You're early if you're only one hour late! ;) August 13, 2018

Martin was baptized on Saturday.  The font here is nice. Elder Kainesie baptized him, the bishop confirmed him and I gave both talks but it started 3 hours late.  That's just how it is here in Ghana, if you are early here it means you're only and hour late!  I think that's what is most frustrating right now is that it's kind of hard to convince people that the church is true with hardly anyone at the sunday meetings on time.  But we're really trying.  We had our president interview on Wednesday and he gave us some great council.  I'm going to hope for the best! I feel like the Twi is really coming... more than any other area before because most people here really only speak it.  I can't believe school starting back home.  It feels like summer just started. It's starting to get hot here. It's still kinda in between. It will really get hot about October. Lots of change here in the mission.  A bunch of Elders went home last week and another group next week.  It will be transfers next week and we'll be getting 16 new Elders.  Elder Kainesie has been here for 5 transfers so I bet he'll go.  Well, till next week. 

Elder Kainesie and I at the Stake Center in Fosu.  It's a really nice building. 

Martin August 6, 2018

Hey I'm doing good.  We will have a baptism Saturday so that's exciting.  His name is Martin, he's 22 and a farmer.  Pretty much everyone farms here in Akonfudi.  We're excited for him.  Something funny this week was a really weird guy that I think was on drugs walked around with us all day on Saturday....... 
(He lost wifi after this message and we weren't able to hear from him until the next week!)

My comp Elder Kainaisie (border of our area)

KFC July 30, 2018

I have been trying to send pictures but I'm on the worst computer in the eastern hemisphere so they are not loading.  There's not tons to write about this week but I'm doing good. There are tons of snakes and scorpions here so I'll try to get pictures of them.  My new area is nice but so far I think it might be my least favorite of the 3 so far but I may change my mind before I get transferred again :) There is just not a lot here and the ward is really struggling. We've got a lot of work to do. We started sacrament meeting at 9:25 with about 6-7 people...which was 10 minutes earlier than last week so little by little I guess.  By the end of the meeting there are about 60 members.  We're trying.  They speak Twi here.  I've gotten pretty good at Fante but I'm going to need to learn Twi quick. We use a translator a lot. My comp speaks pretty broken English too.  We'll keep trying for improvement. 
We have walk 30 minutes from our apt just to buy anything, and there is not hardly anything there so we get everything we need in Fosu on Mondays. In the jungle I can't just go out my door and buy chicken and rice so I just usually make an instant noodle stir fry and eat bread with skippy peanut butter (which I can get in Fosu and I forgot how good peanut butter is!) 

This pictures is from Elder Brown the last night before they all went to their new areas. They were traveling and went thru Takoradi where there is a KFC.   Elder Brown told his mom that he and Elder Harris combined their money together so they could buy the BIG KFC bucket.  Elder Brown said "There is something about biting into chicken and actually having some chicken on the bone!"  Elder Harris said "The KFC was sooo good.  It tasted just like it does back home.  It was like a little jump back into America!  It made us happy."  A good farewell dinner for great friends!

New area Akonfudi July 23, 2018

Well I've been transferred up to the other far corner of our mission in a place called Akonfudi. It's in the Assin Fosu zone. My comp is Elder Kainesie from Sierra Leone. He is a stud, a super nice guy.  He has been out since March 2017. Our area is pretty crazy bush. It's like walking trough the jungle and coming up on a mud hut or bamboo house every once and a while. Our apartment is really big and nice. It's far away from everything except for our chapel. It's about a 25 minute taxi ride to go into to Fosu to get the internet cafe. We're the only two in the apartment. It's a ward here but It only has 70 active members. We started sacrament meeting at 9:35 with 7 people in the congregation yesterday, but its a sweet place. So yeah, hopfully everything will go good here!

 at the mission home for transfers...

I'm Leaving Tarkwa July 16, 2018

Well sadly I've been transferred from Tarkwa so this is my last day here. It'll be nice to go somewhere else but we have three people that will probably be baptized this transfer. Other then that I had snails for the first time. They were a lot better then I expected. The best way I can think to describe them is they taste like beef fat.

 snail soup.. 

Also on Saturday I was getting out of a taxi and my pants got caught and ripped really bad. We were really far away from the apartment so i just untucked my shirt to cover is mostly and we went and taught a lesson, luckily it was the last one of the day haha. But yeah everything is going good here.

saying goodbye to members of my branch in Brenu Akyirim

Here is a little part of Elder Browns letter home from today.

here is what is left of my pants ;0

4th of July July 8, 2018

I just have a minute!  Doing great.  Transfers are coming up next week and I'm afraid I'm going to be leaving.  We have the possibility of 3 baptisms coming up, one for sure.  Her name is Sima and she is away in Accra and will be baptized as soon as she's back.  She is a members wife and has been very stubborn but now she's not. Elder Owens and I made tin foil dinners again to celebrate the 4th of July.  They tasted so good. We can get potatoes at the market but they are tiny and not that good and kind of expensive. They're grown in Ireland.  Hope everyone is doing good and had a good 4th of July.

