Quinton's sister, Melinda, is on a mission too!!!

Texas McAllen Spanish speaking - See her blog at www.melindasmission.blogspot.com

Monday, October 26, 2009

me ma mo a ha

Email sent 25 Oct 2009

I think that that (or something like that) means good afternoon in fante! haha Im way glad you guys got to go to Elder Hursts homecoming! im sure it was a good talk because he was a good missionary... most of the time ;) lol jk I am glad that you guys enjoyed all of your Christmas presents... i tried to think of things that you guys would like and also things that would be not to expensive for me to buy! so its a good thing you guys liked it otherwise i would have been sad.

So mom you really don't have to be worried about anything, ha the beach is a totally legit beach and it is fine for bare feet. and the reason i look soaking wet in the pictures is because i went for a swim right before :) just kidding, we had been playing ultimate frisbee and it is really hot and humid so i sweat really bad, and so that is all sweat and pretty much no ocean water! yes we can play with face cards haha we play hearts and stuff sometimes at the end of the day just for fun. Surprisingly i dont get any food on my clothes but i do always make a pretty good mess of my hands and sometimes face! I have seen some small results but really most of the stuff i see is what you guys send me so keep the results coming, its nice to know what is happening out there in that world! haha

At first we had six in our apartment Elder Hancey and Musetsi, Elder Hill and Elder Jackson, and me and Hurst. Hancey and Jackson were both in the MTC with me and we are really good friends and we get along well! Now in the apartment we only have 4, Elder Jackson and Elder Hill are still there, and then me and Elder Joseph. Elder Joseph is a really cool guy. he has only been out about 4 months now so we are both pretty new on mission so it is a totally different feeling then when i had elder hurst there to make all of the decisions. In alot of ways right now i feel like i am actually training Elder Joseph because he is new to the area and i have to show him where everything is and were our investigators are and stuff like that. Its kinda hard but it is a total different experience and i am already learning alot from it. So Nigerians.. did i tell you it was hard to understand my companion in the MTC.. well with elder Joseph it is the same way, but i am working on it and i can understand him more and more everyday so everything will be fine. Elder Hancey moved to the new apartment that is close to where ours is, and then he got a new companion and 2 others came. so that apartment has Hancey and his new companion Elder Smith, and then Elder Whaikawaa from New Zealand and he is training a new Elder named Russel! so its cool now that we are not the youngest in the mission anymore and we are actually getting pretty old! lol

So this week has been lots of showing joseph around to all of our investigators and stuff but here are some cool things about it. The ping pong table you guys saw the picture of is pretty sweet, and we get to play pretty often. none of the tables that we play on are the actual size of a standard ping pong table, they are alot smaller so that is hard to get used to. and sometimes the paddle we use is just a block of wood! lol its really interesting. Just two days ago i played on a table that was about 2 and a half feet long! the kids here are really good too, but i can still lay the smack down on them! Thanks dad for teaching me the ways of the ping pong! Do you have any idea though how hard it is to correct for wind when playing ping pong? its SOOOOOooo hard. the kid could hit the ball way off the table and then a gust of wind will hit the ball and it will fly back onto the table! and you just have to play it.. its way funny and makes the game alot harder and interesting! you guys should try playing on our kitchen table sometime outside and you will know how i feel!

Me and Elder Jackson cut each others hair on Saturday, and we cut it pretty short! cuz i guess that is the thing to do.. when in Ghana do as the Ghanaians. Ha so we cut it to a two and its really short, but now my head doesnt sweat as much so that is really nice! now i have to put sunscreen on my scalp though otherwise i think it will get roasted like a pig in the Tongan islands!

With this new group of missionaries that have just come from the MTC there is one of them named Elder Holmes, i don't know him, but apperently he is from South Jordan.. small world huh? lol but he went to Copper Hills so thats probably why i don't know him, but its just cool that its so close to where i live!

Brandy!

good job at state i am proud of you and your team! you ran really fast, but i still think i can run faster :)... maybe! That stinks that barnes is quitting because he was a really good coach. The 12 hour run sounds a ton less intense and way less fun then the 24 hour run! SOrryy! ha but im sure you will get over it!

