Ghanaian Funerals are Awesome

Sorry for no email last week, our last P day was a little chaotic. This week was Thanksgiving, we did backflips, went on exchange with the APs, and we went to a Ghanaian funeral.

Last P day we had a Zone Activity and we did a Thanksgiving potluck. Everyone brought different kinds of food from their home country and we ate a lot. We had mashed potatoes, pizza, jollof rice, apple fritter, and some Nigerian dishes.

After district council on Wednesday, I put up the idea that we should try to do backflips on the hill behind the church. I was only able to convince 2 people but we all landed it, kinda.

On Thursday we had an exchange in the APs area and it was a great day. The only problem with the day was the World Cup. Ghana played Portugal at 4 and right when the match started, no one had time for us. We had 7 different people that we tried to see and they were all watching the game. It was really cool when Ghana scored because everyone was yelling in the streets. Ghana ended up losing 2-3 but I have high hopes that they will make it out of pools. That night we ordered a bunch of KFC and Pizza Hut for Thanksgiving.

On Saturday we went to the funeral of a recent convert's mother. Funerals in Ghana are a lot different than the ones at home. In Ghana, the funerals are very loud. The funeral was run by the pentecostal church so halfway through the service one guy gave a Sermon. Nothing he said had anything to do with the woman who died and after he finished they put out offering bowls. I'm hoping the money will go to the family, but I'm not too sure. When everything was finished, they had dancing pallbearers carrying the coffin out with trumpets and drums in the background. I hope you are all taking notes. I want dancing pallbearers at my funeral.

Scripture of the Week

Alma 5:20 - "I say unto you, can ye think of being saved when you have yielded yourselves to become subjects to the devil?"

Contacts

Email - aidan.holyoak@missionary.org 

Facebook - Aidan Holyoak 

A little bit longer email this week. See you guys next week!

Elder Holyoak 

Thanksgiving Potluck

Thanksgiving Pizza

Exchanges with Elder Okeke

Adam's Birthday

Back Flippin'

Kelewele Plantain

Ghanian Funeral

Dancing Pallbearers

Flippin' Missionaries

Photo Bomb

We had a super busy P day so I didn't have time to write an email. Here's a bunch of pictures instead.

Elder Holyoak 

Twsano District

10 Cidi Fufu

Untitled

Alajo

Stella

Phase 10

Monkey Fist Bump🐒🤜🏻🤛🏼

This week was crazy and very good. We were super busy and had fun all week. 

We are now in a double(two companionship) again so we decided to celebrate the new transfer with pizza. We ordered a bunch and gave a lot of it to the people who live in our compound. We also had an exchange so we didn't eat it all ourselves I promise. The pictures speak for themselves.

This week we met all of our goals and that felt really good. This whole month we haven't been able to reach them. We put 4 of our friends on date. They are Caleb, Joshua, Eliezer, and Patience. We set the baptism for December 3rd so we have some time.

We went on 2 exchanges, one in Newtwon with Elder McKnight and one in Northridge with Elder Hill. Elder McKnight and I had a super successful day and a lot of fun in his area. I bought a bunch of Kalyppo drinks which are just juice boxes. I also had a super good time with Elder Hill. Their area is super nice and we ate shawarma and hamburgers for lunch.

We had a little baby powder party with the kids in our compound and we also dressed up for our mission wide zoom call. That will explain some of the pictures below.

I also saw a monkey and gave it a fist bump.

Scripture of the Week

Alma 34:18 - "Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save."

Contacts

Email - aidan.holyoak@missionary.org 

Facebook - Aidan Holyoak 

Sorry that this email was short. I didn't have much time to write today, we had a busy P day. I hope you're all good and I hope you actually read this far in the email. See you next week!

Elder Holyoak 

Pizza Party

Exchanges with Elder McKnight

Exchanges with Elder Hill

Kalyppo

Abigail - Ward Missionary

Monkey Fist Bump

Baby Powder Party

Party Pals

Area Pics

📖📚 🛌

It's November and nothing really happened this week. 

