" One of my favorite scriptural promises concerning the Lord's forgiveness is in Isaiah: 'Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.' That's the power of the Atonement."
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| Ghanaian electrician |
Email from March 31, 2014:
Dear Family and Friends,
Well. I
have only six months left. 75% of my mission is now behind me. I have mixed
feelings about that. I can't believe Matt and Ben [cousins] are home already! This week was
entertaining though. One day we heard this lady screaming outside the
apartment. The other guys ran out to see what was up and she had found a snake
as she was sweeping in the weeds next to her house. Haha! Elder Moore killed it
with the cutlass and started scaring small children. Classic. Also, Elder
Larsen has been teaching us how to lasso! He made a bunch of little lassos with
some parachute cord he brought with him. I'm getting pretty good at it……
Some weeks
ago we received a powerful referral from a member. He expressed interest in the
church to him, so he lined it up to meet with us. He was reading a Fante Book
of Mormon and was very receptive to our lessons--- now he's running from us and
we don't know why. It's childish really, we call and set up an appointment
which he promises to keep. Then we sit and wait for 30 minutes and find that he
is nowhere to be found. This week we surprised him by finding him at the bar. He
said he would go grab his BOM and meet with us. Disappeared. This man is
getting to 40 years of age and he's acting like he's 12. It's sad. He's
removing himself from salvation and choosing not to be blessed. He knows our
message is true, he's intelligent. But he won't even give us a chance or
respect to discuss his concerns with him, whatever they may be.
I wish
everyone were more like I.! We taught him about agency this week from 2 Ne 2.
He said the lesson answered some outstanding questions he had in his mind. He
also said he's making progress on solving his situation; he knows it's all up
to him. As he considers those he loves, he wants to make it possible for them
all to "come to the house of the Lord". I love I., he's so
conscientious and he's very aware of the big picture in life. I'm impressed
with the way he's handling things. He's walking with the Lord every step of the
way. He's extremely mature and will make a powerful leader in the church when
his time comes.
The ward is
having some planning/organization/communication issues that are becoming pretty
frustrating. We were supposed to have missionary Sunday yesterday, and five
minutes before the meeting as we sat on the stand, they informed us that, 'today
is actually Relief Society Sunday, so next two weeks will be for you'. We had
talks prepared and everything. I won't bore you with details, but this ward is
having some major difficulties…From serving here….. I have made some goals to make
sure I never shirk my duty.
Love,
Elder Doggett
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| Drenched elders |
Email from Mar. 24, 2014:
Dear Family and Friends,
This morning a storm was brewing as we prepared to launch out for Takoradi. One minute into the excursion and we were surrounded in the swirling torrents of an African monsoon. We took cover under a random awning on a secluded shop, but the rain began to fall sideways. Elder Larsen and I crouched and held our umbrellas, making a wall like the Spartans in 300. The action got too heavy, and we had to retreat and fall back to the apartment. Upon arrival, we realized that two were missing in action, Elders Ma'afu and [the other Elder] Larsen. We launched a rescue mission and found them hiding in an unfinished building. Mission successful. Elder Moore filmed it.
Elder Moore is training Elder Mocke, a South African from Johannesburg. I think he's the first white South African in our mission. He's a cool guy, he plays lots of rugby, so Elder Ma'afu is happy, haha. Our apartment this transfer is so sweet, Elder Moore is hilarious.
This week we received some sad news about our investigator I. He confessed to us that he has two wives. After marrying his first wife and having 8 children, he saw that she wasn't willing to pull her weight in the relationship. He wanted to work harder in life and move things forward, so after a few years of discussion and consideration, he took another wife.
He explained how he didn't do it for selfish or fleshly reasons, but he loves both of them. He knows though, that it's wrong in the sight of God. He said that he felt to tell us about this last week, but he suppressed the feeling. Then in church this week someone said something that again pricked his heart, and he knew he had to tell us. I could see the humility in him. He already knew that he'd need to divorce one wife if he wants to be baptized. I could see the internal struggle flowing within him. He really does care for both of them.
