April 24, 2023
Subject: Dublin Street
You know that feeling when you on the beach, or at the pool. You in your swimsuit and you can feel your skin changing due to the sun being so hot. Your happy because now you will be tan for a few more days while your mom is mad because she is sure skin cancer will most definitely kill you. And then you have to use the excuse of putting on sunscreen a few hours ago. Well, that is how I have felt the last month or so. Except due to being a full time missionary I'll change some things.
You know that feeling when you're walking on the dirt path they call a road or by the stagnant water that is breeding more than mosquitos. You're in pants and a button up shirt with a tie that is cutting off any air flow. You have been walking for hours and you can feel your skin changing due to the sun being so hot and being in what I would say is the hottest country in the world. You're not as happy because you don't have a pool or an ocean go jump into, but you do have a nice bucket shower waiting for you in 9 hours. Your mom is still telling you to put on sunscreen but now you have a much better excuse of "I didn't bring any" and "I live with a bunch of Africans so they definitely won't have any."
For the past month it has been hotter than I enjoy. Most days it will say feels like 100-103 and then we go out in it all day. And I'm not sure how often I've been burned in this area but before I came to Zenu New York I could only remember being burned 3 or 4 times my whole mission. My companion was born in Liberia and lived their for a lot of his younger life and then around 14 moved to his home country Sierra Leone. And apparently even though we are all in West Africa their sun can't even come close to the Ghana son. In the words of Elder Brima "Ghana so so Sun"
Ghana is a developing country. And this past week in my area I saw some of it happen first hand. We don't have street signs or addresses for houses. Some houses have a "digital address" written in coal or chalk. But this week they started putting up signs on houses to show what street they are on and the address of the house. Only one issue is if you go to one street it is called Dublin and if you go up 5 more streets it's also called Dublin and all the streets in between. We've also seen 3 different names of the same street within a 3 minute walk. So progress... kinda? I can imagine in a few years people asking for directions going something along the lines of "go down Dublin and take a right on Dublin then pass the big tree and take a left on Dublin and you will see the house. If you reach Dublin Street you've passed the house and gone too far."
This week we were teaching one of our newer friends the end of the Plan of salvation. Her English isn't great, and she has her 8 or 9 year old son sit by her to help her say a few English words. She can read her language but she can't read English so it makes it a little challenging to teach because we don't have the language connection as much as we would like. While teaching her about the spirit world, resurrection, judgment, and the kingdoms of glory. I had some doubts creep into my head on how because we can't communicate wonderfully with her, she won't understand. Especially this topic being so much more than just death straight to heaven or straight to hell. So we tried to explain the plan as best as we could how after death we will go to the spirit world and either end up in paradise or prison. We explained how the spirit prison was a place of learning for those who weren't able to receive the truth in this wordly life.
1 Peter 3:19
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
1 Peter 4:6
For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
We then talked about the kingdoms of Glory.
1 Corinthians 15:40-42
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:
John 14:2
In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Now keep in mind we didn't read these scriptures to help the understanding, but we did as best as we could talk with her about them. When we asked if she had any thoughts or questions about what we had shared she explained what she understood and even with her lack of English and our lack of her native language that I can't even spell. She was able to understand it all through the language we all hear. The language of the Spirit. And a scripture flashed in my head about how people will hear the language in their own tongue.
D&C 90:11
11 For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fullness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ.
I know that the power of the holy ghost is what helped her understand so well what Elder Brima and I thought we could teach her. But it is the Holy Ghost that will do the heavy lifting.
Elder Gwilliam
Elder Busschau
