Many happy returns (it is a saying here)‏

Well writing an email just doesn't have quite the appeal that talking does. Oh well you just sometimes have to take what you get, right? Anyway this week went pretty well for me. I mean I felt sort of that holiday rush for sure. I think the 24th 25th and 26th were just so hard to get myself motivated to go out and work. At least on Christmas we were had a member that fed us so we didn't have to work too much because of the distance to his house. The food was okay but kind of how it always is just wasn't as good as I remembered from last time. It was still something to eat though. Plus they gave us ice cream which was sweet.

For Christmas I gave the other guys in the apartment one of my ties. My companion has worn his everyday since then. What can I say I can pick ties for people. Oh and sorry Mom he didn't even want to wear the one that you sent for him yet. I told him he needs to at least once before we aren't companions anymore. Sunday went fairly well, we had Joseph Kyei interviewed. He passed with flying colors. The guy is sweet. He has been asking how he could get a copy of our study bible and a triple combination so I bought them for him as a Christmas gift. He is way sweet though. He has asked us and our bishop about going on a mission. I just hope that he can make the age cut off. Anyway I just want to thank everyone for helping to make my Christmas a merry. I'm glad that I was able to get to talk to all of you. Anyway I hope everything goes well for you this week. Love ya guys!

It was really good to talk and everything.
love elder gibson

p.s. Yeah they listen to music, drink, and dance. I think that is kind of the basic outline for any holiday over here. :D

Merry Christmas!

Hey guess what . . . today is my mission birthday! Okay it is more that I have no idea where the last month went. I really thought I was just having my year mark but now I'm past it! For this past week I've been on a threesome and it has been hell, but in a good way. Elder Richards finished his mission but was sent home before transfers so that he could be home for Christmas so his companion is with us until this Wednesday when he gets a new companion. It has been crazy to try and cover the two areas. Just makes me feel like we haven't given the people the attention they deserve. Especially with the whole Spirit of Christmas just filling up the air. I'm glad that this year since there isn't an election that there was a way better feeling about the whole Christmas season. It seemed to have exploded this past week. Though still haven't seen too many decorations on homes. I guess they don't really do that at all here.

Anyway this week was pretty fun. We stayed busy the whole time. I about lost my hearing contacting a guy. He works as a mechanic and he was hammering a door panel by himself so I went and held it. Somehow I ended up with the hammer pinging away. He was way cool but doesn't live anywhere near us. Wednesday was our mission Christmas Conference. That was sweet to get to see our whole mission together. Made me feel pretty good since I didn't know even half of the people. Mostly since they are so new and I don't get transferred too often. The Mission Conference is always good. President Cardon and his wife spoke to us. Sister Cardon read the story about the boy who gets up early to milk the cows for his dad on Christmas. I really enjoyed President Cardon's though. He talked about in the world today most people think that they know Jesus Christ but really they don't. Kind of about the godhead, divine son-ship, and things like that. He explained it about how the Jews didn't recognize their Messiah and it is still happening today. It was really really good. Something that was way sweet is I heard about 2 of my recent converts. One of the missionaries from my old areas came and asked if I had baptized a guy named Frank. I guess Frank has become hyper active. He is at church every Sunday. If there is any kind of Stake Meeting he is there. Basically is just a sweet guy all the way around. Another one of them I actually meet on the road going to our apartment one night. It is a guy I baptized about 6 months ago in the area that the ward borders the one I'm in now. He told me that he had moved but if I ever wanted to visit he and the entire family always are at church. It was just one of the greatest feelings I could have had, especially as part of what we talked about at the Mission Conference. Part of it was about what did Jesus give to us, of course Eternal life. Then comes the question of well what do we give him? President Smith talked about how when we baptize someone it is one gift we can give to the Savior. Along with good deeds and other things but the whole baptism thing fits with the mission. Kind of warmed my heart to know that at least some of my gifts were more lasting, especially since the last two transfers have been kind of rough. Anyway there is a little thought for you to chew on I guess.

