"Merry Christmas" --12/21

Well, I hope that all is going well for you guys and that this week
will be a good one for everyone. Im really excited to talk to some of
you guys this Saturday. One thing mom, I got permission to spend a
little extra time and talk to Grandma and Grandpa, so if you could
help me out and get their phone number ready so that when I am done
calling you guys I can talk to them, or the other way around,  that
would be really great. I think that some time on Friday Ill probably
call and schedule the next day just to make sure that everything is
going well and that my phone is working.
  This last Sat. we had the first of the three parties and it went
really well. We were planning on about 50-60 people, and we had
somewhere around 70-80. It was really cool and made all of us
missionaries happy, because it went so well. The first Sunday that we
came here to Sunyani three months ago we had about twenty people at
church. To go from twenty to seventy in three months makes everyone
feel really good. We also got some good referrals and some of our
investigators said that they now want to be members so everything
seemed to go well. At the party we watched the movie the Testaments,
had dinner, sang carols, played Christmas charades and just had a good
old time. Everyone seemed happy to be there. This Christmas eve we are
having a Christmas devotional that the missionaries are putting on for
the members. We plan on going through a program that Pres. Sabey did
for us at the mission Christmas party yesterday. In it we are going to
talk about Samuel the Lamanite, and then go through a nativity seen
that Sis. Bennett has and talk about the importance of each of the
characters and their significance in the story of Christs birth.
Between each of the characters we are going to sing hymns and songs
about the characters. For example, Im supposed to talk about the
shepherds and the sheep, so Ill probably talk about how they came to
witness the birth and about how Christ in the bible is depicted as the
Lamb of God. In order to offer a lamb as a sacrifice the lamb had to
be both without blemish and also had to be the firstborn. You could
tell whether it was without blemish by just looking at it, but to know
if it was the firstborn yo had to ask the shepherd, because he was the
one present at the birth of the lamb. In a very real sense, The
shepherds came to testify that Christ is the firstborn of the father
and that he truly is worthy of being a perfect sacrifice for us and
our sins. It is also important to note that Christ was born as the
Lamb of God, but by suffering the atonement he felt and went through
each of our pains one by one. He knows us better than we even know
ourselves. In the very same way the shepherd knows one by one each of
his sheep. Christ, by being the sacrificial lamb, and through the
process of the atonement became the good shepherd and is now leading
us back to our Father if we will fallow him. So Ill talk about those
things and then we sill sing either a hymn or a primary song about the
shepherds or the sheep. I think that it will go well, and again we are
hoping for a big turnout. I don't think that quite as many people will
be coming though, because a lot of people will be going home to visit
their families and stuff like that. We are hoping all goes well.
  This last Sunday for the first time since Ive been in Sunyani I did
not have to do anything but conduct sacrament meeting. It was really
cool, because we had most of our recent converts either give a talk or
else instruct Sunday school, and it went really well. Its cool to see
people that you taught and brought into the church taking an active
roll in everything so quickly. I also got a letter today from one of
my first baptisms back in Mpintsin named Johnathan Mensa. He told me
that he still is going to church and that everything is going well for
him. A lot of the time for me I wonder if Im really making a
difference or if Im just wasting my time, but this last few weeks I
have been able to see some of the results of my efforts and it is
making me feel really good. It makes me want to work even harder so
that I can have even more of these experiences.
  This week we also had a cool experience with some new contacts. We
have been trying to do something new as a mission to help with not
wasting time. In the first lesson we now teach the people about
following Jesus Christ and about ways that we can do that. We then
focus on baptism and ask a question something like " If baptism is for
us to wash away our sins, why was Jesus Christ baptized." We will then
read with them from 2 Nephi 31 about how he was baptized to set an
example and to fulfill all righteousness. We then say something like,
"this is our first time to visit with you, and we know that right now
you are probably not sure whether to believe us or not. As we come and
teach you every time we will ask you to pray to God and ask him to let
you know that what we are saying is true. When you know that what we
are saying is true, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be
baptized into his true church?" Its a really powerful way of starting
off and it has them thinking every time that you come to see them that
that is the purpose for you being there, to help them follow Jesus
Christ into baptism. We started this about three weeks ago, and one of
the first people that we tried it on was two sisters that are about
40-50 years old that we contacted into when an appointment failed. On
Sunday after church we met with them and they said that they had
prayed bout it and they just felt good inside and they knew it was
true. Then one of them said this, "we know its true and are ready to
follow Jesus Christ to your church, what do we need to do." It was
really powerful and again, made me feel as though the Lord is blessing
me way to much while Im here in Ghana. That appointment has been one
of the best lessons on my mission. Its been a sweet week.
  I also got two packages from you guys. Thank you so much. You made
me and my companion so happy. You put in everything and more more than
what I needed. I appreciate all that you guys do and love you so much.
I am really excited to talk to you all and hope that you have a happy
Christmas. If I don't get to talk to all of you this weekend, sorry,
but know that I love you all and we'll meet in about nine months when
I come home. Don't worry, Ill let you take me to dinner or do
something fun with me if you keep being nice. Well, I think Im about
out of things to say and time to say it in. I love you all a whole lot
and cant wait to talk to you.
Love Ty