Week 31

Dear Mother, 

Yes we are on later today as well. We had a little nap in the afternoon, Elder Thom was really tired today so he slept. It was a good week. Busy and a lot of people. Sometimes I get stressed when I think of all the people we have and then I just realize that I need to relax and just take one step at a time. Yes we baptized Edward and Stella. It was a good baptism. Yes I do and now I know how you feel. Yesterday we had church and then Elder Thom had interviews and then we had some lessons so I didn't eat lunch. I have realized that I need to eat every meal or else I get hungry and then grouchy and that is not good. That is very good. I do remember that it was a long time ago. 

Oh I miss big Al. That is a great family. I'm sure it was great to see him. Sam is so funny. I love that guy.  

1. (What was your best thing that happened this week?) Probably the baptism. It was really good and it's great to see your labors pay off.  

2. (What was your worst thing that happened this week?) Stella didn't come to church and wasn't confirmed. and another lady Mabel said she wasn't ready so she wasn't baptized this week. It was really sad. I hope we can resolve her concern and I confident that she will be baptized very soon. 

3. (What was your hardest thing that happened?) Stressing out over the baptism and also church with the confirmations. Sometimes it is so stressful. 

4. (What made you the happiest this week?) We have a great investigator named Perfect. She is so awesome. She reads the commitments we give here and her understanding is great. She is going to be a solid member. She just needs a special interview with President and hopefully she will be baptized and also hymn number 307. In our lovely Deseret. It has some of the best lyrics. it is my hymn of the week.  

5. (What did you learn this week?) Always make sure investigators get to church early when they are being confirmed. Take the baptism records seriously and make sure they are filled out. Work with the ward mission leader to coordinate baptisms better. Also prepare with teaching Sunday school. I had to teach our investigators class yesterday but I didn't find out till Saturday and when I went to prepare we didn't have the gospel doctrines book so I had to wing the lesson. It actually went ok and we had a nice class discussion   

I don't need anything. But if you would like to send me a flat rate envelope full of starbursts that would be ok I guess. 

Oh and transfers have been moved up a week so they are next Thursday. Trainers are being called tomorrow so hope they don't call me. Elder Thom goes home in 15 days. This week was good.  

Love Elder Thornhill

Week 30

Dearest Mother, 
I got a lot of letters from other people this week. On Thursday we went to the mission home for a special interview for Edward. He is 68 has had 5 wives and 8 kids. He has a lot of crazy stories too. He is pretty awesome. But we went to the mission home so I got to pick up mail. The cub scout troop sent me a package so I want to thank them. I wrote letters back to everyone so I'll send those out soon. We had a crazy day yesterday. A lot of people at sacrament and we had some interviews to do but things are looking good for this month. We are going to have a baptism on Saturday which should be really good I am looking forward to it. Also I saw Elder Bradley at the special interview and he was telling me about a girl in Teshie who is getting baptized. I was teaching her when I first came on mission so it has been a long process but she is getting baptized and I am so happy for her. 

1. (What was the most exciting thing that happened this week?) Probably just seeing all the people at sacrament. We had like 10 investigators so it was great. Also the special interview was good and seeing Elder Bradley.   

2. (What was the best thing you learned in studying this week?) I have been studying in Helaman. And I just like the simplicity of the Book of Mormon. Hel 4:23 is pretty powerful. I have also been reading the Doctrine and Covenants. That is great as well. I need to do better to write down my impressions and things like that.  

3. (How do they celebrate the new year?) More fireworks and a lot of music and everyone goes to church. They call it watch night and people go to church all night. It pretty crazy so people weren't to interested. I went to bed early that night. we did have a ward party and they didn't understand why we couldn't stay till midnight. 

4. (How long before your companion goes home?) 3 weeks and he does not want to go home at all. If he could he would switch me places. 

5. (What discussion is your favorite?) I like lesson 3 and the book of Mormon. It is also fun to resolve concerns. Like speaking in tongues and baptism twice and other things like that. It feels good to be able to resolve concerns and be confident when doing so. 

I think that is it for now. 