Back to Axim for Zone Conference July 2, 2018

On Tuesday this week we got to go to Axim for a Zone Conference. It was super cool to go back.  Elder Hess is back in the Tarkwa Zone so he was there too.  So after the meeting me, Elder Hess (who trained me in Axim), and Elder Owens (who trained Hess in Axim) got to go around and see a bunch of people we know there.  It was super cool.  Also this week me and Elder Owens decided to try to make tin foil dinners.  It worked out pretty good.  They tasted great but not quite like at home ha ha.  It's been raining tons lately so we didn't have a very productive week, but this next week should be good.  I'm still doing good and the work will go on.

Elder Owens posterity...

June 25, 2018

I don't have long.. I'm doing great!  Elder Owens is awesome and we're on fire!

Tight Tro Tro June 18, 2018

Hey, it's been a busy week. On Tuesday, Elder Owens had to go to what is called finish strong, which is a meeting for the group of missionaries going home in 3 months. He didn't get back until Wednesday evening. Then on Thursday morning I got a call saying I needed to be in Takoradi as soon as possible to renew my not citizen card. So it was three and a half hours there in a tightly packed tro tro, then 30 min of getting my card renewed, then another three and a half hours in a hot dusty tightly packed tro tro. Friday we got a full day but Saturday we had chapel cleaning late so only a half day proselyting so we got one and a half days in our area. So hopefully this week we will get more time in our area, everything is still going good and I'm doing great!

Elder Brown and I on exchanges

New Comp Elder Owens June 11, 2018

Hey mom, it's sweet my new comp is Elder Owens. This will be his last area, he'll be heading home in 10 weeks. He was my trainer, Elder Hess' trainer so he's kind of like my grandpa ha!  Our days consist of walking around all day and a few lessons a week because the area is dead. There is one lady named Celestina but she has a hard time coming to church so we're having a hard time getting anyone serious. This area has always been pretty slow, they're very business minded here and travel a lot so it's hard to get them to commit to coming to church. It's the same stuff everyday and every week so I really don't have anything new to write, but don't worry I'm still doing good, I love my mission. It's crazy I'm at 9 months..it feels like maybe 4 months.

Me, Elder Owens and Elder Brown

Elder Kacher from the Seventy June 4, 2018

Well, the rainy season is in full swing. It rains about 90% of the time and its always super muddy. We really didn't get much done this week because of the rain and my comp is having problems with his knees. We also had a mission tour with Elder Kacher of the Seventy on Thursday. It was super good and after I was 1 of 4 in three combined zones that was chosen to have a 1 on 1 interview with him. It was really cool to get to talk to a general authority, he's a powerful man. He asked questions just about me, the work, the mission and few other things.  He said to tell my mom that she should be very proud of me! :) Well we got transfer news on Saturday and to our surprise my companion is leaving. So I'll be getting a 3rd comp here in Tarkwa. I'm glad to stay in Tarkwa though.

Here is an email Elder Kacher sent to my mom and dad...

(Parker is definitely a man of little word...but Elder Brown's mom was so sweet to share with us Elder Browns letter.  He tells the experience from his perspective and I want Parker to be able to remember some extra details! :)
FROM ELDER BROWN'S LETTER HOME:
On Wednesday we had the mission tour with Elder Kacher of the Quorum of the Seventy. I learned so much from him. The church here in Ghana is struggling a bit. He told us that at the time the saints left Nauvoo they were spiritually stronger then the Ghanaians are right now where the church has been established for 40 years plus. He said that West Africa is the highest baptizing area in the world right now, but that Cape Coast and Ghana in general are the lowest. He said this is partly due to the negative mindsets of missionaries and encouraged us all to stop focusing on ourselves and put our faith in the Lord. When we do this miracles WILL happen! Afterwards President Hillam talked to us about sacrifice and how everything in this church requires some type of sacrifice because the Lord requires it of us. During the mission tour Elder Harris and I noticed that President and Sister Hillam kept looking at us. After lunch Sister Hillam gave us both a note that said Elder Kacher would like to meet with us. I’m not gonna lie, when I read that I started to freak out inside! haha. The interview with Elder Kacher was soooo cool. When I walked into the room I could just feel he was a servant of the Lord. After my interview Elder Harris and I were talking to President Hillam and he told us that before the mission tour had started Elder Kacher asked him to pray to know what two elders and sisters he could meet with. President told us he kept feeling the spirit tell him it should be me and Elder Harris. President then told us how rare and special of an occasion it is to have a one on one interview with a Seventy. It was special indeed!!”

