Obuiasi with Elder Batutsi.

 Right now I'm at a little internet building in Obuiasi. It's the furthest south in my mission. My companion is Elder Batutsi from Uganda. No he can't really cook and he tells me so, so I'm learning from other Elders. See, in my apartment we have a total of four companionships or eight Elders. As far as Ebola is concerned, my leave date from the MTC was set already so that did not effect it there. Three of the missionaries at the MTC going to Sierra Leon were transferred to Kumasi because of it and I'm living with one of them right now. All of the missionaries in that area were sent to different missions or cut short. I always take my malaria pills. One of the African elders caught it and he was vomiting all day. He's fine now, they're used to it. I'm in a small branch. It should get smaller soon because we actually are combining two branches. One of them doesn't have a building so they use ours. Speaking of buildings my area, hmm, is made up of well...goats, chickens, dogs and cats…running all throughout the streets. Most people live in small shacks with tin roofs. It's a very humble lifestyle here. I did get some culture shock my first few days. So far I haven't eaten anything too crazy. I've had Sobalo (a frozen drink that tastes good but burns your mouth from the ginger and pepper they put in it) and other basics like rice and bread. Mostly the missionaries eat bread, rice or beans. We also have bananas, apples and pineapple in abundance. I've never liked pineapple at home, but here it's really good. The weather actually hasn't bothered me at all. It's hot and humid and when rain hits, it hits hard and fast. I'm picking up bits and pieces of Twi, but I still can get laughed at due to my accent. The children here treat me like a celebrity. They chant "obroni" meaning “white man” and follow me around. It was a novelty when I first arrived, but now it's a little bothersome. I love the kids here though. If anyone told you missionary work was easy here in Ghana, think again. There is good and bad. The good is that everyone here loves religion. Signs like "Only Jesus Can Save Us Boutique" are everywhere. I haven't been sent away by anybody; in fact I sometimes get approached by random people on the street. One of the hardest things to teach however is the Holy Ghost. Just about everybody here expects God to come to them in a vision, so getting them to recognize the Spirit is very difficult. As Emily said, missionary work is hard and long, but I have good Elders here who support me and have helped me to get through my first week here in the field. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the MTC video. I just want to let you know that I love you all very much and I'm doing find out here in Obuasi.  ttfn- ta ta for now!

(another picture of the Accra temple)