This title of our post this week is taken from this week’s letter to the missionaries. There is so much to be said about this topic. I think the first and most important aspect of looking forward with an eye of faith is when we understand and apply scriptural truths in our own lives. This requires the shedding of our “natural man” tendencies and increasing our desire to become a “new creature” in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). The second aspect is to simply see ourselves as our Savior sees us. When we are able to do this, we will have a much better and happier life. The full text of the letter can be found here.

Seeing with eyes of faith also has application to us as missionaries. When we meet spiritually sensitive people, we should immediately see them dressed in white. First to enter the waters of baptism, and then to be endowed and sealed as families in the temple. When we see others through eyes of faith, we speak differently, we act differently, and we press forward with a greater urgency born of faith in Jesus Christ and a hope that our efforts will make a difference in their lives.

As mentioned at the end of last week’s post, we stayed Sunday night in Tamale and then drove to Sunyani the next morning. We arrived just before 1 pm and immediately when to KFC for some lunch, opting for carryout. We drove to the Couple’s apartment and had a great lunch and then drove to the District Center for interviews that started at 2:00 pm and ended about 6:30 pm. We did 15 interviews during that time. After zone conference on Tuesday, we completed the Sunyani zone with 6 more interviews. We joined the Loveland’s at Eusbett’s for dinner.

On Tuesday (May 7th) we held the Sunyani / Techiman zone conference following the same format as the one in Tamale. At this conference, Elder and Sister Loveland did a 30 minute instruction on “Prophets Seeing Around Corners” and “Hastening the Work”.

The discussion on the scriptures on Christ led by Elder Reynolds with Elder Togba Jr as the whiteboard scribe, was on the topic of “Jesus Christ, redeemer”. It was an outstanding discussion. Of special note was the discussion on the suffering of Christ and why we need to suffer as well. Here are just a few of the insights that were shared:

• We need to suffer Godly sorrow to repent. This allows us to experience a small part of what he suffered to pay for our sins.
• Christ suffered everything we suffer, and if we don’t repent, we will even suffer more. We need to understand why we suffer and its purpose.
• One reason we suffer is so that God can turn that suffering into joy.
• Suffering helps us to learn and grow. It is necessary for our progression.
• We often suffer for others rather than just ourselves. This is what it means to be like Christ.
• There is no prophet in the scriptures who did not suffer, all of them suffered, including Jesus Christ.

As always, at the end of the conference we took some pictures. We usually don’t post the fun pictures we take, but we are making an exception this time. As you can see below, Elder Thatcher is snapping a “group selfie” at the same time the group “fun” picture is being snapped. We thought it worth sharing both pictures.

After finishing the interviews, we went to the Eusbett Hotel for dinner with the Loveland’s and then stayed over the night at the Couple’s apartment. The next morning we were on our way home by 6:00 am and back in Kumasi by 8:30 am. We then started interviews in Dichemso at 10:30 am, interviewing the 10 missionaries that work closest to that Stake Center.

In the evening I held my biweekly mission presidency meeting. I recently released my first counselor, Edmund Obeng, as he has been serving for over 7 years. Since it doesn’t make sense to call a new counselor for our last 7 weeks, we will hobble along until the end of June and then President Boateng can call a new counselor. That means on Wednesday night, it was just President Asante, Elder Loveland, Eugene Ghorman (clerk) and me. We had a great meeting and some really good things are occurring in the Member Districts right now.

On Thursday, we were up very early and to the airport by 7:00 am to receive one missionary arriving “off-transfer” from the MTC (Sister Kelly from Vanuatu) and three Filipinos who had to wait for their visas to clear. All three of them served for 3 weeks in the Philippines after finishing their MTC experience in Manila. We are grateful to have all four of them as part of the Ghana Kumasi Mission. They come well prepared and excited to engage in the work. We started at 8:00 am at the Mission Office with orientation, missionary finances, and health and safety finishing about 10:30 am. We then went right into our “Keys and Bananas” discussion focused on integrity. It was then time for lunch.

At noon, we had their trainers come in and we fed everyone pizza from Piri Piri. I interviewed each of four missionaries while Sister Pack worked with them on filling out their paperwork and making copies of all of their key documents (we keep the originals and give them copies to take to the field with them). Sister Kelly had been up since 3 am so gave her about 45 minutes to take a short nap. At 1:30 pm, we brought the trainers together with the new missionaries and did a “Train the Trainers” and “Finders of the Elect” session. We finished right at 3 pm and were able to get the missionaries back to their areas by Thursday evening. Multiple transfers-in are always difficult. In this case, it took an additional day away from our schedule, and yet, it was rewarding and valuable in helping these missionaries get oriented and prepared to hit the ground running.

Friday was another full day of interviews. We left the Mission home at 8:30 am and drove to Effiduasi and then Kwamo, completing 17 interviews of missionaries serving in the new Ejisu Stake.

