First Sunyani Unit Conference

It blows my mind how much my testimony has grown over the past 7 months. I love the Lord more now than anything in the world. I have been blessed with good companions. We work hard and we try to be patient when we aren't always successful. Although I miss and think/talk about you all the time, I know my responsibility as a missionary and as a member of our family. I love the work that is going on here. I've been in Fiapre now longer than I was in my first area, Elmina, and I would not be surprised if I stay here quite a bit longer.

This week we had our first Unit Conference with all four units and man it was incredible! Four of our serious investigators attended the conference. Three of them have baptismal dates for the 16th as well as two others who were not there. I am so excited and truly have been able to see the fruits of our labors. It has literally been the hardest thing I've done in my life. The sun is overbearing all the time, but when we teach a good lesson, our spirits rise and life is good again. I am continuing to pick up more of the Twi dialect which has been one of the biggest ice breakers. Even though they might speak to my Nigerian companion first, once they realize that he doesn't know a lick of Twi, they look back at me and laugh, and then talk small to me. It's crazy that I can understand much of what they're saying and talk small.

As time goes on, I continue to get more and more excited about what lies ahead. Time is flying by. I can't believe March is almost over. We played B-Ball against some Ghanaians this P-day. It felt good to get back on the court again. It's Elder Omini's birthday on the 15th of April. We are going to get him a sweet jersey, and man he is going to be so excited! I have learned a lot about his family and the country of Nigeria. If you could send some news about the current situation in Nigeria, especially Calabar, I would love to be able to share it with E. Omini. His father told him to not email home while on his mission and without question he has obeyed. I can see it's been rough on him, even though he tries to hide it. His Dad was a powerful JW missionary who was converted, becoming one of the first LDS missionaries in Nigeria. I have grown to love E. Omini and respect him for who he is, even though we are very different in many ways...but we have the Church in common. Elders Omini and Hair in front of the house where they live and hold Sunday meetings

Ghana is one of the most peaceful countries in all of Africa. If other governments and individuals had the Ghanaian mindset, the world would be a better place. SLOW DOWN AND ENJOY LIFE TO THE FULLEST.

Amanda I love you so much. You are growing too fast on me. I bought you some handmade flip flops from a man that lives here in Sunyani. He's a returned missionary from the Democratic Republic of Congo and is married to another returned missionary.

I love this work and I love the Lord. I love you all and hope you are well.

PEACE!!!

Favorite son in Ghana

I love the Plan of Salvation in my life. The Bennetts, a senior couple told us about the earthquake in Japan and how terrible it was. How are the missionaries? Did they get out in time? I have 3 really good friends from school in Japan right now.

This week has been kind of rough. When we find an entire family to teach, too often either the father or the mother does not have enough time for us and comes up with excuses for not being around while we are teaching the other one. We did find out some good news from two of our investigators, but also some very sad news. After almost a year and a half of not seeing any money from his work, one of our investigators finally got paid. He then quit his job and got a better one at a training college, but it's almost 2 hrs away, so he will no longer be our investigator or any other missionary's because the Church has not yet been established where he's moving. Almost the same thing happened to another investigator named Lydia. She was not paid well and the hours were horrible. She now has a new job working at a bank, but it's also too far away from a Church building or any missionaries. Both of these good people flat out told us that they knew the Church was true and that they wanted to be baptized. Ugh!!!!!!! I love missionary work so much, but I hate the adversary. We're pleased that they both got better jobs because they're so hard to find in Ghana. Well, life goes on and one day they will get baptized.

There is nothing in the world that can replace what I'm doing right now. We had a great group at Church this week and things continue to get more interesting as time goes on.

As the days go by like seconds and the months like days, before I know it I will be old like you guys and I will be receiving a very similar email from my son. I love you all and continue to realize more and more every day how much you mean to me. I love this work. The Lord continues to bless me in ways I can't even explain, even during the rough times.

Amanda, keep being the great example that you are, just like Mom, and everyone will love and respect you for who you are. I love you so much. Don't try to grow up too fast. Life as a kid is so much fun.

Love,

Your favorite son in Ghana

Man I love this mission!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMANDA!!!!! I cannot believe you are out of Primary and in Young Women.

Dad, we just had a district meeting, and Elder Briggs, my MT gave a wonderful lesson about Christlike attributes from the same PMG section you wrote about. Elder Adams and I continue to get closer as the mission goes on. He was just made a Zone leader, and I know he will do great. The work is better than ever! Elder Omini and I have 14 new investigators. As time goes on the work seems to get harder, but more exciting. It's great to have Elder Speechly and Elder Alba in the apartment.

Mom, we just don't have time for lunch. We leave early and get home late. I'm pretty much on a two meal a day diet. Just think of it this way. When I'm back home, I'm going to be able to save so much money, I'll be able to pay for gas and a phone and all of those things!

Twice a transfer, we travel to Kumasi on P days. It has the largest market in all of West Africa that would blow your mind. We went to look at Kente ties, and the Kente line is in the center of the market. We had a crazy experience on the way home from Kumasi. At the bus station, we stood in line for over two hours in the pouring rain. If we got out of line, we would have had to wait even longer. When it started raining, people started brawling and running at the kiosk where the tickets are sold. It was a mess. In Ghana when someone wants to get something across, they just yell louder then the next person. There was no organization. So as people were arguing and fighting, I started to sing a song one of my old investigators sang all the time, which goes... "Farmer Farmer would you marry me, acosa trena mina sika ma wa o, ma wa o!" It means, ... let me earn the money and then we'll marry, we'll marry. Man you would not believe how many of the Ghanaian women just started laughing and the mood changed. The bus ride home smelled like a locker room cause everyone was wet and sweaty. It felt amazing to get into my bed after a cold shower. I love Ghana and I love the people more then anything. I love you all and will talk to you next week.

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