Seems Like Yesterday

It seems just like yesterday I was giving my talk in Sacrament Meeting in the Shiloh Ward. Ghana is an amazing place full of religion. I am grateful to serve in such a receptive and beautiful land. This past week we taught a man who moved here three years ago from Atlanta. He was born and raised in the United States, and is here managing a colon cleansing/massage therapy/vegetarian restaurant and resort. As we began teaching him about the Gospel, we learned that he does not believe in religion, but only in a "way of life." By the end of the first lesson, he told us he actually does believe in the Bible, but doesn't feel like he is a Christian. He later said he believes in Christ but does not see him as the Messiah. We ended our first lesson asking him if we could close with a prayer. He very quickly, but politely said; I don't believe in prayer. My companion and I left that lesson asking each other, how can we help someone that doesn't believe in prayer? How could we teach someone that doesn't believe in Christ as the
Savior of this world? As we continued to ponder and pray to know what we could teach him, our minds kept coming back to the keystone of our religion that would be the only thing we thought he would accept. Not only accept, but also read and pray about. As we taught him a second time, he seemed to really listened. We shared two of the "Mormon Messages" from the Church website. The first discussed the Restoration and the second was called, The Book With a Promise. We then shared a brief description of the Book of Mormon and did our best to answer any of his questions. We felt the spirit there as we closed with our testimony. Afterward, my companion and I talked about how much more comfortable we felt on the second visit, and how we hoped and prayed that he put our challenge to the test to read 3 Nephi 11-26.

Our work here is not easy, but as I knelt to pray that night, I truly thanked the Lord for sending me to a place that is generally so receptive to the basic teachings of the Bible, Jesus Christ, and our Heavenly Father. The weather, many different dialects, and conditions are very different, but this is still the best mission in the WORLD!!! The people are amazing. The Lord has blessed me in so many ways. It is incredible how many challenges we face each and every day with our missionary work, but this week as we submitted our mission numbers to the Africa West Area Office, I saw what our 168 valiant elders and sisters can do in this field, already to harvest. In the month of November, 164 people were baptized, with 1430 progressing investigators, and 835 new investigators. Ghana is ready, and the missionaries and members are striving to be obedient to the Lord's command through his living prophets.

As a missionary, we have the opportunity to bear testimony many times each day. I know this Church is true and am very grateful to serve. Elder Bruce R. McConkie's talk, "The Purifying Power of Gethsemane," describes the divinity of the Christ and His infinite Atonement. As we celebrate the birth and life of the Savior, our hearts are filled as we think of the wonderful acts that he performed. May we all come to know Him more perfectly as we follow his every footstep.

Thank you for your prayers and example.

E. Hair