June 2011,

Well, I did get transferred this week!  I got transferred to Secondi Takoradi.  Takoradi is a city and Secondi is like a town on the outskirts of Takoradi.  My area is called Mpintsim and it is kind of a hilly area.  Our apartment is kind of in a bushy (jungle) area.  There is a small ward here and we have some good priesthood leadership.  Right now we have two good investigators: Elizabeth and her brother, they have been coming to church  which is usually the hardest thing.  I know we can build this area up.  My new companion is from Ghana, Elder Grant, and he only has two transfers left on his mission.  He is a good guy and I know we will do well together.  So far I’ve only had one American companion, one from Samoa, and the rest have all been Africans.

We have been doing service projects; working on the farms and cutting grass and weeds with  machetes.  Using the machetes is a lot faster that pulling weeds.  We had them announce in Sacrament Meeting that we were will to help with any service they need;  that way we get to know the members and people better.

Before I came to this area I was in Mankessim and I really loved it there.  They have two paved roads and they could not believe we have paved roads at home that go to every house.  It is also really dusty. Every night we sweep and brush a layer of dust off everything.  Before being transferred we had a sweet baptism.  Esta, Shadrack, Michael, Freda, and Papanii were all baptized on Saturday and all confirmed on Sunday.  It was really sweet.   Our zone had a huge baptism this last week.  It was combined and we had 32 baptisms in our zone.  It was awesome, and we had a ton of members show up.  It was a great day!

We had a zone conference with President Sabey.  He taught us about the doctrine of JOY, which is long term happiness.  He taught us so much and it was way sweet.  We have another meeting with President and Sister Sabey coming up this week.  It will be his last meeting with us before he and Sister Sabey return home.  The new Mission President, President Shulz and Sister Shulz will be there, too.  I have loved having President Sabey for these last 19 months.  He has been an amazing president and I will miss him.  I’m looking forward to meeting President and Sister Shulz and I know I’ll learn a lot from them, too.

I’m down to my last 5 months.  Don’t worry, I will stay strong, and keep working hard until the end.  There is no other good choice – that is the only way to have fun.  Work, work and work will make things fun, fast, and worth every moment.

I love you all!!

Elder Ian Stats