10 weeks!

This morning I wore the dress that Sister gave me to church. We actually got to church on time with a few minutes to spare. During Sacrament I read my scriptures. We are almost through with 3^rd Nephi with only a small amount to read until we’re finished. Reading the Book of Mormon in a certain time frame not only allows you to read it like the story it is, but also keeps you motivated to read it every day. I have experienced such an increase of blessings from reading my scriptures continually. During Sunday School I pulled out the George Albert Smith book and read the first couple of chapters. That man is amazing. I believe the prophets on this earth are the best men ever placed here. President Smith came up with 11 mottos to live by. One of them that I can’t stop thinking about was “I would not be an enemy to any living soul”. If we could all live our lives with this in mind, this world would be truly spectacular. If we could all Love our Neighbors like President Smith did I don’t think there would be a cold or hungry soul. The life of this man revolved around service for everyone. In the second hour of Sunday School, no Relief Society, I read more scriptures and got roped into answering a few confusing questions and the closing prayer. After Church Jackie and Lauren got a Priesthood blessing for the rash they have had for quite some time now. As I stood listening to the blessing I got an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the friends and family members in my life that live their lives worthily for the priesthood. I started to think of all the sweet blessings I have received from my dad as I get ready for a new school year and the blessing of safety given to me by my uncle as I left for this trip only a couple months ago. The Lord truly does use others as mouthpieces to give messages to His children. It was raining as we left church, which meant every Ghanaian was seeking cover while the Obrunis would fearlessly walk in the scary rain. We got home and started our group meeting. Since it is near the end we did a less formal version of the meeting and just talked about our weeks and emotional health. After our meeting we watched The Testaments. Once it was over I went to talk to Mama in the kitchen and learned so much talking to her in one short hour. I love to sit in kitchens and learn from them. Growing up I loved to help but mainly watch my mom prepare dinner in our kitchen. Cooking in Ghana is a whole different story so mama taught me how to put a plastic bag in the rice to make it more tender and how to make a lightly seasoned rice stew. I asked her more questions about cooking, which she knew almost every answer to. We also talked about everything from raising her kids to the Health care in Ghana. Mama is a very animated talker and made me laugh so hard. She told me that when raising kids they tell them superstitious stories so they will be more obedient. One of them is, when bathing if you sing your mother will die. They don’t want the kids to swallow the soap while bathing so this story keeps them from doing so. Once dinner was ready I helped her bring it out to the girls and she told me she would have the fufu waiting for me when I was finished with the kontomire and rice. I was so hungry I ate the stew so quickly. We sat and talked a little more before I left to talk to Mama some more. She gave me a big bowl of fufu and fish. She said the fish was only three days old so it was still fresh. I’ll try anything once, or twice in this case. Fufu is pounded cassava and yam and feels like a dough ball. The stew was light soup. I am the only one out of the four of us that actually enjoys fufu so the other girls were really grossed out by it. I love trying new foods and am the least picky out of the group. I think Mama wishes the other girls were like that because it makes cooking very difficult for her when they refuse to eat the food. For our project we have to have someone tell us stories so we asked Mama last week to prepare some for us. She told us 3 stories about Nananansi, the wise spider. She is so animated when telling the stories I felt like she was telling them to us like we were 5. I was so entertained by the stories three didn’t seem like enough. The moral of each story was that selfish and greediness will get you nowhere in life. They will leave you ashamed and living in the corner just like Nana Anansi does. King was dancing out in the courtyard so we all joined him for a few dances. Mama even joined us and showed us a few moves of her own. I’m pretty sure King can move his hips better than Shakira. It was dark already outside so Cassie and I walked to the station with King and the other girls. We came home and I read more of my scriptures before going to bed.

XOXO