LAST TESTIMONY FROM THE FIELD........

Dear Family and Friends,

                This is my last email from the field. I would love to make it the most inspiring and insightful one ever, but I haven't had any time to consider what I should say. Things have been so busy. We missed email yesterday because it was a national holiday and the library was closed. We had a sweet zone activity, my last, where we had a talent show and a huge hot dog lunch. It was pretty sweet, everybody decided to just  have fun with it. Our apartment sung two hymns with one man drumming and me on guitar. I'm going out with style!

                As my mission comes to a close I remember a quote that has stuck in my head for the past two years. In the movie I, Robot, advanced-intelligence robots are subtly taking over the world and nobody seems to see it or understand except a certain Detective Spooner. He launches investigations and works his way to the bottom of the case.  After a certain incident, his chief of police comes to him and reminds him, " 'Lead By Example', it says it right on your badge." Due to the incident, the chief then seizes his badge and commands him to cease his work on the case.  But this detective had gained a personal, first-hand witness that his cause was just, and that he was in the right. In fact, I would venture to say that he had gained a TESTIMONY of it.  So he continues; not out of a self-centered drive, but simply to make the truth known.

                As a missionary, I hang a 'badge' over my chest every morning.  Except on this tag, there is emblazoned the name of a much more powerful and eternal example, even the Savior Jesus Christ. People see it every day, and they know who I represent.  And I can confidently say I have done all I could to let my example reflect that of the Savior's. The world is spiraling into the control of, not robots, but the adversary of our souls. We missionaries do all we can to make the truth known.  However, the time is very near when I will meet with the stake president, I will be released, and he will tell me to take off my missionary tag. He'll tell me my time is up, and I should move on with my life. But if I have gained a personal, first-hand witness over the past two years that my cause is just, I must continue. I have gained a TESTIMONY that this work is divine-- that is the work of salvation for the souls of men.  This restored gospel is the one and only complete truth that stands in the world.  I will continue, although it will be on a much more subtle level.  I will no longer have the name written OVER my heart, but I will have it written IN my heart.  King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon counseled, " ... I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you." (Mosiah 5: 12) That is the name of Jesus Christ.

                I have a strong testimony of the importance of our example as Latter-Day Saints.  People are always watching.  Always.  People may hear our testimonies, but it is by the example that we show where they will truly see our testimonies. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." I stand with President Joseph Fielding Smith when he said that "the reputation of the church rests on all of our shoulders".

                I can't believe its over.  Although I am leaving soon, another will be planted in my stead, and the kingdom of God will roll forth; it will fill the earth.  I am inexpressibly thankful for the chance to serve in the Lord's vineyard; to give my hand in the advancement of the truth! The sojourn has been full of sorrows, disappointments, and difficulties.  But they were just minor setbacks and they can never compare with the victories, joys, and breakthroughs I've experienced. The greatest souvenirs I will take home are the pictures, journal entries, memories, friendships, and connections I've made here. Nothing can or ever will compare with my mission experience.  I'll see you all very soon.

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Doggett... for the last time... sigh.

.....the WATER came back on Friday. Best Birthday Present. Ever. :)

Zone conference. Last photo from the field???

Dear Family and Friends,

                This week was full of meetings and nearly void of proselyting.  We had our last mission leadership conference in Cape Coast on Wednesday and I bought all my souvenirs.  Inflation has been destroying the cedi still... things are going up so much.  But Mom, you may rest in peace because I found you a unity stand! :) Then we had a zone conference in Cape the next day, and I was sick in the morning because of chicken I ate from the street the day before.  But we made the trip okay, without incident. We were instructed by Elder Curtis of the Area Presidency and he was great.  He has a great sense of humor and a talent for speaking. We also heard from him on Saturday here in Assin Foso; he came for a leadership training that the stake president invited all the missionaries to.  I think that was the most powerful meeting, focused on 'Hastening the Work of Salvation", in respect to how the local auxiliaries and missionaries can work hand in hand.

                They finally cleared out the dead husk of the diesel tanker this week. They just put new tires on the trailer and drove it off! Haha. Our area still has the scent of diesel hanging around... not fun. I thought we were going to die in our sleep or something.  People are rebuilding their shops and stuff though, so no problems.  We didn't have water for a week since the fire because it damaged one of the main lines. But the WATER came back on Friday. Best Birthday Present. Ever. :) On that note, my b-day was just another day really.  Except I did get Lauren's package-- shout out!  I've been really enjoying the jerky and skittles. Nice combo.

                We have a powerful investigator named A, who has been converted to the restored gospel since before I came here to Foso.  She was found by the elders about 9 months ago, and the Spirit testified to her long ago that everything is true.  She is SO awesome!  A few weeks ago a [guy from another church] came proselyting near her home and he came to her.  She began to testify of the Book of Mormon and he got all mad and tried to Bible-bash her. Then the next day he got on the local info loud-speaker in the morning and preached against the doctrines of our faith, haha. She made him so mad. :)

                The incredibly sad part about her story is that her husband won't allow her to come to church. Why? Because their landlord is a member and she doesn't treat them, or the other tenants, well AT ALL. I won't go into details. A is staying strong though; just waiting until they move, then her husband will allow her to go, although she'll attend a different ward.  They're supposed to move this week. The husband means well, he doesn't want her to "learn how to insult people" haha.  There was a point where she wanted to leave him so she could move to Accra with her family and attend over there. Needless to say we strongly discouraged that; we know her husband will come around when the time is right. She gets so sad when we talk about baptism and such.  We read Mosiah 5 with her the other day to encourage her to endure, because she has definitely felt that 'change of heart'.  She will be such a staunch, immovable convert when the Lord's timing comes to pass for her.

                Yesterday she told us of a dream she had that night. She was walking somewhere when a man in a long robe came up to her and gave her a piece of papers and told her to read.  She unfolded it and found a scripture reference written thereon:   2 Tim 4:5. When she woke up she wrote it on her wall so as not to forget; she asked us to look it up when we came. "But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry."

