Christmas Week

Afishia Pa! Na afin combette!!

  

  Hey!!! It was soooo nice talking to you all on Christmas Day!! It was nice hearing all of you and realizing you all sounded exactly the same....except for Adam, who all of a sudden sounds like a mountain man, and I'm sure will look like one when I get back(;

  

  The Ghanaians here have a funny way of celebrating Christmas. They start around the 20th and don't stop until the New Year, but what they do is they start getting mass amounts of fireworks from who-knows-where and setting them off EVERYWHERE! The kids literally just light the firework, chuck it, and run. They don't really even check to see where they chuck it is the problem, and I've seen a few kids get beat by some Ghanaian women because of their "good aim". The most annoying part has been the laser pointers that all the kids acquired (I personally believe from an underground black market set on destroying missionaries). The reason being is because all these kids have made it a game of shooting their lasers into the Obroni's(White man's) eyes as they're walking from place to place. I would probably have exercised my right to the laying on of hands if I weren't so blind from the little buggers...jk hahaha....kinda(;

  Also, kids dress up in these outfits that are more fit for Halloween than for christmas and go around with a posse of drummers dancing for people and then asking for money. It's funny to watch, and when I can send pictures I'll get you one. The adults on the other hand, they all seem to believe that the white men are here to give them gifts, because all of them ask us where their Christmas gift is. I typically tell them that I am ready to give them theirs, but only after I've received mine....they stop asking after that(;

  Oh, and in response to Grandma's question about the passing of Nelson Mandela a while back (which I'm sorry I haven't replied to it sooner), the Ghanaians didn't do as much for it as I thought they would. The tro's played Obama's speech about Nelson Mandela, which was a decent speech I thought, and the people talked about how he was a good man, but that was about it. I live in a village though, so I don't know what it was like in the cities.

  This last week we were blessed to have 3 baptisms, 2 from Asikuma (our last) and one from Odoben. The 2 from Asikuma were Vida and Mary, a mother and daughter who I started teaching my first week on mission. The other baptism was of Sarah Y., but her baptism was kinda my favorite of the 3. The reason being is because her father John, our recent convert, was the one who performed the ordinance. Man, it was sweet seeing him right after baptizing her, how happy he was and the huge smile on his face! He was nervous before the service and actually expressed to me how he didn't think he should do it, but I got to tell him my gratitude that my father had gotten to baptize me, after which he went through with it, and I know he didn't regret it.

  Other than that, the week was spent getting Elder Loader familiarized with everything. He came from "the city" so the "bush" is new to him, but he's excited, and we've already had a great time getting to know each other. He's actually big on working out and we've started to work out together small, so who knows, maybe I won't lose all of my meager muscle that I have after all(;

  I'm sorry for Tyler, and I hope he gets better soon. I'm gld the family is doing well, and I hope you have a great New Year's!!

A fin combette!!

Elder Collins (Papa Tintin--tall father)