Addresses

Hey jen, do you think that you could do me a favor and find out and send the addresses for some of my friends and their families. That would be great if you could. Just any of the old crowd that we used to hang out with so that I can write them a letter and wish them merry Christmas. If you cant find there actual address, and even if you can, if you can send their families home address also that would be great. Thanks, love youTy

The Best Family Ever

Hey guys, it was great to talk with you all. It was kinda different talking with a bunch of people that actually understood what I was trying to say. I got three of the packages, and the other missionaries were all jealous, because you did such a good job. Thanks for that. I really think that this was one of the best Christmases that I have ever had. Today we have some of the elders from Cape Coast coming over to play football (soccer to all of you obrunies). I'm really excited about that. I'm not very good, but its always fun to play.The last couple of weeks we have done so much service that it makes me want to laugh. Just about every morning this week we have had a big service project, and we have a bunch planed for next week also.Dad thanks for sending me the story. I only got the one about Sam Edwards, but its great. Ive already been asked to read it at district meeting this next week. Maybe for next Christmas a good Idea for packages would be some printed stories, because I just found out that its pretty pricey to print here.Thanks again for all that you have done for me. I miss you and love you. Wish that you could all be here with me. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Ghana!!!Love, Elder Russell

Merry Christmas!

Hey guys,Merry Christmas!!!!!! Ill be calling you no later than 12pm your time, but it will probably be a little early. We can only talk for about a half of an hour so write any questions that you have down so we can make the most of the time. Sorry about the bug comment, I guess that you took that way out of proportion. Everyday we ride bikes, and as we ride, because there are so many bugs around, they fly into your mouth. On top of that there are not too many ways to store food properly here so sometimes the bugs get in. There really are not too many problems, and for the most part it’s just a good source of protein.Mom, thanks for ordering the ring for him. I really don’t care to have one, because Ill just loose it anyways.Christmas in Ghana isn’t so much of a family thing as it is a community thing. Our ward is having a party from 9 in the morning to 7 at night were there will be soccer and food and stories and all kinds of fun things. For our district, we will be buying a bunch of oranges and go around caroling and handing them out. Our mission pres. gave us 5 extra dollars in our substance this last week, so that we can make a really good meal and give it to someone who doesn’t have anything. Everything is just really interesting and exciting.We had a baptism this last Saturday and everything went really well. I still don’t have any clothes, but I think that Ill just buy some here, because they will be a lot cheaper. Ill let you know if I have any problems.Everything is going really good over here, and I’m really excited to talk to you this week. Love you lots and tell everyone that I say merry Christmas.Love Elder Russell

Bugs and Crunches

To start off, I guess Ill have the best looking wife in the world, with wonderfully toned abs, because going out in the rain and eating bugs has become an everyday thing. Sorry I didnt get to write last week, but the internet was out throughout the town, and so we didnt get a chance.I havent got any of the pacages yet, so I cant tell if they have a duty or not, sorry. Thats cool that it snowed, I wish it would get cool over here. Megan, congrats on the graduation. Ive got my new comp. His name is Elder Smith, from Cape Coast Ghana. He is a cool guy and we have had a lot of fun the last couple of weeks. To answer the questions about Christmas, Derek, I have no idea if they stay up late singing songs. What we as a district are doing, is we are buying a bunch of oranges, because they are really cheap, and then we are going to go caroling and hand them out to people in our area. I'm really excited about that. Ill probably be calling some time around 7pm for me which is 12pm for you. Ill let you know for sure next week in my e-mail. This week the whole mission is traveling to cape coast to have a big Christmas mission conference. I'm way excited. They feed us for free and the food is supposed to be really good.thanks for all that you guys do. Ive been having a lot of fun over here, and quite a bit of success. We have another baptism this week, but again, I'm not baptizing, because Elder Smith really wants to this time, so Ill just do it next time. Speaking of Elder Smith, he was wondering mom if you could order him a ctr ring and then ship it over here and he would pay you for it. Ill send you another e-mail about it in a sec. Ill let you all go now. Love you all and have a merry holidays!Love Elder Russellc is we are buying a bunch of oranges, because they are really cheap, and then we are going to go caroling and hand them out to people in our area. I'm really excited about that. Ill probably be calling some time around 7pm for me which is 12pm for yo

Tyler's last letter with his address

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Hey guys,
1st off, Happy Birthday to dad and Riley. If I forget to wish Josh a happy birthday latter this month please forgive me. Jen, Delilah is only molstly wrong. There are the seven traditional names that most of the Ghana folks have. In fact, mine is Kowfie, but they also receive like five other names that they will use before that one. My companion is leaving in about an hour, so I don’t have very much time to write you guys. To answer Ry’s questions, Elder Whaikawa is way cool and not trunky at all. I havent had much time with Pres. Saybey, but I like what Ive seen and heard a lot. The appartment that we live in is the biggest and nicest in the mission, and we only share it with one other companionship. I have written in my journal a lot, and for our free time we mosly just either sit around and talk, because we all like each other or we just study. For p-days all that we really have time for is a short game of soccer, and then we go shopping and wash our clothes (that takes a couple of hours, because we have to do it by hand. There are no washing machines here). There really isnt so much devision between the Africans and the white people. In fact most of the time the white people forget that they are white! All of the elders are way cool, and there really isnt any segregation.
Good luck with finals everyone, and I hope that you all had a great thanksgiving. It sounded like fun. Sorry that Shell hurt her foot.
Mom, we can pick up our phone card here, so you don’t need to worry about it. In case anyone whants to send a big package, or even a small one, or even a letter, the address that you send it to is Elder Tyler Russell, Ghana Cape Coast mission, PMB 1385, Cape Coast, GHANA. The reason that I asked for stamps was so that I can send mail by pouch. They actually mail it from the U.S. when they do it that way, and for some reason they will not mail it if you use Ghana stamps.
We had a way cool baptism yesterday. I was supposed to be doing the dunking, but unfortuanatly they did not have a baptisimal soot big enough for me. I need to buy my own. Anyways Elder Whaikawa baptized three people. It was really neat. We did it right after church, and the whole ward stayed and watched so there was a big turnout. Ive been so busy here that I even kinda forgot about Thanksgiving. We had a big feest last night as a going away party for Elder Whaikawa, that he and I put together. I took lots of pictures. It was a lot of fun.
I will be going with the other elders in the apartment until I get my new companion later this week. I will find out who he is either tonight or tomarrow morning. Im kinda excited about that.
Mom, if you could send me an e-mail telling me how much money I have in my bank acount that would be great. I really sont whant to look at that kind of important stuff on the computers here, so if you could do that for me that would be great. There are some cool things here that I would like to have some small- small money (that’s how they say it here. I just realized that I even write like Im from Ghana)to get if I can find a good deal. Well, Ive got to go, I hope that Ive answered most of you questions. I love you all and hope that you are having as much fun as I am.
Love Elder RussellP.S.: Sorry that you had to sleep in the garadge Derek. I hope it wasn’t to cold or smelly.