Ma JDoooooooooooo! (good evening, my time)

October 19, 2015

Family, Friends, How far? Something you'll hear people ask, meaning how are you doing? President Stevenson said the only prank you can pull on your new missionary is if you see a plane fly overhead (which I haven't seen yet). You can ask, "Elder so and so, how far away is that plane from you?" "Ummm 30,000 feet?" And your response, "Two years Elder, that plane is two years away from you," :) Man, I thought that was so funny. Some elders did it to President when he first came to be a mission President. "For you? It's about 3 years away." lol

Anyway I had a really wonderful week. I can see how all the experience I am gaining on mission is beginning to manifest itself in the work. I'm beginning to think like a missionary. What I mean by that is in our planning in who we focus on, what we teach, I really feel like I understand what I am doing and what might help the work. It's really cool. It's like doing algebra for the first time and then looking back at the work you have done and at the work ahead and seeing how you look at the new problems differently:)

I really love being a missionary. I love learning about other missionaries, myself, the Ghanaian people and how to be a servant of the Lord. Contrary to what I thought, the longer I am here the more I rely upon the Lord for everything I do. He really does answer my prayers. It can be surprising sometimes like holy cow prayer works. Thank you! I love seeing the faith of Elder Griffin, my companion, as well. He always said from the time he came, "The Lord will provide." I like it:)

Our investigators are doing really well. We have being getting double the new investigators then in the past lately. All really promising so we have plenty of work to do and people to teach. Sis Mary was confirmed this week, that was wonderful:) A few people whom we haven't even taught yet have been coming to church. Working in branches is not easy, but really cool because in my experience there are a lot of people interested in this new Mormon church! The difficulty we have been facing now is finding out who is serious and who just wants to talk to two Obruni's, haha. We have begun teaching Bro. Seth our recent convert's son, Benard, age 10. Really great kid. The mother is a die hard Methodist, but I have faith she will eventually see the blessings of the Gospel and join the church:)

I know the Chruch is true and at some point in our lives we all have to ask God for ourselves if it is true. I know and testify as we do this God will answer our prayers through the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost we can know all things:) I love you guys. Please stay strong, keep fighting, keep sharing what you learn with friends and family. One Golden piece of advice my trainer, Elder Antwi, gave me is even when you know, pretend like you don't know and you will be able to gain knowledge from everyone you meet. That is the secret to knowledge and wisdom. Being willing to share and humble enough to let someone share with you. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen:)

Sincerely, Elder Bramwell 

Ghana Cape Coast Mission

*Elder Bramwell, your hair is so blonde! Must be all the sunshine.

What I imagine an apocalyptic world looks like.

He was very proud of the squirrel he caught:)

Yummy food from our zone activity. Theme...make food from your country and bring it. Nigerians by far won this. Their food soooooo good.

We made chicken alfredo;) Totally American food!

Take Time To Realize

October 12, 2015

Sister Mary got baptized this week! 

That quote has nothing to do with this email, maybe it will, I'm not sure. The song just popped into my head.

It's true though, we need to take time to realize how great life is! I was just telling my dad how great mission is because I don't have any worldly distractions to keep me from seeing the truth of the moment. Now there are stressful things on mission that do, but for the most part there is a lot of time to realize how beautiful life really is:) I think that's just a little piece of my heart to you this week is that Heavenly Father has created us, given us families, and a world full of opportunity and adventure. Take heart in the small things. For who is really to say what is small and what is big. For me I would rather stop and spend a short moment with my family then worry about something that may seem 'big' at the time. I don't know:) Just some of my thoughts!

We have met some really great new investigators this week! This one man, Simon (who we are going to teach today), just spoke with us for about an hour straight. Throughout the conversation I could see where the Gospel would fill in some of his doubts or confusion. It was wonderful:) He was talking about how he feels like there is another book of scripture out there besides the Bible, but he doesn't know what it is... Just things like that let us know God has prepared this man to hear our message:)

Sis Mary got baptized this week! WHoo whoooo! I love her so much! Holy cow! haha She's very, very shy and we had the hardest time getting her to pray with us at first. She was a Muslim as a small girl and was never taught really how to pray. Throughout the months that we have taught her though I have seen her countenance change. A literal light has begun to shine forth through her smile and her life. I'm just really grateful she has been able to make that first covenant with her Heavenly Father.

