Hello Everyone

Dear Fam,

I am happy to hear you are all doing well. This week we had the baptism of Graceful, Gracious and Annie. They looked so great in their little white dresses and were very excited to be baptized. Linda also seemed very happy, she told us she felt peace as she read 1 Ne 3:7 everyday. She knows that everything will work out, and it will! Freds baptism will be this week, he had a funeral last week that he had to attend so we moved it this week. A women named Anthonia will also be baptized on on saturday. She is a Nigerian and recently left the Ivory Coast a few months ago when things got pretty bad there. She came with almost nothing and is now selling bread and eggs to earn a living. She is hoping to make enough so that she can go back to Nigeria. I don't know if I told you about her in my last letter, but when she first came to church she didn't really like it and she had a hard time accepting some of the doctrine. We left her 3 Ne 11 to read and when we came back she was a completely different person. She accepted every word we said and she loved church these past two weeks. I know the Book of Mormon is the true and it has the power to change lives! I started reading it again this week and as I have read the words of Nephi the most common things I noticed were Keep the Commandments and Joy. Over this past year my testimony of that has become stronger and stronger, I know that keeping the commandments brings joy! We are teaching a guy named Eric, his brother Moses and their sister Pintu. They are orphans, their parents were killed in the war. They are now living with a ward member who is the ward clerk, in Buduburam the work is centered around referrals. We are working with a women named Moma and her son, Jr. And also McDonald, Leo, Princess, Victor, Dorthy and a few others. I'm really excited for this month. Elder Succo and I taught the Aaronic Priesthood class yesterday. We taught about missionary work, it was fun and I think there will be some great missionaries from this ward in the future. I love you all!

-Elder L.

More Fun from Buduburam

Dear Fam,

This week was very wonderful. We had the Baptism of Emmanuel, Irene and Napoleon. I am so happy for all of them. This week we will have the baptism of Gracious, Graceful and Annie. While I am so excited for all of these girls, we found out they cannot be baptized with their mother. I was telling you about Linda's situation last week.. she was married about twenty years ago and when she was pregnant with twins her husband up and left her. He got married again in the states so she cannot be baptized. One of the hardest things I have had to do on my mission was to tell her that basically she couldn't be baptized because of the evil thing her husband did which her fault of her own. We promised her everything would work out and told her to read 1Ne 3:7 every. She has great faith and I know that one day everything will work out. Heavenly Father knows the desire of her heart and I know she will be blessed for that. A man named Fred will also be baptized next week. Fred is awesome, is a pastor in a church in camp. He has a solid testimony of the restoration and I am amazed by his faith. The church is his only income, but he knows its true and he knows what he has to do. I am humbled every day by these people, they are truly prepared. The members her are incredible! They understand the meaning of every member a missionary. Each week since I have been here they have brought 4-5 friends and then we are able to met them and teach them, they all have solid fellow shippers too.

This last week we had we had zone interviews and it was fun to chat with President Judd and get to know him better. It was also very fun to see Sister and Bro Dunn, they are great! We also worked on the "Mormon Helping Hands" Project on Saturday. Dad, I thought you would like to know that I really missed using a shovel and it felt good doing some yard work again. Its hard to come by service opportunities where we can do some physical labor because its not really part of the culture. I look forward to you putting me to work next year. Thanks for all the letters love and prayers!

p.s. I really tried to send pictures, the computer was being difficult. So next week

Love, Elder L.

Dear Fam,

It has been a pretty eventful week out here in Buduburam. We had the baptism of Victor, I am really happy for him! He brought his wife to the baptism and we hope to start working with her this week. On friday we will be having the baptism of Irene (15), Emmanuel (16) and Napoleon (35)... yes, Napoleon. Irene is a really smart girl, she has a lot of fellowshippers and friends in the church. He family is really cool and we have tried to work with them but the parents are always on the move. Emmanuel is in a similar situation, I'm really impressed with the youth of this ward, they are all a bunch missionaries and they bring their friends to church. Napoleon is a barber, he is a really funny guy and my favorite thing about him is just the way he talks. I still have fun just listening to the Liberians talk to one another. Then on the 27th we are hoping to baptize "Mama Bee" and her three daughters; Annie (12) Graceful (11) and Gracious (11). They are an amazing family and all the girls are so smart. Sadly her husband left her when she was pregnant with the twins and went to the states. We are also working with some other great people. I'll send some pics next week.

