March 5, 2013

Hey everybody!

We had a great week this last week!  I'll just start with the transfer news because I told you that this week would be transfers.  So we got the call and found out that my companion and I are both staying in Praso together!  My companion was surprised because he thought he would be getting released as a zone leader this time because he has been a zone leader for a very long time.  We are both happy that we will be staying though.  It probably means that I'm going to be here as least until the Mother's Day call home...I guess we'll just have to wait and see.  We went on splits twice this week and both times I stayed in my area.  On Friday we went to do a baptism interview for one of our investigators out in Nuamakrom but she was feeling very sick and so we felt like it would be best if we pushed her baptism back until she was feeling better. She also was happy with that because she didn't want to be sick when she was baptized.  The baptism can't be this coming Saturday either because we'll be having Stake conference and the area presidency will be presiding there. When I was on splits one of the days, we passed by the Relief Society President in our branch and she wasn't home but her niece was there and so we talked to her for a minute and then invited her to come to church and on Sunday she came!  She is going to a nursing training college and that's why she is living with her Aunt.  So now we have a new investigator in our Praso branch which is struggling a little bit because it's so new and small but hopefully we'll be able to help it out.  The power has been going out a lot lately.  I guess they have been having electricity shortages and so they have to share the electricity throughout the country. So when we have power it means another part of Ghana doesn't have it.  It's certainly not something that would happen back home in America.  It makes me grateful for what I have back home though.  We've had a couple of big rainstorms as well.  The rain comes down so hard and it's not even in drops.  It's like there is just a waterfall coming our of the sky!  Depending on the way the wind is blowing it either comes through the window onto my bed or my companions. Luckily last night it wasn't getting on my bed. ;)  Well, I'm 19 months today.  That's pretty crazy.  Time just keeps going by faster and faster.  Well, thanks for the emails this week everybody!  Have a wonderful week! 

Love Elder Kitchen

February 19, 2013

Hey everybody! 

This week was great because we were able to see Elder Quentin L. Cook and the devotional was great!  He was also accompanied by Elder Dickson of the seventy and he spoke with his wife as well.  The day before we had the meeting, we had our zone leader council.  After the meeting, we stayed in Cape Coast with all of the zone leaders and had a dinner where we all contributed some money and then we had a testimony meeting after it.  It was probably one of the coolest experiences of my mission so far. The 14 zone leaders and the 2 AP's all sharing their testimonys together.  It really brought the Spirit in well.  Then my companion and then one other companionship went to sleep at the AP's apartment which means a hot shower and sleeping in the A/C!!!  They live on the same compound as the mission home so they get these nice things.  It was the best night of sleep that I have gotten in such a long time. I didn't have to sleep under a net and I felt cold so I had to put a big fleece blanket on myself!  The meeting with Elder Cook went great.  We were all able to shake his hand and it was awesome because it was the first time I have been able to shake the hand of and Apostle.  This weekend my companion and I have really been trying to get to know the few members that we have in our Praso branch. We've been visiting the branch president a lot and he is a great guy. He hasn't been in the church for too long but he has such a strong testimony and he will help the branch grow.  Everything else is going well.  It's still hotter then blazes out here but I guess that's normal now. :)  Well, have a wonderful week everybody!  Love you guys! 

Love Elder Kitchen

February 11, 2013

Hey everybody!

This week was great because we were able to have a meeting with somebody from the quorum of the seventy. It was Elder Curtis who is the second counselor in the Africa West area.  We had our meeting with him on Thursday and the zone leaders were lucky to meet with him before we had the meeting.  We just talked to him about how our zones are doing and how he could help us.  It was probably my favorite mission tour that we have had so far.  Elder Curtis was really nice and had a good sense of humor. He wasn't just completely serious the whole time but I learned so much from him.  The main thing that he talked about was faith. President Shulz also instructed and he talked about the Plan of Salvation.  Then we also found out that this coming week on Thursday, we are going to have a Mission Devotional with Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Twelve.  This month has been a lucky month.  We are preparing to have another baptism on the 23rd of February.  We went out to Nuamakrom on Friday and there had been a big rainstorm the night before and it looked like a tornado had hit the place.  Trees were all on the ground and also lots of houses lost their roof.  Even the school where almost all of the kids go lost its roof completely!  The people didn't really seem too upset about it though.  They just kept doing their normal thing and just trying to fix the roofs and stuff.  Today we came to Cape to play football on the beach and then we ate really good food at the restaurant next to the Cape Coast Castle.  This coming week should be a really enjoyable one. We have zone council and then Elder Cook is coming! Well, talk to you all next week! 

Love Elder Kitchen

Here are a couple pictures from the Zone Council.



February 4, 2013

Hey everybody!