Elder Griffin and I went to farm coco with our 2nd counselor Bro Kraunkye (ky is pronounced ch) and before we went in the morning he fed us milo (chocolate milk mix) and bread and put on what sounded like Johnny Cash... It was the strangest feeling haha. We thought we had time traveled back to the 50's:) It was great:)

Family and Friends, I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. This life is not easy, but I can't imagine a life without it. Let us all rejoice in the Gospel. That is something the Ghanaian people have mastered. They have a very real love and respect for one another because they realize they can't get by without one another! And because of that they create deep long lasting relationships. I love you all. I bear my solemn testimony that the answer your looking for, that the little piece of happiness you feel you might lack, can be found through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Eternal and Endless love for us. and I say that in the name of Jesus Christ Amen:)

*Stop! Gunnar, WHY are you holding it?! You are to come home right now! I literally want to throw up every time I see this.
I hate it! I hate it! I die.  -love momma

Yes, that is a dove in a frying pan... literally flew in our apartment, let us pick it up, put it in a frying pan, and cook it. haha! JUST KIDDING, but it did let us take some funny pictures. I think it's still sitting outside our apartment. Ghanaian doves, who knows!

There Is Nothing More True

 October 5, 2015

Hello family and friends:) A lot has happened this week! And to start off, no I didn't get to watch General Conference:( In about December or January they will show a session in twi at church, lol. But the good news of it all is we will get the Liahona with all of the conference talks around the same time. 

I was really pondering that this week. I was sad because there is just no way for us to watch it and then I had a cool thought. As missionaries we are all set apart from the world mentally and spiritually. Being here in Ghana it feels I have quite literally been set apart from the world. At least the world I have grown so used to. Here in Ghana there are not a lot of distractions or things to do that would take my mind off the work. Sometimes I wish I could go get a burger on a Monday;) But I am so grateful for the opportunity to spread the gospel in Africa.

I just read an article from Neil L. Anderson that my mom sent me concerning one of my dear friends who lost his parents in a plane crash. My heart and my testimony are overwhelmed from his dedication to continue to serve and put his trust in the Lord.

Something cool is Elder Griffin and I were doing some family history training at the cafe this week (which of course didn't work because were in GHANA lol) but after some good time loading we brought up my family tree and guess what?! Elder Griffin and I are related! He has his family history printed off so he recognized a name on mine. But in the 1300s we both come from Sir Henry Griffin or something I forgot. We may be closer related, but we didn't get to check. No wonder we're best buds!

Our District leader Elder Nielsen has a ring that says 730 on the outside then "730 days to serve. An eternity to remember" on the inside. I thought that was the coolest thing because time is passing so fast for me out here I really have to be careful to make the most out of each day! If I don't I could have the "what if" thoughts chasing me throughout my life. No, but I really just appreciate the time that we have been given and I am beginning to realize how precious it really is.

My testimony has just grown so much this week.

It's hard here. I'm not going to lie. Having no water for 2 weeks, a lot of times no light either. It's not easy. This list could go on for all the craziness that I could share, but at this very moment my heart is constrained to share my testimony with you.

I know why I am here. I know that God loves me. That his Son, Jesus Christ, bled and died for me and that this is the most important thing I could be doing in my life right now. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has changed my life. I can see it working in the lives of our investigators and with every trial I face, my testimony of my Lord and Savior only deepens, only strengthens. My brothers and sisters I can imagine you are all very spiritually uplifted from conference this weekend. Please don't let that desire to serve, to share, and to grow take the back seat to all the many vices of the world. This is His work and His Glory and I am eternally grateful to be here in Ghana doing my best to help move that work along. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

We got to go to the beach before a trainers meeting in Cape Coast. The Ghanaians just hangout and watch the water. 

It is so cool:)

            Helping bring y'all in the USA your coco! lol

I Work Out

September 28, 2015

Yes! We found a bench press to use today that was the greatest thing ever:)

You can get a membership here for way cheap and they open super early as well. I'll talk to my companion and see if he would be interested in it:) It's just a random gym in a shed type deal that some guy started. The only good thing really is the bench press and the pull up bar, but hey it was sweet:)

LIVING LOVING AND ALL OF THE ABOV'ING

September 28, 2015

Good afternoon! Family and Friends eh te sien?( How are you?) obusea mo hoi ti sien?( family how are you?) 