Dad,

first of all when i get back from mission im gonna dominate you at ping pong :) ha and you will have to reteach me how to golf because i have already forgotten! but plus 3 isnt bad! and i am glad that your back is getting better. You will have to keep me up to date on if anything cool happens in the sports world! like how tiger is doing, or the jazz and stuff like that!

I do play the keyboard at church now, and i definitely try not to play in slow motion because i seriously hate when people do that! so now that you say that you are a bad typer i think that you will be able to have lots of practice in these next 22 months so then by the time i get home you'll be a typing wizz! you can have mom set up Mario teaches typing for you like we did when we were like 10 if you want ;) ha

thanks for the letters and enjoy your christmas in October!

I love you,

Quinton

Sunday, October 25, 2009

First Two Months (pictures)



President and Sister Sabey



Trip to the Accra Ghana Temple









He still finds a way to practice his ping pong skills half way around the world.



Top:  family vacation before Quinton left on his mission
Bottom:  Cape Coast Castle, Ghana
He really likes this pose.


This is what he eats...with his hands.





Three South Jordan natives running into each other in Cape Coast, Ghana.
Elder Petersen, Lanaya Wallace, and Elder Hurst





Temple trip - Accra Ghana Temple



P-day at the Cape Coast beach



Reinactment of the Beatles Abbey Road Album



Elder Petersen, Elder Hurst, Elder Hill, Elder Jackson

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Email to Grandma Faye

Email sent 19 Sep 2009

Grandma!
Im glad you are learning how to use the email! and yes it is able to come all the way over to me in Ghana! I am glad you are enjoying the letters, this is really the greatest experience anyone could ever ask for! I love you and can't wait to hear from you more
Love
Quinton

Monday, October 19, 2009

Another Day

Email sent 19 Oct 2009

So im just still living out in Ghana...
This week was somewhat boring/depressing. With Elder Hurst going home we had to do lots of things to get him ready to go home and stuff so i have been thinking of when my time will be to go home and it seems so far away! lol Everyone says that living with someone that is going home makes the time go by alot slower, but it really hasnt been bad at all because we have just been out working and doing things that usually keep our minds off of all of that stuff! We had the baptism this week. This time i actually got to perform the baptism so that was a pretty cool experience! We only got to baptise 2 of the 4 that we were going to baptize because one of them didnt show up (this is now her 4th baptismal date that she has not showed up for) so that is really frustrating! lol and then the most frustrating of all was this kid named Albert he has been wanting to be baptised for some time, but his parents wont allow him too. It is very sad to see him feel bad because he is not able to be baptized but i know that eventually he will be! We have a very big strong group of kids in our ward that have just been baptized recently and he is part of them, minus the being baptized part, and they come to church every week, and do all of the things that they are supposed to so its sad to see when someone wants to be baptized so bad, but they are not able too. But we at least got to baptize two of them, they were 16 and 17 years old and they are awesome kids and you can really tell that they are going to be strong in the church!

Im glad that you guys have had a good Anniversary/Birthday! sorry i couldn't be there, but i was busy being on the other side of the world! Its crazy that ive already been out for almost two months! It really has gone by way fast, and if the rest of it goes by this fast mission will just fly by and ill be home before you know it! but as you said i may not even want to come home after! lol I see from watching Elder Hurst as he is going home it is a very bittersweet thing for him, because he is very happy to go home and see his family and everything, but also he is sad to leave Ghana and all the things he has come to love about this country. In his own words he says "It's like im leaving my second home" So Ghana really does become home to you after you get to all the really weird things about it, such as people peeing on the side of the street, Roosters crowing constantly from 2 in the morning and all the way throughout the day and just little funny things like that. I think i am already over the initial shock of being like, holy crap this is all so weird and foreign to me. Now its pretty much just normal everyday life! ...But its not America obviously LOL

Brandy! good job at region, and good luck at state! i hope you guys do great and run really fast! I am sending my letter to you back with Elder Hurst along with a couple other things, so you guys can get that from him! I'm sure you will all be excited for that! Im glad that you dominated bowling on your date! even though those aren't the best scores! I have taught you well, and you don't have to pretend to stink just cuz youre a girl :) you can go out and bowl 200's if you want! LOL

When i went for a run, we probably went like two miles, it was just me and another Elder in my apartment named Elder Hancey, we probably were going super super slow, but it was fun just to get out and run some.. we got a bunch of weird looks though, two totally white Obrunei's running through Africa, i can imagine it would look weird.

