I love how much new missionaries rely on the lord

Hey Mom,

haha looks like a fun day at church.  Yeah the small tongan that I have hear sounds dificult. I used to be able to bare my testimony in Krio well, but now sabi em small small. Twi no way, Twi is dificult and we dont use it like we used krio.

Its good to hear that you got to see jeff.

Sounds cool with school. So I have to live on campus? I wil talk to the others about who I will room with.

The week was pretty normal (for west africa). Although there were some pretty interesting things that happened this week. An indian family moved into our compound this week, and it makes it the weirdest compound I have stayed in. Our ladlord is white, who also stays in the compound with his Ghanian wife, there are 4 LDS missionaries and an Indian family. Makes for a great mixture of culture.

I got the packages that you sent and the scriptures. Thank you so much. The envelopes were funny and nice. I went on an exchange with an elder who is 3 months on mission and it was great, I love how much new missionaries rely on the lord. I also got a letter from Sister Ferral. The dear elders were fun. Its nice to hear about Elders Nielson, Sam and Anderson.

We taught a chinese lady this week. She spoke enough english to have a small lesson. She spoke very well for just learning it in school. It was so strange, or different from our normal lessons with Ghanians. I asked her if she believed in God, and she thought for a second and said that she believes in herself. She had heard about christianity in school, but there are no churches in her part of China but something intersting that I learned about China, is that they love their families. She explained that family is important in China and in many cases, family members who die are buried next to each other. and they keep track of the ancestors very well. So when China opens to the gospel, family history will be off the charts. West Africa is a little different. Many people dont take care of records very well. So family history is hard to track past 3 generations.

I have been talking to James Koroma, the one you met at conference and he wrote to me in Krio, see if you can understand this?

Brother Beckett,

Tenki tenki for way ah yeri from yu.ah gladi tu much way wi be padi to yu fambu den na ya.me na be branch presiden na mesima from 2007 to 2010. Presiden turay na mi dadi en fos tem district presiden. Nor worri anytem yu don yu mishun en kam back home,mi wef go kuck saki for yu en other salone stuff.wi go getam na dem afrika stores.
Dis bein tem ah bi de wok na S&I office with brother charls.
Tenki plenti plenti one mi brother.we luv yu and yua parents so much.

By by .
Bro. Koroma

Direct Translation:

Thank you for hearing from you. I am happy so much to be friends with your family here. i was a branch president in mesima from 2007 to 2010. President turay is my father and my first district president. no worries, any time you finish your mission and come back, my wife will cook you saki for you and other salone stuff. we will get the food from the african stores. Right now i work at the s and i office with bro charles. thank you so much my brother. we love you and your parents so much.

everything is cool.
elder beckett

Its good to be a missionary!

Hello Mom. I have had a nice week. This week we had our zone meeting, and Elder Van wagoner and I had the opportunity to instruct the zone. It was gogd. I was comfortable speaking in front of the zone. Something I would have been afraid to do earlier in my mission. My mission has helped me to structure thoughts and present them. I have enjoyed doing it, and even better is to help others do what is just and right in the sight of god. No greater feelings come than when we are clean through and before God.

Freetown was nice. The movie made me think of my experience of leaving the country of Sierra Leone small. You wouldn't know the difference, but it wasnt really like Liberia or Sierra Leone. The way people talk was like Ghana, the setting was Ghana, the dress was Ghana. hahah freetown is on a mountain, and there is no bridge to get to liberia but the movie was sweet. They showed it at our stake center and some of the actors were there, so we got to meet them.

Zac's pants are sweet, of course I recognize them. What clothes do Ihave at home? Dont worry I will be home soon. I think there is only 3 more weeks until I will call you on Mothers day. I am trying not to keep track of my days left, ifI think about home it will go long. 

At the end of April our mission will combine with Accra West mission to have a conferene, so I will get to see Tyler! I am super stoked for that.

I will see conference in May most likely. 

This week I have come to see success as a missionary. Success as a missionary is not measured as the amount of baptisms that one can see. Success is representing the Lord and doing what he has asked us to do. Success is to have the Holy ghost speak through us. Success is to be obedient. Success is to invite all to live the gospel, through Jesus Christ. Its not every week that we see big miracles and big changes in peoples livees, but small small, the people come. Its so great to be a missionary, to be the one rescuing the weak and fallen, who need help to gain faith to follow their savior Jesus Christ.

