FORGING NEW ROADS IN GHANA...........

Many hands make light work!

Lots of shoveling......

and more shoveling!

E. Doggett, E. Reihle, E. Stoddard

Mission accomplished.....level road!

Dear Family and Friends,

            My new companion is called Elder Ma'afu, from Tonga. He's a sweet guy and he's full of energy! Haha I have to work hard to keep up with him. He was trained by Elder Carstens in Assin Foso, so he just came from there. He had been in his first area for 8 months.

            This morning we had a service project that went very well! I love service projects here, because we don't get to do them very often. A while ago, the Zone Leaders told us to watch out for a project that we could do as a zone. We contacted our bishop and he suggested we fill in the holes on the big road leading up into Mpintsin. He provided the filling and we gathered tools from members yesterday. We got up early and met up to start our work. As we were going, we had some people join us, two people in particular. They were just local residents of the area, but these two guys worked harder than some of us, haha. Some of the members threw in their hands as well and we had a really great time. As we filled the holes in the road, cars kept passing and in doing so, they packed down the dirt for us. We received some nice compliments, and made a few contacts, since it was in our area. One guy, however, pulled up next to me, Elder Reihle, and my bishop. At first it seemed that he would thank us, but there must be opposition in all things, right? He asked which organization was doing this, then proceeded to trash talk America and England, saying that they were the ones who caused problems like this. He said, "You know, some people may notice this, but most people will not be impressed. Why are you people coming to fix this road while your countries are stealing from us Africans?... blah blah blah." He just wasted his breath on us. Elder Reihle said, "We believe that when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are in the service of God." (he loves to quote scriptures at people who don't even know where they come from, haha) We told him that whether or not our efforts are appreciated, we will still serve. The guy didn't care. All I have to reflect about it now is D&C 75: 21. (We found out that we is a Pentecostal minister, who clearly does not understand the definition of true religion)

            So I was reading in Lance Richardson's "The Message", that you sent to Elder Ormond, Mother. I like the chapter where he talks about service and how important it is in a Zion Society. He explains how service is the action form of love. You just feel so warm inside when you give service, it's not something you can easily describe.

            So our 'Apostasy Week' just ended, which is the last week of our subsistence period. This is when missionaries are out of money, haha. Normally I budget pretty well, but I enjoyed a bit too much with Elder Ormond. Miraculously though, we were fed or given food by members a few times this week, which kept us afloat. The Lord looks after His missionaries, even when they're slightly short-sighted. But, President Shulz just raised our subsistence by 20 cedis due to all the inflation. Fuel has gone up over 4 times since I entered the country. Prices are going up, up, up.

            Otherwise, transfers went well, but we had a really slow week in the area. We do have 2 people who are preparing for baptism, though. Both are young women who were referred by members. There are SO many young men and women in our ward, I daresay they make up half of our numbers.

Love,

Elder Doggett

P.S. Actually I was told that snake will "give you a bit of a fever if it bites you, but you'll be okay."        

 

New companion, Elder Ma'afu