June 4, 2012

Hey everybody!

Thank you all so much for the happy birthday wishes. I had a good day yesterday and it has been a pretty good week. We had a zone conference on Thursday over in Cape Coast. We went over and met up with the Assin Fosu zone and had our meeting. We talked a lot about how we are going to try and use members a lot more in teaching and pretty much everything that we do. I think that it is really going to help the way we do missionary work here if we try to follow the new plan. Then the next day president and sister shulz came to the apartments and did apartment checks and interviews. Don't worry the apartment passed the cleaning test...we are living in very habitable conditions. ;) Sunday I woke up and it was my birthday!...but it didn't feel like anything. Haha. I just woke up and went to church. It turns out Elder Samai told a bunch of the people in the branch that it was my birthday so everybody was telling me happy birthday and stuff. It was really fun. After church, they gave me a coke and some biscuits and everything to eat later. Sister Achempong invited us over to eat dinner for my birthday and we ate spaghetti and stew with chicken. It was really good. It was fun to talk to them because they have lived in Utah for about 6 years and they have been to Lagoon and everything...so we were talking about all different kinds of things. So my birthday went pretty good....no complaints I guess. It didn't really feel like a birthday though. Then today we went to a place called Kakum. It's a place by Cape Coast where they have rope bridge type things over the forest. It was pretty cool. Then we went to a place on the way back where we were able to touch crocodiles. That was pretty cool too. Then we just came back to Swedru. We had to wake up at about 4:30 this morning so I'm really tired now. Thanks again for all of the birthday wishes. It was great to hear from all of you!
Have a great week!

Love Elder Kitchen

P.S.  Sam's mom asked him what he eats everyday and this is what he said.

I eat a lot of egg sandwiches, Indo Mie (top ramen), eggs, French toast,  and rice. 

He mentioned that he now loves many African dishes that he said, “I can’t believe I didn’t like them at first.”

Elder Samai and Elder Kitchen

May 28, 2012

Hey everybody!

So this week went pretty good and it seemed to go really fast as well. Last Tuesday we went to district meeting at Odoben which is the other area in our district. It is in the middle of nowhere and it's a village but they have a nice chapel. After district meeting, we were all craving fufu so we went and found a chop bar and bought some nice fufu. It seems like I don't get it as much here so I am missing it. Then on Wednesday we had a good lesson with Dora, and her kids, Alice and Obed. The second counselor in the branch presidency came with us and we introduced the Book of Mormon to them. The lesson was great  and they were really happy to learn about it. Then on Thursday we walked a lot and only had a couple of appointments. At the end of the day I was tired and hungry so we bought banku and I got a lot of it and it was very good. It's funny to think that I absolutely hated it the first time that I tried it. Friday was also another day that was just full of lessons. I can't really think about which ones that they were so I guess I won't tell you about them. Then on Saturday we started by seeing an investigator named Jennifer. Then we went and saw a kid named Bless and also a girl named Afia. Nothing else really happened after that so that ended our Saturday. Sunday was a good day because lots of people brought their friends who aren't members. One of them was a family and the dad's name is Eric and his wife's name is Mercy. Also, a guy that is from Germany who is teaching school here for a year came with a member as well. Brett, I told him about you and how you served a mission in Germany and he thought that was pretty cool. After church we went around and had a few lessons before going and seeing Dora and her family again. We talked more about the Book of Mormon with them and we talked about how they need to read and pray about it to know if it is true. It was a really great lesson. After that, we went and met with Eric and his family with the members that know them. He was really nice and I'm excited to start teaching them. The last part of the week was really good. I was just happier for some reason and it felt good. I'm getting pretty good about knowing the area as well. I'm not as lost as I walk around now. So everything is going great! I love all of you guys back home! Have a great week!

Love Elder Kitchen

May 21, 2012

Hey everybody!