Something else that was really sweet was we had two guys ask us when they could be baptized. One of them is Isaac Agyaman, he sells chocolate. Another is a kid named Kobby Daafo. His older sister is baptized and he kind of dodged around us but we must of done something to stand out because he can't keep away from the church. One of the investigators in the other area came to church last week with his trumpet thinking that we were like his church. When we went to teach him I asked if he would play some for us. I told him I use to play and he put it in my hands and told me to play then. Luckily I could still get a good sound out and even managed to squeak out twinkle twinkle little star. Saturday we had another day that was pretty fun. There is a Dr. Emmanuel Abu Kissi who is one of the pioneers of the church in Ghana who owns the hospital we did service at. My service was pretty chill though. They have a generator that is basically the lifeline when the power goes out and they needed someone to change the oil. I was really wanting to go and sing carols to the patients but no one else knew how to change the oil or I guess was very machine oriented so I volunteered. It was cool though. I got to talk to his son, Aaron, who grew up in the U.S. We talked about stuff back home like trucks, mud bogging, and those kinds of things while waiting for the oil to drain. It was pretty sweet. They have about a bozillion dogs though which would keep getting into little fights though. We also went to a wedding at the church for one of the recent converts from right before I came. It was nice. Sunday we had a drunk guy come into the church and just make a lot of noise and what not. Before he left he did have the mind to at least remember to ask for more money. It was pretty comical I guess. That is about all from me this week. Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope that it is a wonderful day for you!


love elder gibson

and a happy new year!

Well another week has come and gone in Ghana. We are still just kind of working through everything. One cool thing that happened this week was I did a baptismal interview for a guy who basically has gone a full 180 since knowing the church. He use to booze and even had a big drug problem that lead him to stealing and getting sent to prison. He has been able to clean up his life in the last little bit and it is amazing to see his determination to stay away from his old life. Reminds me about how in Romans it talks about burying our old man. I think he put his about 12 feet deep just to make sure that it is finished. This week we have been having to leave early a few days to catch one guy we are teaching, Joseph Kyei. It is pretty sweet I guess but it makes for a long day when you start it off a little bit early. I guess it made me see how much the routine is set in.

So I had a moment that I felt like I was in the Jungle Book. We passed a guy's shop and he ran out to the street and stopped us with kind of chanting in out of breath fashion that he wanted to be just like me. Elder Saidu had ridden a little further up and so this guy, Ben Attah, just kind of reminded me of the Ape King on the Jungle Book when he sings to Mogley. It made me smile inside though Ben thought we were paid so his interest wasn't really in being a missionary. Something else new that happened this week was another interview. The man is a mechanic and we went to his workplace and since the room we were planning on using was busy we went and had in an empty Mercedes Trotro. It was pretty comfy. Had leather seats and what not. He is a cool guy. Basically has been coming to the church off and on for about 8 months. He has had some family problems in the mountains which either means someone died or there is a tribal feud so he is kind of off and on again of being where the church is. Has read the Book of Mormon and basically is a solid guy. We are teaching a lady with a translator, that same one that I still don't know her Christian name. Anyway we have been taking a member and using him. One day he got a call and stepped aside and then her family tried to take over and it was like a circus. About 3 or 4 people who told us that they didn't want to listen are trying to chip in their two cents. Had to settle them down and cleaned us out of pamphlets. It was pretty funny to see them though. Made me smile at least. At church in the Gospel Doctrine class we have been teaching about temples and it was sweet because afterwards for the 2 sets of missionaries we had people come up and basically ask us, "when can I be baptized and go to the temple" Definitely is a sweet tool that since it is so near that we can help people see that they don't even have to sacrifice to enjoy the full coverage the temple offers. It was nice to have people so interested though. Oh Saturday we had a baptism and it was low key. The bishop, missionaries, 3 candidates, and then 3 ward members. I liked it since it was calm, quiet, and touching. Just the way I like it. This morning we went to the bank and I met a guy from New York who married a Ghanaian when he met her as a merchant sailor here 4 years ago. He thought we were college students and then when he found out I was from the U.S., he thought I was from U.K. since I don't have an American accent anymore, he pounded his chest and was like represent. Cracked me up so much. His name is Gary and he is black so he fits in. That is about it from me. This week we are having our Christmas Conference which is always a nice surprise since I'll get to see some guys that I haven't for a while. I love you guys. Bye bye.

