15 months in Ghana..........

Elder Ormond, Elder Doggett

Elders with sweet family from the area who used to live in the U.S.

Dear Family and Friends,

            This week was super hectic. P-day on Tuesday and Christmas on Wednesday. We just went to a member's place with the other elders and had lots of free food. So the old holiday tradition of over-eating prevails once again... We had a fun district /testimony meeting in the morning, too. The phone call home was okay this year, our network was kinda bad. I couldn't hear very well. But it was still nice to hear everyone. I just wish I had time to make a list of questions to ask everyone.

            This week's proselyting was pretty weak. Last transfer, Elder Ormond's son (trainee) went home because he claimed he had back problems, so the area hardly got worked on at all. And the transfer before that Elder Ormond killed (was the last companion to) a missionary who was going home, so we all know how that is. We don't really have any serious investigators. We're planning to come in full force this new year though. We've made some plans to kick things in gear, working with members, missionary Sundays, increased enthusiasm. We'll see how things go.

           On Sunday we had a baptism, two young men around 16 years old. They've been to church for a long time and they already seem like part of the ward. Sitting in PEC the other night, I can see how zealous this ward is in missionary work. They are very dead set on their goals. These two boys rounded up their goal of 42 converts for the year. Our ward mission leader is really active and wants to help a lot; he just likes baptisms, I think!  I'm sure we will accomplish a lot here, it seems that the members really live and love the gospel. I think there are like 250 active members.

            Man, my legs are sooo tired, this area has more hills than Green Hill. We've been pounding this place down since I got here, and there is so much dust, haha. Your shoes stay clean for about 10 seconds out the front door. It's a bit smaller than my previous areas, though. I'm surprised, because the ward is so big and the area so small. We're trying to learn where as many members live as possible.

            I'm working on salvaging my photos from my camera cards, so I'll send pictures as soon as I can. It's nearly impossible to keep your cards clean here if you're sending pictures all the time. I hope it works.

Love,

Elder Doggett

Game night

D. and J. baptism on Dec. 22nd

Mattress moving day

Email from Dec 24, 2013:

TRANSFER NEWS:  Mpintsin, Kojokrom

Dear Family and Friends,

            On Sunday D. and J. were baptized before church. Both were member referrals. Both had investigated the church previously and for some reason ceased. It was a pretty good service, just before church with some member support.

            We always taught J. with Bro. O., the member who referred him. He is also an older gentleman, so it was always entertaining. Bro. O. confirmed J. a member of the church; he always helped a ton with our proselyting.

            On a much different note... transfer news. Chapter 4, Mpintsin,  Kojokrom. I'm with Elder Ormond from New Zealand, my MTC mate. He's a big, rugby playing islander. We had transfer day yesterday due to the normal day falling on Christmas. Apparently Mpintsin ward is the fastest growing in the Takoradi Stake; I believe it because I met the bishop last night and he is pretty zealous, in a good way. I've finally made it over to Western Region, and at the moment I am emailing in the fastest cafe in Ghana. Elders Shinasi and Sakala are our ZLs, also my MTs, haha I think we'll have some fun here. I've been waiting for a while to serve with a MT (Missionary Training) elder.

            So, Elder Cowan has gone to Moree in Cape Coast. I went on splits there a few times, it's a big place. It's a giant fishing town, but they have pretty powerful members and a really nice building. He'll probably enjoy himself there.

            To my utter depression though, nobody is replacing us in Swedru. President has killed the area again. My initial reaction was, 'WHAT!? WHY?' We just spent 4 1/2 months picking that area from the dirt and setting it on it's feet. Now, I won't say ALL our hard work is lost, but some of it will go down the drain. We were just contacting last week and we found a lot of promising potential investigators. Since we transferred only yesterday, we didn't have time to record those people; so they'll be lost. Our teaching pool was so intelligent, too! Everyone we were working with were people who would be able to build up the church, which is what Swedru desperately needs.

