This past weekend we held the Obuasi District Conference. We had a record turnout for the conference as 481 attended the general session on Sunday. We had 160 attend the adult session which we held on Sunday after the general session instead of Saturday. Because so many have to travel so far, we tried putting both meetings on the same day and it worked out great. We held the priesthood leadership meeting on Saturday morning, proceeded by a meeting together with the District Presidency and President Obeng (my first counselor) and me. The title of this blog post represents the recurring theme of the conference. It was not preplanned as the theme, but it clearly developed. I think when a people collectively show a genuine desire to be better, then the topic has special merit. President Nelson has encouraged us all to discover the joy of daily repentance. The readiness of the district to move forward in a more consecrated way led to multiple discussions on the topic.

Here are a few bullets and scriptures that were used in the various talks touching on the subject.

• Mark 2:5 contrasted with John 8:11. The man with palsy came to the Savior to be healed and he received forgiveness of sins as well. The woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus by her accusers. To her, the Savior said, “Go and sin no more”. The Savior can heal those who come unto Him and encourage those not yet prepared to be healed to begin the repentance process.
• Acts 28:27 – “For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” We can only be healed by the Savior if we have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts that understand. What are we searching for? The counsel from the Lord and His leaders that will ultimately help us to heal. This will lead to conversion and healing.
• “Hope and healing are not found in the dark abyss of secrecy but in the light and love of our Savior.” Carole M Stephens
• In order to desire to change, we must increase our faith as repentance is always the result of genuine faith in Jesus Christ. To grow our faith, we need powerful learning experiences from the scriptures. “The central purpose of all scripture is to fill our souls with faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ” Preach My Gospel, Second Edition p. 18 (Elder Christopherson)
• Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”
• Repentance is perhaps the greatest gift we have received from God. Not only does it enable us to become clean from our sins, but experiencing the touch of the Master in our lives enables us to become like Him. We have to experience His grace in our life if we are to become sanctified.
• Alma 13:20 “Now I need not rehearse the matter; what I have said may suffice. Behold, the scriptures are before you; if ye will wrest them it shall be to your own destruction.” We need to apply what we learn from the scriptures rather than use them to justify past behaviors.
• 2 Nephi 2:21 “And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men. For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their parents.” We are here on earth for one primary purpose: To prepare to meet God. Repentance is central to that purpose.
• Living inside the box (the boundaries created by our covenants and God’s commandments) requires that we repent “speedily” when we sin.
• There is a continuum between Justification and Sanctification. Where are we on that journey?

Here is an overall summary of the topics covered in the three sessions:

The Priesthood leadership session focused on 1) Love, Share, Invite; 2) Missionary Coordination Meetings (follow-up from the last conference); 3) Repentance as a great gift from God to us as His children.

On Sunday in the general session topics were: 1) Telling the truth (Primary child); 2) Modesty of dress (YW); 3) Preparing to serve a mission (YSA with a mission call); 4) Growing our Faith (YSA Sister).  5) Sister Kunz spoke about staying between the lines (no right way to do the wrong things); 6) President Tabi (district president) spoke on discovering the joy of daily repentance as a way to joy; 7) President Kunz spoke on the healing power of the Savior through repentance and growing our faith through scripture study to increase the desire to repent.   There were 7 brethren advanced to the Melchizedek Priesthood. A district choir sang as well as a choir from the Dunkwa area.

In the Sunday afternoon Adult session these topics were covered.  This was a first for the District and the attendance was about 3 times higher than usual.   Topics included: 1) Making and keeping covenants; 2) Studying the scriptures; 3) Home centered gospel learning; 4) Seeing what needs to be done to bless others without being asked (district president); 5) Straightway leaving our “nets” and following the Savior. (LaDawn) 6) Living inside the boundaries of our covenants and God’s commandments connected to Justification and Sanctification.

Overall, this was the best conference we have had in Obuasi since we have arrived. The District is growing (Dunkwa II Branch, Kwabenakwa Branch, Akrofuom Group, Ayanfuri Group) and now we need the members to grow spiritually to match the physical growth of the District. After the conference, Elder Loveland rounded up all the missionaries in the zone and snapped a picture. I jumped in right at the end and managed one picture with them.

