January, 2017
This week was pretty great!
So let me start off by saying that indeed I am leaving this blessed land of Obuasi. I love, love, love it here so much and yet I must go. Guess where I’m going? Tamale. (TAH-mah-leh) It’s not (tah-MAH-lee)
My last Sunday was filled with mixed emotions. I had many people shake my hand and say, “Oh I’m going to miss you.” One man even told me that he will never forget me. It was hard, but on this last Sunday during my talk, I spoke of my first testimony that I gained in the Hill Cumorah Visitor’s Center. I nearly cried as I reminisced in front of my people. I hope that my testimony stands as a witness forever to them that indeed, Christ is the Son of God and He lives today.
So while it’s been sad with all the goodbyes, it will be nice to have a change of scenery after being in Obuasi for 7 months. I’ll be going to the hottest part of Ghana in the hottest part of the year. Wish me luck on this new adventure! I’ll be continuing my assignment as a zone leader up there. Guess I just gotta do all that I can to maintain the Spirit in the Islamic Capital of Ghana. Don’t worry about me! It’s really nice up there so I hear. I’ll be glad to meet the wonderful people.
As far as weather is concerned, Y’know, it’s supposed to be dry season, but it rained in Kumasi yesterday. We felt the humidity and the cool breeze in the night from that rain that came from Kumasi because I’m still in Obuasi, about 1.5 hours south of Kumasi. Looks like we don’t get a dry season this year. Bummer. As I think about that, it really is strange, because nothing like global warming would even slightly affect that to my knowledge. It comes from the change of winds and everything. And just like winter comes from the north in the US, the dryness of the desert comes from the north of Africa to Ghana. I dunno, maybe the whole world is just gonna crash into the sun in a couple months!
I think I miss frigidness of Iowa, but I’m not 100% sure… I’ve gotten quite used to the heat of the African sun! Sweating is nothing anymore.
This and That, Shout-Outs, Changes, and Thanks
This week I bought a goat skin shoulder bag for proselyting. It was so sweet for the first couple hours… It was like goat fur and everything. It looks awesome and it fits scriptures and 2 copies of the Book of Mormon as well as pamphlets. The only downside is that it is breaking down fast. I was so disappointed. The bag looks super sweet, but I guess I’ll be sending it home this coming week along with some other trinkets and an SD card of pictures!
Yay Saylor and Katie and Grayson moving back to Iowa! Tell Saylor that I’m coming as the new Africa tree this year. Yup, I will be the Africa tree. By the way Mom, I still absolutely loved that you did that for me (keeping the Christmas tree up and decorating it differently for every month). I was so happy all the days leading up to my mission. 🙂
One other thing is that one day this past week I was looking at myself for about 5 minutes in the mirror and just observing how I’ve changed in my face and everything. I was calling myself by my name, Ben. But it sounded strange to me almost. Oh well, I’ll adjust fast when the need arises, but for now I am Elder Gilbert! 😀
Keep me in your prayers! Cuz I feel it when you do. Thank you for sustaining me in my calling as a missionary and helping me to achieve Heavenly Father’s plan for his children.
Elder Gilbert
Just Gilbert 