            I'm also sad that we don't get to teach J. and D. about the temple and new member lessons. Our goal in the Swedru District was to get every recent convert to the temple as fast as possible. I've given some names to Elder Suntau, as he is taking over our area for now, but he is already so busy as a ZL. I pray things will work out. I was deeply frustrated to leave that area with no watchmen.

            While we waited for 3 hours at the Cape Coast tro station, I ran into none other than my recent convert and member from Green Hill! Sis. T. and M.A. were going to Accra to deliver some pastries, and just happened to have one for me too, haha. I'm pretty sure Elder Larsen tipped them off, but they claimed it was all just some crazy big chance. It warmed my heart to see them, I love Green Hill branch. Being a missionary rocks!

            Mom I got your Christmas package just before transfers. It was sweet, thanks so much. I filled Elder Baird's and Suntau's stockings and ambushed them with the Nerf Gun. Then they found theirs and when we should have been packing, we all had a Mexican shootout in the apartment for about an hour. Haha it was awesome. I'm gonna miss that apartment, it was so fun, all we ever did was eat food. The night before we left we had root beer floats and cheesecake. Although, this new apartment is pretty sweet. I'm with Elder Ormond, and my MT Elder Wamono is with Elder Reihle from D.C. Also there is Elder Miskin from Arizona with his son (trainee) Elder Larsen from Logan.  Elder Miskin's father (trainer) was also Elder Larsen, the one at Green Hill now, haha. funny family line.

            Love you,

Elder Doggett

Meeting Old Friends at the Christmas Devotional

Dear Family and Friends,

            This week we had our Christmas Devotional down in Cape Coast. It was a sweet program of singing hymns with a few talks. Then we watched 'Forever Strong' again. That's our mission motto. We finished with a huge dinner and a Zone Talent Show, which was a lot better than last year. Swedru Zone sung a song with a slideshow in the background.

            It was so sweet to catch up with everyone though: Elder James, Elder Hansen, Elder Moore, and others. There are so many new faces in the mission though, I didn't know most guys. This mission is changing so fast, seriously. So many incoming missionaries, and President Shulz has done an amazing job of cleaning the place up in the way of obedience.

            What pleased me the most, though, was hearing that all my converts from Green Hill are still going strong. A. is going to school to be a teacher, C. received the Melchizedek Priesthood, and J. is teaching institute in Accra. I can hardly explain how much that info warms my heart. It strengthens my testimony and gives me confidence that my efforts are not wasted. Truly, how great shall be my joy with them in the Lord's kingdom. I can only imagine!

            Also, Elder Hansen told me that the Green Hill apartment was broken into not long after I left, and they had to put bars on all the windows. I'm not surprised…. looking back that apartment was not very secure.

            Today we had a small service project at an orphanage, where we just weeded the front area with cutlasses. It was fun. I feel powerful with a cutlass in hand! Then we went to the Ivies to watch the Christmas Devotional, which was pretty good.  And it appears from the pictures you sent, Dad, that you also enjoyed it. Probably more than I did. It is very nice to have a senior couple around when we want to do activities, haha.

         We are preparing two more candidates for baptism this coming Sunday, so pray that all will go through well enough. We've been working so hard for these people, their names are J. and Dobby  (No, he is not a house-elf... but he does have really big eyes) Elder Jensen can't hold himself whenever we talk about Dobby, he says, "Elder gave Dobby a Book of Mormon... Dobby is FREE!" Yeah, he's a big Harry Potter fan. Anyways, J. is a 60+ year old bus driver and Dobby is a 27 year old security guard. Both referrals, by the way.

       You guys got to see Gimli?! I'm jealous. And I will grow my beard out and see what it can do after I get home, haha.  Although I might cheat and put Rogaine on my face...

       Don't forget to write a missionary this Christmas! (That means me)

Love,

Elder Doggett

Elders from many nations

Last week's baptism mom forget to post!