                It's a seemingly random scripture, but it actually applies directly to her. Her spiritual situation has been very difficult; it often keeps her awake at night. But something she's been great at is exercising patience, or "enduring affliction".  She also shares the gospel with nearly everyone she meets.  The Lord was speaking directly to her with that scripture.  We helped her understand that surely He still communicates with His people through dreams, or visions, if he sees fit.  It can happen, according to our faith!

Love,

Elder Doggett

FOSO ON FIRE!!!

Right in front of E. Doggett's apartment

Another view.....to the right and over the wall is his apartment

Dear Family and Friends,

                I forgot to write about transfers. Elder Nakedi is staying to put the bullet through my brain :) I'm happy about it, he's a great guy and the weather here is so nice.  Elder Cowan was sent to Green Hill! I was pretty jealous, honestly.  He called the other day to ask about some investigators in the area book because they just put 4 elders in the area so he and his comp are starting over in the new area, on the Green Hill side.  He will enjoy that place so much!  He told me that A, my convert from a year and 4 months ago, has sent her mission papers in! She has such a powerful testimony; she'll be fantastic at spreading the restored gospel.

                Have you ever been inside a Hollywood movie?  Have you ever had a diesel tanker truck explode in front of your apartment?  I have.  Just before 10AM on Friday we were finishing companion study when we heard a small collision outside. We went out to see what was up and saw one semi- trailer pulling away from another at a 90 degree angle.  The second truck, a diesel tanker, was on the road and the first was backing up towards the road.  Something on the bed of the first truck punched a hole in the side of the tanker, and fuel was spewing out and pouring across the road into the gutter. You know that scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark? Yeah it was just like that. The puncture was on the other side from us, and I could see a mist of gas billowing over the tank.

                We all went out of the compound to get a better look. We went down one side of the road and the other elders went the other way to buy food. When we saw the other side of the truck we found people scrambling with buckets to catch the fuel.  Free gas!  One guy was trying to plug the hole with a big rag.

                Something under the truck must have sparked, because suddenly flames crawled out and shot up the side of the tanker.  At once everyone, including us, scattered like ants.  I turned on a dime and bolted down the street, finding it very hard to run in my bath sandals.  Elder Nakedi  toppled over some tables as he fled, losing his missionary handbook (with his card, money, etc.) and his sandals.  I could feel the rapidly growing heat pressing behind me as I ran.  The few cars left on the road were slamming it in reverse, including another big semi which sputtered and coughed as the driver tried to get her moving, haha.  It was like the beginning of War of the Worlds.  People were closing up shop and evacuating their goods like mad.  As the fire grew, there were two, maybe three explosions.  Everyone ducked and ran again when they hit.  It was like that scene from the Dark Knight where the Joker tries to assassinate Commissioner Gordon.  I imagine one explosion was the truck

's own fuel tank, but for the others I don’t’ know.  It might have been the trailer tank itself because when all was said and done it was crinkled and warped up.  When the trailer first ignited I thought the whole sucker would blow at once.  Luckily it was not so.

                After taking pics and videos (which are sick by the way...) we saw smoke coming from the west side of our apartment compound.  I found my companion (which was hard because he really blended in with the crowd, haha) and we dashed to the house and hopped the east wall.  By this time the truck was enveloped in flames from bumper to bumper.  I was not so surprised, but rather impressed with how fast it went up.  Huge mushroom clouds of nasty black smoke billowed skyward; it looked so ominously beautiful.  Fire is incredibly powerful.

                We saw that behind the houses on the other side of the west wall, the fire was raging. The fuel that had run out of the tanker went in to the gutter at the north end, and had followed the gutter in its course around the corner, which ran west behind those houses.  Needless to say, the gutters were also on fire. Some shops on the corner and a few wooden structures next to the gutter lit up.  People in the cement brick shops on that corner broke holes in the back walls to escape and pull out their possessions, as the fire was searing the front sides.

                My comp and I began filling buckets of water from the apartment and handing them over that western wall. A man hopped the east wall and came running to us screaming that we should run away. Elder Nakedi  told him, "Fire is fire, we have to help these people!" Another man hopped the wall to help us with the water, and we took a small break to go inside and pray for rain (the rain came later that night after all was done to wash the excess fuel away).  After a while the buckets weren't coming back, so I hopped the western wall to help people evacuate their stuff.  Then we ran to where the wooden shops were burning and found a man dumping water on an electrical fire. I yelled at him, "You don't put WATER on an ELECTRICAL FIRE!" That whole shop was full of generators.  Not anymore. It was intense!  I felt like I was in Ladder 49!

                By this time the Ghana National Fire Service had definitely arrived.  They came about 30 minutes after the ignition, a drive which normally takes over an hour. Their trucks sent water and foam cascading into the flames, but it was futile, all it did was push the fire around. You can't stop a raging diesel fire.

                After some time the fire came down a bit and crowds of onlookers had gathered in the streets and in front of our apartment to watch.  They all cheered as more fire trucks arrived.  People were going thru the crowds selling ice cream and stuff,  haha.  It just became a big spectator's event. Some kids came into our compound and began roaming around collecting scrap metal to sell to the Muslim scrap guys.  Other kids were doing gymnastics on our lawn... random I know.  Elder Nakedi was absolutely filthy, so we changed into street clothes so we could help with anything possible.  We helped a seamstress carry all her cloth away which had been tossed onto our lawn through the window and over the wall.

                Some members and missionaries called to see if we were okay.  Even the facilities manager arrived, he was really worried when he heard about it.

                From start to finish, the truck burned for 4 1/2 hours.  From 10AM to 2:30PM.  During the whole escapade I never really felt scared.  I was concerned and realized the severity and reality of the situation, but for some reason I didn't feel like I was in danger.  I guess that's because I have the missionary mantle over me.  I'm sure that like King Mosiah in the Book of Mormon, my parents' faith and trust in the Lord has kept me safe.  I remained very calm during it all, even my comp was surprised.  I guess that's how I react in an emergency situation.

                All things considered it’s miraculous that nobody was killed or even injured during the accident. Not one.  It's a testimony to me of how well the Lord watches over those who trust him, namely the Ghanaian people.  It was an extremely potentially volatile situation that literally turned out the best way possible.  I thought those guys who were doused in diesel from stealing it would have been toast; but it was not so.  In any other [third world] country, a riot would have broken out in the streets with people ransacking shops and tipping cars.  Because Ghanaians are so peaceful, meek, and non-confrontational everything remained in relative order.  I'm so thankful to my Father in Heaven that we, and everyone else,  were protected.