My guitar is an accoustic guitar. Me and Elder Jackson got the same kind.. It's brand is givson, so its just some knock off brand and i got it for 60 citi's so not bad. Im learning some small things on it and slowly getting better, its cool though!

Im pretty sure that i got all of the letters that you guys have mailed me! but i don't really remember when i got them! sorry, lol but i did get brandy's letter on Wednesday so that took about 14 days or a little bit more.

I will be getting a new companion on Wednesday, i am not sure whether i will stay in my same apartment or go somewhere else. We will be getting transfer calls tonight actually and President Sabey will tell us whats happening and where were going! Im actually kinda nervous to find out who im gonna be with and if im gonna be going or staying.. It's like im a little kid right before Christmas and im not sure whether im gonna get an Xbox or im gonna get some coal or something stupid like that! ha but i guess that is how it always feels. Westley is leaving today to go up to Cape Coast with all of the other ones that are leaving, so i will be paired with Elder Hancey for a day, because his companion is also leaving! With all these tons of new missionaries it is very likely that i could be training one transfer from now! that would be crazy and i don't feel prepared at all for that, but if it happens i will be ready, and i think it would be really fun and a very good experience to have to train some new little greenies!

Tell Travis good luck on his farewell talk for me! and also tell him to stop being lazy and write me so i can know his address for when he leaves so we can keep in touch on our missions!

All of the American elders that came with me on the plane all went to the Cape Coast Mission, so we all got really close and are all very good friends and enjoy seeing each other at Conferences and things. Elder Mackay was in my MTC group, he's a way cool kid so thats funny that your reading his blog! ya and Elder Carton i have met a couple times and talked to him and stuff.

As for the dead guy i have no idea what became of him... its kinda freaky cuz he is not there anymore so we don't know if he died again or just got up and walked away somewhere. Whatever happened it was just weird that he pretty much came back from the dead right as we were watching him... Pretty nuts stuff lol. we were too scared to even get close to him so we just hopped on a trotro, so we were probably the bad samaritans, but really what would you have done? gone up and talk to the zombie guy that just came back to life? i think not!

On a lighter note the mission goals are going good, and me and my companion have completed our goal of learning 80% of the peoples in our wards names, going to 15 members houses, and doing five service projects! It really helped us get to know the members better and through that we will be able to get many more referalls and help from the ward!

So thats all for now.. be nice to Wes when he gets home and don't just bombard him with questions... I'm sure if you feed him dinner he will open up alot more :) lol

This is Elder Quinton Petersen signing off

Good luck and good night!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Happy Anniversary! and Happy Birthday Mom!!

Email sent 12 Oct 2009

I actually remembered those things this time around! haha so i hope that you guys did have a sweet aniversary and i hope you have a happy birthday!! The maps of Ghana are never really that reliable, Kojokrom is seriously about 5-10 mile from Takoradi, but it takes about a half hour to get there because traffic is always really bad. We live about 200m from the big road that we take to Takoradi, so we just wake up in the morning and then hop on a tro tro!
I have 4 baptisms next week! its gonna be sweet we have been teaching these couple people and we gave them the baptismal date! it will be cool because i think i will be performing the baptism this time, and it will also be Elder Hurst's last baptism of his mission so its exciting stuff! We are going to the beach again today with the whole Takoradi zone ( about 22 elder's) to play ultimate frisbee!! Its so much fun i love it. Oh and PS i bought a guitar last week! ha i am learning all the different chords and stuff now so im going to be an accomplished musician when i come home!! ...hopefully

The area authority is coming to give a talk to our whole mission on wednesday, so we are pretty excited for that, we are headed up to Cape Coast for the day so he will give us some instruction and we'll be able to see alot of the kids that i went through the MTC with! This is the last week of Elder Hursts mission so it is really hectic because we have so many things going on at one time, we are teaching tons of lessons, we have to go to cape coast, we have a baptism, and tons of other stuff so it really does feel like the days fly by, but we are having fun and doing the things we need to be doing! It really is a great experience!