Christmas has come out of no where. Though I do like the sneakiness of it. I always use to think that Christmas was the season of love. Though I still love Eva's how it says Jesus is the reason for the Season. It is just classic. Our Christmas won't be too spectacular here. Probably the normal go out proselyte though we do get a sweet meal from an area seventy who lives in Accra. It is pretty tasty. I love you guys. Catch ya next week.
love Elder Gibson

Another week come and gone. Started hearing the Christmas music this week. Getting pretty excited for the whole holiday season. There is a place right by our apartment that sells movies and things and he always has a giant speaker out in the mornings playing it but then by the time we come home he is playing Ghanaian hip life or cools music. Our apartment was inspected this week by President and Sister Smith. They had a problem with people just staying up all night the before inspections cleaning so they now only give a 10-15 min warning. Lets just say it is amazing how clean you can make a place in even 10-15mins. Maybe with luck we'll get the cleanest apartment in our zone and earn some banana bread from Sister Smith. We'll have to see.

My companion decided that riding his bike made him tired and dirty so we decided to walk this week. It was pretty sweet. I like walking more because you can contact people a lot easier. I was a little disappointed when he was tired of walking and wanted to go back to bikes but either way at least we are moving. A random bit of service that somehow didn't have the payoff that I was hoping came on Saturday morning. As we were walking up a hill I noticed a lady trying to stack cinderblocks. So stepped in and finished up for her while Elder Saidu contacted her and was able to sit down to start teaching her. It was a pretty sweet lesson and then go figure her brother or cousin or maybe husband is a pastor at the church at the bottom of the hill and the cinderblocks is because they did a crusade for Christmas and are upgrading. Awesome. Who knows we do have a return appointment so we'll see what happens.

On Sunday we had Elder Dickson of the seventy to come and worship with us. It was awesome because he then came to our investigators class which is a first for when a seventy comes and visits for me. It was cool to met and talk to him. He only has one arm, his left one. That no doubt causes him some serious problems since in Ghana that left is considered dirty. You can't shake, hand, or even wave with it. Hopefully people are pretty understanding about it all. Sunday brought a nice surprise. Saturday we had spent a lot of time kind of giving basic run downs about the church and handing out pamphlets inviting people to come and visit us. Only one person showed up but what was special is that this lady is probably pushing 90 and doesn't speak a lick of English. We had contacted her daughter and kind of passed over her since the language barrier but surprise surprise. Now we just have to have approval to teach her and find a translator. Probably need to figure out what her Christian name is too since I can't actually pronounce her Ga name. It is kind of reminds me of hispanic names that are about long enough to make me want to take a nap. Another guy, Christian Baiden, that we had taught showed up to church and was really impressed. Enough he said that he wants to bring his whole family next time. Now our only problem is he works for Coca-Cola driving a truck from Tema(the main harbor) to Kumasi. It isn't too far but because of the road and police barriers it takes a long time. So hopefully he doesn't get a call on Thursday or Friday.

One other cool thing that happened at church was a man name Joseph Kyei who we've been teaching told us afterward that he needs the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and even the church printed Bible since it has the footnotes and the dictionary. Now we just have to see where it all goes for sure. This morning I went and tried to buy some carvings but the guy must have gone to church since he was a Rasta. I don't know if anyone really knows much about Rastamen but when they go to church they basically go and smoke the weed of wisdom. The guy was about as high as a kite and he didn't show any signs of coming down anytime soon.That is about all from me. Love ya guys!

Funerals do have a benefit of family coming together. Makes me appreciate the plan of salvation so much more knowing that people aren't just gone when we bury them. They have a continued purpose and because of that so do I. Something that I've thought about this week is how unique prayer is. Basically my whole mission I've been praying silently but this week I've been trying to be more vocal and to me it is amazing the kind of difference it makes. Even just in focusing about what I'm praying about seems to improve.
love Elder Gibson