                "And their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are UNQUENCHABLE, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever..." (Mosiah3:27) Haha, what I'm saying is that the torments of hell is really a raging diesel fire inside your soul.

                Needless to say, we didn't get anything done on Friday.

Love,

Elder Doggett

The beginning.....tank spewing diesel

A spectator's event........

Elder Doggett's barber in white in front of the ominous cloud of smoke

Just another day in the mission field......

Firefighting attempts

The aftermath

BAPTISM GOALS AND THE FAITH OF ELDER NAKEDI

Dear Family and Friends,

                I feel like such a large burden has been lifted from my shoulders this week. My companion feels the same.  President Stevenson came up to Foso to do a baptism interview for A-- she passed! He said she had a fine understanding. It's been difficult to tell how ready she is with...... her distant attitude.  He also came to settle the dispute over ward boundaries between _______, whose sons we are teaching.  He helped the two men successfully reconcile; and he said they all agreed that M and D must be baptized. They all agreed to play nice and worship where they are supposed to. That was a really sticky situation.

                I greatly appreciate President Stevenson's help and energy.  As we thanked him he was so humble.  He said he just 'had a good day'.  It's funny, as we sat outside during A's interview, a few kids were speculating and commenting that President was my father-- just because we're both white! Haha they didn't believe me when I denied it; little rascals...

                We went on exchanges with Elder Holmgren to help him to interviews this week because EVERYONE was baptizing this weekend.  It was the last weekend of the trimester, and Nyame nadoma, (by the grace of God) we met our zone goal!  55!  We nailed it right on the head.  I'm so proud of the missionaries here in Assin Foso; they're working so hard.  But I must recognize and praise the Lord's hand in all of our work.  Without His blessing and watchful care, we wouldn't be able to accomplish a thing; this work is not done by our power.  Especially is Paramu these last two weeks, I feel that the Lord has truly had his "angels round about us".  Surely "angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land" (Alma 13:24).

                M and D were baptized on Saturday in Ward One's service.  Their father performed the ordinance, they were pretty happy.  They were also confirmed yesterday.

                A and N were baptised today after church.  Our ward missionary B wanted to experience being John the Baptist, so he volunteered himself to perform the ordinance.  We happily allowed him the privilege.  He was so nervous though; he had to repeat each baptism a few times.  It was a great learning experience for him, even though the congregation chuckled as he messed up the words.  He was just beaming the rest of the day, he even went proselyting with us after church.  I'm sure his testimony was boosted; the best way to learn is by doing.

                A and N were so so happy too.  They were all smiles yesterday. The chance to witness an individual's conversion is so amazing, there is such a light in their eyes.  N comes from a part-member family; her mother and almost all of her siblings are members.  She was away at boarding school-- that's why she missed the bus when her family was baptized back in 2013.  She’s been coming to church regularly and loving the teachings.  She absolutely adores Sis. G,  the powerful member who has been fellowshipping her.  They're both around 16 years old.   I love N, she's such an innocent and sweet girl. She'll continue school here in Foso, so she's here to stay.

                I can hardly believe it, but Elder Nakedi and I hit our trimester goal! Back in May we set a baptism goal of 7. We had B and P in May, E in June, a dry spell in July, and [the four previously mentioned] in August.  We only set an August goal of 2 at the beginning of this month because I didn't think we'd make it.  But my companion has more faith than me.  He fasted and prayed, and said that in his mind the goal was really 4. Right after we set that goal we ran into M and D and their tricky situation -- which Pres. Stevenson came to resolve, and to interview A.  And here we are.  I boldly claim that it's a miracle! Our Heavenly Father is watching over us all, and I feel so much gratitude for His love.

Love,

Elder Doggett

Mom, Since you mentioned family history work, we were helping our ward yesterday during the last class to fill out their pedigree charts. I sat with some 45+ year old ladies, and in my broken Twi helped them figure out their parents’ birth dates and such... haha it was fun. Some of it is just guesswork, there's not a lot of records here.  It’s incredibly ironic how you mentioned that West Africa is doing the best in family history work right now [in all of the Church].  It's surprising how many dates people have in their heads though--those ladies I was helping knew more than I expected.

Do I feel a sense of panic [about his mission ending soon]?  Not complete panic, I just feel very anxious. We're still super busy like always, so it's just one thing after another.  I feel anxious that I don't have any time to think.  We get home so late I hardly get time to write in my journal and reflect; I feel like everything is flashing before me like leafing through the pages of a book.  We even already have the next two weeks lined up for us, but we're getting a lot done. :)

Email from Aug 25, 2014:

Dear Family and Friends,

                This week was a little bit down from the last few.  K is turning out to be the disappointment of the year. He has SO much potential but he's just choosing to be too busy. Giving excuses every time we see him, he's not coming to church, or reading the Book of Mormon.  I just feel so letdown now when we see him.  So please keep him in your prayers.

                In other news, we've finally been able to see A again. She's about 20 years old; her whole family is [of another faith].  I don't think I've mentioned her before but when I first came to the area we gave her a date for the beginning of August, but after we gave it she never had time so see us yada yada yada. We needed to help here through the repentance process and she never allowed us time.  She was a referral from the stake president, so he's been putting tons of pressure on us to baptize her.   She's giving us time again, but we still don't really know what to do.  She has the desire to be baptized, but she's not being open and honest with us.  So we've arranged for President Stevenson to come and do her interview this week.  She's a bit out of our hands; she had some major problems with the commandments. We're hoping that goes thru.

                 In addition, Pres. Stevenson is coming to also hopefully settle a dispute between two influential members of the church who have had a falling out.  Because of the dispute, one man is worshiping in our ward, not his own ward. We're teaching two boys in his home, because they've been coming to our ward, but they're not supposed to.  So they can't be baptized into our ward as they're in the other ward boundaries.  The stake president has tried to reconcile the men, but to no avail. He asked Pres. Stevenson to step in.  We're really praying that President will have the Spirit with him this coming Wednesday.

