Last week, I mentioned that we had 200 black and white copies (with a color cover) printed of the Preach My Gospel manual, second edition. I affectionately refer to it as PMG II. This last week we received an email asking for the number, sizes and languages of the printed version that we will need. In order to estimate the preferences, I used LaDawn’s small copy, my large copy, and then I mocked up a new 6×9 inch version, placed them next to each other and took a snap. I then sent the picture to the Mission Leadership Council to get their input. It was about 65% medium (the new 6×9), and 35% small. Those who prefer the large ones are few.

This was also our first week to study the new manual as a mission. We have established a schedule over 13 weeks to study this and then discuss each chapter in District Council and in Zone Conferences. Here is a copy of the instructions we sent to the District Leaders. In addition, the Assistants pulled together a schedule of doing 1 Minutes drills in companionship study during this time and highlighted in green the weeks with zone conferences where we will continue to practice them using the new bullet points of the lessons in PMG II.

Monday morning we played basketball and Monday night we held the weekly MLC virtual meeting. It is so great being with these amazing leaders each Monday evening. If nothing else, I am certainly edified by being with them. We are continuing to learn about how to make this meeting better and better so that we can learn and help move the mission to greater heights. As you can see from the agenda which Elder Clegg and Elder Amoah sent out, we are really focused on how we can use the numbers we are collecting to help our missionaries in areas where they are struggling. The biggest seems to be in finding serious people. One of the things we are asking the MLC to pilot is on setting a goal each day to find at least one serious person they can teach either that day or in the near future. I am grateful for the focus this concept brings to a companionship. We have also asked the Zone Leaders to meet with their district leaders each week in a similar setting where they can get the District Leaders more involved in both understanding the numbers and helping members of their district understand how to improve. We want every missionary in the mission to be filled with the joy that comes when we help a son or daughter of God make a covenant of baptism followed by the ordinance of confirmation. Lastly, we have been working with the missionaries to meet with their bishops and branch presidents to help make sure all of our new converts that are able, receive and begin to serve in a calling.

On Tuesday, the missionaries returning home came into the Mission Office where the Loveland’s reviewed a presentation on self-reliance with them, followed by a wonderful meal and then a game of Preach My Gospel Jeopardy followed by the awarding of scarfs and pins. This is always a bittersweet day for us as we see these missionaries who have served so valiantly turn the page to the next chapter of their lives. It becomes their own “Preach My Gospel, Second Edition”.

After sending the missionaries off to the airport early Wednesday morning, I spent most of the day preparing for MLC on Friday afternoon. We knew with new missionaries coming in early the next morning that we would have very little time to prepare the next day.

On Thursday morning at 7:00 am we were at the airport picking up 7 sisters and 2 elders fresh from the MTC. These are some wonderful missionaries who bring energy, desire, and testimony to the Ghana Kumasi Mission. We received our first Sister from Madagascar (we have two Elders) and our first American Elder (Elder Christensen) since September of last year. This is an especially strong group of Sisters and we are grateful for them.

Since they came in so early, we were able to get through the orientation before lunch. We had some pizza from Piri Piri brought in and then we gave them all 2 hours to rest. Most had been up since 2 am and were completely spent. At 2 pm I began interviews and I finished at 4 pm. At 4:15, we started with our devotional titled “The Art of Thinking Clearly”, which focuses on obedience and integrity. We finished by 5:30 pm and then had a nice dinner that our mission cook Hannah prepared. We were back to the Mission Home around 7:00 pm with the seven new Sisters who stayed in our bunkhouse.

On Friday, we were back to the Mission Office by 7:15 am with the Sisters. I had forgotten my H1n Zoom microphone for our train the trainer meeting that started at 8:30 am, so I went back home and retrieved it. We have three missionaries in Tamale who are training, but we didn’t want them to come all the way to Kumasi for 90 minutes of instruction. We simply set up a zoom call and they participated from the District President’s office in Tamale thanks to Elder Steinmetz.

Shortly after 10:00 am we completed the training and traveled over to the Bantama Stake Center which is our gathering place for transfers. The Loveland’s had gone over at 9 am and by the time we arrived at 10:30, most of the missionaries were on their way to their areas. By 11:30 am, everyone was gone and we came back home for a quick lunch before heading back over to the Mission Office for MLC.

Our MLC started at 1 pm and we finished at 7 pm. We had dinner at 5:30, ate for 45 minutes and then finished the last part of the meeting from 6:15 -7:00 pm. There were three highlights of the meeting I will mention. The first was our vision refresh. We spent two hours talking about Faith in Jesus Christ using the scriptures in the picture below. At the end it came down to two questions: 1) What will I do to grow my faith in Jesus Christ? 2) What will I do to exercise my growing faith in Jesus Christ? Questions we all need to ask ourselves.

The second highlight was instruction by the Assistants titled, Call for Courage. It was excellent. The centerpiece of that instruction was a video from the Church website on a man deciding to run a 100 mile race. You can find it here:

We talked about how best to roll out the new Preach My Gospel in our District Councils. We also talked about our own insights regarding the Introduction. After our discussion of PMG II, I awoke the next morning and spent more time than I had crafting the instructions to the District Leaders which are included above. I cannot tell you how helpful the MLC was in figuring out how to discuss each chapter with the missionaries in District Council each week.

I spent most of Saturday responding missionary letters (which I finished on Sunday) and then preparing the weekly letter to the missionaries. This one was taken from the ideas in Chapter 1 about Spiritual Power. I am never clear what it is I will write until I pick a topic, pray, and start writing. I was really happy with the result and clearly felt the influence of the Spirit as I wrote it. I recognize His hand in ALL things and stand in awe of the strength and support I feel in this calling.

On Sunday, we attended Church in Atwima Korforidua Branch which is part of the Bantama Stake where Elder Harnois and Elder N’guessan have been serving. Elder Harnois is currently training Elder N’guessan and we wanted to make a visit to their branch and talk to them for a few minutes about how things are going. How fortunate Elder N’guessan is to have a trainer like Elder Harnois!

Sunday evening, I met with the Assistants and we discussed our upcoming zone conferences, debriefed the MLC, and talked about the agenda for the Monday night Virtual MLC meeting. I feel so fortunate to be able to work with such amazing young men as our Assistants. This transfer we released Elder Amoah and called Elder Mba to replace him. Elder Amoah has been amazing as an Assistant. He and Elder Harnois worked together for more than 5 months. Then Elder Clegg replaced Elder Harnois and now Elder Mba replaces Elder Amoah. We are so grateful to be sent such dedicated and devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. One interesting tidbit: Elder Clegg actually trained Elder Mba. Something that probably doesn’t happen often in the Church where one assistant trained the other as a new missionary and now serve together as Assistants to the President.

Seeing missionaries leave after 18 months / 2 years, having watched them grow spiritually, now more prepared than ever to enjoy a life filled with blessings is gratifying. Watching missionaries come, filled with anticipation, anxiousness, and desire is exciting for us. We see the impact that the hand of the Lord is having on these chosen sons and daughters. We are grateful to be a small part of this work, Together in Ghana.