Tithing and Faith

Dad,

I'm glad you're enjoying having a son on a mission! I'm loving being here! This week has been somehow, somehow. There are definitely difficult days but it's just so much easier to get to work and before long I'm lost in the work and get home and forget all about how difficult it was. It's amazing how a little hard work can ease the mind. The saints here are truly amazing. They struggle at times with some of the silly things but they are really good at the important things. One thing I thought was really interesting was their willingness to pay tithing. The people here love paying money as tithing and fast offerings. I did not expect that at all. They people here treat us with such respect they really treat us as messengers from God, they just fail to recognize how important that is. They just have a hard time understanding what it means to be God's church on the earth. I have seen the faith that some of these members have and it's pretty incredible. I've had the opportunity to meet several of the pioneer saints here in Ghana and they are really amazing. So as far as the baptism facilities it's kind of different. So the two church buildings I've been in have an area enclosed within the building that is kind of outside. So man this is hard to explain. So it's like inside the building but it's an open area, so there's no roof. And there is just a font there in the middle that we put water into and then it has a drain to empty it. It's not very hard to prepare we usually leave it to the Ward mission leader to prepare. So it's not much work on our part. Well the people here really do not like the rain. When it rains everyone goes inside and no one comes out. If we're out and it's raining most people invite us in and offer us something to drink. It's quite nice but the rain really does put a halt to our proselytizing. Especially if we're meeting people somewhere. They won't come if it's raining. So usually they give recent converts the Aaronic priesthood pretty soon just depending on the convert and I assume it's the typical year for Melchizedek priesthood just depending on the convert. So yes I'm using the new 12 week training program and I don't really like it but I'm trying to do it. I know it will really help me become a better missionary. I'm working really hard to update my journal everyday but I'm so tired sometimes when I get home. Especially because planning with Elder Evensen takes us forever. But oh well I've been finding time. I'm trying really hard to update it every day. I haven’t had any problem with snakes or spiders and no I haven't seen any monkeys sadly. The weather is hot and humid but I'm getting used to it and it rains like 5 times a week. IT's ridiculous how much it rains. It's really bad here in the north zone. But oh well. Well as you can tell everything is going good here and it sounds like everything is going good there. I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Smith