                We have met with the pastor again a few times. Once this week we took a ward missionary,  B, with us.  He's a convert of just over a year, about 24 years old, and very mature.  He's a great guy with lots of vim for the gospel.  B attended the pastor’s church before he converted, and his sister married the pastor’s son.  It's a strange connection; nevertheless they know each other very well.

                We finally relented to give him a Book of Mormon.  I'm always afraid to give them to pastors because they might just go preach out of them, leaving the congregation 'ever learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth'.  He was still trying to understand how Peter, James, and John were resurrected; he was confused that we called them 'angels', because his crazy apostate doctrine strictly classifies angels as psychedelic cherubim and seraphim.  Really in English it just means, 'heavenly beings' haha.  Anyhow we mopped up that mess.

                B was so powerful though! He was testifying to his former pastor/in-law! He was bringing Bible quotations and everything; he even caught him in a snare haha. It was so incredible. Everything remained cordial of course.  I really admire Ghanaians for that; those with strong convicted testimonies are not afraid to bear them.  B is so awesome though, we need more members like him.  I need to be like him when I go home.  He's preparing his mission papers and he'll be such a stud out in the field!

Love,

Elder Doggett

"If thou shalt find that which thy neighbor has lost, thou shalt make diligent search till thou shalt deliver it to him again."

Worth about $1.31 U.S. currency

Dear Family and Friends,

            On Tuesday moving to our second appointment, we just found a five cedi note on the ground in the midst of some houses. E. Nakedi actually stepped on it, he thought it was just a blue paper. I picked it up and we kept moving, but like many times before on my mission I felt my feet involuntarily stopping. I said maybe someone just dropped it and they'll come looking, so we went back and waited. My companion showed me a good scripture, "If thou shalt find that which thy neighbor has lost, thou shalt make diligent search till thou shalt deliver it to him again."

(D&C 136:26)     

            We waited a bit while a few people passed.  My comp suggested we pray, but looking around we saw that we were not in solitude. It was kind of a busy area.  So eyes open just standing on the path's corner E. Nakedi started praying that we'd be able to find the person or that they'd find us . It would have looked like we were having a conversation. Not five seconds after having said amen, a pregnant lady and a small boy rounded the corner. The boy was in tears and the woman, obviously his mother, had a cane in her hand (used to discipline small children) They were walking slow and we heard her mutter something in Twi about 5 cedis.  We both got big grins on our faces as my comp asked what she was looking for. I pulled the note from my pocket and handed it to her. She smiled and the boy looked grateful. We said we only waited about five minutes, she thanked us and we took off.  A prayer was answered and a good deed done; simple as that.

            This has happened many times on my mission-- where the Lord just stops my feet. In every instance it's been for something so seemingly small.

            I went on exchanges with E. Brown in our area this week. It was the first time I stayed in our area for splits haha. He's from Louisiana and he's a bigger movie guy than I am. Seriously, he knocked me out of the park. We were busy all day and had powerful lessons. We maintained a good balance of working and discussing cinematics. I felt bad telling E. Cowan that E. Brown would come with me on the exchange, I know he really wanted us to go together. He knows I love him though, haha.

            We met E. Cooper and E. Pishl in district meeting. It sounds like things were pretty intense over in Liberia. They were in lockdown in their apartments, people were dying on the streets outside their gates, they had to covertly escape through the airport, etc. It makes for a great war story.  E. Pishl stayed the night in our apartment for splits with the district leader so I got to know him better.

Sweet guy.  Way to go, Idaho!

Love,

Elder Doggett

ANOTHER WEEK IN ASSIN FOSO

Dear Family and Friends,

                Elder Cowan hit his year mark this week.  I gave him a call to congratulate him and he was enjoying french fries,  ha ha. Time is just gone though. I remember we had a conversation back in Swedru, saying that right after he turned a year old on mission is when I would be dying on mission. Now here we are.

                At MLC (Mission Leadership Council) this week there were more great ideas coming from Pres. Stevenson.  Overall, he wants to do away with the 'Law of Moses' in the mission so we can simply stay true to the missionary handbook.  He's also supplying every missionary with a 'How to Learn Twi' booklet, and he suggests we take time to study it in companionships.  My comp is practically fluent already, so it's just me who needs it.  I so wish I had this from the start though, it would have helped me more than I can tell.  Elder James and his group at the meeting bore their departing testimonies.  They leave in one week.  I guess it's the last time I'll see him until we meet on the other side [of the pond].  I love that man;  we've stayed close friends ever since we met way back in Ntranoa.

                We got a call from the Achiase elders on a strange number.   E. Brown told us that he and E. Hintze were split up because two of the Liberian misisonaries were brought into Achiase. We were a bit surprised because nobody informed us beforehand. We called the APs and they had thought they told us, haha. I don't blame them because things have been INSANE for them-- they were dropping off more missionaries in Takoradi when we called. They gave the new companionship a new phone, hence the strange number.  Elder Cooper is from Atlanta Georgia, and Elder Pishl is from Boise, Idaho.  I haven't met them yet though.  It's quite fortunate really, that they came at this time because E. Hintze is leaving in a week before the end of the transfer, so it would have been really awkward if their apartment was still a two-man. Now I think the three of them will just stay together when Hintze leaves.

                Last Sunday a really less-active guy came to church, and a few days later he gave us a referral, his JW lady friend. We met with her this week and she was interrogating us with questions, testing out knowledge and such. She was easy to handle (all JW’s are). We were more so just impressed with Enoch for referring her and joining us in the lesson. He even contributed a bit.

                We're working hard with the people who have fallen into our lap recently.  Four have baptism dates for the end of August, although I think only 2 might make it. Unfortunately K missed church yesterday. We'll be going to see him tonight to discuss things with him. He has been doing better with the word of wisdom though.  One of the referrals, J, is doing well also. He was taught by E. Kinikini and someone else a long time ago and came to church a bunch.  He's a driver though, so his schedule is a bit crazy. The guy who referred him came home from mission a month ago. The others are making progress, however slow it is. So we count our blessings!