This week flew by... too fast, too fast. It was really sweet though:) Went on exchanges with Elder Nielsen our District Leader. He is a really powerful guy. Every transfer I've been here I've had a new district leader which has been cool because they all have been so different and powerful. He gave instruction on fear and it was really eye opening and inspiring:) Talking about the 10 things people fear the most in the world being... responsibility, unknown, death and so on. I don't have my notes here with me but then he showed how if we fear God, all of those other fears go away:) It was crazy cool:)

Mission is long-o! haha It's not easy. I ask my self some days, "Wow, can I really do this for the time I have left?" The answer is YES!:) In those times of doubt I just turn to my Heavenly Father, my Savior, Jesus Christ, and my why for coming on mission. Everything else melts away and I feel a deep profound love for me and a deeper understanding of things that are temporal like mosquito bites, runny tummy, home sickness, heat...all of those things and gain a deeper understanding of things that are Eternal like my love for the people, my love for my Savior, my understanding of the Atonement, and the joy that comes from doing the will of the Father.

BEEP BEEP BEEP "INCOMING TRANSMISSION" 

 Just received... a baptism has taken place in the Ghana Cape Coast Mission, Candidate: NANA SETH NYARKO of the Akrofuom Branch, ASSIN FOSU Stake. John the Baptist: Elder GRIFFIN of the GHANA CAPE COAST MISSION 

It's true, it's true Bro Seth has been baptized:) It was so powerful. Nana Seth is one of those golden investigators. He started coming to church on his own. He's given us friends to teach as well. He cleans the chapel in the morning with the members and he even gave me a list of the information he thought I would need for his baptismal record... unheard of. I really think this guy has received some serious personal revelation that the church is true because he is willing to give up to keep the commandments and follow Jesus Christ for the rest of his life. It was a happy day:)

We have some other progressing investigators. Samuel Amankwa ( AKA KING KONG) Sis Mary, Mark, his brothers Renard and Richard. We are really excited to continue helping these people develop their faith in Christ, repent, be baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Endure to the end:)

I love you all. I know the Church is true and that as we turn our hearts and our minds towards the Savior we will be enabled to align our will with God's and become more fully the sons and daughters he intends us to be:) In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Ya beshea why(we will meet ok)

Sincerely, 

Elder Bramwell

Nana Seth Nyarko's baptism day!!!

And, yes, Elder Griffin and I ate those grubs:) multiple. They taste like chicken! And come from my favorite trees palm nut trees:) aka zelda trees

Hello Hello Hello!

September 21, 2015

Precious Bundle

Dear Family and Friends:) 

Yet another wonderful week has passed by in the GCCM (Ghana Cape Coast Mission!) The most amazing thing I notice about mission is the growth I experience each week. Each week has a number of challenges and blessings. This week one of the blessings is I received my baby boy, Elder Griffin. haha Man I love the guy. He's so great. He is from Spanish Fork, Utah so that's something interesting. He likes Fall Out Boy, Owl City, he was on the swim team, and comes from a family of 7! He's also 6'3"! His favorite movie is Scott Pilgram Verses the World. haha So you can imagine he's a funny guy. Oh and did I mention his favorite video game is Skyrim! haha Man, me and him are going to have some good times. I'm learning a lot from him too. Even though I'm still a fairly new missionary myself new missionaries come with a great sense of faith and spirit to do this work. It's sweet to work with him. My favorite thing about him is he is willing to try. What a powerful attribute to have. Courage is what I would call it. The Lord never expects us to be perfect. Even in the talk a "Consecrated Missionary" it says we must be WILLING to give everything to the Lord. Not that we have to be perfect, but just willing:) I love that.

I'm not going to lie being a senior companion in an area were neither you or your companion speak much Twi and about 2% of people know any English is VERY DIFFICULT! haha Luckily, we have our ward mission leader, Kobby, and girl Sis Haggar who have really been helping us. We have 4 people prepared to be baptized Bro Seth, Richard, Sis Mary, and Mark. If elder Antwi was here, we would baptize them all this week, but meeting with investigators and getting their information for baptism just became a whole lot more difficult so the pace will be slowed. This next week though we have a main focus of baptising Bro Seth. It will be wonderful:)

Well that's a bummer the computer shut off and I lost about half my email... No problem I will just give a brief overview of what was lost!~

We gave a priesthood blessing to a man who had been cursed:)

I really helped Elder Griffin by sharing D&C 30... and myself:)

I stepped on a scale that said I weighed 150 lbs. lol I think it was broken, but hey who knows!

I have a testimony that our fathers and mothers are on earth to lead and guide us and that we should always follow their counsel. I know my Savior, Jesus Christ will help us with all and any of life problems. I testify that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God and that as we study it's contents we become knowledgeable in the mysteries of God:) I love you all and I say these things in the Name of Jesus Christ amen:)

Sincerely, Elder Bramwell

Ghana Cape Coast Mission is the Best!

Me and Elder Azuma

My cutlasses...one for you dad!

Elder Griffin eating fufu. 

My sweet new peacock blanket.