Monday was a pretty busy day. I still had quite a few missionary letters from the prior week to finish reading and responding to. We also did some grocery shopping. I had a meeting at 4 pm with Aaron Allotey, our Southern FM Manager and at 8:30 pm we met with the Mission Leadership Council which we are now doing every Monday evening. Here is the agenda from that meeting. I love the unity and teamwork I see growing within the Council.

• MLC ZOOM MEETING
• Time: 8:30 pm, Monday.
• *Presiding: President Kunz
• *Conducting: Elder Clegg
• *Opening Prayer: Elder Kazadi
• Agenda
  • Insight from Scripture – Elder Jant
  • Baptismal Dates-What challenges are we facing in contacting those on date daily?
  • Best practices- What have you seen in your Zone/Sisters of missionaries baptizing those on date?(Look at the sheet before the meeting to know who is constantly baptizing those on date)
  • NEW PEOPLE- What are we doing to find referrals from those we are teaching?
• *Closing Prayer : Sister Kabama

Tuesday Morning we were at the Mission Office at 8:00 am to set apart Albert Nana Yeboah from the Krobo Branch in Techiman. He will serve in the Liberia Monrovia Mission. Elder Yeboah is a great young man with a pure desire to serve as a missionary. I love sending a young man like this to a mission president.

After the setting apart, we drove to the Asouyeboa building and attended the Abuakwa District Council where Elder Ramiadamanana is the District Leader. Somehow we managed to NOT take a picture. A bit of a rarity for us. We did interviews before and after the council for Elder Ramiadamanana, Elder Tshimanga, Elder Clariz, Elder Palelei, Sister Kekula, and Sister Muwenge.

On Wednesday, we made the trip to the Konongo zone. FIrst to Nkawkaw, then to Juaso, and then to Konongo. We interviewed 16 missionaries, and of these, we managed to take pictures.

On our way home we stopped at Starbites and had a nice meal. Our oven had finally been taken to the shop the night before to be reparied and had not yet returned, so we really didn’t have a way to cook dinner. The hinges on the door no longer kept it closed while baking, so LaDawn has been using bungie cords for the last 6 months – which has been a real pain. In any case, It was a nice excuse to stop and eat (something we do each transfer when not involved in an accident). Later that evening I held my mission presidency meeting.

On Thursday, we continued with interviews, this time at the Dichemso Stake Center, interviewing 10.

On Friday morning, we drove over to the Agric building and interviewed the 8 missionaries in the southern part of the Bantama zone.

The only other item of interest I will mention this week is our ongoing water struggles. A man from the water company came on Monday and had some sort of underground water leak detector. I tried to take a picture, but the man escaped with his “machine” before I got around to it. It looked somewhat like the picture here, but his headphones were wired. He could determine where the pipe was run and then determine the location of the leak was by listening to the change in the frequency of the pitch (I think). In any case, he was here for about 30 minutes on Monday late afternoon, and promised to return on Tuesday. It turned out to be Friday before he came back (which he did while we were doing interviews). The plumber was here with him and the man found the leak and the plumber repaired it. So now the system is working, but not in the same way as before. The pump by the big tank fills the two smaller tanks directly behind the house. But it used to be that when that pump went on, we would have pressure in the house. Now the second pump connected to the two tanks has to go on to push pressure into the house. These means we are using twice as much electricity to do what we used to do with one pump. No one (including me) can figure out why this has changed and how to fix it.

I think the biggest problem is that all the pipes are under 4 inches of concrete, so when they added the bigger tank and the pump, they tied into the existing system, which was primarily driven by gravity. The above picture with the red circles shows the big tank and pump on the left, the two smaller tanks which receive water from the big tank, and while the pump that pressurizes the house cannot be seen, it is to the right of the tanks on the ground where the red square is. That is where the above picture showing the exposed pipe was taken. I know, I know, too much information. For the sake of posterity I have added this small tidbit of life in Ghana.

Overall the week was good, ending with the wonderful district conference in Obuasi. The joy that we receive in this life comes to us as we change to become better people and more importantly, better disciples of Jesus Christ. Repentance is therefore, a principle of happiness. It underpins everything we do and allows us to find joy in this life. Lasting change is not about changing behaviors, it is about changing our nature. That is the work we are doing for ourselves, the missionaries, and those we gather into the House of Israel, one last time, Together in Ghana.