Love,

Elder Doggett

Mother keeps "stealing" pics from the Stevenson's blog and others

REASSIGNMENTS DUE TO EBOLA OUTBREAK

Dear Family and Friends,

                I had an interesting experience reading my patriarchal blessing this week.  As I read, I noticed some particular words in the expressions therein, and I decided to look up direct definitions of said words in my dictionary. As I understood the true meaning of the words and pondered why the patriarch was inspired to use them, I gained greater insight into the calling and expectations the Lord has for me. I also could fathom the Gifts of the Spirit that have been granted to me.

                What I love about my blessing is that everything is implicit, almost nothing is directly stated. I have to actually study it and pick it apart. Occasionally there are things that stick out to me, which I had never before noted or fully considered.  I think the Lord knew I have a love and knack for literature in general.  With the scriptures and my blessing I love to find truths that have been concealed.

                As we closed our day Saturday night the assistants called and gave us some sad news.  Due to a deadly ebola epidemic sweeping upper West Africa, the Sierra Leone and Liberia missions are being closed-- effective immediately. The missionary department is re-assigning all the missionaries to the 4 missions here in Ghana, and to the 5 missions in Nigeria. Our mission will receive one senior couple (hopefully they will come to our neck of the woods), one sister missionary, and 17 elders. We can expect them within the next week or two;  then two weeks after that we have 16 brand new missionaries coming for transfers. The mission home will be a busy place; there's always something huge going on...

                I do not envy those missionaries who have to be uprooted and planted in a strange new plot in the Lord's vineyard.  Imagine leaving everyone and everything you had come to love: the members and investigators, culture, experiences, etc.  That would be so hard; all at a moment's notice.

                Yesterday the assistants informed us that the missionaries might be stopped from leaving their countries because they were shutting down the airways.  But this morning we got word that there are 8 coming and they will make it tonight. The rest will come later, and we're still praying for them.

                K came to church! Late, but he came. We were very happy, he's a free guy and he enjoyed himself.  He just fit right in. Then we called him last night just to check up and he said he was sitting with his wife teaching her all the things he learned at church and his experience there.  He's so powerful! Although, it seems his word of wisdom concern may be larger than he is admitting.  So we're working on that.  Keep sending your prayers up for him.

                We also got like 4 referrals this week which is really impressive.  We're re-building our teaching pool right now so we really need it!

Love,

Elder Doggett

The ebola outbreak is on both sides of Ghana.  Prayers needed for our missionaries and the people in West Africa.

MORE RUMINATIONS ABOUT FIDO.........

.....poor, little thing!

The following is Elder Doggett’s father’s thoughts on his report last week of eating dog meat:  Dog food. The aforementioned term typically denotes nourishment usually reserved for various types of the canine species.  Some humans however, have mistakenly come to the conclusion that it means "dogs as food"!  You appear to be a member of that latter group!  Be it known that the typical social norms in place that you most likely refer as "Back Home” may prevent you from indulging some of the appetites that you have become accustomed to in Ghana.  Any time that your dinner was previously referred to as "Fido" or "Rover" or possibly the unfortunate appellation of "Lucky" should give you a clue that the meal that lies before you may not be deemed appropriate by many of your "Back Home" associates.   As one who has in previous times claimed to be your Father and now doubts somewhat the wisdom of such claims, I would encourage you to hold tight to the teachings of said Father.  Please consider holding your eating habits to consuming such things as hot DOGS or corn DOGS.  Try not to think of “Fido the DOG” as lunch (even if he is cooked with hot peppers).

Elder Doggett’s response:  Hahaha dad I had to eat it-- my name is DOGgett! 

Elder Doggett’s email from Jul 29, 2014:

Dear Family and Friends,

                Recently the weather has been really cold. It's raining everyday a really light drizzly mist; it's pretty much snow but it's not frozen. I love it because it's a welcome relief to proselyting; but coming home to shower at night is terrible. So we've got a water heater to warm buckets, which is pretty much just this open coil that shoots current thru the water to heat it up. Don't touch the water when it's on...

                We met a pastor a while ago who wanted us to come and share ideas with him. We've sat with him twice. The first time he was going off the rails ranting about his strange doctrines; he was hard to control and I was getting frustrated.  Luckily my companion had enough patience to handle him.  When we met this week though, he was much better.  He was trying to understand how Peter, James, and John appeared to Joseph Smith to restore the priesthood.  He believed that here would only be one resurrection all at once for everyone, but we reminded him how MATT 27:52-53 states that many saints arose after Christ's resurrection, and appeared in Jerusalem.  Of course, we don't know exactly when the apostles were resurrected, but will God all things are possible.

                This pastor was asking very good questions and he had humbled himself a lot this time. We slowly led him to the topic of the Book of Mormon.  We introduced it, but next time we will expound all things unto him.  My comp accurately compares him to Apollos in ACTS 18:24-28. He's a man "mighty in the scriptures" and "fervent in the spirit". He really just wants to know the truth.  In fact, he's searching for the truth so he can teach it to his congregation. Hopefully when he finds it, he'll know what he REALLY needs to do with it.

                I find in him a very desirable trait: he is willing to listen to what others believe and learn from it. Even if he doesn't agree, he is not ignorant. That's something I have learned to do on mission, not in the gospel sense, but in general.  If someone if more informed on a topic, why not listen and take note? Again, it's admirable in this pastor, especially since he is like 40 years our senior.

                Now again our investigator K is making progress. He is receiving our teaching so well, once again it is not even us who is teaching, it's the Spirit. He feasted on the Plan of Salvation, and even began sharing the pre-mortal existence with his friends, haha.  We were hopefully expecting him at church on Sunday, but he failed to come.  When we saw him in the evening, we didn't hide our disappointment at all.  He has a problem with the Word of Wisdom and confessed that he drank in the morning, that's why he didn't want to come.  Maybe it's a good thing we didn't hide the disappointment, but in the future we have to give lots of encouragement.  He and his family have so much potential!  Please keep him in your prayers.

Love,

 Elder Doggett

PS Elder Cavaness is our assistant right now, and he told me the other day what my flight schedule is... Don't get trunky!  (We were informed Elder Doggett comes home on October 1^st!!!!)

Elder Doggett's email from July 23, 2014:

"MAN'S BEST FRIEND" IS NOT A PET IN GHANA........

