December in Ghana!

Looks a lot like the other months!  Soccer, service, elections, and baptisms!

Elder Christopherson loves to slack line, and here's the closest thing to American slack lining!

Pounding the fufu is quite the process.  "Will work for food!"

This reminds me of an African version of a covered wagon!  

Youth in Elder Christopherson's congregation!

Maamobi Moments

You're Invited! African Greetings

This week was good we taught a lot of people about Jesus Christ. I love that a Ghanaian will always get us a stool to sit on so we can share our message. They truly believe in SHARING in Ghana. If for example when you are eating you always invite the other person by saying ''You're invited!'' It's apart of the culture and being white doesn't excuse you from this way of life. It's funny I was very slow to share my things, not just food. Now I truly believe in sharing.

Mission Group Pictures

Go For It!

Elder Christopherson has been serving for 7 months!  His companion, Elder Taunua, is from Samoa.  They are serving in Maamobi.

Elder Beck from Burley has arrived in Ghana!

 

Maamobi Experiences

                                                            Johnathan is a True Saint.
 Johnathan broke his leg playing soccer awhile back and word on the street is he was really good. Due to lack of money and medical attention his leg healed wrong and now he has a pretty bad limp so he uses an old wooden crutch. He wasn't aloud to serve a mission so now he does the best he can and goes out with us. He will walk any distance to be able to teach with us. We were going to a lesson and half way his flip flop broke. Rather than turn back or stop in his tracks he picked up his flip flop and kept walking. I told him it'd be alright if he went home but he insisted on going the rest of the way. I explained the Zongo already but just a refresher its a challenge even for a healthy leg. He didn't want to let a broken flip flop effect his desire to serve the Lord. After walking for awhile he got a shoe repair man to stitch it back together before finishing our journey. We then had an amazing lesson with a man and his wonderful fam.

Don't let the little bumps in the road stop you from reaching your destination. Don't let the little things put a downer on your entire day. Take the wheel and steer your own dang life! I learned a lot that day from Johnathan to never turn back or stop when there's trials. If for whatever reason we get slowed down we need to "take the wheel" of our life and fix the problem. 

Maamobi Branch

#HisHands

This week was solid for sure. I don't have any cool adventures other than just everyday life stuff like walking through the small paths in between millions of scraped together houses, hopping over gutters and weaving our way through the city to teach some pretty amazing people about Jesus.

This week we said goodbye to Elder Vandehei our Assistant and my skating buddy. So our apartment is now only four.  I watched a little bit of conference at our Stake Center it was super good as always. I was able to get some stuff out of it that will help the people I'm teaching. It was cool to get answers not only for myself but for others who are way lost. Ghana got a shout out from Elder Curtis who talked about the Freeze. The government shut down all church activities here but the members were still faithful and would meet up on Sunday in their homes. The members here have been through a lot. Every day is a battle here for the members standing up for what they know to be true. They just amaze me everyday with the joy they have found in the gospel and life that they have.  well crew till next week and dont forget

"Run to Jesus and save your Life!"

Thanks for all the love and support 

Much love 

Elder Christopherson

First images in Maamobi

The little girl in that pic was born on the exact same day I came to Ghana. It made me feel old haha. Her name is Princess

Loving the Vegemite!!

I live with some rad people. The assistants have a truck so we get rides to everything. We live the law of consecration when it comes to food, meaning everything is free game so our apartment feels like home. We stay close to the mission home so our lovely Australian office couple missionaries are in our Branch. On Sunday after church (and my talk) they had us over for some Aussie cheese burgers. I added that in because its the first time I've had cheese in 5 months. Sister Munro reminds me of Grandma Tippets so much.

 Our branch is very small but the members are so strong. We had a baptism for two sisters Loyce and Lawrinda. The parents aren't members but they support their girls so we were stoked about that. There is hope for them now that they will be around two members all the time. 

Baptisms in Larte B'

Other than that the work is going good. I haven't talked about my man Steve yet but he was baptized yesterday seriously the people here are incredible and so strong! We also had a couple of funerals this week in our ward and it was nice seeing everyone come together to help out however they could. It was a spiritual filled week full of adventure.  I'm super excited for Mary a 19 year old Nigerian we see almost everyday who is getting baptized this Sunday.

Our friend Mary was confirmed a member this week her brother from Nigeria was able to do the ordinance. It has been nonstop lately doing our thing since my companion wants to finish strong and it has been a blessing. He is a good example to me of loving the people. He talks Twi with people and they freak out.

Sister Eva was baptized yesterday! Our chapel still has no water so we took a taxi over to our stake center and it was a great service. Her mother Pascalline is doing awesome and is learning English in our literacy class. At first she was very shy and her whole family was that way really but now they are out going and the attitude in their home has changed completely. So I hope everyone is doing their best to make life better everyday by improving the little things.

Reta and Margret were baptized yesterday. Reta is the sister of our second counselor so he is very stoked. we've been teaching her since I got here. Margrets parents aren't members but they are supportive and that's been a blessing in her life teaching her was fun. 

I'm very grateful for the members here and the love they show towards missionaries. I'm sad to leave but stoked for this new chapter in the mission in Maamobi aka Pig Farm. 