Sorry about not sending an email to everybody last week. After I responded to a few emails then the computer stopped working and it wasn't even worth trying to fix so I just decided to wait until today! The whole internet situation here isn't the greatest but we are able to manage. This past week was really good. We have been preparing a few people to be baptized out in the village called Nuamakrom and it went well so we were able to have a baptism of five people. We went to church this week in the new branch in Praso this week because it has been a while since we went there. They are doing well. The newly called leaders are really trying to do well. There are a lot of less actives here in Praso and so there isn't a lot of people coming right  now to the new branch. We're trying to help them reactivate some people so that we can also teach their families who aren't members. We also went on splits this last week and I went and was with my old MTC companion in his area. We had a really good day and we were able to teach a lot of people and it was cool proselyting with him. We are having a mission tour this coming thursday and Elder Curtis of the Seventy will be here. I really like when we have Seventies come in. Well nothing else really happened this week. I'm going to be 18 months tomorrow which is pretty cool. It's weird that I've been out for that long now. Well, have a good week everybody! Love you all!

Love Elder Kitchen

January 21, 2013

Hey everybody!

I've been having the hardest time lately finding things to say in my emails.  This week was just another normal week.  Proselyting in the Praso branch where we are is going kind of slow since the split and it's been hard to find people to teach, but when we went out to the village called Nuamakrom where they have a ward, there were a lot of referrals waiting for us that have been coming to church for quite a while.  Nuamakrom is a great place because it's a quiet and humble place.  It's about a quarter of the way to Assin Foso on a really dusty road and bumpy road.  The taxis that go there have so much dust but when you finally get there it's worth it because the people are so great.  Because it's in the middle of nowhere, most of the people don't speak english and their main source of income is farming.  The usually farm things like cocoa, plantains, and cassava.  We have about 13 solid people that we are teaching out there and two of them are husband and wife with some kids.  The ward mission leader is a great help to us because he takes us around and translates the lessons if the people don't speak english.  On Sunday we went there for church and taught some of the people after.  We were able to set a few baptismal dates for next month and so as long as they keep progressing and we are able to meet with them then they will be baptized.  Today we came down to Cape Coast and for our activity we were able to watch the Best Two Years.  That show is a lot more fun to watch as a missionary.  I was able to relate to a lot of things that they were saying and doing and it was really funny.  Nothing too much is happening this coming week but it still should be a really good weeks.  Well, thanks for the emails and everything you guys do for me. Have a wonderful week! 

Love Elder Kitchen 

January 15, 2013

Hey everybody!

This week has been another good one.  During the week we went on splits so that I could go and do an interview for the other Elders in our apartment.  We went out to a small village called Nuamakrom where they have a ward there.  It used to be part of the others proselyting area but now it is going to be a part of my proselyting area from now going because of the splitting of our ward.  It's about a 20 minutes taxi drive to the place on a really crappy dirt road. The taxis that go on that road are so crappy and your shirt gets very dusty when you even just sit on the seats.  By the time you get to the place, your shirt is completely covered in dust.  The interview went well and then we went around a little bit and he showed me some of the members that we will be working with and some other things about the area before we came back.  That place is cool.  We are going to be going there this coming Friday to meet some of the investigators and get to know the area better.  We don't have any baptism dates set right now but we are hopefully going to have some people progressing really soon.  It's going to be a little slower now that we are in the new branch in Praso.  Last night we went to a family home evening with one of the members and they gave us a huge bowl of fufu with fish and goat and it was so good.  I felt like I was going to die because I was so full.  Then he took us back to our apartment in his car which was awesome because it's rare that we get to ride in a nice car.  So life is going well right now and I'm happy. I guess I'll just talk to you all next week! Thanks for everything!

Love Elder Kitchen

January 8, 2013

Hey everybody!

So another transfer had come and gone and my companionship wasn't effected so I'll be with my companion for at least another 8 weeks because this transfer is an extended one.  The day after zone council, my companion and I went to Assin Foso to meet with the stake presidency there and it went great.  We went back to the zone leaders apartment there in Foso and slept there for the night and then came back to Praso early the next morning.  Before we went to Foso, we did a service project for one of the other companionship's investigator.  We helped weed and move big cement blocks around to help the mason who is building the place for the woman to live.  It was a lot of fun but really tiring.  For lunch the other companionship and us went to the apartment and made a big french toast lunch.  It was a lot of fun and it was good to see their investigator so happy.  Two Sundays ago, our ward was split into a ward and a branch so my companion and I are in the branch and there will be a lot of work to do there.  The membership is much smaller and the proselyting area won't be that easy, but we'll still manage.  Transfer news came and took two of our elders from the zone and we'll be sad to miss them but we'll be getting two good ones in return.  Our area is tough sometimes because most of the people don't speak english so we are always having to take people around with us to translate.  In the bigger cities it isn't as bad because more people speak english.  That's one of the challenges of being more in the villages but you usually get to baptize more people.  Well, everything is still cool here.  It was good to hear from all of you. Have a wonderful week!

Love Elder Kitchen