This week has not been like most. We had multi-zone conferences on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Monday was spent pretty much at home doing odds and ends and getting caught up. We normally do apartment inspections on Wednesdays, but we had to cancel the apartment inspections for Wednesday because the new generator was supposed to be delivered. However, it never came. The generator company finally emailed saying that the generator was still on a ship.
On Saturday, we again went with the missionaries to teach Martha about the plan of salvation. Nevis and her daughter, Alexandria, who we had also been teaching on Saturdays were not available to teach.
After we dropped off the sister missionaries, we went to visit Rihanna who is just getting over malaria and typhoid. When we pulled into their yard, we found their daughter, Diamond, sweeping and cleaning their front yard for her mother. Rihanna was so happy to see her "Mommy" and "Daddy" and to get a huge hug from her "Mommy."
We found today that Gordon (whose name we thought was Godwin!!) who we have mentioned in previous blogs went to the Accra Temple on Saturday to perform baptisms and confirmations for the dead. That is the way it should happen--being in the temple within a few weeks of being baptized and confirmed!!
Today, we went to the Apam Branch for Sacrament Meeting and to help with a Family History workshop. The chorister for Sacrament Meeting was a young boy around 10 years old. He did a wonderful job leading the music!
Helping the members with Family History is in deed a very interesting and challenging endeavor. Few have church accounts, so the first thing we need to do is sign them up with a church account. We have to write down their user ID, password, membership record number, and birthdate to keep a record for us because they rarely remember this information to sign in later. Very few have email addresses for account verification or recovery. All the family history is oral and with nothing written down. They can often get names of relatives, but it is challenging to get birth and death dates and often difficult to determine the actual relationship. It was rather chaotic during the workshop trying to help members set up church account and supervise our helpers. We wish we had taken a picture because words cannot adequately describe what it was like, but we were too busy to even think about taking a picture! The saints here are so anxious to do the temple work for their ancestors and we try our best to help them. We had a line of members waiting for their turn to work with us and the workshop lasted two hours. We plan to go back for another help session in the future.
Here are some pictures from the multi-zone conferences.
Hungry missionaries enjoying KFC, jollof rice, and mango. Visiting with Elder Kaufusi.
All the sister missionaries at the Ofankor multi-zone conference.
Elder Reidhead whose sister was in the Tennessee Nashville Mission with us.
Sister Wilde whose brother was in the Tennessee Nashville Mission with us.
Elder Judd, Elder Bertha, Sister Judd, and Sister Divis
Visiting with Elders Hill, Browne, Anderson, and Rawlings. Visiting with Elder Bethers.
Elder Beresford (from England)
We matched, but did not plan it!!
Enjoying time together!
Lunch with Sister Jacobsen
Sisters Fatai and Tu'angalu with matching dresses and Elder Judd's tie that matched their dresses.
The theme of the Multi-zone conferences was "Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing." President and Sister Jacobsen taught that staying focused on our Missionary Purpose is the “Main Thing."
President Jacobsen discussed how intertwined the Doctrine of Christ is with our Missionary Purpose and that we are helping people come unto Christ by helping them live His doctrine.
Our Missionary Purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end which is the Doctrine of Christ.
Sister Jacobsen also discussed an article by Lawrence E. Corbridge entitled "The Fourth Missionary".
She asked the question, "When you are flying home after you have finished your mission, what kind of missionary and disciple of Christ do you hope you have become?" and then said, "We hope that you will strive each day to be The Fourth Missionary". She shared what Elder Corbridge defined The Fourth Missionary as:
Obedient and worthy – has a repentant heart
Total surrender – consecrated heart
Heart full of charity and love for God
Puts on the altar of sacrifice any: disobedience, fears, romantic thoughts, pride, negativity, and comparing
Measures success from within
Completely turns their will and desires over to the Lord
Benefits immensely from and is transformed by the mission
Finds true joy even when things are hard (Alma 28:8)
“Surrender your will to Him. Unconditionally. Withhold nothing. Turn it all over to Him; all of your desires, wishes, dreams, and hopes. Trust in Him who knows all things. Trust Him who has all power. Trust Him whose love for you is perfect. Trust Him, who alone suffered, paid, and atoned for your sins, and for your weaknesses as well. Trust Him that He will make of you immeasurably more than what you will ever, ever, in all eternity make of yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge. You will create an ordinary man. He will create a God.” --Elder Lawrence W. Corbridge
Sister Jacobsen then reminded us that we can gain spiritual power and become the Fourth Missionary by: consistently working to strengthen our testimony of Jesus Christ and the gospel truths we teach, praying, studying scripture, seeking to fulfill our missionary purpose and striving to keep the commandments (missionary standards) and covenants we have made.
She said, "The Lord loves you and has given everything to you, love Him back with your whole heart, might, mind, and strength. Let the love you have for Him be the WHY you are here and the why behind fulfilling your missionary purpose with your whole heart."
We love and are grateful to serve with our inspired mission leaders--President and Sister Jacobson. We pray their message that we have shared will inspire you to be a better disciple of Christ.
Love,
Elder and Sister Judd
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