This week seemed to just fly by.  On Tuesday we had a combined district meeting at our chapel and so our whole zone was there. There were 16 of us there. Then after the meeting, the zone leaders came on
splits with our apartment so Elder Bunker came with us.  We had a really good day with some good lessons. We went to teach a girl named Esther and she wasn't there so we ended up just teaching her dad named
Gordon and he was really smart.  Hopefully we will be able to keep teaching him.  Then wednesday we just seemed to walk a lot because people weren't keeping their appointments.  Then on Thursday, the best
thing that probably happened was our lesson with Dora and her kids, Obed and Alice.  We taught them about the Apostasy and then the Restoration. They were really excited to talk about the Book of Mormon as well but we didn't have time so we are going to teach them about it next time.  Friday and Saturday were both kind of like Wednesday because nothing really happened.  When we were teaching somebody on Saturday though, out of nowhere a huge storm blew in and started blowing things everywhere and I got blasted with sand and then the rain came.  We had to stand inside of a little cell phone shop for about 2 hours before the rain finally let up. It was a pretty crazy storm.  Then on Sunday we had church and it went well.  They were running out of time during sacrament meeting so they called on me to bear my testimony.  Then we just went out and visited some more people.  So my week went pretty good and fast.  I'm still getting used to the area because it is just so big compared to Fiapre.  We have to walk so far just to get to appointments.  I'm starting to like it more and more though so that's good. I love you guys and hope you have a great week!

Love Elder Kitchen

May 14, 2012

Hey everybody!

It was great to hear from you all!  I had a lot of fun talking to everybody.  So I kind of talked to you guys about everything that is happening over here on the phone yesterday so this email will be kind of short.  So I'm liking my new area but I'm for sure having to get used to it.  The area is really big and it's more of a city so there are a lot of people and everything.  So I'm just getting used to everything and still pushing on with the missionary work!  Thanks everybody for talking with me yesterday!  It meant a lot to hear from all of you!  I'll try to send some pictures somehow but I don't know if I will be able to.  Talk to you guys next week!  

Love Elder Kitchen

May 7, 2012 ~ Greetings from Swedru!

Hey everybody!

It's been quite the week over here and I guess it has been quite the week over there too. Congrats Mar and having the baby! Tell Ethan his uncle Sam says hello!  That was such cool news to get today!  I don't even care about my week now! haha, but I guess I'll let you all know anyways.
So Tuesday was my very last day in Fiapre and it was really sad.  It feels like eternities ago but I guess it was only one week.  We just went and I said goodbye to everybody and the thing that killed me was that people were actually sad to see me go!  I would just tell people that I was leaving and it made them sad which made me really sad.  We went to Sister Afia's house and said goodbye and they pounded us fufu and gave us chicken light soup which is my favorite.  I'm really going to miss that family.  They always took care of me the whole time that I was there.  Then Wednesday I woke up early and went to the metro mass station and said goodbye to everybody before getting on a bus and going to Kumasi.  I got there and Elder Zoll picked us up and took us to the other bus station and we found out that the bus to cape coast was cancelled so we had to rent out a shaddy tro tro to take us down to cape.  It was a long drive but we made it safely to Cape Coast. Then Elder Weaver and I got on another tro tro and it took us all of the way over to Swedru and I got picked up there and everything was good. I was really tired but safe in Swedru.  My new companion is Elder Samai from Sierra Leone.  He came out to the mission field at the same time as Elder Belnap so I'm still a senior companion which I'm not thrilled about but what am I going to do? haha.  The rest of the week has just been crazy trying to get used to the area and everything.  Church was sweet because it was in an actual church building!  It was cool. We watched conference at church too and I was extremely excited to watch it until I found out that it was in Fante so I didn't understand anything!  So Swedru isn't on the coast but it's kind of close so today for p-day our zone went to the beach and it was so awesome!  The beach was beautiful and we played football which was a lot of fun.  I've been waiting to see the ocean for the last nine months and I finally did today!  So I'm getting used to everything here and it's been good. I miss Sunyani a lot but changes are good I guess.  Well, I'll be calling on Sunday so it will be great to hear all of you!  Love you guys!

Love Elder Kitchen

April 30, 2012

Hey everybody!

