We met an Apostle

6/19/23

Wild week.

This week we had the chance to hear from Gerrit W. Gong from the quorum of the 12 Apostles and it was great. Getting there was very very interesting. 

On Tuesday we all traveled to Swedru and somehow our whole district ended up in the same public Tro Tro. 3 of the elders were getting transferred, so we also had 6 bags in the back. We showed up at Swedru and everyone got rice at a certain place and then hired a random Tro Tro to take us to the Zone Leaders apartment. The Tro driver had a Reggae playlist going so we had a good ride. 

Once we got to the Zone Leaders apartment, one of the elders climbed the tree outside of the apartment and started cutting down coconuts for everyone. We all had some and then went to bed. We somehow managed to fit 12 Elders onto 5 mattresses and some yoga pads. We slept for about 3 hours and then left in the morning to go to Accra.

We heard from Elder Gong and it was awesome! I also got to shake his hand after and then we took a photo of our entire mission, so that was pretty sweet.

We learned this week that we have to burn our trash outside of our apartment, so that's been fun too.

Sorry I don't have a lot of time to write tonight.

•Week 6•

The Keystone of our religion

Everything that is taught in the LDS church rests on the Book of Mormon. If the Book is not true, then everything in the church is false. If the Book is true then Joseph Smith is a true prophet and the church is true. You have to find out for yourself which one it is. There's only one way to find out. Read from Moroni 10:3-5, pray and ask God yourself.

Contacts

Email - aidan.holyoak@missionary.org

Facebook - Aidan Holyoak

Cool week, love you all. See you next week.

Elder Holyoak

Elder Gong

Ghana Accra West Mission

My Three Sons

Burning our trash

Waakye

Cool Bridge

Sheepsh

Obroni Nightmare 🤡

6/12/23

I liked this week.

One thing we've realized while walking around Nyakrom recently is how old the buildings here actually are. I have put some pictures of the crazy erosion from rainfall below. We asked someone and they said the building that they live in is more than 60 years old. It's crazy to think that some of these buildings were built before Ghana gained independence.

There is a Muslim boy named Jonathan that we became friends with. He knows a ton of the missionaries in Nyakrom before us and we are friends with his mother. Whenever Jonathan sees us he just follows us around town. This week he followed us for 2 days, like 3 hours each day. I've got no complaints, he is a lot of fun.

We went on exchange this week with the Kuntenase Elders and I got to go with Elder Ivins. Elder Ivins was my second Trainee and it was really good being able to teach with him again. It was good to see that he turned out alright haha. We had a fun day with a lot of walking.

This week the weather was really nice. It was either overcast or rainy most days which means it's not as hot but it's also very muddy. When taking a shortcut at night Elder Durling was walking in front of me and I heard a big squish sound. I looked over and one of his shoes was gone. He stepped in the mud and the mud took his shoe! There was a guy nearby who just had a bucket of water on hand for some reason but he helped Elder Durling clean up a bit.

When you go out further from Accra, you find a lot of children who are afraid of white people. We have specific places in the area that we can't walk into because there are babies there that will cry. Some of the parents encourage us to try and high-five their kids. I feel really bad because they look at you like you're Pennywise the clown.

•Week 7•

There is no growing in the comfort zone

This is a hard one to accept but it's true. On your mission you never get comfortable. As soon as you feel good in your area or feel good with your companion transfers will come around, or you'll get one of the amazing emergency transfers. I've come to realize that nothing in this life is unchanging. Everything is always growing or dying or both. Human beings are forever changing beings. Our hair and nails are always growing. We are constantly learning new things, and forgetting most of it haha. The most important thing is that all of this change in life helps to shape us into a better person each and every day. Our prophet today has encouraged us to try and repent daily. There is nothing better than progress. Without changes in life there can be no progress, there can be no growth. Don't get too comfortable, do something that takes you out of your comfort zone each day and watch as you are shaped into a bolder and better person.

Contacts

Email - aidan.holyoak@missionary.org 

Facebook - Aidan Holyoak

Well I'm entering my last transfer now and I'll work as hard as I can to make it a good one. Thanks for reading! Have a great week!