I cannot help but stop for a moment and reflect on the importance of these interviews every transfer. Sometimes companionships just get caught in a “non-communication” loop and need some help to get “unstuck”. There is no rebellion, just a lack of communication. I continue to be amazed how easy it is to fix these concerns when missionaries are humble and teachable – which is generally the case.

As soon as we finished with the interviews (about 3:45 pm), I took LaDawn back to the Mission Home and I drove over to the Mission Office. We were to have another missionary arrive at 3 pm, but was delayed. Because of our interview schedule, we sent Alex (mission driver) to the airport to pick him up, but because the new airport was being commissioned, the traffic was snarled. We originally received a phone call that he would not make the 3 pm flight, and then it turns out they managed to get him on it at the last minute. This caused Alex to be late to pick him up. It then turns out that his luggage did not come with him. So Alex drove over to the Dichemso apartment and picked up his trainer (Elder Del Campo) and then went back to the airport to see if his luggage had come. He had not. By the time they got to the mission office it was after 5 pm. The office elders were kind enough the next morning to retrieve his luggage from the airport (it had arrived on the last flight of the day) and drop it at their apartment.

The new missionary is Elder Mejia-German, our first missionary from the Dominican Republic. He simply goes by Elder Mejia (Ma He Ah). He has been serving in the Domincan Republic since finishing his MTC in Brazil in October. Imagine how difficult it would be to come to a strange country, having to learn English, and starting your mission all over again. Although I wanted to do some orientation, there was little I could do. He was pretty sure it was a mistake to come. I was grateful for help from our sons Garen and Tyson as my translators and encouragers. I later called his stake president, and Tyson helped to translate that conversation. Elder Mejia is a wonderful young man and we are praying that he can acclimate and find joy in serving in the Ghana Kumasi Mission. Time will tell. It was after 7 pm by the time we sent the two missionaries back to Dichemso and I returned to the Mission Home. I might add that he was originally supposed to come the previous day, but somewhere a flight was missed and he came a day later than everyone else. While at first it was discouraging to see, in retrospect it was a blessing to just have 1:1 time with him. The Good Shepherd surely knows all of his sheep and exactly what they need.

There was a Kumasi Coordinating Council meeting scheduled for Saturday, but at the last minute, Elder Sosu (our Area Seventy) was asked to go to Abidjan to cover a stake conference that Elder Egbo was supposed to preside at but had something come up that did not allow him to attend. Elder Sosu called to tell me and ultimately the meeting was moved back one week. I was so very grateful to have a day without a scheduled meeting. This gave me time to work on the weekly letter (see above) as well as responding to missionary emails. At 1 pm, the Couples in Kumasi went to Ike’s for lunch and had their delicious chicken burger and fries (along with some keli weli). We left 30 minutes early for lunch and LaDawn did a little bit of shopping for grandchildren arriving at Ike’s. It was so good to have a break after going quite steady for several weeks.

On Sunday, we drove down to Dunkwa First Branch (1.5 hours) and attended sacrament meeting where Elder Carter Beck is serving as the Branch President. This is the same branch where Elder Walker served as our first-ever missionary branch president. When Elder Walker left, we called another man for a season as the branch president, but he was full of mischief and had to be released. We have had so much trouble with good leadership in Dunkwa, which is so unfortunate because that city is a gold mine (okay, it literally is a gold mine city). More importantly , there are so many wonderful and amazing people there who need to be taught the gospel and brought to the covenant path. After attending sacrament meeting, we decided to go and find the new 2nd branch building. Elder Madsen sent a pin for the building, but when we tried to get there the directions took us up an impassable road. As I was turning around, in very tight spaces, I rubbed up against some stairs that were attached to a building. Fortunately, all I did was bend the running board, which was easily fixed on Tuesday. The sad part is that we never made it to the building. We tried several routes, but could not find a workable way in, and there were no signboards on the main road (something we need to remedy).

When we couldn’t find the building, we drove back to Obuasi and I did a temple recommend interview for Sister Rosca Bonney who will be leaving for the Philippines Quezon City North mission later in the month. She is our first District missionary since we have arrived to be assigned outside of Africa. She will be a great missionary!

We had more changes this past week when our mission Facilities Manager was placed on administrative leave pending the completion of a mission audit. This is beginning to feel like deja vu. This complicates our lives significantly. We are grateful that we have Elder Loveland who is really picking up much of the work. We also have some trustworthy vendors and helpers assisting us in keeping up on all that is required to keep missionary apartments working (maintenance, renewals, new leases, and closures). It is a labor of love.

Looking forward with eyes of faith is critical to the success of anyone who has a desire to grow and progress. As Mission Leaders, we are filled with hope for the future of the amazing people who live in the Kumasi Mission boundaries. It is this hope of a better life for every person who chooses to accept the message of the restoration that motivates us. It this hope that we can help every missionary come to know Jesus Christ and feel of his personal love for them that motivates us. It is this hope that our own family will be blessed and exalted in the Kingdom of God because of our example and their own commitment to discipleship that motivates us. How we love gathering Israel one last time, Together in Ghana!