Dear Family and Friends,
    All the windows of our apartment are reflective from the outside, including the front door, it has a window that goes to the ground. Almost every morning, this salt and peppered rooster comes to the door window and stares at himself. He just cocks his head and ruffles his feathers at himself. We decided he was really conceited, so we named him Narcissus. That was Elder Cowan's idea; personally, I think he looks more like a Carlos.
    Elders Baird and Suntau found passion fruit here in their area. I have never found it here, although I've heard of it. We had some last night and I now understand the reason for the name 'passion fruit'. Words cannot accurately describe the heavenly impressions I had while indulging in that goodness. I'm convinced that fruit is not of this world.
    Ladies, and Gentlemen, Brethren and Sisters, the happy day at last has come. We've finally had a baptism here in the Aboso/Chapel Square area in Swedru. 4 months running. We've been teaching P. for a long time now, since September. She is the 13 year old granddaughter of one of the long- time members. P. had a baptism date set for October, but we were informed by our leaders that regulation says she needed to attend church for 2 more months, so we post-poned.
    She is a brilliant girl, intellectually. She understands the gospel, picks things up fast, and applies them to herself. Sometimes she gets bored when we teach too slow, haha. She has started working on some names for baptisms for the dead already. That's something the Swedru District and the Ivies are pushing for--- recent converts to do temple and family history work.
    It's always a good feeling to see an investigator through to baptism. We work really hard with these people. I know Elder Cowan is enjoying himself; he used a knife to scratch one tick mark in the back of his missionary nametag, haha. He'll be keeping track. I'm glad that now he sees that sometimes you'll see success in the field.
    The baptism went pretty well, we had it Sunday morning before church; sometimes that's the only way to get member support here. It worked out pretty well, though.  The other Elders had two candidates, unfortunately only one showed up.
    Oh, I almost forgot.  Today the Ivies took us to the hospital in Winneba because Elder Doggett has something wrong with his foot. We sent the picture to Sis. Shulz and she sent it to the area doctor, and he said to get it checked out. The bottom of my foot is really white, and it looks like a giant blister although there is no pain, burning, or anything like that. We went to see the doc and he said it's fine, there is just a small problem in getting blood flow to that area, but it's only on the surface. Eventually, the place will peel and underneath it will be fine. So no worries, mother. :) By the way, 'hospital' here means, 'doctor's office'. It was nothing serious.
    Anyhow, my entire purpose in telling you about this is that on the way home, Elder Ivie hit a goat on the highway. It just got caught under the rear wheels, but he couldn't swerve due to traffic, it was too late. Sister Ivie was so sad, haha. She's just a really sweet lady. Elder Ivie just acted like nothing happened. It's really entertaining to watch them, haha, they are definitely an old married couple, and I mean that in the best way possible.
    Until next time,
Elder Doggett

P.S.  Yes, Dad,  the Ivies do treat us like their own blood. We actually had dinner with them yesterday again, on accident. We had to stop by so they could take a picture of my foot, and of course, Sister Ivie had dinner on and a few members of the branch coming over so she wanted us to stay.

Honestly, I think Ghana doesn't celebrate Christmas partly because of money and partly because religion here is an entertainment business, not religion. It's hard to explain, but people in general do not see things the way we do in that regard. For example, no matter who you talk to, they will ALWAYS refer to Christ as 'the Jesus'. They see him as more of an object than an actual person.

But, it's still great down here, everyone is so nice. I will probably be offended pretty easily when I get home and realize that not everyone is so hospitable and friendly...

 

This is a pic from his old area Elder Doggett finally downloaded.....

GIANT SPIDERS and GIANT-SIZED CARROT CAKE.....EVERYTHING IS BIGGER IN AFRICA!

Giant spider in apartment....below is a standard 2x4.  They broke the broom killing it!

Dec. 2, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

            First of all, we had interviews with President last Tuesday, and during our combined meeting, he told us that after the missionary department has 'caught up' to the influx of new missionaries. The two week extension that was attached to our mission will now be void after July, meaning I will actually go home on time! I'll get to see Elder Jackman's homecoming, which will be awesome.