So its story time now.. Yesterday two of the Elder's in our apartment (Hancey and Musetsi) came home last night sorta freaked out. They told us this story, they were riding there bikes on the road and as they were going they looked to the left and what did they see? There was a dead guy just laying in the gutter! :S They said he had had part of his calf ripped out or something and he was just laying there dead... And that's not even the weird part at all! So today right before we went to grab a tro tro we walked past were they said that the guy was laying, and he was still just laying there seemingly dead... then right as we were leaving he somehow started moving.. he moved his arms and then sat up! it was really creepy because literally he should be dead with how bad his wound was and stuff... it was nuts! the guy is kinda like this homeless crazy guy that walks around all the time and is just crazy, we don't know what happened but its really weird lol.

Brandy! Good luck in region, i know you will kick some butt! and i haven't gotten your letter yet, but hopefully i will on wednesday and ill be sure to write you back!

I would much apprecieate lots of skittles, and tons and tons of pictures :) pictures of our house, of us, of me and my friends from facebook, of anything really.. cuz it is just really cool to be able to look at them at the end of the day, and also to show each other different pictures and stuff! Those little photo albums that Austen's parents gave to me are great so you could just send alot of those or something!

You pretty much know when you have malaria because you have the symptoms, it's alot like saying you have a cold in the US, its just really common. But the symptoms i had was diareea (spelled that wrong) fever, aches, and dizzyness. But is was lucky to not have a bad case of it!

We walk everywhere.. ha i would say that we walk about 4-5 miles a day, somewhere around there. so im staying in pretty good shape.. somehow. Our apartment is gonna go running tomorrow morning so im looking forward to that!

Im becoming pretty good at cooking some things, the thing i really like to make is a make spaghetti, and cut up some hot dogs really small in the spaghetti, then i drain the water and i put oil in the bottom of the pot and kinda fry the spaghetti, and put soy sauce on it... it sounds weird but it kinda makes chow mein noodles. And i came up with doing that myself! lol I have 3 macaroni boxes left, those are like my treasures that i only use on special occasions... but i am now out of peanut butter :( yes its a sad day i know!

I hope you guys are doing well! tell Justin hi for me, and that i hope everything goes well!

I love you,
Quinton

Monday, October 5, 2009

Sup homies!

Email Sent 5 Oct 2009

Ha so Brandy got in a car wreck! Lol the first one in the family :). But im glad she is ok and that it wasn’t her fault! Brandy you really are doing incredible at running! And I will talk to you more about that when I write you back from your letter!
This week was pretty sweet though. Our mission is working on getting to know the members of our wards better so we are trying to learn all of the names of the people in our wards, and find out where they live so we can have referalls and stuff from them. We are also doing service projects for them and just trying to get to know them better, and it seems to really be helping as we help them they will give us people to teach. It’s very nice! We actually got the oppurtinity this week to go to the Temple! We had a temple trip for our whole mission. So my zone went on Wednesday and everyone was way excited! Then I woke up Wednesday morning, and guess what? I had malaria! Fun stuff lol. It wasn’t a bad case of it and I just went to the temple anyways because I really wanted to go. So I have been taking the medicine and stuff and I was pretty much better the next day. Im just dreading if I ever get a bad case, because they say it will just put you on your bed for like 3 days straight. But for now I am totally good!
It’s crazy that its already snowing back home! Elder Hurst is gonna freeze when he gets back because he is so used to all this hot stuff. I will take a look at the blog thing that you put up and see it, but its not like ill need to be checking it because it is me saying the things on it lol. Yes I am wearing my retainers, my contacts are fine also!
I actually already got my line of authority thing so thank you for that! We actually don’t get to watch general conference at the same time as you guys :( which really stinks, but in about a month or something then we will have the chance to watch it!
We are planning another baptism for October 17 where we hope to have at least 1 but hopefully 5 people baptized! So that should be fun! We are going right after this to play football with the Cape Coast zone! It’s about a 1 hour drive from cape coast to Takoradi so they are coming down here and were gonna play on our really nice grass field at the stake center!
Dad I hope your back gets better, ill pray for you and hopefully it will get better, because I know all to well how bad being injured is! Tell brandy not to stink at driving too :)

That’s all for now, keep the questions coming so I have lots of stuff to write about!

I love you guys!!

Quinton