B Ballin It Up

Good To Reunite With MTC Friends

July 20, 2015

Beautiful Cape Coast

Pounding Fufu

Our friend, West, from Ghana told us that making fufu is A LOT of work. The stick is very heavy and you have to really pound it with all your strength. While the one with the stick is pounding, the one sitting is folding the dough over and over between hits. There has to be a rhythm between the two... and trust!!! I had to look up what fufu is made of... boiled plantains and cassava root which is then pounded into a dough. It looks like Gunnar has it down. West made Gunnar fufu before he left on his mission. You eat it with your fingers. We dipped it in fish stew which West also made. The key is to just swallow it whole. You do not chew it. Missionaries come to love fufu!

Bitter and Sweet :)

July 20, 2015

Dear Family and Friends you are invited!(to feast upon the words of Christ that is ;) That is something people say here to let you know you can come eat food with them. People say that in America too, but in Ghana they actually mean it lol.:)

You know this week has really been a roller coaster of emotions and experiences. 

Monday: P Day 

Tue: Proselyte

Wed: Interviews with President/Instruction from AP's and Sis Stevenson

Thur: Proselyte

Fri: Travel to Cape Coast (2 hr away) for training follow up with President 

Sat: Proselyte:)

Sun: Turn to the "Son"

Before this week I didn't realize how Proselyting is so essential to ones overall well-being as a missionary. I say this because the days we did not go out I felt much more anxiety and stress about things. When Saturday came we worked so hard and it felt amazing! It makes the days pass so much faster as well. Not that I want them to, Mission is Great:)

Interviewing with President was such a wonderful experience, far different then what I expected. I wrote down a list of the things I wanted to talk about and the things I wanted to get out of the interview and about zero of those things were accomplished. This is not a bad thing at all though. It was very casual like talking to a dear friend at home. For the first 10 min we just talked about fish and different foods and laughed a lot :) The feeling when I first walked in the room was the first experience this week where I began to gain a testimony that the Mission President is called of God. The spirit was as thick as "Jago" (look it up, yummy yummy:) But in all seriousness, I could not believe a feeling like that could even exist. He truly represents the Lord in this work.

FUN FACT!: Elder Wright (friend and zl in my apartment) his Grandpa was the first mission president in Ghana?! Crazy cool huh! His Grandmother and Grandpa served for 5 years here and are very well known among the church here for the foundation they laid. All of the new missionaries so my Mt's (MTC Missionaries you came with) went with our trainers to Cape Coast to receive further training and check up on how things are going. 

It was so sweet to see the American 9! lol and my MTC companion Elder Robert. Man I love those guys so much! It was so fun to talk about all the crazy experiences we are having and to see all of our buzzed heads lol:)

President gave a wonderful Instruction on the Doctrine of Agency and how there is nothing "FREE" about it. The Savior could have ruined the plan of Salvation on 3 occasions: Pre earth life, Garden of Eden, and Atonement/events leading up to.

He didn't have to do anything for us. That is where in the scriptures Satan tells Jesus during his fast (Psalms 91:11- 12) reminding Christ that angels will carry him throughout his life if he wanted. Every time Christ was tempted or could of not taken fall he "stepped up to the plate." I can't quite put all of what I learned how President says it, but I felt so much love for my Savior and for the opportunity to be on the mission. Just remember what the Savior had to do to allow us to have this agency and how there is no way the Plan of Salvation can fail now, the Savior fulfilled all His Father sent him to do. Now it is up to us to Finish strong and accept the Gift our Heavenly Father has given us. His only Begotten Son.

(true) Story TIME!: There was a young missionary serving in Brazil. He wanted more then anything to go to BYU, but he had a problem, he couldn't speak English and that was a requirement! His mission president gave him this counsel that I love. "Before you will become proficient in English you need to make 30,000 mistakes... It is up to you how long it takes you to make those mistakes." I love this counsel because it applies directly to being a new missionary. I could take two years to learn something if I am to afraid to fail or I could learn it today if I am willing. :)

The bitterness of this week as the Email is titled refers to the death of my dear friend Bro. Yaw Ketewa... Sunday morning at church the Branch President told us. He was the most humble man I have ever met. He made Kenkay for a living, and I was going to trade him a tie. There was a funeral on Saturday and funerals are like big parties and not a sad thing. Everyone saw him dancing and having so much fun. They found him the next morning in his bed. You know this pains my heart so much because he was so prepared for the gospel and if all went well that we had planned he was going to baptized the very next week. We sang "Til we meet" in sacrament and I couldn't help shedding more then a few tears thinking about how grateful I am to have met him, how the Lord has a plan and we don't know it, and how one day I will meet him again at "Jesus feet". It was the Lord's will though, and you know I am so happy as well because he lived a hard life, many people here do. Now he is with his Savior and his God, there are no doubts in my mind about it:)

You know it was a wonderful week :) I love you all so much and I am so grateful for you in my life! Until next week:)

I also had snail for the first time this week and it is delicious

Cool Bug

Sunburn Arms *USE SUNSCREEN, G!!! -love, mom :)

 Stew and fried cassava... so good!

