Week 49 Tamale

WOW! What a busy time out here in Tamale! Its like crazy! Time just races past our faces right now!

  

This week we were able to go on an exchange up in the "promise land" of the great city of Bolgatanga. It’s just about as close as you can get to the northern broader of Ghana. Man.... That place is Africa, not the jungle... but more savannah. Wow... We had the "pleasure" of riding bikes! Hahaha! We were riding through plowed fields. It was so wild! There were mud huts. It was crazy!  The exchange was successful. Bolgatanga is a very successful area with plenty of people to teach.

As for Tamale, our area is progressing small small.  Since we were gone for a couple days, we weren't able to spend our full week in our area. It’s coming along small small.  We just do a lot of teaching and contacting straight from the Book of Mormon. The best Scriptures for Tamale are Mosiah 3:17, Mosiah 5:8, and Helaman 5:9-11. Hahaha!  They get straight to the point with the Muslims. No joking around here. 

We will be having a baptism this week for a guy named Michael Gakpo! He’s a dope guy, so sweet and very humble.  He is the adult son of the former Branch President.  He came home from school and wanted to be baptized.  So we are praying all goes well!

Anyway President Cosgrave left:( I haven't been able to talk to President Webster yet, since we are so far north. Maybe I'll give him a ring and say cheers.

I was studying the Book of Mormon this week and found quite possibly my favorite chapter.  2 Nephi 9... There is so much to learn out of that chapter, especially verses 21-23. Unreal!  I invite all to read those scriptures to learn about the DOCTRINE OF CHRIST! THE GOSPEL. Read the whole chapter! It’s awesome!! 

Anyway, no pictures this week!  I’ll get some for next week.  Love you all! Have a nice week! 

Elder Turner

Week 48 Tamale

This was a week to remember for sure out here in Tamale. We had a lot of things were going on this week. My companion and I have been putting forth more effort towards finding in our area and we are seeing progress!  Some new and much needed investigators have been added to our teaching pool.  So we'll take it from there and see if we can add more this week.  For some reason my companion and I have felt some fire and are trying to improve the area like crazy. 

That is Sister Precious in the middle.  We painted her house last week.  She's the BEST!!

This week we were able to go on an exchange with the AP's. We decided to use them small and bust out our proselyting tools, tons of signs that show our message, and street contact! Man, tamale is different. You gotta put on a show for people to talk to you.  You just gotta put yourself out there and yell! Hahaha!! "FREE BOOK OF MORMON!!" "CAN MAN SEE GOD?? JOSEPH SMITH DID!!" Stuff like that. I’ll get a pic of it this week. 

Like I said, this week was a sweet week. It was President Cosgrave’s last Zone Conference!  Just for the Wonderful Tamale Zone! It was awesome! His last sermon!!!  Zone Conference was cool but we had a District Conference on Sunday and that’s where all the tears and words of goodbye were said! It’s crazy to think that the Cosgraves are leaving Ghana. They are absolutely the best!  They've been in Ghana for 5 years total!!!  I’m so excited for them!! Can't wait to meet our new mission president, President Webster!!! 

Elder Barnum and I with President and Sister Cosgrave at the final Zone Conference

 This week I was doing some study in the first couple of Chapters of 2 Nephi. I was digging out some gems from it! In chapter 2 of 2 Nephi, Lehi was giving some of his last words to his firstborn in the wilderness, Jacob. In verse 6-10 he’s talking about how redemption can only come through the Holy Messiah. 

8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the spirit, that he may bring to pass the Resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise."

PERFECT! An absolutely perfect scripture for life.... there’s nothing else I can add to that because of how plain and simple and to the point it is!! Always remember it! 

Love you all! 

Elder Turner 

My "Son" Elder Dago

Elder Barnum and I at the Internet Cafe Today

Week 47 Tamale

Our Area

Another week in Tamale in the books! I'm not gonna lie it was probably the most tiring of them all! Contacting, contacting and more contacting! All we did was try to find people! It’s a little more difficult out here as well! All Muslim!! haha!