Even the grasshoppers here dress in cool colors:)

Completed My Training!... sort of ;)

September 14, 2015 

The bowl that I was drinking/ eating from is an Asankah (What I'm named after because I love all the food:)
Yaw Asankah

Hey family! Hey friends! So first I want to give a shout out to my beautiful mother, Abena Asankah (her twi name) because today is her birthday! She is no ordinary woman, in fact quite extraordinary! I love my mother with all my heart. Her testimony of the Gospel has been something that has pushed me to serve a mission. She has always been their for me, no matter what trouble I'm in lol. She is there to comfort and lift me:) My mother taught me through example of how to work hard! I have vivid memories of my mom working out in the yard all day in blazing sun and I would always think,"how in the world?" haha. But now I can work almost as hard and I attribute that to her example. Mom I love you:) Happy Birthday:)

So I completed my training this week! WHOOOOO! 3 months! I can remember it was a milestone of mine while in the MTC and now it's here! Crazy:) Mission goes by so fast and slow all at the same time:) I can still remember the first day I got of the tro in our compound and thinking what in the world I have just started:) Now I know for a surety I have started the most amazing journey of my life:)

Even though I have completed my training I haven't quite completed training;) I'VE BEEN CALLED TO TRAIN! haha So this Wed. I will be receiving a new missionary and companion to train. In fact 7 of the people I was with in the MTC are training a new missionary! Double in fact, 50% of the Ghana Cape Coast mission will be under training as of this wed. I'm very excited though because I learned a lot of things I like that my "father" (trainer) taught me and things I did not like that I will use in my training with my "son":) If an obruni (white man) comes though, it will be very difficult to teach in Akrofuom because no one speaks English. Elder Antwi has been the speaker and translator for everything so it should be interesting:) I honestly am very excited to train though I have a feeling me and my son our going to have some wonderful times together:)

So Friday we went to a trainers meeting which was very sweet. There were about 27 of us present, biggest group the mission has ever seen I believe. The first thing President Stevenson says to me when he sees me is, "High and tight. I like it. You look like a Marine." I thought that was pretty funny, but also pretty cool:)

So much stuff happened this week I'm going to be very brief about each experience, but I wish you could come and see everything yourself! "Sorry ok." (Something all the missionaries say when something happens to you.)

We also had our Stake Conference which was wonderful. It was on D&C 4 ver 5-6... faith, hope, humility, qualify us for the work. I really liked when they spoke on hope. It was inspiring:) I sang in the choir which was cool because I'm actually learning to sing in parts for the first time in forever!

Also Elder Stulce is exactly like my cousins the Boshards. The way he looks, laughs, and acts. It's pretty great. haha

So Elder Illumalo, one of my TC's, is from Samoa and his companion, our District leader, is going home so we bought a pig to roast in celebration! More in celebration for my mom though of course;) It was quite the experience. We had to keep her in our shed for a few days too, her name was Wilbur and she was delicious that's about all you need to know:) We ate her today for our zone activity. It was pretty scary and cool watching a big Samoan throw a stone and stun the pig then tackle it and smash it's head with a rock... It was intense! haha I'm just glad I'm not a pig in Samoa:) Pigs here are not easy to kill either, it took some time... But it was the best activity ever as well! haha and yes I have the videos:)

This week I learned a lot about the importance of family history as well and how Nephi was sent with his brothers just for genealogy. In chapters 3-6 of 1 Nephi, we learn of all the trials they had to overcome to get the plates and then the joy and blessings showed unto them after doing such work. I'm really interested in doing some when I go home:) Stories about ancestors are the coolest things ever! Also Matthew 7:7-8... Ask and ye shall receive. I bear a solemn testimony that this is true. I have had about 5 experiences now that I have asked and the Lord has given me knowledge or shown me the way. This week I was looking for something I really needed and I prayed for about two days and meditated on where it could be. Then As I knelt in prayer at my bed one morning in my mind I saw exactly where it was and surely it was their:) There is a God. He is your Heavenly Father and He will answer your prayers:) I love you family. I love you friends. I pray you have a wonderful week:)

Elder Azuma and Elder Stulce got soaked.

Also Elder Azuma is leaving. Man that guy was so impactful on me! He taught me: Disney movies are the best. "You can go first," and there is amazing doctrine and knowledge of the restored gospel to learn:) I will miss that guy. When he comes to America, the first place we are going is Disneyland! lol

*WARNING. The following pictures are a little graphic. If you didn't grow up on a farm, then you might want to skip the following. This was part of my birthday celebration! Thanks, son? :)

Wilbur