Like last week, the title of this week’s post is the same as the letter written to the missionaries for the week. The centerpiece of the letter is a statement that Sister Patricia Holland repeated often when speaking with missionaries: “Faith isn’t really faith if you have anything else to hold onto”. In other words, when there is no other option but to place our trust in Jesus Christ, because there is nothing more we can do ourselves, that is the moment that our faith is really tested. That is the moment that we decide whether or not we have faith in Jesus Christ. Just ask Moses and the Children of Israel with the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptian Army bearing down on them. The whole concept of “The Next Hard Thing” comes from a conversation with Thomas Tabi, then serving as my first counselor in the mission presidency. We were talking about how to grow the faith of the missionaries, and he said, “Every missionary has the next hard thing that they need to do to grow their faith in Jesus Christ.” And from that, the letter was born. More than two years ago, I sent a version of this letter to the missionaries who were then serving in the Ghana Kumasi Mission. This week, the letter was more mature, conceived out of greater understanding and experience. If you are interested, you will find it here.

On Monday morning, we played some basketball at the Mission Office. I am in this routine of playing basketball one week with Elder Loveland, Tom Rogers, and the office missionaries and the next week playing golf with Elder Pack. These are two games I really love and they do wonders for my mind, body, and spirit.

On Monday afternoon, we interviewed the six missionaries in the Abuakwa District that is part of the Bantama Zone. We drove over to the Asouyeboa building and spent just under 2 hours there.

On Tuesday, we drove to Dunkwa and attended their district council and interviewed the four elders serving in that district. We then made our way back up to the district center in Obuasi and interviewed the 6 missionaries who serve in that area. Our last stop was in Asonkore where we interviewed the remaining four missionaries. We had already interviewed the missionaries in Adansi Asokwa, so this completed the interviews for the zone. I missed taking photos of Elder Mba and Elder DeGuzman in Asonkore as well as Elder Melessa and Elder Niangue who labor in Obuasi 1. I also missed snapping a picture of Elder Weaver and Elder Joshua at the District Center who serve in Obuasi 4 and Akrofuom.

As we began our journey back through Obuasi, the traffic was at a dead stop. After sitting for a few minutes with no relief in sight, we turned around and drove back through Adansi Asokwa and Bekwai. Historically that road has been a nightmare to traverse, but we were so happy to see that the road was freshly paved all the way to the junction at Anwiankwanta. Definitely a good decision on our part to make that u-turn!

On Wednesday, we left very early and made our way to Techiman to the Couple’s apartment. We interviewed the 8 missionaries who work inside Techiman. The two in Nkoransa we will interview after the Sunyani Zone conference on the 12th. While we should have finished by 11:45, it was after 1 pm before I concluded the last interview. Sometimes ministering to a missionary takes more than the 15 minutes scheduled.

We left Techiman about 1:20 pm and arrived in Tamale around 5:15 pm. Elder and Sister Ray recently moved to a new apartment and so the Loveland’s and we stayed with them, saving a significant amount of money associated with hotel costs. It is always wonderful to see and stay with the Rays. That night we went out to Oasis where I enjoyed their delicious chicken stroganoff and LaDawn had a salad and some chicken kabobs.

On Thursday, we spent the entire day doing interviews, with a 90 minute break at 1:30 pm where we went to Wooden and had lunch. The District has moved into the new District Center and so we held our interviews and zone conference in the new building. Unfortunately, the weather was so hot and with a steel roof and no air conditioning, the building was exceptionally warm. I was in the district president’s office where there was an air conditioner running and still found the room a bit on the uncomfortable side. We interviewed all 18 missionaries throughout the day, which included the two from Wa.

After we returned from lunch, I had a brother from one of the branches come over and meet with me for a few minutes. I am always interested in getting to know new Melchizedek Priesthood holders who move to Tamale. I also took the opportunity to release Sister Jennifer Adongyine from Bolgatanga who had just returned from her mission to Accra West. It is always wonderful to meet with these missionaries that we sent out earlier in our mission and see them come back with light in their eyes and fire for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their hearts.

This was certainly true of Jennifer.

On Friday, we held the zone conference and followed the same format from the previous week. Since we don’t have Sister Training Leader’s in Tamale, the zone leaders gave a wonderful instruction titled, “Conversion is our Goal”. For the review of the scriptures on Christ, we studied “Jesus Christ, Relationship with the Father”. Such amazing insights!

Here are a few pictures, including the zone picture as well as the “Hurrah for Israel” shout. We met in the high council room, but only one of the A/C units was working and it was pretty warm the entire day. Perhaps a bit cozier than we would have liked, although we did appreciate the feeling of closeness and camaraderie.

After the zone conference, we returned to the Ray’s apartment and then piled into our Fortuner and drove to Wooden for dinner. They are generally slow in their food preparation, and I had some priesthood business that I needed to attend to, so while the food was being prepared, I slipped away for about 45 minutes to do an interview and extend a call. When I returned, my food was ready. There were so many things that had to line up for me to make that visit on Friday night. Just one more of the many, mighty, marvelous, miracles experienced in the Ghana Kumasi Mission.

Saturday morning LaDawn and I rose early and left Tamale by 5:30 am. We arrived back at the mission home before noon. We took a road between Akumadan and Becham that was just excellent allowing us to come back into Kumasi through Abuakwa instead of Suame. That alone saved us 30 minutes. Thanks to the Loveland’s for the tip on the new road.

Saturday afternoon and evening we enjoyed every minute of General Conference. It was like eating Blue Bell Ice Cream with chocolate sauce (okay maybe not a very good comparison). How we love the leaders of this church! So many of the messages were consistent and reinforcing with the very things we are teaching the missionaries. We love the law of witnesses! The Kumasi Senior Couples joined us for the Saturday morning session (shown at 4 pm here).

On Sunday morning, we watched the Saturday evening of conference and then I spent most of the rest of the day reading and responding to missionary letters. With the travel during the week, coupled with the extremely poor internet in Tamale, I had not read or responded to a single letter. While I didn’t respond to all of them on Sunday, I did get them all read and responded to those that needed a response. At 4 pm, the Kumasi Senior Couples joined us again and we again feasted on the words of the prophets and apostles. After that session, we feasted on a delicious pot luck meal together. How fortunate we are to work with such amazing couples!

Building faith in Jesus Christ always requires each of us to do the next hard thing. We are grateful for the challenges and opportunities that serving as Mission Leaders have brought into our lives. We are especially grateful to labor side by side with the many young leaders who serve as zone leaders, sister training leaders, district leaders, office elders, and assistants. These young men and young women are disciples who love this work and have consecrated their time, efforts, and talents to helping the missionaries they oversee. We are grateful for the senior couples who leave their children and grandchildren to come and build the Kingdom of God in Ghana. What an honor it is to gather Israel one last time, Together in Ghana.