Elder Holyoak

Building Erosion 

Pounding Fufu

Exchange with Elder Ivins

Jonathan

Cool Frog

Muddy Shoe

Obroni Nightmare

6/5/23

Kokonte

This week was great for the work. We met some really cool new people. 2 of them were 2 blind men named Kwame and Kojo. Kojo actually lived in Liberia a long time ago in an Anglican monastery. He said he spent a lot of time around American and Canadian guys. They've been super interested in the message and have even told us they want to come to church. 

One day this week we showed up to our friend Prince's house and they were pounding Fufu. We helped them pound the rest of the Fufu. In Ghana it's usually common courtesy that whoever helps prepare the food eats some. We weren't pounding with that idea in mind I promise. When we finished pounding we sat down to teach Prince and he told us to wait a little. We waited for a minute and then Prince brought us a huge bowl of Kokonte. They call it "Face the Wall" and every time I ask why it's called that I get a different reason. They had some crabs in it too and we ate it all so quick. Pictures are below.

This weekend was crazy in Nyakrom for funerals. While we were walking around we counted 10 in total. In Ghana funerals are not quiet at all. Everyone dresses up in black and red then they blast music. Each funeral brings a lot of people from outside of Nyakrom too, so our little town was packed. 

•Week 8•

God Blessed the USA

This is something that I hope every American can experience some time in their life. Having the opportunity to travel to Ghana has made me appreciate my home country so much more. There are so many simple freedoms and conveniences that just don't exist in Ghana. In America we are blessed with so much comfort and efficiency. We are blessed with the education system that we have. We are blessed with diverse cultures and foods. The 4th of July has a lot more meaning now, haha.

Contacts

Email - aidan.holyoak@missionary.org 

Facebook - Aidan Holyoak

Thanks for reading, enjoy the pictures.

Elder Holyoak

😲

Fanny

Nyakrom

🐐

"Face to Wall"/Kokante

Rose's Kids

Kobe and Kontombre Stew

Small goat friends 🐐

5/29/23

Where is time going?

This week was busy, but slow at the same time. One Tuesday we went to Winneba for our multi-zone conference and we talked all about recognizing the Spirit and receiving personal revelation. Those are two things that I have really been trying to work on and it's not easy haha. The travel honestly wasn't too bad to get there. I've just gotten used to 2 hours in the back of a van with no leg space.

The work this week was kind of funny. It felt like all of the serious people in our teaching pool weren't around or weren't available. We were planning back ups for our backups every day and still ended up having gaps in our days haha. Near the end of the week it got better though.

On Friday we had the baptism for Rose! She was super excited and we were able to have 2 members there. 2 doesn't sound like a lot, but we had to travel to a different chapel to do the baptism so it wasn't too bad. She was confirmed this Sunday and she already seems super happy. We will keep learning with her and helping her along the covenant path.

•Week 9•

You are what you eat.

Single digits that's wack. This one is self explanatory really. On my mission I've just really come to know the importance of good eating habits. Ghana doesn't have a wide variety of food so it's not too hard out here haha. With all of the walking we do in a day there is a noticeable difference between drinking a soda and a bag of water. I have learned to eat bigger and more wholesome breakfasts that will sustain me past noon. It's something that I kind of took for granted back home and I will definitely watch my diet more when I return. It'll be difficult with college living though, haha.

Contacts

Email - aidan.holyoak@missionary.org 

Facebook - Aidan Holyoak 

Thanks for reading all of this, the week wasn't too crazy. See you next week!

🐐 Elder Holyoak 🐐

Goat Friend 😀

Multi-Zone

Rose's Baptism

Nyak City

They even sell boxers!

Art?

I found Gladys!

5/22/23

Great week, let me tell you about it.

We met up with some members of the branch to go to a funeral for one of our members. He passed away early on in the week and they held the funeral a few days later. We weren't able to stay the whole time because we had district council.

