Elder Aidan Holyoak: I'm in Ghana!

It's been a very chaotic week. The last few days in the MTC were fun because we got to pick our own schedule. We played volleyball and ping pong a lot. We left the MTC Wednesday morning and made our way to the airport. I had Cafe Rio for the last time there. Our first flight was 4 hours to JFK airport. And we arrived there at about 9 pm New York time. We took off at about 11:30 and it was a 10-hour flight to Ghana. It went by faster than I expected.

We landed in Ghana at 2 pm Ghana time. I got to meet my mission president and his wife shortly after we landed. We stayed the night at the mission home with around 10 new missionaries.

The next morning we met our trainers and learned where our areas were. I am in a 4 person companionship with Elder Segura (From Utah), Elder Okeke (From Nigeria), and Elder Asante (From Ghana). Since we have 4 people, we are over two areas. The areas are called Bawjiase and Papase in the Kasoa zone. It was a long ride into the area so we didn't get to the apartment until 8 pm.

The next day we had a big stake activity for YSA. We had lunch at one of the churches and there was a big cultural dance. People were dressed up as warriors and evil spirits. The activity went on for almost the whole day, so we went straight home afterward.

Sunday we split up and I went to the Bawjiase ward with Elder Asante and the other two went to the Papase ward. It was very fun and I got to bear my testimony. After church, we went to a member's house and he gave us fresh coconut and let us pick oranges from his tree.

It is very hard to understand people in this area because almost everyone here is a native Twi speaker, but some can speak English. I rely on my companions for most communication. I haven't tried any crazy exotic foods yet, but I'm going to avoid eating cats and dogs. I look forward to involving myself more in the culture and teaching people.

See you next week!

Elder Holyoak