Coco bean, so freaking good!

*This is why I sent him with a Shout stick with him :)

We drink water out of bags.

Slap Game

July 6, 2015

*I'm still working on this post :)

CTR (Chew The Rice)'

This is our District Leader, Elder Egunza from Kenya...powerful guy!

July 13, 2015


What a wonderful week in Cape Coast Ghana! Well technically Assin Fosu! This last week was by far the longest week I have experienced in the field. Which isn't saying much because I have only been out 1 month:) BUT hey 1 month!! I hit my 1 month birthday can you believe it?! Only 23 to go! lol. I LOVE mission so I am not too worried, and neither should you be, for the Lord is on my side guiding and strengthening me each week!

It is hard for me to remember before Thursday because Thursday is when what felt like eternity began. I was doing fine, just striving to be the Lords servant and then BAM! out of nowhere the enemy sneaks up from behind and makes a very tactical and well played move. RUNNY TUMMY dun dun dun! You know I believe I got a little complacent with my sanitation this week. Mainly with washing dishes well, but fear not, I learned my lesson! The reason this blow to my element was so tactical and well planned was because Friday night was an overnight transfer with the district leader to his area which name I could not spell with a dictionary. All of the sudden my area and my apartment began to look like heaven as I had to leave on this exchange. When I arrived that night, I fell very sick ! I got a fever of 101 and my whole body was aching not to mention my tummy:( I thought I had Malaria so I was pretty scared, and the whole time I was like, OK the Lord really directs this work because of course I get sick on this day! It wasn't so bad though. You know I prayed hard and the next morning I was back at it! I grew a lot that night. The Lord works in mysterious ways my friends:)

I heard something I liked this week from my Zone Leader and friend Elder Wright, "I will never say that my mission was the best two years of my life, but I will always say my mission was the best two years for my life." I really liked this because as missionaries we still have a lot of life to live and many wonderful experiences to have. I think of my parents and the joy they have with each other and the joys of raising a family in the Gospel. The mission though is the keystone and foundation to that life no matter if you serve for 1 day or a full 2 years the Lord blesses us for the rest of our lives if we gave everything we can.

We taught some very wonderful lessons this week! One investigator, Annet, who said she would come to church again after I bore my testimony to, but she didn't show up... Broke my heart because she is such a wonderful person. We decided to go to her house after church to see if she was home and talk to her, sadly she was not... But her father was! Her father Bro. Adam doesn't really live with the family, it's a confusing situation but he gave us his time and we taught a powerful lesson on the Restoration and he was especially excited to hear the Plan of Salvation. 

In Ghana there is something known as "The Knocking" before a couple is legally married. This involves paying a bride price and having the families agree. The problem is this can take years if not ever to complete so many couples just live together until they can afford to get married. Because of this the church has made it so the couple just has to begin the knocking and paying the bride price before they can become baptized and finish before they can be married in the temple. One investigator Yaw Ketwa was going to be baptized on the 26th, but we found out this week he has not started the knocking... We will continue to work with him and see if we can get that going!

I've written down in a personal book I call a "Jour' nal" something the French use I think, how I want to have changed by the last day on my mission, how I want others to see me, the man I want to have become and so forth. You know I am seeing as we give our full purpose of heart, all our might and our mind to the Lord, something very special happens. We become something greater then anything we could do on our own, someone more like our Father in heaven. I encourage all of you to read ALMA 5 and evaluate where you stand with the Lord. Not in a way of destructive criticism, but in a motivating inspiring way. I promise you as you do this you will receive deep and sincere personal revelation regarding your own personal Salvation. I love you all. The mission is very hard, I make mistakes and goof up every single day, I feel like giving up at least once a week, but you know this is where I am supposed to be and I become more and more grateful to be here each day. All of your emails and support help me so much through this time and I really will do my best to email you all back. Thank you for being my friends and I thank the Lord for the family he gave me:)

Me and Elder Antwi

My huge breakfast...pancakes, all day, err day :)

This is where I had to use the bathroom out proselyting with "runny tummy" :)  *Excuse me while I go hug my toilet. -mom

Zone Activity

Sunburn from the zone activity...lol, got to be more careful!! *This hurts my momma heart.

Breakfast, Washing Clothes, Good Food, And Polishing Crocs

June 6, 2015

"Here is my breakfast. I eat like crazy. They say the biggest lie is you'll get skinny here. lol!"

Elder Wright is going to leave Gunnar his music and washing plunger when he goes home. Gunnar said he is so blessed to be with the people he is with.

A few Ghanaian delicacies? (Well, the coconut looks good :) They do not waste anything. Chicken bones are chewed on for the calcium and the fish in the stew is cleaned to the bone, eyes and all. Gunnar LOVES the food. He said the pineapple is amazing.