1- Vincent, one of our members who proselytes with us

2- Elder Aluse and Chukuneku, Sarah and Lefe

Quick Hello May 28, 2018

Hey Ma, only have a second just lettin ya know I'm doing good, I'll have to talk to ya next week 

Watch for floating Cars May 21, 2018

Well this week was a good week but not very successful. It wasn't very productive because it rained everyday all day this week. When it rains Ghanaians don't want to do anything so everyone we went to just kept saying "oh come tomorrow", but when we'd come the next day, the same thing, "oh come tomorrow" haha. Because of all the rain it's been flooding really bad. I think we've got more rain this week then an entire year back in Idaho. With all the water cars even start just floating down the road.  I was going to get a picture but we decided we better run for our lives.  Hopefully this next week will be more productive. We haven't had a toilet this entire week either. So we have to walk to the chapel which takes about 20 minutes. They needed to replace it and they took 3 days to do that but it didn't work so there still trying to get it working, so 6 days with no toilet.  Other then that things have been pretty normal. I'm doing great and Elder Aluse and I are getting along great and Ghana....is Ghana.

(Update... it took just over 3 weeks to get the toilet fixed... it was fine though.  That’s just how it is here in Ghana!!!)

Happy Mother's Day! May 13, 2018

We've been looking forward to this day for a long time!  It was so great!  Best mother's day since I became a mother!  We loved seeing his smile.. there wasn't hardly a time that he wasn't just full on smiling.  It was wonderful!!! He's very happy! He would talk with his accent and then we would all laugh and then he would laugh because he realized we're laughing at his accent! The longer we talked the more the accent disappeared.  Some of our favorite things he told us were:

-All the kids said they loved the story he told which is maybe an old wives tale that when a white person would come to Africa they would put gum on his chair so that he would get stuck and have to stay.  The way they say it is... "CHIGNON FOAM OTO" 

And that just means hey white boy you have gum on your bum! Ha ha! They yell that to him all the time! 

Also the word for karma is ... OKYEALL (the KY is pronounced like "chi")

-He said once in a while he will see a white man and think to himself "what is he doing here?"  and then the thinks "oh ya I'm white too!"  He says he has turned black!

-A funny thing he said was that if he talks to a baby it always cries.  He says they always tell him its because his eyes are green but he just tells them "It's ok, I know it's because I'm white and it scares them."  They are mesmerized by his green eyes.  They say "oh my gosh, your eyes are a color!"

-He told us was about how different church is and how they can't have announcements until after the closing prayer in sacrament meeting because they all start to chatter about the announcements and will holler their comments and want to ask questions to the Bishopric so they do it after so they can do that appropriately.  He also said it is not rude to just answer your phone right in the middle of a church meeting.  The people just talk a little quieter on the phone or sometimes they don't. ha ha

-Another thing we loved  that he shared was that he said for anyone who is preparing to serve a mission that it would be well worth their time to study and really get to know the Book of Mormon because it really is what you need to know to be able to teach people.  It is really the difference between our church and other churches.  They are already very Christian and a religious people so you need to know the Book of Mormon so you can help them see what more we have in our Gospel. 

One thing Ashlyn loved was that she asked him if he has finished the Book of Mormon again since he got there and he said he's already read it 3 times, the New Testament  once and is working on the Old Testament.  She was pretty impressed! 

-He said he loves all the food there,  it's just all the food that he loves that is not there that he misses. :)

We loved every minute and look forward to Christmas when we can see that cute smile again!

It's my Birthday! May 7, 2018

First of all, Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes.  It was awesome to get a whole bunch of emails.  It's been a good day! It also marks my 8 months exactly.  I have grown a lot, it's hard to describe how but I've grown and I know the mission is really helping me.  I know the scriptures so much more and I have really learned a lot about being self reliant.  How do I keep going day to day?  I don't know I just get up and go do it.  I really do enjoy proselyting. 

Not a lot of different things happened this week, just the usual. I really like Elder Aluse, my new comp. He is really a cool guy.  The area is picking up again.  We have 7 new investigators. I hope everyone is doing good back home.  

I just got a hair cut and it is really short.

New Comp- Elder Aluse April 30, 2018

Hey! this was a good week. I got my new companion Elder Aluse from Kenya. He's a super cool guy and turns out he is one of the best rugby players in Kenya. He played for Kenya's national team. He's been out about 17 months.  He speaks great English but his native language is the Lion king language, hakuna matata language ha ha, it's called Swahili. He is a convert of 2013. 
We got Collins confirmed this week so he's officially a member and is super exited. We also had our branch conference this week and President Hillam, our mission president, gave a good talk on applying ministering in our branches. Other then that it's been a normal week of walking a lot in the heat.

