This week we drove to the North for the Zone Conferences in Sunyani and Tamale and for interviews in Sunyani, Techiman, and Tamale. The format was the same as last week (you can see the format and the lessons taught by going to last week’s post titled “Ayanfuri“. The title of the blog post this week is based on the instruction I provided at the end of the conference on the love that God has for us. The conditional nature of that love was first articulated by then Elder Russell M Nelson in a February 2003 Ensign article titled “Divine Love“. As I mentioned last week, I used a slide show and the music from Rob Gardner titled “My Kindness Shall not Depart from Thee” that I found on YouTube. The last picture in that slide show is the one below. I think it embodies perfectly this concept of “experiencing God’s love”.

We left for Sunyani at 12:30 pm on Monday and arrived at 2:50 pm, just in time for interviews to start at 3:00 pm. We did 12 interviews and finished about 6:30 pm. We interviewed the following missionaries: Elder Flomo and Elder Sorvari; Elder Price and Elder Moeakiola; Elder Uzoigwe and Elder Baldwin; Sister Dos Reis Sanches and Sister Zimunhu; Sister Enokela and Sister Nkashama; Elder Skyles and Elder Courissaka. We then drove over to the Goodrich’s apartment where they had dinner prepared for the Loveland’s and us. We arrived at 7 pm and the Loveland’s were already there. It was LaDawn’s birthday and it was so kind of them to offer a meal and some brownies (in lieu of a birthday cake). An upside down plastic spoon represented the lone candle. Good food and good company. It can’t get much better when you are serving in Ghana.

On Tuesday, we held the Sunyani and Techiman combined zone conference. Here are some pictures from the conference.

After zone conference, we did 8 more interviews and then drove back to the Eusbett Hotel where we stayed and had dinner with the Loveland’s in the restaurant. We generally stay at the Tyco Hotel, but they were completely booked. The Eusbett was more than twice as expensive and while the food was excellent, the cost was way out of line – and we told them this when we checked out. The cost was 1440 GHC. We pay 660 GHC at Tyco. Not a good value for money.

We awoke early on Wednesday morning, leaving Sunyani just after 6 am and arriving in Techiman at the Couple’s Apartment at 7:40 am. Just enough time for a bowl of cereal (which we brought with us). Interviews were to start at 8:00 am, but the missionaries were late. That meant the senior companion in that companionship waited until the end for his interview. We continue to teach missionaries the importance of being where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there. That morning we interviewed Elder Salire and Elder James; Elder Jant and Elder Beck; Sister Kabama and Sister Johnson; Sister Nelson and Sister Friday; and Sister Nkosi and Sister Mwikali. We finished before noon, grabbed a quick lunch (leftovers from our dinner the prior evening) and got in the car and drove to Tamale. We arrived there at 4:05 pm. We were 5 minutes late, but managed to make up the time in interviews and finished with 8 interviews by 6:00 pm. That evening we interviewed Elder Tuhod, Elder Bloomfield; Elder Buchanan, Elder Lenge; Elder Palmer, Elder Lucero; Elder Braithwaite, Elder Kennedy (they are part of the Techiman Zone serving in Wa, but we opted to bring them to Tamale given the shorter distance. For dinner, the Loveland’s went with us to Oasis Restaurant where everyone had fish and mashed potatoes except for me. I chose their delicious chicken stroganoff and white rice.

On Thursday, we held the Tamale Zone Conference. Last time they were first and this time they were last. We tend to believe that the last zone conference is always the best as we have learned from all of the previous ones. I think this fit that pattern. All of the conferences were good, but there is something about the intimacy of setting (it is small) and the smaller number of missionaries, that gives everyone plenty of opportunities to contribute. Here are some pictures.

After the conference, we conducted 8 more interviews (Sister Wamalwa & Sister Dickson; Elder Christensen and Elder Wakaya; Elder Sehi and Elder Shafer; Elder Kabeya and Elder Riggs) and then did an interview with Mary Malik (Education Ridge Branch) for her mission. What an amazing missionary she will be!

After finishing the interview, we had pizza from Luxury Restaurant right behind the couples apartment. It took forever to get it, but it was great! The next morning, we finished up the last four interviews (Sister Toe and Sister Mwedzi; Elder Call and Elder Dube) and then headed to Techiman where we stopped for a short break, catching up with the Loveland’s who were already there, before driving the rest of the way to Kumasi. We stopped and refueled at the Shell Station at the Bekwai roundabout and then decided to get some KFC Chicken strips for dinner. We arrived home around 3:30 pm and spent the rest of the day catching up on emails, missionary letters, and some phone calls. We went to bed early (10 pm) after a very long day – and a very short week.

Saturday morning I drove over to the University Stake Center and attended the quarterly Coordinating Council Meeting. This was the first meeting with Elder Kofi Sosu as the Chairman of the Council.

During the meeting we talked about the following:

• Types of interviews and their importance in the work of salvation
• Church Communications: Getting more non-members and community leaders involved in the Africa West Day of Service
• The State of the Ghana Kumasi Mission
• Caring for the Poor and the Needy
• Helping young men and young women who desire to serve missions fund their passports and medicals
• Focus of the Kumasi Coordinating Council: Missionary Work, Sacrament Meetings, Temple

We finished around 3 pm and I drove over to Starbites where the Samuelson’s, Loveland’s, Pack’s, and LaDawn were eating lunch. My food had been delivered and was waiting for me. It was nice to sit down and eat without waiting. We returned home around 4 pm and I spent the next couple of hours preparing my weekly letter to the missionaries. This week the title was “Renewed in Knowledge“. After finishing the letter, we sat down at 7 pm and enjoyed watching the BYU – Southern Utah football game. A rare treat indeed.

On Sunday, we decided to attend Church in Kokoben. We have only been there one other time and we felt it was time to visit the ward again. Elder Rawson and Elder Kauvaka serve there. The meeting had one speaker and then the bishop invited me to say a few words. I spoke on repentance and the great gift that it is for us and the importance of filling our lives with light through the studying of the word of God.

Experiencing God’s love has been on my mind a lot this week, even as we completed our zone conferences. The significance of that love being manifested through the great gift of repentance has been especially relevant. When one works with 172 young single adults – or any group for that matter, repentance becomes an incredibly important part of the work. We cannot teach it if we do not live it ourselves. We are grateful for these missionaries who want to be better every single day. We have loved watching the miraculous change that each young missionaries goes through as they work to become disciples of Jesus Christ. When a person experiences the Master’s Touch, everything changes in their life. Having a front row seat to the ongoing metamorphosis of so many is quite an amazing blessing for us, as we gather Israel one last time, Together in Ghana.