Dear Family and Friends,

                I ate dog for the first time last week! It was pretty good; tasted like beef really.  Except Elder Etim boiled it with WAY TOO MUCH fresh red pepper  It was insane. After gorging myself on dog and rice, my head felt like it would explode and I was sweating a waterfall.  I had to crash on my bed with the fan blasting into my mouth haha.  E. Etim was just laughing his head off, but even he was dying.  Man there is nothing here with enough base to neutralize the sting-- there's no milk!

                Elder Nakedi and I were discussing recently about one great evidence in an investigator's progression: they will volunteer information such as stories, insights, personal concerns, how they are feeling, etc-- without you having to ask. Most people will just sit and let you preach at them while you have to try and pry participation out of them. We have a few good people you exemplify this. One is P., we've been teaching him for a while, we met him thru his sister, whom the missionaries were teaching since before I came to the area. Another is K., we met him just last week. He used to attend the church some years ago.  He traveled for work a lot and fell out of contact, but now he has settled down with his wife and son.  He's ready to start over and fix some problems with his life; he and his family show a lot of promise, I'm excited.

                Our area is seeing progression, except I don't think we'll make our trimester baptism goal of 7. We've had some hang-ups and all the new people we meet and contact don't live in our area! We had to refer K. to the sisters; he doesn't live in our area either.  Our area is really small... The zone however, should be very close to our collective goal by the end of August.

                Transfer news is in: only one change in our zone. Everyone is staying together except for our Achiase elders.  Elder Boamah, the Ghanaian is shooting off to Sekondi.  We don't even have to do anything, he is just leaving from Achiase with his comp, and his comp will come back with the new missionary.  That's incredibly easy for us... and our pocketbook :)

Love,

Elder Doggett

"THE FIELD IS WHITE.....

Dear Family and Friends,

            We had a ward conference yesterday and I just feel like expressing how awesome the growth of the church is here in Ghana. It's amazing how fast the church grows! Just as they reported the statistics compared to the last conference I was impressed. The field is seriously white and ready to harvest. I just wish we had a harvester... that would make it even faster.

        Elder Nakedi and I also attended a stake council meeting because the stake president wanted us to report on how meetings are going in the stake. We asked our missionaries and they told us how things were going, so we forwarded that on to the stake leaders and various bishoprics. It was a good chance to address any problems or concerns that our missionaries have; very effective meeting. In addition, Pres Fokuo explained how fast the stake is growing, he just created 3 new branches just over a month ago and now there are 10 units: 7 wards and 3 branches. Assin Foso has only been a stake for 3 years! And they created a district just over a year ago. In a way, it's so exciting to see the numbers on a large scale. Surely the stone that was cut without hands is rolling forth to fill the whole earth. 

        On Thursday, we had interviews with President Stevenson. Our zone is huge, so it took all day. We did it by district though, so everybody would at least have a bit of proselyting time. President did 20 minute interviews to get to know everyone. We gave an instruction on working with members, which is a general weakness in our zone. I think it was effective and hopefully our missionaries have some new ideas to take to their areas. It went longer that we expected, so I felt bad because the Assistants had to cut their instruction in half. 

      We were actually supposed to go on splits with President after the meeting, but it was getting too late by the time we closed.

       Too bad, because we had a really powerful lesson that night! One of our seemingly insincere investigators got an answer to his prayer. How? By going to church on Sunday, even though he went to the other ward in town.  Revelation comes through church attendance.  K just did a 180, he was so excited about all he had learned,  he asked us to be baptized. I wasn't surprised, but I didn't expect it. It's become clear to me that as soon as any person exercises their agency to give our message a chance, and as soon as they open their heart-- the truth will be revealed. You just have to put forth a LITTLE effort to 'experiment upon our words.'

       We're starting to see more progress with the people we've been teaching. We are focusing hard on setting baptism dates and working with our members. (You have to practice what you preach, right?) Our ward missionaries are really gaining enthusiasm, and they've been helping us like never before. They're referring us to their friends and proselyting with us a ton. 

Love,

Elder Doggett

I'm happy you went to the Shulz's homecoming! Sounds like it was so powerful! And it's funny that you met Kinikini haha. I'm sure you remember how many times in my emails I have praised President Shulz. He did SO much for this mission. He's a very loving man.  Enjoy camping, I wish I could be there!

.....I JUST WISH WE HAD A HARVESTER"

MEETING PRESIDENT & SIS. STEVENSON

Dear Family and Friends,

                On Tuesday we had our first Mission Leadership Council with President Stevenson.  He's a tall man; that was my first impression of him. Come to think of it, my first impression of Pres. Shulz was that he was short, haha.  Pres. Stevenson is pretty young for a mission president, and he's full of energy. He was just released as a stake president and he was in administration in a finance company. I can tell he is used to getting things done with efficiency.  He's got a lot of good ideas to speed things up with technology, even though this mission is nowhere close to other missions... *cough* iPads.

                Since I've been serving as a Zone Leader, we travel to Cape Coast every so often for meetings. Every time we do, we pass through one of my old areas, and I've noticed that every time we do I start feeling homesick... for Green Hill! Those were the golden days of my mission.  I love the members; I love my converts there; most of all though, I felt the most loved by them. The people there feel like family to me.  I was catching up with Elder Z Larsen who served there after me and he told me what's going on with everyone.  He told me all my converts are still strong and that the branch finally got their own building. I miss that place! At times, the work went slow but the progress we saw there was REAL progress.

                We didn't do anything too crazy this year for 4th of July like last year.  Elder Holmgren and I just sang the national anthem early in the morning; he was wearing a flag draped around his shoulders. There was no time to even do something fancy, so we just made hot dogs. Elder Nakedi and I taught 7 lessons that day though.

                This week I got my travel request forms.  Every missionary gets them when he has 3 months left. So I need to fill them out and then get the actual travel plans. The truth is gradually becoming a reality but I'm still blocking it out, haha.  I will stay in denial as long as I can.