Little Collins and a little golf April 23, 2018

 I can't believe it but its been another transfer. Piutau has  been transfered which is what we were hoping wouldn't happen but it's the Lord that chooses. So I'm excited to get a new comp and Piutau’s exited to go to a new area. This morning me, Jeppson, and Brown all went golfing and it was alot of fun. Never did I ever think I'd be golfing in Africa surrounded by jungle on my mission haha.

 We also had a baptism yesterday. He's a young boy named Collins. Collins is 10 and we’ve taught him since the 1st day I was here in Tarkwa and we never took him serious because he's small and no one in his family are members so no support but he came to church 17 weeks in a row so we decided to baptize him. He's funny and likes black panther. 

He's super excited and loves the church. He was happy he finally got baptized. Other then that its been a good week and I'm doing great. 

A little under the weather! April 14, 2018

Well, this week started out with me feeling sick from some unsanitary food. So Tuesday we didn't get tons done. Wednesday was better but still not feeling great. Thursday we had a combined 3 zone zone conference in Takoradi. I ate for the 1st time since Sunday there and that night I had the worse runny tummy of my life. I felt a little better on friday but still didn't eat. On saturday we had the adult and priesthood sessions of our Tarkwa District conference. After Me, Piutau, Brown, and Tupola went to a the golf clubhouse restaurant again and ate some really good food. I luckily was feeling better. On Sunday we went right back down to Takoradi for the general session of our District conference. So it was a lot of traveling. I'm feeling better now though. Not to scare you Mom, but it's crazy to be a missionary and not get worms.  Everything out here is prepared unsanitary!

strike a pose

 me and Elder Massaquoi

 Elder Piutua, that is a popsicle stick not a cigar ha

Elder massaquoi napping on the couch

Conference April 3, 2018

Well I can't believe it but I've already had my second  General Conference on my mission. We watched the Saturday morning session Saturday night just the missionaries at the internet cafe. When they did the solemn assembly all of us stood up in the cafe and raised our hands it was kinda funny. Then on Sunday we watched the Saturday afternoon Priesthood session, and Sunday morning back to back, so it was along 6 hours. It was cool to see things changed up but it was weird not to see Pres Monson. Easter here has been crazy. In Ghana they celebrate Easter for 4 days straight. And it celebrated by going to church in the morning for like 7 hours then getting drunk all night. All night we can here all the churches dancing and speaking in tongues haha. So it was a pretty good week. 

This is Elder Brown .. his mom sent my mom part of his email this week and my mom wanted to save it for me..... 

I wanted to share part of  Matthew’s (Elder Brown’s) letter this week with you. He couldn’t say enough about how much he and Elder Harris get along. He sees them being life long friends. 😊

 What an awesome week we had here in Tarkwa!!! The week started off on Wednesday when E. Harris and I were on exchange. Since E. Tupola is the DL he likes to go on exchanges everyweek. Let me tell you a little about E. Harris. So E. Harris and I came to Ghana together from the states. We didnt really know each other all that much when we were in the MTC. It wasn't until we were taking the bus from Accra to Cape Coast that we became really good friends. E. Harris is a farm boy from Idaho and is such a nice guy! He loves to hunt and  spend time out doors. On Wednesday he came to my area and I still didn't know it all that well and didn't really know were any of the investigators lived yet. So we spent the day just mostly walking in the rain and just laughing and having a good time. We did teach a lesson though to one of our investigators. His name was Timothy and we taught him about Prophets. He refused to pray about Russel M. Nelson being a prophet. He just wanted us to tell him who a false prophet was and who wasn't. I was a little worried about E. Harris and I teaching because I was unsure how it would go. It turned out that E. Harris and I can teach really well together. We knew exactly when to switch off and when the other one was ending. We were able to have the spirit there (the spirit was so strong) and we were able to resolve Timothy's concerns. That was easily the best lesson that I sat in since being here in Ghana because the Spirit that was felt there was so intense. I hope Timothy will pray and find out the truth. And I hope me and E. Harris will be companions at some point.

This is a make shift bridge to walk over a swampy area

Here’s our chapel when we were getting ready to watch conference.

Fish Hatchery Service Project March 26, 2018

Well it's been a good week. We still haven't got our water fixed but the work is moving on. On Saturday we went to do a service project for a man named Brother French. We went to his fish hatchery where he grows catfish and tilapia. He's a super rich guy and owns like 200 acres and calls it Zion's Camp. Well we spent all day building a lookout over one of his ponds. It was a lot of fun and after we ate some really good rice that his wife made. Other then that its been a normal week. 
                             

 Elder Howard, Me and Elder Brown

 Elder Howard (from Utah), Elder Tupala (from Utah)D.L., and me

 Elder Piutua