"I got the package from Nate and Lauren this week! I was seriously enjoying those Skittles. They're all gone.  And so is all the rest of the candy. Thanks for the calcium supplements, that should keep my arms from falling off like in that old 'Got Milk' commercial."

Christina's baptism, February 23, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

     Things are still sloooowing down. The building is not yet furnished, and I'm very frustrated. We have had to drop a lot of investigators who are not serious, who are not keeping commitments. We are seeking referrals with the members, but everyone is holding their breath. The members are waiting to give us referrals and the investigators are waiting to come to church. We're in a strange limbo, all because some tradespeople in Accra are not doing their jobs.

     The furnishings have to come from Accra, from the area office, and they promised we would have the materials three weeks ago. Then they pushed to last Wednesday. Then to Friday. Then they shut off their phones. We knew this would happen, so the contractors told them to have the things ready, and they said they already had everything. But they lied. They called and said they were having trouble acquiring tables. It drives me nuts that they are the only ones getting paid for their work, and they are NOT coming through. They promise and promise and don't fulfill. Sadly, this is how just about everything works in Ghana. Everyone is so afraid to disappoint and cause a problem, so they lie about things. Then they end up causing a bigger problem than the one they tried to avoid. I'm really missing good old American honesty right now.

     We had an pretty cool lesson this week....... I felt prompted to prepare for it a week before. Last week I wasn't sure what to study one morning, so I decided to figure out polygamy in God's true church. EVERYTHING about it. I started in D&C 132, which referred me to a lot of Old Testament scriptures. After reading a lot in Genesis with Abraham and Jacob, a bit in Exodus, and a Book of Mormon passage in Jacob:2, I finally began to understand it all. The scripture that was the most help was the Doctrine and Covenants section 132. Basically, I found that there are 4 main reasons plural marriage was ever practiced: 1--- It was to make possible the promise God made to Abraham to number his seed as the stars. 2--- It was to raise up righteous seed unto the Lord. 3--- It was for the eternal exaltation of the women involved.(D&C 132:63) and 4--- it was a support system in the early church for women to have a name. Isaiah even prophesied about that. (Isa. 4:1-2 & Ex. 21:10) Plural marriage is an eternal principle in the church. But it is a law that the Lord can put into effect when it is needed. And it must be carried out through the right channels in the priesthood and ONLY when the Lord deems it necessary. So Sis. Wood and our recent convert, Christina, had questions about plural marriage in the church. Luckily, (or was it luck?) I had just studied that all very recently. They were very happy that we could explain it all in a way they could understand, and that we took the time to do it.

     I got the package from Nate and Lauren this week! I was seriously enjoying those Skittles. They're all gone, haha. And so is all the rest of the candy. Thanks for the calcium supplements, that should keep my arms from falling off like in that old 'Got Milk' commercial.

     I've been reading the Book of Mormon over again since I've been out and I've gotten into the war chapters in Alma recently.  I've been really distracted. I'll read a chapter, and immediately my mind turns the story into a cinematic format. It's really entertaining for me, but it's slowing me down a ton because I just keep imagining everything in Hollywood style! Ha.ha!  it really makes me want to script the Book of Mormon. That would be sooooo sick. I've already started casting all the people with a superstar cast. So far the solid ones I have are as follows: King Noah: Jack Black.  Abinadi: Nick Cage.  Captain Moroni: Russel Crowe.  Ammon the son of Mosiah: Dwayne the Rock Johnson. Ha,ha!  I love the Book of Mormon.

     Anyway, not a lot to report this week. I'll send a full cast listing in the national mail when I finish it.

Loves

Elder Clinton Doggett