Its good to be a missionary.

Elder Beckett

You met my people!

Mom! Happy Easter! Wow thats super cool that all of you got to go to conference, I havn't seen it yet, but I will see small small as I am coming to the cafe, I can get them on lds.org. We will get to see it in about a month hopefully. 

EHH YU DE ENJOY O! YU DON MIT MI PEOPLE O!!!! ( you enjoyed! you met my people) hahah wow that is super sweet! the ones on the left are bro ans sis koroma right? and the ones an the right are bro and sis odei? the two on the left look like salone people and the two on the right look like ghanians! wow am i jelous pa pa!!! Where are they going to school? Where do they live! hahaha yes I know Sister Owusu. I would love a Ghanian dish when I return! Do you know where in bo the Koromas are from? ehhh did you get there information? I want to know them when I come home! Wow would that be fun when I come home! 

We were so excited to meet these wonderful people at Genral Conference on Easter. One couple is from Sierra Leone and the other from Ghana! 

Wow mom sounds like you have had a great week! Brads Easter post looks sweet. Sounds like all things de du fin oba yonda. I have had a sweet one too, we have had some people really be blessed by the gospel lately, easter has been fun too. I got the package from grandpa and grandma Richins. We made pudding and I shared the treats with everyone in the apartment. We got permission to go see the movie "Freetown", so tonight we will go watch it with a few investigators at the stake center. I guess it was filmed in Ghana.

Sweet Easter.

I cant tell if the work is more or less, but its truly different.

Mami aw di bodi o?

Sweet. Thank you so much for sending that. She will go home in November I think.

Yeah, I think that would be really fun to do that, as long as you would be up for Sierra Leone but I guess there are hotels there.

Elder Van Wagoner and I are both zone leaders, I dont even think there is a senior companion for zoneleaders. I cant tell if the work is more or less, but its truly different. I dont get to be so instructive one on one with missionaries and I dont get to go on exchanges with lots of missionaries anymore.. only with the district leaders but we have more reporting and solving problems and working with the office staff.

Zac kushe! Tell coach Dan that I am doing sweet. I am glad that Zac is doing sweet. 

Wow thats super cool that you are going to conference. My bishop here is going to conference  also. He is a manager over the MTC here and the church is bringing him to the Provo MTC to recieve some training, and he will get to see conference. So if you see a black man ask him where he's from, maybe its my bishop.

Ok school will be nice. Good, Elder Henrie is a really sweet guy, no problem with the release date, I am glad to be here.

Sorry that I cant email to much... I am in a rush and the internet hasn't been working to much.

i love you

I never thought that I would see the MTC again

Hey mom whats happin'? Thank you in advance for the packages, I wish I would have known, I would have asked you for a favor, I wanted to give someone another pair of scriptures with their name and I will even pay for it, because I have asked a lot from you.

Everything has been going on pretty smooth with Elder Van Wagoner. It was really interesting for the first few days, because teaching with him reminded me of the first few weeks of being in Ghana, especially because I have just been transfered to a new area. I had lots of flash backs of Kwabenya but it has been fun, we both enjoy working together, and we are trying our best to serve the lord in His way. Elder Van Wagoner is very good with the tribal languages, so it makes me look like a small boy but thats probably because he has been here for a long time and I dont have that great desire to learn the languages here but I have been picking up on that small small. Oh and Eldsr Van Wagoner and I will go home around the same time.

Teshie has lots of dirt roads and houses are a little spread out. Tema is pretty organized actually, lots of cement sidewalks and pathways in our area. Our church building shares a compound with the missionary training center, so its quite fun to see the new elders coming into the mission. I never thought that I would see the MTC again, but now I am working right around it.

The new apartment is nice. The landlord is a white guy from Zimbabwe, so he made the place really nice. We have tile floors, nice water pressure, plenty of water, even a water heater (but I have only taken one hot shower, because it has been pretty hot here). There are four of us in the apartment, and its pretty small, but we are doing okay. No ovens.. this mission doesn't have any ovens...