Love,

Elder Doggett

Mission Leadership Council with Pres. and Sis. Stevenson

FURNITURE SHOPPING FOR THE PRESIDENT

Dear Family and Friends,

                President Shulz called this week and said, "Elders, I'm going to ask you to do something strange..." He continued to explain that they wanted a new leather recliner for the mission home before they left.  They had a hookup for a recliner in Accra for 1400 GHC, but he said he saw one at the Melcom store in Assin Foso.  He asked us to go to the store and check, so we did--amongst the plethora of other things we had to do that day, haha.  Good news….. we found one for 895 GHC on sale for only 825 GHC! It was a steal. So we got an invoice and photo copied it and sent it to him.

                The funny thing is, we had so much to do that we needed to split with the other elders in the apartment-- but they were already on splits!  So we conducted what I call split-ception.  A split inside a split.  So Elder Collins came couch shopping with me, it was legit.

                On a more serious note, we had an investigator baptized yesterday. His name is E.  He is a student at the local college and he's a genius, in general and in the gospel.  We found him in the chapel early morning before his baptism in one of the classrooms running through calculus on the chalkboard haha. The missionaries were teaching him before I got here, and it is strange because we can only see him once a week.  The boarding school hardly ever lets him out, haha.  He has a very strong testimony though; unfortunately we won't be able to teach him and help him integrate because he is going on vacation from school so he'll be attending in Takoradi.

                We have another investigator who has SO MUCH potential. His name is R. and he is married with two daughters. He is learning tons from our lessons and he is slowly gaining a testimony. He is very open with us and tells us what he's thinking. He's just a little afraid of having to change his life and things if he finds out what we are saying is true.  But he and his family would be so great in the gospel!

Please keep him in your prayers.

Love,

Elder Doggett

PS I would love to send pics of the baptism but I have neither the time or network to do so. Sorry!

Dad, it’s funny that you mentioned Isa 55 because this morning in our apartment devotional  I used verse 2, I think, where it mentions, 'let your soul delight in fatness' Why? Because we got subsistence money today! Haha

"I don't want to get somewhere down the long road of eternity to watch

someone I know break down in the arms of the Savior, and realize that I could have helped them discover that familiar embrace years ago"

Dear Family and Friends,

                We've seen P., the boy who lost his mother two weeks ago. He was playing futbol and enjoying life with his friends a few days ago, and he joined us for free banku from the stake president last night. I'm always impressed with the way people handle death here.  It doesn't sting them very hard. But Ghanaians in general already kind of inherently believe in an afterlife, so they are just happier (than Americans are) when death strikes. Ghanaians have great faith.

                I was reading Elder Packer's talk in the conference Ensign the other day. At the end of his talk, 'The Witness', he bears strong testimony and indirectly states that he has seen the Savior. I was pretty surprised initially, but then I realized that there must be something that sets apostles apart as 'special witnesses' of Christ in all the world.

                I had to preside at a baptismal service this week for some of our missionaries' candidates. The service wasn't planned very well, their ward mission leader didn't come and they had no presiding authority. That happens pretty often here... When that happens in the GCCM, the elder who has been out the longest presides--and that was me, haha.  All I had to do was sit there and make sure everything went the way it should; it wasn't hard. Five were baptized and I must say I'm impressed with how our missionaries are doing in the zone. Total this week:  7 were baptized.  Hurrah for Israel!

                We had our final zone conference with President Shulz this week. It was mostly just to say goodbye to everyone. Like I mentioned in an earlier email, we had an object lesson. (I didn't describe it before because we wanted to keep it secret so we could use it with our zones) We went outside, blindfolded everybody, and in different groups we led everyone by having them hold on to ropes in silence.  There were some obstacles to get over, nothing too difficult though.  Then one by one we had everyone individually let go of the rope and 'wait for further instruction'. Then someone started singing the first two verses to the hymn 'Come Follow Me' #116.  One by one people started to realize that was the 'further instruction' and slowly trickled over to where we were singing. We hugged those who made it, and they removed their blindfolds and joined us in singing until everyone made it.

                Afterwards, we went inside and discussed how to apply the experience in our missions and lives. The rope is the Spirit, the leader of the rope is the Savior. The obstacles are trials, and the choice is ours to heed to invitation-- 'Come Follow Me'  The first time we did this activity, I was a participant. This time, I was leading one of the ropes. I had a much different view and I had a profound observation in my group.  Sister A was the first one on my rope, and the more obstacles she hit, the closer she moved up the rope towards me-- until she was pretty much touching my hand.  It was easier for her to follow and hold on that way. But because she was so close to me, there was a big gap going to the next person on the rope. Consequently, the rope became slack for Sister N.  She was struggling with every obstacle she ran into; she nearly fell many times because the rope wasn't tight enough to give her solid support.

                Towards the close of the activity when we turned everyone loose and told them to wait for further instruction the singing began. People meandered in and were subsequently hugged and their blindfolds removed.  When Sister N. made it, Sister U. gave her a tight hug and removed her blindfold.

Sister N was in tears. I think she felt so overwhelmed at the chance to finally have someone to hold on to. I was touched inside because I had watched the whole time and had observed how hard the walk

was for her.

                Application: How often in our attempts to get closer to the Savior, do we leave someone behind who also needs support in the gospel? As we try to be more righteous, we must be wary lest be become self-righteous.  How do we miss the opportunities to pull someone along with us in the gospel?

There are people who need support; people who need truth. But they are kept from it because 'they know not where to find it'. I don't want to get somewhere down the long road of eternity to watch

someone I know break down in the arms of the Savior, and realize that I could have helped them discover that familiar embrace years ago.

Love,

Elder Doggett

Yeah I forgot to mention Ghana was super depressed after losing to the USA in the World Cup.  I felt bad for them.  They tied with Germany just the other night, so they have one chance left to stay in.

It's so fun to watch everyone--literally EVERYONE freak out when Ghana makes a goal. That [Coast Guard] breakfast [Kelsey and Joe cooked] sounds so amazing... I miss food!!....It's cool that the whole neighborhood was there, though!

"The gospel is true.  Families are eternal.  Can you see the blessings when someone selflessly serves a mission?" 

Dear Family and Friends,

                This week was super busy, what with transfers and all. We had to go to Achiase on Tuesday because they were getting whitewashed. So we went to learn where all of the progressing investigators and such were.  Then we went again on Friday after transfers to show the new missionaries around, which was really good  because they were lost,  haha.  But one of them, Elder Boamah, is actually from Achiase. His family still lives there, he just hasn't been there in forever.