Love Elder Thornhill

Dear Father, 
Chale Howfa? That means friend how are you. I love the way people speak here. It is very informal and chill but then at the same time formal .It's hard to explain but I love it. I do remember those days. Now if it is past 10 I need to get to bed ha. I am definitely lame in that aspect. Some missionaries like to stay up late but I can't do it. I love going to bed. I need my rest for sure.,  

Thanks dad I can't wait to read about your experiences. I need to do better at that. Well this week was good. Saw Elder Bradley at the mission home randomly. We are baptizing a 68  year old man that may have one of the craziest past I have ever heard. Think of something and her has done it. 5 wives 8 kids. Served in the Nigerian army. they thought he was a spy so he got thrown in jail. Was a professional driver. Went to Europe and the Bahamas. has a Swedish wife and 2 kids with her. Served on a ship. He has done everything. Oh yea trained professional boxers. HE may be as cool as Chuck Norris. Although I'm not sure how much of this stuff it true. He is the greatest. Thanks dad for writing this week is going to be great.  

Love Elder Thornhill

Week 29

Dear Mom,
Yes I saw Elder Bradley and he is doing great. They split Teshie so now there are 8 missionaries instead of 6. Elder Larsen is now a zone leader which is pretty sweet. It was great to see everyone. Yes I got my camera back. No I got a charger so don't worry. Oh and I got the other package this week. Just a note when you send anything like shampoo shaving cream stuff like that just tape the lid down so it doesn't spill. The shaving cream spilled just a little bit.  

Just a lot of crappy fireworks. I am glad I no longer have to worry about stake dances. Alright that is pretty much it for this week. Nothing too exciting. 
love Elder Thornhill

Dear Father, 
Oh yes I almost forgot. That was yesterday. Happy birthday to Kasey then. You should have heard how long some elders talked to their families like 4 or 5 hours. I could not do that. I can't even do that when I'm home ha. Cool I can't wait to get it. 
Thanks dad for writing. I hope you have a great week. I love you.
Elder Thornhill

Week 28

The letters this week were very short because Mitchell calls us tomorrow! 

Hello, 
Ok I will probably call your phone and I'm not sure when I will call. There is still a chance I could Skype but I'm not sure. Yes I am still with Elder Thom. Its going good. Yes we have a ton of people we are working with. no I have not opened the packages.  
1. (Why don't you do anything on p day? Does you companion not like to do stuff?) Ah elder Thom doesn't really like to have fun and he doesn't like to do stuff so we don't do much on p day. But we wash clean email  home stuff like that.  
2. (Do you make your own fufu?  How do you make it?) No it takes way to long and is to hard but I know how to make it. you boil cassava and plantain till it is soft and then you pound them together to make like a ball sort of thing it's hard to describe. 
3.(Have you been sick at all?) Negative.
4. (Do you still sleep in a mosquito net?)  yes and it is pink. I don't want to get malaria 
5. (Will they put more missionaries in your area?) I don't know I guess we will see.  
I guess that is it for today love you 
Elder Thornhill

 Dear Father, 
That is so cool what Carly has done. It is so great. 
Yep that is correct. Elder Thom is going to work hard until the day he leaves. He really does not want to go home. He is always saying that he would switch me places if he could. so don't worry about that Elder Thom will work so hard these last 6 weeks. 
Thanks father 
Elder Thornhill

Week 27

Dear Mother, 
It will probably be best around 2 or 3 my time so like 8 or 9 your time. I'm, not sure how far ahead we are.  

