"Elder James and I are staying put and I'm very happy about that. We are a powerful team together.  I want to see what we can accomplish with the new building here."

Dear Family and Friends,

     The area office in Accra didn't get the furnishings for our building to us in time to use it this Sunday like they promised. Now they are promising for this Wednesday. So it was the last week in Elmina. I can't even describe how antsy I am to meet in the new building. When you sit in the [other]chapel, there is just this huge vacuum flowing through from the front windows to the back. There will be no more steaming up out in the fish markets in the old building, ha,ha. But Mom, Sis. Salasi came again this week, and President Thompson told me to personally thank you for him. So thanks!

     This Sunday was fast and testimony meeting, and Christina got up to bear her testimony. It was in Fante, so I didn't understand it really, but I was so proud of her, and happy to see her leaving her shyness behind. She has a POWERFUL testimony of this gospel. Also, she was called as the First Counselor in the Primary Presidency! She is always so willing to learn more and more and more about the gospel, it's soo awesome.

     This week, we got a call from the office couple, the Crittenden's, and they wanted us to meet with a guy they met, who stays in Elmina. Even though he isn't in our area, they brought him to meet us in our area. We had nowhere to sit, so we had a lesson right there in the backseat of the car. With A/C. It was an interesting experience, haha. Just parked on the side of the road with people walking around us, having no idea about the important things we were discussing in that car. So we referred the guy's name to the Elmina elders, since he's in their area.

     And that reminds me, transfer news! Elder James and I are staying put and I'm very happy about that. We are a powerful team together.  I want to see what we can accomplish with the new building here.

Finally, Elder Nwachukwu is leaving the apartment after 6 months in Elmina. Elder Macaulay is staying and another Nigerian is coming to be with him. He has only 3 months left on mission so he'll probably die here. Meaning he'll die on mission, not literally. Ha.ha.... most of us liken mission to a life. I was born in Ntranoa, so that's my hometown.  And I'm getting to 6 months old soon!

This is an old picture of a family service project from a few months ago

     Also, I have some awesome news. There is an old missionary from this mission living here in Ola. He is from Kaysville, UT and he started a construction company here. He is in the Army, so he flies all his equipment down here for free with his 370 pound bags the army gives him. But he makes trips up to Kumasi all the time, and he can visit the village [where they make Kente]. He is working with us missionaries in Cape Coast and taking orders---huge orders--- for Kente neckties. I bought 15 for 97 cedis. Each one is 6 cedis which is only 3 dollars. Elder James bought 20, and another missionary bought 40. Each and every one is unique. So we all banded together today at the ZL's apartment and picked out the ones we wanted from the batch. You CANNOT get these in the States, so all these missionaries are jumping all over the opportunity. Since the mission got split, we can't get Kente stuff like the guys in Kumasi Mission can. But this guy, his name is Brother Lunt, is very generous. He's even offering to lug stuff home to the states for guys, and bring stuff back when he returns. He's always going back and forth for the army and stuff. He's a really cool guy to do all this stuff for us. But if there is anyone a return missionary just absolutely loves, it's missionaries. I got some for me, Dad, Nate, and Karl. And the rest I can give to my buddies. I would send a picture but... I think I'd like you to wait in suspense for a year and a half to see them (bwahahaha!). Anyhow, in this village people can make scripture bags, and huge family banners, and stuff. So I'll see if there is anything else I want. Kente is cool, because it is real. You can buy all kinds of touristy stuff here that nobody really uses, like masks and stuff. But people actually wear Kente here. It's how I'll remember Africa.

    Kind of a short one this week, but sometimes that's how it is.

Love,

Elder Clinton Doggett