This week one of our members got a missionary paint job! We did it over two days! None of us are pro painters so we didn’t know what was up.  We just started to put the primer on the walls.  That stuff is thick!!!  It wasn’t until we did the whole house that we realized we needed to add water to the primer!! hahahah!!!  The second day was cool though.  A decent paint job!  She was so happy though!

The Painting Crew

Like I said, this week we did a lot of contacting and who wants to contact?!?! Like, here in Tamale it’s SPECIAL! I'm telling you. You can see so many crazy things.   We were  talking to this lady and this euro white dude comes up and says out loud, "Ask these guys if they believe Jesus Christ is God?"  I responded through the lady and said, "Tell the man that we believe in God, our Heavenly Father and in his Son, Jesus Christ and In the Holy Ghost." He responded through the lady and quoted Isaiah chapter 9. It’s when it gives a lot of names of Christ. One of them is the Everlasting Father. HE FORGOT THE PRINCE OF PEACE!! haha So I said, “you forgot that one” and said, “We believe He’s the prince of peace. So why are we arguing?!”  I turned around and he was GONE!! Such a creepy guy! so we ended up teaching the lady! Kinda funny! 

Something I love about Tamale is contacting Muslims.  We just get right to talking about Jesus Christ. It’s awesome to see their reactions.  Some are very humble and want to know more, some just completely shut it down!  But they haven't heard our message.  It is truly amazing to teach them stuff they literally have no clue about. You can tell when it really touches their hearts! The key is in the Plan of Salvation! They get so interested in it! Especially the Atonement! I love teaching up here in Tamale!!!

Well it was a cool week! 

Love to all! 

Elder Turner

Week 46 I Think...idk

I was in a member’s house this week and saw a notification that the Warriors swept the Cavs.  Good for the Warriors! hahah!

  

This week was nuts! TRANSFERRED! hahaha! MAJOR........ Wednesday was the most uncomfortable day on my mission yet!  Like, just not knowing where I was going. On the tro-tro ride to Kumasi I had a friend call me and ask me if I knew where I was going, I said “no!”  He just laughed!  Sweet, that makes me feel awesome! haha!  I finally got to the stake center in Kumasi and found out I was going to Tamale!  The NORTH!  The Middle East of Ghana!  Muslims everywhere. That’s the main (and just about the only) religion here in Tamale.  So it’s going to be interesting.  Tamale (pronounced tah-mah-lay) is a super nice place though! We have a natural water heater!!! Sun, sun, sun ahaha! The Sun here is so hot! It's not even the hot season yet!

Tamale

My new companion is Elder Barnum a super chill guy from sunny San Diego.  He likes to work super hard and he’s a consecrated missionary! I'm excited to see what Tamale will bring us! 

Contacting here is not easy with this different language up here.  They speak Dagbani (sounds like dog-bwani).  The key is just to start talking about Christ. His Divinity!  Muslims believe that Jesus Christ is real, like a prophet... just not that he’s actually the Christ! The Son of God!  It's mind blowing for a Mormon boy from Utah!  But yeah, just seeing how they respond will tell you if we can teach them.  If they allow the missionaries to teach them, we have to go and interview them!  So we do a lot of interviews just to see if everyone will be safe during the lessons and all that.  So yeah Tamale is basically a different mission altogether!  It’s not tropical anymore but more Savanna desert type. 

This week I was able to start the Book of Mormon again.  Something that stood out to me was how many times that Nephi and his brothers in those first chapters of the Book of Mormon, bring up the words "Keep the Commandments!"  It reminds me of the primary song!

Keep the Commandments,

Keep the Commandments,

In this there is safety and peace.

Just keep singing it in your mind!

Anyway Tamale is dope haha! I hope everything is cool for everyone! 

Elder Turner

Lounging in the Mission Home

My Companion

Elder Garret, Elder Blanchard and Me