I am pretty tired today. Last night Elder Van Wagoner and I were up until 1 in the morning reporting on our zone and planning for our area and our zone, sending numbers and reports of how missionaries are doing takes a long time and we also have our planning session on Sunday (Cody and companion are serving as zone leaders). 

Thats sweet that Jake gets to use an i pad. It seems like the church is really using that now.

I don't know my release date yet.

elder beckett

Elder Van Wagoner was my 1st companion when I arrived here in Ghana and now I get to serve with him again!

It seems like every area has something for me to learn

Yeah my companion keeps telling my that I am old on mission, and I still feel like a small boy who is learning the work everyday.

I got the rings today... in perfect timing. Thank you for the note inside. That really helped them out alot.. he didnt sound in a rush.

Sorry to hear about your cough.

The talk went cool, and with love everything is great.

It seems like every area has something for me to learn and as soon as I learn that thing I am transfered or I get a new companion and guess what? I am being transfered to Tema, to be with Elder Van Wagoner. He is the same companion I had when I first came to Ghana, so I am really happy about that. I have been released from being a district leader after about 10 months of serving there. I have learned alot. In Kossoh Town I had a zone leader named Elder Outubu. He told me he really wanted to be a district leader, because he would have the opportunity to learn from his service. District leaders work very closely with missionaries as compared to zone leaders or assistants to the president. So I am happy with what I have learned and the friends I have made. Being with Elder Van Wagoner should be sweet, but I'll miss Elder Sibeko, I haven't been with a companion as long as with Elder Sibeko. I should finish my mission in Tema.

Its cool to see Salone. I miss there too, and I will miss Ghana, I even feel sad to leave Teshie.

Thanks mom, love you

I realize that its me that needed to learn!

A de o (i am here)! Yes, I am alive and well, last week we didn't find a place to email so that is why you didnt hear from me. The power goes out sometimes and the cafe's with a generator don't always have internet connection.

hahah golf sounds cool.

Yes I have thought a lot this week about school! guess what? This week I found out that its a 90% chance that I will come home in July, towords the end of the month. I am not sure why, but I will know for sure this coming transfer. Next week starts a new transfer. If I go home in July that means that I have 3 transfers left, 18 weeks... its pretty scary! When does school start for me? Who do you know going to BYU Hawaii. I heard that Jake Rushton is going there in August. Who else so I can talk to them? Do I need to pick classes? I am pretty nervous about school, so the sooner we can handle it the better. Do I need any endorsment? I want a room mate that I know if possible.

I haven't seen the rings yet, what kind of package did you send them in?

Well not all that much work has been done this week with our area. Elder Sibeko has had allergies, and this week they got so bad that we can only teach for half the day. So we have seen a doctor and by all means he will be doing better. Its strange, all of my companions in Ghana have been pretty sick and have caused us to stay inside. Alot of our investigators that had baptismal dates will need to be pushed back. I am able to stay strong with obedience, I have a sweet companion who wants to do things and work for the lord, the hardest part for me is trying to not get angry with those that are disobedient. Its so frustrating to me that elders dont take their calling as serious as they should and as a district leader its also hard to help them be motivated to be obedient. I see how you feel with our family sometimes, and see why you had certain rules for us. So I am trying to learn to lead, motivated by love. 

One funny thing that I have noticed while being a district leader is that when I instruct at district meeting every week, I usually prepare the instruction based on what my district needs help with, but during the instruction I realize that its me that needed to learn about the subject and usually find myself teaching something I dont do. That leads me to repentance and to be a better missionary. Anyways I tell you this because the lord has blessed me with the chance to speak at sacrament meeting this week, and my subject is "pride". So I believe that is what I need right now to help me, its something I have thought about recently and I know need to improve on it. 

As far as my mission, I still feel like I am strong, I dont plan on slowing down anytime soon.

For your personal missionary work, you can carry around the Book of Mormon, I gaurantee that people will ask you about it, and you can tell them how cool it is and what a blessing it is that we have it. If you look at Chronicles 29:29 you will see that there are plenty of other books that we dont have in the bible, and I am almost sure that everyone would want to read those books if we had them revealed or discovered today. How much greater the book of mormon.

Golf looks sweet. I want a Boss shirt that dad has, maybe when I go home.

Love You!