Now, I wasn't expecting this information, but it didn't surprise me either. Plural marriage is fairly common here; for various reasons it is practiced. It's a tradition for village chiefs. I.'s not a chief, though. He's a really sincere man. We had him read Jacob 2 in the Book of Mormon and to pray for guidance. This is a hard choice to make, he shouldn't make it alone.
Personally, I was very happy he confided this to us. It shows he trusts us. I'm glad we didn't have to coax it out of him or something. It's good that we still have time to sort this thing out. Thinking back to when we set his baptism date-- it seemed like a long time especially for someone such as him. Normally we'd baptize someone like him super fast, which in his case would be bad. Now I know why we felt prompted to give him a further date. It's funny how the Lord does that; he knows best. He knows His sheep. The fact that I. confessed to us shows that he wants to change, which is the entire point of God's plan.
We called President the next day and he said we can't encourage I. to divorce because it would put the church in a bad light in the eyes of the wife. He may just have to wait. When we saw I. again, he was miserable. He had been thinking himself sick all night and he told us how he had wept over the subject. It's so sad to see. He has the full desire to make a covenant with his God, but because of past sins in ignorance he can't do that right now. He's met with Bishop now and they've discussed his options. It's all his choice, so we will continue to teach him and everything. It will just take time.
One of my favorite scriptural promises concerning the Lord's forgiveness is in Isaiah. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." That's the power of the Atonement.
This morning a storm was brewing as we prepared to launch out for Takoradi. One minute into the excursion and we were surrounded in the swirling torrents of an African monsoon. We took cover under a random awning on a secluded shop, but the rain began to fall sideways. Elder Larsen and I crouched and held our umbrellas, making a wall like the Spartans in 300. The action got too heavy, and we had to retreat and fall back to the apartment. Upon arrival, we realized that two were missing in action, Elders Ma'afu and [the other Elder] Larsen. We launched a rescue mission and found them hiding in an unfinished building. Mission successful. Elder Moore filmed it.
Elder Moore is training Elder Mocke, a South African from Johannesburg. I think he's the first white South African in our mission. He's a cool guy, he plays lots of rugby, so Elder Ma'afu is happy, haha. Our apartment this transfer is so sweet, Elder Moore is hilarious.
This week we received some sad news about our investigator I. He confessed to us that he has two wives. After marrying his first wife and having 8 children, he saw that she wasn't willing to pull her weight in the relationship. He wanted to work harder in life and move things forward, so after a few years of discussion and consideration, he took another wife.
He explained how he didn't do it for selfish or fleshly reasons, but he loves both of them. He knows though, that it's wrong in the sight of God. He said that he felt to tell us about this last week, but he suppressed the feeling. Then in church this week someone said something that again pricked his heart, and he knew he had to tell us. I could see the humility in him. He already knew that he'd need to divorce one wife if he wants to be baptized. I could see the internal struggle flowing within him. He really does care for both of them.
Now, I wasn't expecting this information, but it didn't surprise me either. Plural marriage is fairly common here; for various reasons it is practiced. It's a tradition for village chiefs. I.'s not a chief, though. He's a really sincere man. We had him read Jacob 2 in the Book of Mormon and to pray for guidance. This is a hard choice to make, he shouldn't make it alone.
Personally, I was very happy he confided this to us. It shows he trusts us. I'm glad we didn't have to coax it out of him or something. It's good that we still have time to sort this thing out. Thinking back to when we set his baptism date-- it seemed like a long time especially for someone such as him. Normally we'd baptize someone like him super fast, which in his case would be bad. Now I know why we felt prompted to give him a further date. It's funny how the Lord does that; he knows best. He knows His sheep. The fact that I. confessed to us shows that he wants to change, which is the entire point of God's plan.
We called President the next day and he said we can't encourage I. to divorce because it would put the church in a bad light in the eyes of the wife. He may just have to wait. When we saw I. again, he was miserable. He had been thinking himself sick all night and he told us how he had wept over the subject. It's so sad to see. He has the full desire to make a covenant with his God, but because of past sins in ignorance he can't do that right now. He's met with Bishop now and they've discussed his options. It's all his choice, so we will continue to teach him and everything. It will just take time.
One of my favorite scriptural promises concerning the Lord's forgiveness is in Isaiah. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." That's the power of the Atonement.
Love,
Elder Doggett