We had a mission tour with Elder Curtis this week, I learned so many wonderful things during the meeting but the most powerful thing I took away from the meeting came from Sis Judd. She said most problems we face in life are because forget the things we should remember and remembering what we should forget... Powerful and true! I didn't really do anything for my 1/2 mark. It just enjoyed thinking about memories of the past year. I can't believe its been a year, time is a pretty crazy thing it goes by in the blink of any eye. As I have faced ups and downs I have always remembered opening my call, going to the temple right before my setting apart and my setting apart. Those moments are so very special to me. I'm glad to hear you are all doing well. I'm so grateful for all you love and support and examples!

Love, Elder L.

I've been transfered to LIBERIA!!!!

Dear Fam, things are pretty crazy here in Liberia, its very different than Ghana. Ok, I haven't been transferred to Liberia but I hope the email heading surprised you. I was transferred back to the bush, to a place called Buduburam. Buduburam is a Liberian refugee camp, I am really, really excited to be here. Almost everyone we teach is Liberian, the refugee camp is Huge. I have already learned a ton about Liberian history. They had a civil war in 1990 and in the following years thousands of Liberians came to Ghana. They all want to go home now but these people have nothing. Because of all the hardships these people have faced they are so humble and ready for the gospel. I have found that every person has their story from the war and listening to them really helps me feel what they have been going through. All I can say is I have learned that I have absolutely nothing to complain about because I have faced nothing even close to what they have been though. I'm trying to learn their pigeon. Its technically English but I have no idea what people are saying haha kind of funny but I know it will come with time. They sound like someone from the south mixed with some pro athlete that you can barely understand because they are just mumbling plus they take out some of the words.

My new companion is Elder S. from American Fark. He has been trained for one transfer so I finish his training which I am excited for. He his a great guy and a super hard worker. I miss leader Milio but its fun to have someone to relate to a little more. He was in the marching band at BYU. I'll send you some pictures of Buduburam next week, it a really interesting place the work here is really blooming here. People on the camp don't have a lot to do so a bunch of them just show up to church. Yesterday we had 5 people we had never taught before just showed up because they had a friend invite them and they were curious. We have the baptism of a man named Victor Nyepong. He is very excited for his baptism and so are we! People here are just amazing! We have a mission tour on wed. and Elder Curtis is coming so i'm looking forward to that. Have a wonderful week and you are all in my thoughts and prayers

-Elder L.

Dear Fam, sorry that I don't have any pictures once again. The connection was kind of slow so I send them next week. Samuel Hagan was baptized, I am very happy for him, he is a great man and has a desire to learn. The attendance was a little higher this week, but it still has a way to go. Mom, thanks for all the stuff you sent for Recent Converts and Investigators. I have not yet given those things out but I will this week and I'm looking forward to it. I will also check to see if Daniel has a CD player. I have probably listened to all the conference talks at least twice. There are some powerful talks and conference will never be the same for me after mission. I remember
growing up sometimes thinking it lasted too long (to be honest) Since coming on mission and after hearing them all, I couldn't get enough. I thought this is all we get for the next six months? I know we also have the scriptures and an almost unlimited amount of church materials, but conference is just something special!

Anyways, back to Daniel. We started teaching two of his grandchildren. They are supper smart and we gave them both dates for the 20th of Aug. They are excited and looking forward to their baptisms. This week we went to Francisca's. She was baptized a few weeks after I came to Osu. She used to be very big into running, we got talking a bit about it and then I asked her if she knew Leonard Miles Mills? She did, and it was kind of fun to make that connection. She said that he used to train in the Accra Sports Stadium which is in our area. I have to run but Mom and Dad, I want to wish you a happy 35th anniversary! It looked like you had a great time in Cali.

Love you all!

-Elder Andrew K. L.