               Transfers went smoothly, though; I'm expecting great things from the zone this transfer.  Elder Tyson, my grandson,  was transferred out ; so that's sad.  But Elder Cowan is our new DL!

               We've been informed that the government will construct a new road that will run right thru the

 middle of our proselyting area. Many homes will be demolished to make way, including two of our members'.  The EQ Pres and another family will be affected, and they both have new unfinished houses that will torn down.  They want to dismantle the buildings brick by brick and haul them to a new site. Fortunately, the government is providing a new plot plus 50 bags of cement to compensate those who will be left desolate. It's not much, though.  We're planning to have another zone service activity in the near future to help them.  We already did a bit on Saturday morning just moving the loose bricks with some of the heavy muscles in our zone, haha.  It's not easy...

                This just in-- My companion's mother was baptized yesterday back in South Africa!  It's really exciting, because she gave him some resistance when he wanted to come on a mission.  But she has totally changed.  She had an experience where she fell ill and was healed by a priesthood blessing.  She's a nurse, too, so her coworkers thought she had gone mad when she testified that she had been healed by the priesthood.  Elder Nakedi  is just bubbling with excitement right now, hahaha.  He says he can't wait to go to the temple with his mother.  One more brother, and all of his family will be in the church. The gospel is true.  Families are eternal.  Can you see the blessings when someone selflessly serves a mission?  Everyone affiliated is blessed by the missionary's actions.  I can definitely see that in my companion.

Man... that's powerful.

Love,

Elder Doggett

 

When you are really tired on mission....you can sleep anywhere!!  (Elder Julander captured E. Doggett during transfers six weeks ago, waiting for the other elders to finish packing)

" I....... pondered the comfort that comes from the plan of salvation. Death isn't the end, it's only a transition; like stepping into another room.  Most people in the world don't know or understand that.  That's why we are here as missionaries, to bring light to those that sit in darkness."

Running into old friends....E. Tyson and E. Cowan!

Dear Family and Friends,

                We had our last Mission Leadership Council with President Shulz this week.  It was pretty good, we had some powerful instruction in the form of an object lesson.  I'll tell you about it later.

                We also had our final interviews with President Shulz on Friday. We had a nice chat together and he gave me a temple recommend interview because mine expires in July.  I so miss the temple... We didn't get to spend a lot of time discussing because time was not on our side; there are 24 missionaries in this zone.

                This morning we had a zone service activity that went very well. We moved a TON of blocks for a member who wants the government to tear down a portion of her unfinished house for a road they want to make.  We moved them so they wouldn't get destroyed.

                Now let me tell you about how Saturday did not go as planned.  We started early in the morning with a service project moving blocks for a member (different member), then went home to actually get ready for the day. We only taught one lesson before we got a call from the sisters, saying they needed support at their baptism.  We went around 4 PM and it turned out they didn't really need us, but we stayed anyways.  Then the rain started in torrents and that delayed us further.  Finally as we left the gate of the chapel, we got another phone call.  Elder Ouma had been admitted to the hospital earlier in the day for mild malaria (go figure haha) and his comp, Elder Hackmeister called us. They were fine, but he said one of our members was just admitted to the hospital, a 14 year old boy. He and his mother had been in an accident where a tall wall collapsed on them due to rain. The mother was killed.

                The boy was brought into the emergency unit and he saw Elder Hack in the next room.  He was in shock, but he recognized them and asked for a priesthood blessing, which was immediately given. After that is when Hack called. We were very close when he did, just at the stake center. We got there in minutes to see the situation; the nurses were working on P., the boy. He wasn't badly injured.  I walked further down the corridor and saw the mother's body lying on a gurney.  Elder Nakedi was sitting with P., he knew him already from serving in Achiase formerly (one of the areas in our zone).  P. asked him, "Do you know where my mom is?" He didn't know that she didn't make it.  My companion said that just crushed his confidence as he tried to comfort him.

                Elder Nakedi  then called President F. and Bishop O.  Both of them were speechless. The woman, Sister V., was President F.'s daughter-in-law, and she lived right next to Bishop. The nurse gave my comp the bill and he later passed it on when the others arrived.

                Just as I picked up the phone to call and cancel our appointments, the Assistants called us with transfer news. I sat down with the phone and took the info in my planner. Elder Nakedi and I are staying together but there are some positive changes in the zone.  I then had the pleasure of calling everyone and hearing the mixed reactions of sheer glee, disappointment, or apathy.  Transfer calls are fun!  Then we were able to leave the hospital and salvage our night.  By the time we did leave, nearly the entire ward was at the hospital.

                We went to Paramu that night and most of the members were in mourning.  Some were literally pacing around weeping and wailing.  It was sad.  But I stood by as a quiet observer and pondered the comfort that comes from the plan of salvation. Death isn't the end, it's only a transition; like stepping into another room.  Most people in the world don't know or understand that.  That's why we are here as missionaries, to bring light to those that sit in darkness.

                Everything that happened on Saturday was by the Lord's hand.  I'm glad Elder Ouma was sick, so they were there to administer to P. in his time of need.  And we happened to be very close by when they called us.  If not for the rain, we would have been back in our area.  My companion was able to comfort the boy and call those who needed to be called promptly.   It went rather smoothly honestly.  A friend recently told me that coincidences take a lot of planning. Oh, how true that is.

Love,

Elder Doggett

This is E. Doggett's answer to his dad, who asked him about literacy rates there......

Luckily, when people can't read, they can usually speak (English). When that
happens, we just teach them the principles that were restored through
the Book of Mormon, reading it to them/with them. It's honestly
incredibly difficult and it IS a huge stumbling block. But the work
still moves on somehow... haha. The literacy in my area is better than
Achiase, like honestly a solid 60%. It's actually pretty good. The
younger generations have infinitely more opportunity when it comes to
education. They show a lot of promise for the future. Most kids do go
to school actually, even when the parents are not educated.

One thing I always ponder is how much the mission and the church has
grown since I've been here. It's insane! It is literally growing like
a weed. I am so anxious to see where it is in 50 years.

E. Nakedi arm wrestling E. Pousini