            Mom, I got your Christmas envelope with all the testimonies, and it's killing me that I can't open them until starting December 13th. The patriarchal blessings were very interesting to read, though.

            Our new apartment is proving to throw up some dust in the local area. Everyone knows the obrunis live in that house now, haha. They're all so curious. We've had some people just showing up and looking in the windows and stuff. One guy even came knocking on the door asking for money. One morning this week like right before 6:30 AM we heard a guy calling at the door. "Argo! Argo! Enoch, where are you?" ('Argo' means who is home) Then he came to our bedroom window and opened it from the outside yelling for Enoch. We told him, "There is no Enoch here!" He said, "Oh, sorry sorry sorry," and he disappeared. We are being pretty careful about making sure everything is locked when we leave, this area is actually pretty prone to thieves. 

            This week during proselyting my companion and I came across a baby goat nonchalantly munching on a Jehovah's Witness 'Watchtower' magazine. Needless to say, we were pleased.

            How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was awesome and full of gluttony. The Ivies were kind enough to buy the apartment some boneless chicken from Accra, so we cooked it in terriyaki sauce with onions and green peppers and made sandwiches. Then I mashed potatoes and made gravy from a packet I've had in my bags for over a year. It was all quite delightful. Sister Ivie made us carrot cake, but we were too full after dinner on Thursday, so we had in the next morning for breakfast--- all of it. We sliced it into 4 giant pieces and raced to finish. I won, of course, and I felt simply awful. There was SO much sugar in the frosting, haha. I really have lost almost all toleration for sweets. Even all our chicken from the dinner was too much. I can't believe how much Americans eat back home. 

            Also hit my 14 months mark this week. These last two month marks have caught me off guard because I'm not counting anymore. All the way up to a year you're just waiting for the next month, but after you hit the year mark, you just turn apathetic. Time is going fast. Elder Doggett doesn't have a lot of time left in the field.

Love,

Elder Doggett

Swanky new apartment

Nov. 25, 2013:

Dear Family and Friends,

            We moved into the new apartment this week. It took two days because we had to help the Ivies pick up some things and finalize stuff in the place. Our missionary work took a dent for the week, but now we are settled in. The place is so awesome. Quiet, clean, and conducive to the Spirit, haha.

            Our investigators are progressing quite well; we had 5 of them at church this week! We have been thinking a few of them would fail us recently, but they picked up the slack. We've been trying harder to teach in unity and really get down to their concerns, and it has worked. We have been lead as to how to help them.

            During our weekly planning this week, we had no idea how to help an investigator named O. So we prayed for help. We got the feeling that he needed to understand that he should fear God instead of man, and he will have strength in his convictions. We planned to address it in the next 2 lessons. Then, after our lesson with him the next day, he said, "I'm hoping you can help me gain faith, and make it so I can only fear God and nobody else." We hadn't even discussed that yet. We had just proceeded with our previous lesson plan and he came out with that. It was interesting. He's a really sincere investigator concerning his gospel learning. He wants to find that peace and love that is promised in the scriptures. He's probably over 50. He looks like 40 but I can never tell with Ghanaians.

            I went on splits with Elder Collins, a missionary from California posted in Odoben. He's in his 2nd transfer of training. I was really impressed though; he taught like he had been here as long as I have. He could teach very simply, and was bold in answering questions. We had a pretty good day, although we got caught in a storm and almost got struck by lightning, haha. I think I am cursed, anytime I come into contact or affiliate in any way with someone or something from Odoben, the rain comes. It's very strange. I have really enjoyed working with the missionaries in my district though, they are all really humble, effective missionaries.

            Mom and Dad, I'm glad you got to go see Elder Smoot's homecoming talk. He's a really chill guy, we got along very well. All we ever talked about was good food back home.

Love, 

Elder Doggett

Zone activity on beach

Local merchant who sells coconuts