Fiapre Four

Due to fighting in Ivory Coast, 3 missionaries have been sent to our mission, 2 Ghanaians and 1 Nigerian. To make space for them in other areas of the mission, Elder Speechly and Elder Alba have been assigned to our area in Fiapre.

Elder Omini and I have been teaching 30-35 lessons a week, and last week we had 46 when the assistants came for a visit, and we were able to teach 18 lessons on Saturday alone. We have been leaving at 9:30 in the morning and getting back at 8-9pm without lunch or dinner most days because we are simply just too busy. So it will be a big help to have these 2 new missionaries in Fiapre. We haven't even scratched the surface here.

Two weeks ago, a man we'd never met came to Church. When we asked how he heard about the Church, he told us he had a friend from Estates, which is another unit in Sunyani, who told him to check out the Church here in Fiapre. We said sweet, and left it at that, scheduling a time to go meet with him. When we finally got to see him the following week, we asked him again for the name of the person who invited him to attend our Church meetings in Fiapre. We wanted to thank that person from Estates for the referral. Turns out we had heard him wrong. He really said "the states" not Estates. His said his friend's name was Amy, and that she called him asking if he wanted to know about the Church. She also asked for 5 other names and phone numbers of people he thought would also be interested. I gave Pres Sabey Amy's number to call and thank her for 2 very serious investigators.

As a part of my Gospel study, I've been reading Genesis with "temple eyes" (as suggested by one of the St Louis Temple Sealers) and see how many cool things we can learn. Yesterday, I read about Joseph in Egypt and how long he was away from his family. I just want to say that all of you better be there when I get back!

Sunyani is more advanced than other
places so we are able to teach as late as the white handbook allows. Elder Omini and I are very tired at the end of the day, but we love it. My testimony continues to grow each week.

Thank you so much for allowing me to pull some money out for the upcoming Temple trip from Sunyani to Accra. The members and missionaries are very excited!

I love you all, and look forward to hearing from you next week.

Amanda, I will wish you a happy 12th birthday next week---don't worry!!! It's in my planner!!!!!!!

E. Hair

The Impossible Just Takes Longer

The whole town wanted to come to Church on Sunday. It was great!

We are now planning the first ever temple trip from Sunyani, and have been trying to figure out the total cost. If we are unable to get help from the mission to bring down the cost, the American Elders have been talking about using our money to help out. Without that help, each member would have to pay 41 Ghc, which is about 30 bucks. That's too much for most members to even consider going, so we are looking to help cover half. What do you feel about allowing me to take out 100 Ghc to help the members here go to the temple in Accra?

The Assistants came to visit, and I teamed up with Elder Wright from Arizona. It was just what I needed. It's been great to learn many different cultures, but it was relaxing to be able to talk to someone who understands your humor and language perfectly. We had one of the most powerful lessons of my mission with a man who we are hoping will be baptized before the upcoming trip to the temple. While finishing the POS with him, he asked what would happen to his father because he was not baptized. What an inspired question first of all, and second, E. Wright and I were able to explain to him about Baptism for the Dead. Perhaps he could be baptized for his father who passed away quite some time ago. He was so excited that I think if we were not there he would have cried. The spirit was strong and I think this was the first time he truly knew that the Church was true. He told us that as he read from the Book of Mormon, he felt like he had never felt before. I can't imagine what my life would be without it.

We had zone conference this past Friday. Our goal now is to prepare a family to be sealed in the temple and baptize someone from a part member family by June 26th when Pres and Sister Sabey leave. I was told that the Canadian version of the Navy Seals are the SEABEES and their motto is, "The difficult we do immediately, the impossible just takes a little longer." That is our new motto in Sunyani, and I am so excited to keep working hard. With the Assistants we were able to divide and conquer. We had 16 lessons on Saturday and 46 for the whole week. The work is going well, and I can't wait to see what happens in the near
future.

Love you all very much!

E. Hair

"You have to sweat before you get"

It's hard to express how great this week has been! We had 22 people attend Church. As they were all walking in, my heart was filled with emotion. 12 of them were neighborhood children checking out the Church for their parents (haha). We had our first talk given by a member named James who has been attending since we first started.

The Lord continues to bless us here in Fiapre as we continue to work hard to give Him a reason to do so. One of our not-so-serious investigators was describing how busy he has been this week with his truck driving job and didn't have time to keep his promise to read and pray about the message we shared with him. He told us, "You have to sweat before you get." How true that is.

I'll take that thought to heart and apply it to what I am doing as a missionary here in the GCCM.

Short Note . . . Short Ties

This past week, out of the blue, Pres Sabey told us that he wanted to come up and go on a few lessons with us. It was an exciting experience. We taught a girl who is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist church. She was very smart and knows the Bible well.

I can't wait to see what happens this week with our investigators. I love you all and sorry that I could not write more. (Must have been a very FULL P-day!)

E. Hair
---------------

Figured out why Spencer's ties are so short...