1. (Why did you get a new bike?) Because my old one didn't have pedals and the back rim was bent.  
2. (Did you have transfers? Did some of your old companions get transferred?) Transfers are on Wednesday so I will find out tomorrow if I am going anywhere.  
3. (Did you get to go to the temple?) No. We went to the temple site but we didn't get to go do a session. I don't know when we will be going next. I think in January.  
4. (Who are you working with?)  Agnes, Stella, Elizabeth, Kwame, Charles, Veronica, Douglass, Ephramin, Sylvia. That is everyone we are focusing on this week. Stella came to church this week. I had never met her but she just came to church by herself. Those are the best. We are meeting her tomorrow. Veronica is also one of my favorites. We didn't see her last week but she came to church with her son Richmond. He is the coolest little kid. I love him. She needs to be baptized but we still have some concerns to work out there. A lot of our investigators have a hard time coming to church. That is one thing we are struggling with right now. We got 4 this week but we can have a lot more. 
5. (Did you have the baptism?) No we did not have a baptism. We are having one on the 29th. We have been working hard but it has been hard getting people to church and getting them to commit to baptism. But I am hoping we will have 3 baptized on the 29th. 
6. (How many new missionaries did you get in the last transfer?)  I'm not sure about last transfer but I know this transfer coming up on Wednesday there are like 10 elders coming and only one leaving so it going to be quite the transfer sheet. New areas are going to be opened. 
7. (Is it still hot there?) Yes and it will be hot till the day I leave here haha. But no its not to bad its hot but I have a sweet fan. That is the worst time to be hot is when you are trying to sleep. When the power goes out it's so hard to sleep without a fan. 
8. (How is your companionship?) Good. It is going good. I am learning to be patient and see the good in my companion. I am striving to be more Christ like and it has been going pretty well. 
10. (Do you ever do anything fun on p- day?) No not really. It's just the two of us so not really. We go to the cafe but that's about it. We went to the market and that is always an adventure. 
Things are going well. Don't worry about me I am doing fine. I love you mom
 Elder Thornhill 
  

Dear Father, 
My week was good. Yes I did talk to a bunch of strangers but that is pretty much the norm in Ghana. We stand out a lot here and they always speak to us in twi and when you respond they act as if they have never heard a white guy speak twi before ha. Wash our clothes clean buy food and go to  the cafe to email you guys. Elder Thom isn't one to have a bunch of fun so we haven't really done anything cool here. But it's cool. We haven't really done it yet and the ward mission leader teaches the investigators class. Just fun around trying to talk to investigators and members and try and have our coordination meeting. Sundays are kind of crazy sometimes.  

I actually did hear about the shooting. We went to a church members house yesterday and they have Ipads so someone was looking up the news and I saw that. Pretty crazy. I wouldn't have known if I didn't go to their house. We got fufu which was amazing. My first fufu FM. I usually have to buy it at a chop bar but not yesterday. and we also got fanice which is ice cream. It was great.  

"Francisco that's fun to say." That movie is so hilarious. I love it. "Then I walked through the forest of swirly twirly gumdrops then I walked through the Lincoln tunnel. My finger has a heartbeat. That s a nice dress its very purply. Debra you're so pretty you should be on a Christmas card." Those are all the lines I could think of ha. I hope things are going well for you and I love you. 

Elder Thornhill 

With Elder Thom

Elder Thornhill with Elder Bradshaw

Week 26

Dear Mother, 
Yes I did some exercise this week. Elder Thom is doing good. Oh yes the ward Christmas party, I am sure it was a great event. I think we are having a ward party on the 31st of December. I think it will be a Christmas/ new year's party. I have the best watch tan line the other elders make fun of me. Thank you for doing that mother. That's great. Preach My Gospel is so important. I wish I would have studied it more before coming on my mission.  

1. (Have you been hit this week?) No I was not hit this week but I did get a new bike. And it is pretty sweet. Now I can keep up with elder Thom haha. 
2. (How big is your area?) It's not that big. We can get around pretty fast by bike. But this week I realized how close to the mission home we are. Its only like 4 miles. For an activity the youth in our ward are walking from the chapel where we meet to the temple site which is right by the mission home.  
3. (How many missionaries are in your district?) There are 6 of us. The zone leaders, my companion an me and one other companionship. There is an elder in our district named Elder Beaufeaux. He is from Heber Arizona so we talked about that.   
4. (Who are our zone leaders?) My zone leaders are Elder Onyo and Elder Angelos. Yes it is the Elder Angelos you told me about. That is cool he's John's cousin's son. I'll have to tell him, He goes home this month.  
5.( Who are your district leaders?)  My companion Elder Thom is the district leader.  
6. (Do we need to send something for your camera so we can see some pics of you?) Well about that. I may have lent my camera to Elder Bradley last transfer so I have his super crappy camera and no cord to plug into the computer so that is why I haven't been sending pictures. Sorry I just knew that Elder Bradley would use the camera a lot more than me.  
But I do need that USB cable thing to be able to charge my music player. And I got the Christmas package this week. Sorry but I couldn't hold off on the Conference edition of the Ensign. I read most of it yesterday and today.  

