigator, G. We met him back in December, and it's been okay. When you teach a lesson with G., it's kinda more like a wrestling match. You're wrestling for him to keep focus on the subject, mostly. Since we are white guys, he likes to show off his vocabulary and try to say everything a different way. He just doesn't understand that it's so much easier for us to get straight, simple answers. He's been to Europe a lot, and so he loves use huge English words, that he sometimes doesn't even know the meaning of. But that's not the most interesting part. Something about G. is a little... off. It's hard to explain.  Some few weeks ago, we had an absolutely terrible lesson with G. He wouldn't listen to a thing we said. Whenever we started talking, his eyes just glossed over and his mind disappeared. Then when he started talking or trying to answer our questions, he went extremely off topic and talked for 20 minutes. We had a member with us, and he tried to help out, but to no avail. We were teaching repentance, which is one of the most important lessons. After giving a small example of stealing a pen, Elder James said, 'Ok, so if Elder Dogget repents of stealing the pen, and returns it to me, then immediately goes out and kills a man on the street, will he be forgiven? Is that good?' G. just smiled and nodded, and said, 'Yeah, yeah that's good.' Elder James said, 'If Elder Doggett kills a man, its ok?' G. said, 'Yes.' So his mind was absolutely gone. We asked the member if he noticed anything, he said, 'yeah, I think he's been drinking or something.' So we decided to ask more about G., because he grew up here. We ended up asking President Thompson's wife if she knew anything about him. And, to our surprise, she knows him pretty well. To make a long story shorter, this is what happened: G. was into lottery and drug smuggling, in and out of Europe. Hard drugs, too. Once, he swallowed a bag of cocaine to smuggle it on the plane, and it burst inside him and overdosed him hard. So since then, he's been a little strange. That stuff will scramble your brains. Once, Sister Thompson even saw him get randomly violent. He smashed a bottle and threatened someone with it or something of the like. She has known him for a long time.

     At first, we were annoyed that nobody warned us about any of this, because we thought that everyone knew. But really, Sister Thompson is the one who knew the most, everyone else just had suspicions. We've been very careful since finding this information, and we immediately taught him Word of Wisdom. He didn't come all the way clean, but I think he did well. During the Word of Wisdom lesson, I payed extreme attention to everything he said and did. Elder James payed attention to how he felt, looking for spiritual promptings. We came to the conclusion that he really wants to change. He is ready to move forward. We are taking it slow with him though. And we spoke with the ward council, about how we really need help on this one, G. has special needs. So the members are helping a ton with fellowshipping him and making him feel welcome. 

    Mom, don't worry, he won't get violent with us. The guy loves us like brothers. He's really a good guy. We decided that just because he has a past, it would go against our purpose to stop teaching him. Everyone has a past of somekind. He's actually progressing well, I have a good feeling about him. The gospel changes lives, truly.

    Well, I'm outta time, update next week!

Love,

Elder Clinton Doggett"

 "We were proselyting in his area, and we saw this chicken lying awkwardly on the ground, looking like it was dying. This guy came over, covered it with a huge metal bowl, and started banging on it with a coconut..."

Dear Family and Friends,

     This week went by extremely fast, probably because our building is finally being renovated. They are about halfway through right now. Now they are bidding that it'll be done mid-February, and we can start using it early March. I'm sooooo stoked, it will be such a huge blessing to this area. The work has been pretty slow lately as we are waiting for the building. We told most of our investigators that a building would be built soon, because it's exciting. Unfortunately, they all decided that they won't come to church now until they building is finished and it's convenient for them. Most of them only need to come to church to progress. So, I have a lot of random stories to tell this week.

     Elder James and I have been cooking like mad. Last Monday, we took 3 hours to make a stew, and it's a killer stew. We've been eating it for a week and it will last about a week more. The best thing to do with it is pizza. We just throw down some simple dough with egg, flour, baking powder, a pinch of salt, and fry it with a lid to make a little oven.. I've been adding that taco seasoning I brought with me. Total it costs about 2-3 cedis making one ourselves, when buying one is about 15 cedis, and it doesn't taste as good. Also, I found real potatoes down here, so I made the most amazing, greasy, so-bad-for-you french fries. (I love you mom) :) We're having a hay-day down here. Dad, you should send me your recipe for salsa, I could make some killer salsa down here with all the fresh stuff. And Mom, in response to your question about protein, I eat tons of eggs, so my protein count is fine, but I will appreciate the calcium.

     We got a new, rechargeable light for our room in case of lights-out, and when I pulled it out of the package, I couldn't stop smelling it. It smelled so new! I haven't smelled something new in so long, ha,ha. You really enjoy the simple things down here.

     So, there is this school really close to our flat, and almost every morning the marching band marches around our building. It's really annoying when you're trying to do personal study, but I actually listened to the song they were playing yesterday and I recognized it. They are always playing Confederate marches. (Nate, it immediately reminded me of Fallout) I found it really ironic that they were playing those. If they only knew where those songs came from---the people in the U.S. fighting to enslave them. Ignorance is bliss, I guess.

     I saw something hilarious on splits with Elder Carstens again this week. We were proselyting in his area, and we saw this chicken lying awkwardly on the ground, looking like it was dying. This guy came over, covered it with a huge metal bowl, and started banging on it with a coconut. We were laughing and asked the guy what the heck he was doing, and he said he was waking it up. Apparently he threw a rock at it to stop it from digging in the dirt and making dust, and he nailed it in the head. And he was trying to 'wake it up'. I just giggled to myself, because he probably gave it brain damage or something. But then, he grabbed it's neck, opened it's beak, and started blowing air down it's throat. Elder Carstens and I just about died watching this guy perform 'chicken CPR', which likely wouldn't work anyway.

     So, there is something really depressing that happens to white guys down here. You'll meet some people, start greeting them, and everything, then smile and say something to their baby or small child. Then said baby or small child immediately bursts into tears of bloody murder. It's really sad, because I've gotten pretty fond of kids down here, they are fun to meet and stuff. But some of them are deathly afraid of Obruni. :-).  Oh well.....

     But some people down here, mostly immature teenagers, love to come up to white guys and chatter Fante at them, and laugh about it amongst themselves because we haven't a clue what they are saying. At first, it made me kinda mad, but I found the greatest combat for it. I found that if you throw some Spanish at them, they panic, ha,ha. One particular time, some guys at a taxi station were doing this to Elder James and I, it was really rude actually, so I looked at them and said, "Yo quiero queso e un gato en me pantelones! E tu?" Ha,ha! That wiped the smiles off their faces, and they got all nervous looking. Then they asked me if I spoke English, I told them no and tossed some more Spanish around. It really ruined their joke. Haha so I've been dredging up any and all Spanish I know is floating around in my head.

     This week Elder LeGrand R. Curtis of the Seventy is coming to tour the mission, so we did a DEEP clean of our apartment this morning in case he rolls around for an apartment check. Our zone will be meeting with him for some kind of conference on Wednesday, so that should be cool. Also, Elder Quentin L. Cook is coming to Ghana for a training conference. Unfortunately, he will be staying in Accra, so we won't see him, but our Branch President will. Jealous.

     I have a long story about another investigator, but that will have to wait until next week. It's been an interesting time with him, but we are slowly finding the truth about him. So we'll meet! Yebesheya wye!

Love,

Elder Clinton Doggett