An interesting conversion

This week has been a bit of a blur. It seemed to go by so fast yet at the same time it seemed to go by quite slow. Elder Thomas and I have been anxiously awaiting our 5 baptisms that were scheduled for Sunday but unfortunately in vain. But before I explain that story I think it best to start on a happy note. 

On Tuesday we received a call from Sister Avery telling me about a young man who came to church in another ward but lives in our area and is dying to have missionaries meet with him. We gave him a call and scheduled to go and meet him that afternoon. As we met with him we discussed a bit about his life and his past. He used to go to many different churches but he never was satisfied he always felt that there was something more. He began to focus more on his business and to money. He did well at first but in time he lost everything. His business failed and once again he was left looking for more. His family suggested that he leave his environment in Kumasi and move to Accra. As he was preparing to leave he met a member of the church there in Kumasi, befriended him, and agreed to find the church in Accra. Within the first few weeks of being there he found the church in Accra and visited, and eventually this all leads to us entering into his home.  I could tell at first he was embarrassed. He lived in a single room and had nothing in it. When I say nothing I mean basically nothing. He had maybe three sets of clothes. No chairs of any kind. His bed was just a blanket on the floor and one set of his clothes piled up to use as a pillow. Although this was definitely not my first experience seeing this poverty but it really hit me. He told us how his only son was born deaf, and dumb. He really felt like he had nothing but he did have a desire to serve God. He first asked how he could become a missionary and implied that he wanted help from the church. We explained how there are no paid positions in the church that it is all done through voluntary service but that God always blesses those who serve him. He helps them, to help themselves. He accepted what we had explained and we left promising him that we would return on Thursday to learn more. Thursday morning he gave us a call and told us that a miracle had happened and he would explain it when we came. As we showed up I was shocked as I walked into his room. I saw two really nice sofa, a bed with bedding, a fridge, a tv and dvd player more clothes and better than anything a huge smile on his face. I was quite speechless and he just said, "look what God has done for me?" He then explained. He said the night after we left he had a dream. In the dream he saw 2 angels that came to him and showed him the right path. Then he woke up it's now like 2:00 AM. He was confused and didn't understand what it meant and then within 30 minutes his phone began to ring. It was a friend who had decided to travel abroad. He told him that he heard he had come to Accra and didn't have anything. So he could have all of his things, he would arrange for a taxi to bring everything to his home he just needed to tell the driver where his house was. He said,"When you came here on Tuesday you promised me that God would bless me and help me, and now he has done it. Thank you." 

Whether that was an act of God or coincidence, that was a miracle. I had seen some strange things happen in these past months but this one was really something else. Never would I have expected what I saw. He came to church again on Sunday and is set to be baptized on the 16th of June. 

On Sunday we weren't able to have our baptisms because of an event taking place at church. The Stake Presidency came and announced that the ward would be split and then called two new bishops. Unfortunately the bishop we had just gotten a good relationship with was released but we are still excited to form another relationship with the new bishop. The previous Bishop I can tell is feeling relieved and now has promised that he will be helping us even more. This week we are going to see the families he has promised us. :) 

So once again things are going great. Training is awesome. I really like Elder Thomas he is sweet. I am trying not to work him too hard but he seems to be keeping up so far.

Love,
Elder Smith