Thanks mom for everything. This week has been great and we have our Christmas Conference on Thursday. I can't wait to see everyone and it should be a great time. I am also going to try and see Brother Ewduzie. A man from our ward said he had a message for me. This week I have been studying from the Doctrine and Covenants and I love it, It is such a powerful volume of scripture. The church is so true and I love being here in Ghana. I love and miss you mother. Elder Thornhill  

Dear Father,

Yes I did have a good week with Elder Thom. He is a great man. I remember the Christmas party we had that one year where the cultural hall was turned into an ancient city and everyone had to wear costumes. ha good times. 
Thanks dad. I don't know if I will get that good but maybe I can have someone write it out for me and then I can say it. It would be cool though. I hope everything is going well dad. I love you. 
Elder Thornhill

Week 25

Dear Mother, 
I am doing good mother.Thank you mom. It makes me feel good that you are thinking about me and that you care for me so much.That part always comforts me and helps me when I am having a hard time expressing myself or teaching. I think that will help a lot and I will try and do that more consistently. Thank you for all the advice and love mom. It really made me feel good. We have some good people lined up for this month and I am hoping that we will have a big baptism this month. 

1. (Who are you teaching?) we are teaching a lot of people. Some of the good ones are Wise, Foster, Edward, Kwame. Wise came to church on Sunday all by himself. We didn't even know who he was. He has an uncle who is a member and he said he wanted to be baptized so I extended a baptismal date for the 29th and he accepted. Foster is also a man who we contacted one night. He kind of came up to us and we were able to teach him on Friday. He has a lot of questions but he is a good man. Edward is an older man who is very interesting. My companion loves him but I think he is a little crazy but I guess that doesn't really matter. He came to church and he really liked it. Kwame is a small boy who has been to church many times. We also taught him yesterday and he wants to be baptized. Hopefully all these people will be baptized this month but I guess we will see. 
2. (Did you hit your head when you got hit by the car?) No mother nothing happened at all really. I was just a little shook up. 
3. (Transfers are when?) December 19th 
4.( How was the zone conference?)  It was amazing. President Judd is a spiritually powerhouse. It was such a great day. Oh and that reminds me. Thank you dad for the letter and also THE BUTTERFIELDS for the package. Thank you for the candy and the pictures. It was much needed. I was beginning to forget what starbursts taste like ha. 
5. (Have you seen Brother James?) No I have not. I probably won't see him for awhile because we don't go to the temple very often. 
6. (How is your ward?) Its pretty good. Its small but the members are very good. The second counselor in the bishopric reminds me of Patrick Brown a little bit. 
7. (How is Christmas celebrated in Ghana?) I have no idea. It hasn't really changed much around here. Alright thanks mom. 

Oh that was very nice of Amy. She is pretty great. I think you should definitely do that. But I don't really know what you should get her but I support the idea.  

Thank you again mom for everything. Soon we will be talking on the phone. That seems crazy. Everything is going well here so don't worry about your little boy. I shared this in sacrament yesterday in testimony meeting but if there is one thing I know that is that the Book of Mormon is true and that is the word of  God written for our day. The church is true. I hope you have a great week mother. 

Ok that is it mom. Thank you again for everything. You are the best I hope you have a great week. Love you 
Elder Thornhill

Dear Dad, 
I know how to say friend in Twi but I can't really spell it. Twi is a sweet language by the way and I love when I say something and the people get all excited. There are some other hymns that I like these days as well. There are also some hymns that are going to be forever in my mind as Ghanaian hymns because we sing them so much. But they are great. I love the hymns.   

Thanks dad. You are the best. I hope everything is going well with work and with your calling. The joke was pretty good this week. Eye Co. That means like good going or well done in Twi.  

Elder Thornhill