SURVIVING SATAN'S STEW

Dear Family and Friends,

     Coming from church yesterday was pretty awesome. One of the less-active members we've been working with is a driver for some college. Somehow he got his hands on one of the buses, and he took lots of people to church, and almost everyone home.  It would be really convenient if he could do it every day. Once, he gave us a ride home from town in a giant semi-truck when he ran into us.

     Also, yesterday we didn't have anything for lunch because our stew ran out. Haha so we used this stew that Elder Kirumira made over a transfer ago; it's been just chillin’ in the fridge. Elder Hansen thought we were going to die! We boiled it for a long time, though. We called it the Satan Stew.

     Elder Hansen and I also held a sting operation this week. Our apartment needs a lot of supplies; and it has since I've been here. Elder Hansen just came from Takoradi, and has hookups with the senior couple there, the Bybees. He called and told them we needed haircuts, so the next time they're in town, they should come over. Sister Bybee cuts a lot of missionaries' hair. The Bybees hate to see missionaries suffer, so they help out every time. When they came, Elder Bybee asked how our apartment was. We said, "Oh, we are missing a few things..." The biggest thing we needed was a mirror and a new ironing board. Elder Bybee said, "Well, I just HAPPEN to have some ironing boards in the truck." When we went out to get it, he opened the camper shell and said, "Oh, I also HAPPEN to have some mirrors. Take one." It was ridiculously 

convenient, haha. Also our kitchen sink broke last week and our bathroom sink is leaking. They said they would call the apartment manager and take care of it. So, we scored big time. We really did need the haircuts though. Sting-op success. :)

     The referrals we got last week are keeping us pretty busy. This week we had the most lessons I've had so far on mission. 25. It was awesome. The more work you have, the faster everything goes. It seems that the members really are getting more excited about missionary work, especially since they've seen us bringing people on our own. Even one of the less-active members came to church for the first time in 5 years last week. He was there again this week. Re-activation is very easy here, if you just try, compared to back home. You just need to show people that you care about them, and that Heavenly Father still loves them and wants them to 

have the blessings of the gospel fully in their lives.

     So two weeks ago, as we were talking to people on a street corner, a kid approached us and told us that his father had sent him, and he wanted to sit down with us. So he led us up to the building outside where his dad was sitting in a wheelchair under an umbrella. His name is C., and he had a stroke 3 years ago, but has slowly been recovering. He decided 6 months ago to accept Christianity and he wants to learn everything. He decided to call on us because he had seen us passing almost every day. He just sits up on this hill overlooking a main roundabout, and watches people all day. And reads his Bible. But we recently gave him a Book of Mormon, and he has been reading it non-stop. Haha he is very interested in the gospel; he had heard about the prophet Joseph Smith many years ago, but he was never interested in religion. The sad thing is, he asked us yesterday where the church was, and when we told him, and told him that it was a storied building, he said, "Oh, well, I guess that means I can't come then." The building we meet in is very strangely situated. It's hiding behind this enormous bank in the middle of Cape Coast, on a hill, and it's two stories. They had to build it that way because of the small land size. The chapel is on the top floor... So we're not sure what to do yet. We brought up the concern to PEC, and they said, "Uh... keep teaching him, and see where he goes." C. is very excited about the gospel, though. One of the first things he told us he knew about the gospel of Christ was that it was lost over time. He already knew about the Apostasy, so when we got to the Restoration, he was extremely intrigued.

     So we are getting more and more people to teach every week. Now all we need is our own building to meet in... it seems to be a motif in my mission, haha. It would help a lot. 

Love,

Elder Doggett