Elder Wright polishing his crocs. Who knew?!!!

Learning To Be Teachable AKA Humility

July 6, 2015

Ayikow! family and friends. How is everyone doing this fine Monday? To best explain how this week went and how I'm sure every week will go, I will quote Elder Wright, "The days pass like weeks and the weeks pass like days." This is the honest truth lol. During the week, it is hot, it rains, I come home exhausted, sometimes frustrated and feeling like how am I going to do this tomorrow? And then by some miracle the week is through, and I look back and think that wasn't so bad, in fact, I learned a lot!

 Now there is something you should know about Bramwells, we (think) we know everything! Not necessarily we have facts or knowledge about many subjects, but just when we attempt something new we assume our way is the best way and we can do it better then everyone else... that is how I was treating missionary work. Bad way to go. I came to the understanding this week my companion knows what he is doing, that he cares about me and he cares a lot about the work and wouldn't do something that would harm ourselves or the work. For example, it was just fast Sunday, after church we began visiting members and proselyting. During church I felt fine. It was an overcast day and I thought I could go without food or water for a full day. I had also just read in the missionary handbook you should proselyte as much as possible on Sundays. About 4hours later my companion says I think we should head back to the apartment, which is about a 45min trip. I said I think we should visit and teach more people, so like the good trainer he is, he said ok. He went and bought some water and a snack and finished his fast. I thought, wow, this guy is being lazy. About 10 min later we ran into a man who I later found out was drunk and had a very interesting lesson full of nonsense. During this lesson I became very dehydrated and was going to pass out. I told my companion, and instead of saying I told you so, we just went back. I have had many experiences like this. We need to humble ourselves, give ourselves time to learn something new. If we want to be masters at something, we need to put in the 10,000 hrs.

I am starting to grow a love for my investigators. On one experience I was able to help a recent convert, Sis. Annet. She is a teenage girl who stopped coming to church these past weeks because of something the bishop told her. I was able to share my own experiences and bear a strong testimony on forgiveness and the Atonement, how people are not perfect, and bore testimony of the reason we go to church which is not for the people. I was in tears by the end and I knew she could feel the spirit so strong. She said she would attend church.y:)

I relate this time of my mission to a boxing match. I am in round 1 just beginning the fight. I am learning my "enemy" testing the water. I am realizing that though the enemy is far different then what i expected and much stronger too, I AM WELL PREPARED. I say that in boldness because of the many lessons I learned throughout my life that are manifesting themselves in way I never thought possible. It is miracle how the Lord prepares us in life. This work is not easy but it is the most rewarding thing I have ever done. Until next week BYE BYE!

Oh and our fourth was so crazy!! So many fireworks you would not think, but they celebrate harder then we do!... just kidding bahaha. We were going to have a bonfire, but it rained. We did sing The Star Spangled Banner in the morning though:) I am so grateful for America holy cow I can't believe how blessed we are. Everyone would kill to be there for one second. One lady told me to marry her daughter so that she could come.. but she was being funny:) Still kinda sad though. I also realize The Restoration could not have taken place anywhere else or at any other time period. I am grateful for our founding fathers, for the reformers, and all who made USA the USA.

On The Subject Of Malaria (More June 29th Pics)

*I had asked Gunnar about malaria and if his companion used doTERRA's Terrashield. Malaria is a huge concern in Ghana. The elders take doxy pills which can be pretty harsh on the body. The following are two excerpts from emails from Gunnar.

"So the doxy pills that we take for malaria make you have the craziest most vivid dreams. In the MTC, all  of us Americans were freaked out lol. The scary dreams went away, but they are so so vivid. Mornings are the hardest for me because I always dream about the family. I woke up from a dream where I was with you and I thought I was home and was about to go to your room. It was so so hard to realize I was in Ghana... but then I keep moving and I become ok again."

(About Elder Wright)

"Yes, he does. His best friend here got malaria in the brain, most cases die. He held him in his arms and took him to the hospital while he was having a seizure. President told us the same story and said he had to call the parents and tell him their son will likely die. Elder Wright gave him a blessing and with medical help he survived and is still surviving. The reason it happened is the kid got malaria and didn't treat it, and it went to his brain. So Elder Wright is very serious about it... which is good."

Here is us testing Elder Wright for malraia...lol he doesn't have it. He had a fever though.

The elders sleep with mosquito netting. It is treated with a chemical that deters the little blood suckers! When the netting is new, the elders have to be careful because the chemical will cause a horrible burning reaction on the skin.

Just some pics for fun.

One thing he can't live without...feel the burn!

Gunnar said they told him it is a gold-mine to be blessed with a companion who speaks Twi and to learn as much Twi as he can from him because it will make his mission awesome.
Elder Antwi is a gift!!!!

Hmmm. Boys will be boys.

This is how I pictured Gunnar on his mission :)