Troll Bridge Crossing

Friends and fam So this week in an egg shell was bread and egg every night for dinner and what else oh yeah a Troll bridge, a wedding and an All African Service Project. The troll bridge was over a canal and we didn't know it was a troll bridge until it was too late. This little man walks out and he wouldn't let us pass until we each payed him 30 Pesewas because it's his bridge. Apparently he built the bridge so we had no choice. We didn't have coins for the poor guy so it took him forever to get our change. I had enough time to snap a cool pic. and on our way out of the canal these massive bulls came running around the corner and almost took me out. 

From Elder Peters email...always more to the story!!

Africa Humanitarian Day of Service and more

G

It was the All African Service Project on Saturday. I went around teaching people about Cholera with these little yellow vests on. I taught a lot of Muslims about Cholera in an area called Sukora it's loaded with mosques and very nice people actually and now they now know all about Cholera. I bike past this super tall green mosque a lot and wave to a big group of Muslim men. It reminds me of the old timers in the Country Store just chillin haha. Only these guys are rockin robes.

Elder Bednar visits Ghana

On a more spiritual note Elder Bednar had some great things to say to the YSA and youth of West Africa. I took some good notes. One of my favorite things he said was I hope you don't remember a single word from this devotional. He then explained that he wanted them to remember the thoughts and expressions felt. That just means we need to be remembering what the Holy Ghost tells us. It's pretty deep if you think about it that God gives us a spirit that guides us when we listen. 

 The weeks continue to fly by! I'm sure everyone is getting excited for the school year to start. That was the fastest summer of my life. This week was full of the usual missionary life stuff and some other cool stuff like Elder Bednar he is a pretty cool guy. He was here for some Devotionals. The first one was on Thursday for the young single adults. We were able to take Eva who is getting baptized next week. Then yesterday was for the youth and we took 2 investigators with the youth in our ward. They were both great experiences I'll remember for the rest of my life. I got to see my teachers from the MTC. It was set up so people could just ask him questions so my MTC teacher was running the Mic around as people asked Elder Bednar questions face to face.They broadcasted it out to all of West Africa so they were getting questions from Nigeria and all over the place. Fun times and going to the temple will never get old. 

"Elder David A. Bednar recently arrived home after visiting the saints in Ghana, Africa. "The members of the Church on that beautiful continent are present-day pioneers helping to establish the Lord’s Church in their native lands," he told.

"Each time I visit, I am thrilled by the joy expressed as the African Saints sing the hymns of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As they sing, the light in their eyes, the smiles on their faces, and the joy in their voices illustrate how the Atonement of Jesus Christ strengthens us to press forward in our lives with faith in the Savior," he added.

​During his visit in Kusami, Ghana, he was touched by the testimonies of a 12 year-old boy and a teenage girl. 

Elder Bednar told that "Neither the young man or young woman knew they were going to be called upon to share their testimonies of Jesus Christ, and their willingness and ability to express their testimony of the truths of His gospel were remarkable."

​"These faithful members—and all of us—face trials and challenges. But as we honor our covenants to always remember Him and keep His commandments, the Lord blesses us with increased capacity to do and become good. The Saints in Africa are living proof of this truth," he concluded."

Christopherson and Ombaka in Larte 'B

We have been teaching like crazy lately and our little ward missionary (Leslie) is probably one of the most effective members in all of Ghana! Leslie is so cool he just rides on the back of my bike all day and does what we do. This little dude basically runs our ward and is already a great missionary. He turns 13 next week. His dad is in Japan selling cars so his mom Sister Princess takes care of all of his sisters. She taught us how to make bean stew with yam.

From an earlier email...

A cool story from this week happened on Saturday. A deacon named Leslie goes out and teaches with us almost everyday left his scripture bag at a members house. So we went back a couple hours later to get his bag before calling it a day. As we were leaving the mother asked for a blessing because she was sick. She just had a baby and her husband wasn't around and I know we were guided by the spirit. The next morning she was at church and feeling much better for her babies blessing and  for one of her sons birthdays. 

P Day Adventures

Today was an adventure Elder Peters and I biked to Jamestown to climb a light house and walk out on an old dock where the slaves would be loaded onto the big ships. Its been dumping rain today so we got drenched and way dirty.

(That's about all the description I get when Elder Christopherson sends pictures.)

Lessons from the Fishermen

So this week was great I saw some pretty cool places like a salt mine I
guess you would call it. Just this massive grid of salt ponds where they
separate the salt from the water. You can walk way out into the middle on
tiny paths. If you look close you'll see them. We also went to the beach to
repair fish nets with a member. Every Tuesday all of the fisherman stop
what they are doing (fishing) because everyone knows its bad luck to fish
on a Tuesday. The fish rip up the nets throughout the week so every week
they go and check every square inch of net. There is so much net! They are
very careful they wouldn't let me do it without them supervising me haha.
It was cool it reminded me a lot about the Savior showing his apostles
where to fish. Rely on Christ but by all means fix your nets so he can help
us. As we are continually striving to be better (fixing the fish nets) we
will feel the Saviors love and feel closer to him. It takes action and work
before we can get anywhere but its possible.

Pig Roast in Africa

Elder Christopherson has a new Mission President from Australia.  So the missionaries from the islands of the Pacific decided to have a welcome party and roast a full pig over a pit.  Elder Tommy had the honor of "skewering" the pig.  I think that is mostly gross, but he said the pork was delicious.   Meat is not common for missionaries, so I know he is glad to eat well!!

Everything is so green during the rainy season!