On Tuesday we worked like normal but at the end of the night Elder Skasim's knee was causing him a lot of problems. He usually uses a knee brace but this time he could barely walk without a stick. We set an appointment at the orthopedic doctor and from that day onward we weren't able to proselytize. Stuck in the apartment for almost 5 days. I got in a lot of study time and a lot of random naps. We didn't have a lot of food though so we had to get the kids in our compound to run and buy us stuff. On Friday we went to the hospital and he got an MRI. He has to go in next Friday for results and treatment.

Other than that not much happened. Right now Ghana's economy is very hot. When I came to Ghana it was about 5.5 cedes to 1 USD. Now it's at just under 14 cedes for 1 USD. That means that everything goes up in price every day. You'll take a taxi for 12 cedes and the next day it's 14. You'll buy a loaf of bread for 10 cedes and two weeks later it will be up to 16 cedes. People are struggling to get money a lot more than usual.

We also got transfer news. Elder Skasim is leaving and Elder Zile is staying for his 5th transfer here.

1 Nephi 4:13 - "Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief."

Contacts

Email - aidan.holyoak@missionary.org 

Facebook - Aidan Holyoak 

I have nothing else to say. This week we are going to work like we have never worked before. I hope you're all doing well. I love you.

Elder Holyoak 

Waiting for the light

The hospital

Stuck for another transfer

Swag Crew

Alajo

Kanye

Exchanges with President Jacobsen

Happy Halloween! This week was loaded. We had MLC and Multizone conference with a General Authority, and 3 exchanges.

Tuesday 

On Tuesday we rode to Kasoa for MLC. We got there at the end of Multi-Zone so I saw a bunch of people I know. I saw both of my mission sons and my grandson! I also saw Elder Mvoula who was my first companion out of training. We ate lunch and started MLC. It was cool because it was all led by Elder Nielsen of the seventy. He didn't prepare anything beforehand, so he just followed the spirit and had a great council about Charity and Obedience.

Wednesday 

The next day we went to Kaneshie for our Multi-Zone. I saw every missionary in the mission in just two days, so it was great. The Multi-Zone was really good too. We talked about repentance and studying the Book of Mormon. After lunch I got more ties and my companion Elder Zile was interviewed by Elder Nielsen.  It was a normal interview though he just wanted to get to know a few missionaries. Awesome day and I learned a lot!

Thursday 

On Thursday President Jacobsen decided to join us in our area. He gave us these super good mango juice drinks. We drove a bit with his car but walked most of the day. It was kind of funny because 5 of our appointments fell through. Our back ups, back ups fell through haha. We ended up having 2 good lessons with recent Converts. He paid for our lunch and we ate Kokonte. He ended up leaving around 3:30 because it was actually his birthday and he was going to dinner somewhere. President left with a fresh sunburn. It was a great and successful day.

Friday

On Friday we exchanged with the Office Elders. I went with Elder Spencer to the mission office for the day. I did some work sending referrals to different parts of Ghana. I also downloaded some General Conference talks and worked on the mission photos folder. It was a very slow day and I didn't know what I was doing for most of the time. At around 4:30 we went out to proselytize in their area and all of the appointments fell through again haha. It's a super nice area with a lot of cool people.

Saturday

On Saturday I was on exchange with Elder Murdock. He's a super cool guy and a great missionary. Elder Skasim was having problems with his knee so we walked pretty slow most of the day. We had some good lessons and finished the day with free Banku.

Scripture of the Week

Ether 12:41 - "And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen."

Contacts 

Email - Aidan.holyoak@missionary.org 

Facebook - Aidan Holyoak

That's the end of a packed week of missionary work. I hope you all have a great Halloween. Send me pictures of your costumes and candy! Have a great week!

Elder Holyoak

Elder Nielsen and Mission President

My Missionary Family

Multi-Zone with Elder Nielsen

Office Exchange

Exchanges with Elder Murdock

Making Jollof Rice