There was one crazy thing that happened this week. We were walking through the area at night and I stumbled into someone I knew from my last area. Her name is Gladys and we just started teaching her right before I left Odorkor. She was staying there for school and Nyakrom is her hometown. So she showed us her place and we plan to continue teaching her here!

On Saturday I went on exchange with Elder Chapman. He's a super cool guy from Michigan. We didn't have a lot of success in the area that day because all of our serious people were busy or they canceled on us. It's all good though, we ate some Fufu for lunch and caught the last 15 minutes of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 on the TV with super low volume.

This Sunday we were teaching our friend Grace and when we finished the lesson she said that she had someone for us to teach. We called the guy and after getting directions from some strangers we made it to his place. His name is Joshua and his friend John joined us for a lesson. In the middle of the lesson he asked a question about whether or not there was a third heaven. We were a bit surprised but we answered him with some scriptures about the degrees of glory. He told us that he would read the whole pamphlet in one sitting and he asked when we would come back. We have plans to see him tomorrow.

•Week 10•

Live where your feet are.

Shoutout to Elder Zile for that title. It's a basic principle, but the only way you can possibly be happy in this life is by living in the moment. At the beginning of my mission I missed home a lot. I always had thoughts like, "Life will be better when I'm 1 year out on my mission," or "I'll be happy when I am home again." I realized later that it is a terrible way to live. Never put off living! The only thing that you have is right now. Carpe Diem. Seize the day! They always say that depression stems from looking too much into the past and anxiety from looking too much into the future. Learn from the past, plan for the future, and live where your feet are.

Contacts

Email - aidan.holyoak@missionary.org 

Facebook - Aidan Holyoak

Thanks for reading, I love you all. I'm happy to be here, right now, exactly where I'm at. See you all next week!

Elder Holyoak

Funeral for Francis Arthur

Gladys

More with the kids

Exchange with Elder Chapman

Nyak City

Augustine

Got Em'

Twice

Two Chainssss (Broken Ones) ⛓️ 🔗

5/16/23

Cool cool week

Huge win this week. We put our friend Rose Amoah on baptismal date for the 26th of May. She is someone that the elders before us contacted and started teaching. She has been coming to church and asked us about baptism. She is definitely ready for the step.

This week we finally pumped up the tires on our bikes and had the chance to ride them. My companion's bike was having some problems pedaling and then the chain broke. We ate lunch and a guy on a bike pulled up. We asked him if he knew any places that we could get it fixed and he said he could do it himself. After walking up a hill with our bikes we got to his house. He fixed the chain with a hammer and a thick piece of metal. It looked pretty good but not even 5 minutes later the chain broke again. Haha. 

We are still teaching all of the kids in Rose's Bible class and all of them showed up for church on Sunday. It was the most full we have seen our school room Sacrament hall the whole time I've been here. Rose even had them perform a little skit about the wise king Solomon. The story has a guard with a sword and when the time came for it one of the kids pulled a real knife from out of his waist-belt! The whole thing was in twi, but they did well.

Also, my p-day was Tuesday this week because we went to the temple today. We got to sleep in Alajo and I visited a bunch of old friends. I found out that one of the guys that was baptized while Elder Zile and I were there is planning on going on a mission in December. He plans to leave on the exact year mark of his baptism and we are super excited for him to go.

•Week 11•

The Power of a Smile

It has amazed me my whole mission how much of a difference a smile can make. Someone can give you a correction on something you did wrong with a smile on their face and it will give you a completely different feeling than someone doing it with a straight face or a grimace. However small and simple it is, that smile brings light and joy into the lives around you. A wave and a smile at a stranger makes you both have a better day. A smile makes you look more approachable and makes people more comfortable around you. I'm gonna take a page from Roman at wood's book and just tell you all to Smile More! We don't have time for frowns.

Contacts

Email - aidan.holyoak@missionary.org 

Facebook - Aidan Holyoak

I love you all and wish you the best. I pray for you all the time, see you next week!

Elder Holyoak

Rose's Bible Class

Broken Chains

Temple Trip

Happy Mother's Day❤️

Evening Road

Nyakrom