Hello

Dear Fam, I am so happy to hear all the good news, [nephew] I am so  excited for you, I wish I could be there! I am thrilled about the two temples in Africa and I know there will so be more. Elder Mauga and I  had a very good week, we kind of had a down week last week, but we were able to bounce back. I think Elder Mauga is my favorite companion I have had so far on my mission, we both like to work hard, and he is so funny, sometimes he can't really explain himself fully in english and it cracks me up. He is really doing well and learning fast. Sometimes I cringe during lessons because I know that all the  Liberians are saying are going over his head a little. Speaking of Liberia, I was wondering is someone could check the membership in  Liberia, how many branches or districts and where it is. Many of these people go back home and I hope and pray they go to where the church is. Many times people ask me where the church is over there and I tell  them I have no idea except for Monrovia the capital city. Its been kind of fun for me to get such a fascination with Liberia, even though I'm not serving there. This week we will have the baptism of a sister  named Ellen Gogol, she has had some challenges to over come, but she did it and we are so excited and happy for her. I'm looking forward to  conference, i'm sure it was a good one.. because it always is! Thanks for all the thought and prayers.

Love, Elder L.

Quick Thought

Dear Fam,

We had another great week out here in Buduburam, we were blessed to have the baptism of Moses, Eric, Dorthy and Marget. It is a great blessing and I always feel humbled when I think of what the Lord has let me play a part in his plan of gathering all of his children. It hits me at every baptism. I just have a minute but I just wanted to share one of many miracles we witnessed this week. We had been teaching Marget for quite some time and she had been getting a lot of pressure from her friend not to join the church or he would go look for a new relationship and he told her he would stop providing for her. This was her only source of income, we read many scriptures with her and promised her the Lord would make a way for her. She showed her faith and committed to keep the commandments despite the pressure she was feeling. The day before she was baptized her friend to her that he wanted to come to the baptism and wanted to start coming to church! Its a miracle, and know the Lord provides a way for his children that keep his commandments. Dad, that Elder was great, it was fun when we made that connection out here in the field. [Personal messages to family.] Love you all! I'll say more next week.

-Elder L.

I'm stil here!

Dear Fam, First of all, happy birthday Eric. I hope it was a great one and I can't believe you are 30! I'm not gonna lie, I very surprised to be staying in Buduburam. I know I just got here but I didn't think Elder Succo would go whitewash a new area. As dad loves to quote, "Order another round because were staying here."(Bugs Life) I am very excited to be staying here, we had the baptisms of Linda, Mama, Jr., Macdonald and Mary. It was very a very special service, Linda was the happiest person on the world on saturday, it a miracle everything worked out so soon. I forgot my camera, I'll send you a picture next week. My companion got to do the baptism and he was so excited and it made me happy to see him so happy. His name is Elder Mauga, he is from Samoa. He is wonderful, he is so humble and he is excited to be here. English is not his first language and he is finding it a little difficult, he can understand me but to understand the Liberians is very difficult for him. He is the youngest in his family of 9 and is one of two members. I'm am excited to work with this wonderful Elder!

This week we will have the baptism of Eric, Moses and Dorthy. I am happy for them and I am especially happy because they all have very strong fellowshippers. The ward is very excited about the work! Eric and Moses are brothers and they lost their parents during the civil war, they are excited for their baptism and they love the youth program, so that will be good for them.

I love being a missionary, I feel like I love Ghana more and more every day, and I'll never stop talking about how good the people are here. I love it here, I love teaching the Gospel, I love seeing changes in people, I love satisfaction of being exhausted and waking up and doing it over again and again and again. I love you all!

Thanks for all the love and prayers.

-Elder L.

P.s. It sounded like the Cougars could use some of those prayers too...

Hi

Dear Fam, Hello From Buduburam. I loved the Photos of little [new baby], he looks like a keeper! Nate and Shalissa you have a wonderful family! Akwaaba [new baby]. This week was a great one, we had five of our candidates be interviewed and their baptisms will be on Saturday. We are planing of five the next week as well, I'm so excited for all these people, especially Sis Linda. She has gone from the deepest despair to the greatest joy I have seen about anyone have on my mission. The only sad thing is I think their is a very good chance I will be transferred on Wednesday. Elder Succo and I were both called this week and we will be training. (He has been out two transfers so I don't think he'll whitewash an area) I'm so excited to train again. Elder Mlilo is also training so at the meeting I was with both my boy's, I'm very excited for both these guys. We received new training material, some of the things they will have us do will be very different than the first two times. We get an extra hour of companion study so we'll go out at 11. They have everything planned out for us and.............. we get DVD players. Obviously we are only aloud to watch the Preach My Gospel DVD's and a few selected church made films. ie Restoration, Finding faith in Christ. If I do get transferred I would white wash an area, which is something I have always wanted to do so either way I'm excited to find out whats going to happen. Thats about it for me, I'm doing very well and I love being a missionary. I'll let you know about my whereabouts next week.

Love, ElderL.

Ete Sen?

Dear Fam,

This week was the baptism of Anthonia! She has so much faith, and I know the Lord will bless her for the changes she has made and her willingness to follow the gospel. On Thursday we were teaching the three girls and their mom Linda. Linda is the one that could not be baptized because her husband married someone in the states. She told us he was filing for a divorce but we didn't know how long it would take so we went ahead and baptized the girls with her permission. She told us her husband had been taking lessons from the missionaries in the states and wanted to be baptized. He is actually getting a divorce on Saturday and wants to reconnect with his family. Linda was the happiest person in the world that day. Elder Succo and I were blown away! Her three daughters were confirmed yesterday and she will so join them, missionary work is amazing! She will be baptized on sept. 17. We are also planing to baptize a number of others that day, Moma and Jr. Macdonald, Mary, Moses, Eric, Pintu and Dorthy. We might have to push a few of their dates back to the next week but were working and praying they will be ready for that day. Also as a district of three companionships we had 29 investigators at church on Sunday, its kinda crazy out here.

I don't know if I told you this before but Buduburam is very quiet except for this church right next to us, they scream, pray, cast out evil spirits, speak in tongs! Some nights they will be up to four or five in the morning, i'm always out like a light despite the noise but I felt pretty bad because its kept Elder Succo up most of the night a few times. I am so impressed with some of our fellow Christians out here! Even though what they are doing is not true I know they are doing their best and they do it because they love our Savior. As I thought about this, how much more do we need to magnify our callings/responsibilities and doing all the Lord has asked us because we have the truth. I feel recommitted to be the best missionary I can be.

Eric, asked about what we eat. Waakye(spicy rice) Fried rice, Fufu, Bonku, the best fruit in the world and now I have been introduced to the Liberian food which is really nice. The Liberians love Crab, Potato Greens, they have their own fufu and they love spice even more than Ghanaians if thats possible. We never cook, but I have learned a little on mission. Cooking and buying costs the same and the people here can cook much better than I can and it save a bunch of time. Nate, All of my favorite names are from the Volta Region. The Ewe people have by far the best names! Miracle, Godsway, Blessed, Perfect, Precious, Patience thats just to name a few.

Thanks for all the love and prayers. You are all in my prayers and I'm excited to here about[a new baby in the family]! I am happy to here about cougars! Eric I really think that chant needs to be started at BYU. Hurrah for Isreal!! Everyone enjoy labor day, Mom and Dad I hope you rest today but I know would be against the L. Labor day tradition, but you deserve it.

Love, Elder L.

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.