So, I have some big news this week!  I am going to be transferred!  I'm very sad to be leaving Sunyani after being here for about the last 9 months but I'm ready for a change.  I will be going all of the way down to the  coast to a place called Swedru.  It will be about seven hours on a bus down to cape coast and then two hours to get over to Swedru.  It's in between cape coast and Accra.  So it will be quite the adventure.  So this week starting on Tuesday we had district meeting and both Elder Belnap and Elder Mensah from my apartment instructed and they did a great job.  Then nothing else really happened.  Wednesday we met with a guy who had met with the missionaries in about 2004 and he seems interested again.  He really wanted us to bring him a Book of Mormon because that is pretty much all that he remembered.  We also went to Sister Affiah's and she gave us Konkonte.  It's kind of like fufu and it was pretty good. Not really my favorite but that's okay.  Then that night is when President called Elder Belnap and told him that he was going to be a trainer!  He is going to be a really good trainer, a lot better than I was. When we got the call, we knew that I would most likely be going because he probably wouldn't train in a new area.  On Friday we went by Bertha's because she finally came back from Accra and I told her I would most likely be going.  She was sad but understood.  They were making fufu so they made us stay to eat some.  It was pretty good but the one thing that I didn't like is that I ended up eating a fish head!  The little thing was just staring at me in the soup!  Then I started at the base where the brain is and ate it from there! The weirdest part was eating the mouth of it. Haha.  Then on friday we went and got pizza because it would be my last time doing that.  Right after we went and saw Gladis and she took us to get fufu from that shady chop bar again and the soup was so spicy.  African spicy is a little different then Mexican spicy and it killed me.  Also, we ate antelope and it was actually really good.  There was no fat and it was kind of tender.  That night we had a lesson with Emmanuel and Bernice and it went great.  Emmanuel is such a good kid and I'm going to miss him.  Saturday we had some good lessons and everything and I was just dying waiting for the transfer calls to come.  They finally came and that is when I found out that I was going to Swedru.  Then church on sunday was sad because it was my last in Fiapre.  I gave my farewell testimony and it made me really sad that I would probably never see any of them again.  After church we went with the Thaynes to their place and they did the training for Elder Belnap.  Then Sister Thayne brought out dinner and it was enchiladas!  We had such an awesome dinner with them and it was so much fun to just talk and everything.  I had my first real sunday dinner in about 9 months!  The Thaynes are so cool and I'm really going to miss them since I am leaving Sunyani.  So I had an interesting week but it was good. So next week I will be emailing from clear down, pretty much on the coast.  So until next week everyone! 

Love Elder Kitchen

April 23, 2012

Hey!

How are all of ya!? I've had a good week over here. The first part of the week was mainly us just going and teaching lessons so that was pretty good for us. On Tuesday we had district meeting and we had it at the Thayne's new place and it was a lot of fun. It is kind of far away from everybody but I'm sure they like it better then their last place. We taught some good lessons that day and it was great. Then on Wednesday it was just another day of lessons and Thursday was the same and we had Mid-week at night and quite a few people showed up so it was a lot of fun. Friday we had lessons throughout the day and then at the end Elder Obasi helped Elder Belnap and I make a large tomato and onion stew. It's really good and you just put it over rice or spaghetti and stuff. So now we have so much of that so I'll be eating that a lot. Saturday was an interesting day. We went out and we had 3 quick lessons before noon. The second one was interesting because it ended up just being Elder Belnap and I giving some people some marriage advice. I don't know why they ask us...we are two 19 year olds who have never been married! Haha but the lessons were very far apart and we were very tired. Oh yeah, I also woke up feeling really crappy and my whole body was aching. So we came back and I layed down and couldn't really get up again. My body felt like I had just run sprints for the past 3 hours and my head hurt and my body was really hot. So we just had to stay inside for a while because I felt like I was going to die. Luckily the next day I woke up and was feeling better. So Sunday was just a normal Sunday. We had church and quite a few people came. After church we just went out and around like always. Transfer news is coming this weekend so there is a very good chance that I will leave but we will have to see I guess! I'll have news about that next week. Oh yeah, also, Mother's Day is coming up and I was just wondering the plan for calling. Just let me know what you want me to do and we will do that. Alright, I love all of you guys! Have a great week!

Love Elder Kitchen