Christiana's Baptism

Hello Family and Friends!

How are you all doing? I hope that you are enjoying life and that all is going well! Again I just want to thank you all for your wonderful letters each week. They truly are great and I love to hear from you guys.

Okay so as for this week it was a slower week, but it was pretty good.

Monday night- Elder Hodson, Elder Day, Elder Reyes, Elder Stulce, and I attended FHE with a sweet member named Teresa (She has two daughters and they are really  sweet) and she talked about Charity and it was a great lesson!

On Tuesday we had the MLC report and it was longer than normal, due to the fact that we got to watch the missionary broadcast: Teach Repentance, and Baptize Converts. It really was SO great! I guess it has been a long time since the church has done this, but what the general authorities spoke on were what we as missionaries needed to hear and that was so great. I loved the part with Elder David A. Bednar and how he talked about the Holy Ghost and how we needed to be actively listening always so that the Holy Ghost can help us what to say, because we can't touch the people's hearts, only the Holy Ghost can. It truly helped me see that I always need the Holy Ghost with me and to really pay attention to its promptings. After the broadcast we ate lunch and then the Zone Leaders talked to us and that was nice. Then Elder Hodson and I did as much as the supplies that we could that day. But that night we did see Christiana and made sure everything was good for her interview and she seemed very excited and that was very sweet!

Wednesday- Elder Hodson and I were in the office. President Stevenson gave us permission to work that day due to the long MLC report on Tuesday, and that way we could get everything done. It was a nice day! And that night I went on an exchange with Elder Reyes and that was very sweet! (We were also joined by Elder Adams and Elder Kalanga) We saw Abigail and sadly we found out that she is going to be in Abrua for a while for Nursing School (So we won't be able to teach her for a little while so we are going to refer her) but hopefully all goes well for her!

Thursday- Elder Hodson and I made popcorn again for weekly planning! :) We were then able to see Francis (Ha-ha he really doesn't want to come to church) and we tried talking to him again and encourage him, so hopefully he will come. Then we had Coordination Meeting with Brother Aborahborah and that was nice. After Coordination President Stevenson came and interviewed Christiana and... she passed!

Friday then rolled around and Elder Hodson and I did Supplies again :) I like picking up the mail and packages that's always fun, and we get to shop for supplies so that's always cool! After that we had PEC and our Bishop (Bishop Ewudze) and he is SO great! He always asks us why we aren't contributing or what ideas we have for the ward. He also said at the end of PEC "WE are Winning, We are winning, because the Church is True" He kept going but he is really great! That night Elder Hodson and I saw Christiana and made sure everything was okay for her baptism and she was excited and she asked if Bishop Ewudze could perform it and we called him and he said he would!

 

Saturday was a nice day! Christiana called us in the morning and talked to us about how excited she was and that was so sweet! Unfortunately our plans to see some people when we went out fell through but Elder Hodson and I went to the Chapel at 3:00 and Helped Brother Aborahborah with getting everything ready, and Christiana showed up very early so that was great! We had a lot of missionaries there to support here and it was really sweet and the spirit was really strong there. After that we had a Transfer News Party (This was only a 4 week transfer due to the fact that we need to be on the MTC schedule now because they increased the MTC time to 3 weeks so the transfer got cut two weeks, and now every transfer after that will be normal, it'll just be that the missionaries who came before this change will go two weeks early when they go home) at the Mission home and President and Sister Stevenson came for a little bit so that was cool. Of course Elder Hodson and I are staying together so that's nice. :) Elder Stulce is our new Assistant to the president. Elder Day is actually staying (I was surprised) and is the Finance Secretary and he will be with Elder Griffin (He is coming to the office! he also is another Finance Secretary) and Elder Reyes so that will be sweet!!!!

Sunday- Was Valentine's Day, and I told the apartment that I loved them ha-ha, and they asked me about my date and I just said the Savior (I know a cheesy answer) but that's all good! Christiana was confirmed a member and that was sweet! The spirit was really strong and it was so great! The rest of the day Elder Adams and Elder Kalgana were with us so Elder Hodson and I split up and Elder Kalanga and I were together and we saw this young woman named Charity who we have been trying to meet a while, and it was a sweet lesson! That night we also saw Christiana and just made sure she was doing well!

Elder Hodson and I are now trying to work with some of our other investigators because our two powerful investigators are baptized so now we have no one with a baptismal date, but we have great recent converts and less actives to work with so it should be some great work ahead of us! And for Valentine’s Day I just have a small though which is just on Charity. I thought I know what love is but Charity is the Noblest, Kindest, of Love The pure love of Christ (In Moroni Chapter 7 verse 44 to the end) and when I prepared my instruction I really learned that charity is deeper than just "I love you" It's the pure love of Christ and that's something I need to strive for every day, and it's the kind of love my parents have for each other, and I hope to develop that kind of love one day. That's just a small thought from me.

I hope you all have a great week, and I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Harward