Its good to get some letters :)

Email sent 29 Nov 2009

Ya sorry about last week! we came early to the cafe because we were playing the Assin Fosu zone in a football match.. and yes we did beat them! and i even scored a goal it was way sweet! im just getting better and better at football! im thinking about going pro when i come home... jk

But ya about last week after i sent you guys the email i kept refreshing the page to see if you guys would send me something and it wasn't until i had like five minutes left at the cafe when they loaded :( so what i did was a took pictures of the email and brought those back to the apartment so i could read it! ill be answering some of the questions from that email today, but i wrote you guys a letter that ill be sending today and it should probably get to you in about two weeks or so! hopefully you guys can read it because i wrote as small as humanly possible to fit all of it onto one page! i was actually pretty proud of myself when i finished it! lol

Ok so this week i am gonna make up for my really crappy letter that i wrote to you guys last week. i was sad i didn't get a letter so i kinda wrote a crappy one to tell you guys i was mad, then i felt way bad after i recieved your guys emails and i didn't have time to write you back but oh well! So you asked what i took money out for and i took the money out because i wanted to buy a new thing of luggage. So i did, i bought a new luggage thing for 25 citis which is like 17 bucks! It's a little smaller than my big luggage so its way sweet and im glad that i finally got it! I don't know how or if you guys are looking to see if you find any good camera's or anything, but i was looking last week at prices and stuff and asking to see how much they costed. For what i think would be a 180 dollar camera in the US it costed 450 citi's so i think that if we are gonna get a camera it would definitely have to be bought in the US because the electronics here are so freaking expensive!

You asked about how pouch mail works, well what we do is we write the letter and then we give it to our zone leaders. The zone leaders then give that letter to President Sabey and then President sabey puts that letter in a package that gets sent to America, once there they just regularly mail the letter in the normal post, so for in state mission you don't need pouch addresses or anything, i hope that makes sense, its kinda confusing though.

So this week has been kinda crazy, it all started last sunday when our power went out... Our power was out for 4 days straight and we had no lights or anything so that really stunk when we came back at night and there was no way to see, or to have a fan to cool us off. Then on wednesday the power came back on, but only too half of our apartment, and the half that didn't have power was my room, so we still didn't have lights or fans in my room. We went to the electricity company trying to figure out this problem and they had to send a guy out to fix it... well the guys didn't end up coming out till tomorrow, so i went a whole week without any power whatsoever! but it is all back now and i am so thankful for that! You also asked about how the clothes washing was going.. It really isnt that bad! I always dread doing it, but when i am actually doing it i kind of get into a zone and just scrub my little heart out! LOL but ya i usually wash monday after i get back from football and just knock it out. My hands never really get raw or anything when i do it,maybe i just have really strong hands or something. But now i really do see what a blessing having a washing machine is, and maybe when i come home ill actually help with doing the wash :) lol ok i will definitely help with the wash when i come home! The sun really hasn't been a problem either.. except for the days that i forget to put on sunscreen at the start of the day and that has only happened like twice! When that happened though i got sunburnt really bad on my face, but that was a long time ago and im all better now! So as long as i continue using sunscreen i will be fine! I'm actually starting to wane myself off of sunscreen so one day if it is more cloudy i won't wear it so im working up a nice little base so that i won't have to wear it anymore in like a year or something! lol

So now about the week, it wasn't a too exciting week, we had a little thanksgiving feast on thursday with our district which was sweet! We all went to the sekondi chapel and brought food, for me i had fufu for thanksgiving and it was way good! Fufu looks kinda like mashed potatoes and the soup kinda looks like gravy so it actually did feel like Thanksgiving, and then after we ate we went around the table and told 3 things we were thankful for. Then last night we had another kinda thanksgiving feast! Elder Whaikawa (a guy from New Zealand) is going home today so he made a huge feast for the 4 elders in his apartment and the 4 in ours! it was way sweet and we just got to have a nice time there eating some really good rice and stew with all of them and it was really fun!

So some things about Ghana that are really funny. Alot of the really little kids have never seen a white person before so when they see us for the first time they freak out! They start bawling there eyes out and stuff like that and they won't let me come near them without them screaming louder and louder! Ha so that is when you just run at them and give them a huge hug! LOL and as they are screaming they then just realize that your a normal person it is really funny to see and it probably happens 3 times a week. Also another thing about mission that i always pictured different is the setting in which we have our lessons. When i always thought about mission i always pictured teaching lessons in a very reverent and quiet room where we can here each other and don't have to speak loudly to be heard... well i would say that Ghana is the complete opposite of that. almost all of the lessons we teach are outside sitting on these puny little stools that they use, and there is usually a woman breast feeding or like thirty kids that yell "o brunie" during the lesson. So its not the most reverent of places... at all! but i really do love it and the people are so receptive and willing to hear the gospel which is pretty sweeet!

I am playing the piano every sunday in our ward for all the hymns and that is working out really good... for the most part. The Ghanaians sing most of the songs right and so when i play them it isnt a problem, but there are a select few songs so far that i have played and the people sing it either way to slow, or way to incredibly fast so i have to adjust really quickly to whatever crazy way they are singing it.. its frustrating, but eventually ill teach them!

On a more sad note my watch band broke :( i am very sad because i haven't not worn a watch since 8th grade and i feel really weird not knowing the time at all times so if you guys haven't sent my christmas package yet that is the one thing right now that i would say i really want! Not just any old watch though.. the same kind that i have had before! The Ironman Triathlon Timex watch, with the rubber wristband because those are the best watches ever and im really needing one!

Packages if its a flat rate package usually takes about 3 weeks to get here, so yours that you sent should be coming soon!!! but if you are like sending a box or something those can take anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 or 7 weeks, just for future reference!

Brandy,

I can't believe footlocker is already this week! that was always one of the best trips and most fun races of the year! i really do love that course! just remember one thing before the start of the race.. DO NOT go out too fast! the first mile is all flat so everyone will be running and gunning from the start, but you need to make sure to stay relaxed and not go out too fast so that once the hills come you can dominate and have a blazing finish! Also remember one more thing, once you get onto the track you have only 250 meters left and you need to be sprinting full out as fast as you can. Even if it hurts terribly bad you will feel so good after the race after doing that, and then you won't have something to regret for the rest of the whole next year. That little sprint will also help you pass about 10 people and that could be the difference between medalling and not so just remember to go for it :) You'll do great i know! Elder Hill and i are very glad that you liked the Middle Distance Runner song, he says that you should look up the whole album, its called Leaves in the River! so do it! I hope you have fun at Footlocker!

Dad,

Seriously one of these days you have to get a whole in one! you are way close every single time that we go golfing so one of these days it has to fall right! i know it will, i just hope that im there to see it! Also im very glad that BYU won! that sounds like a crazy intense game! If you are reading books about Ghana you should check out one called Walking in the Sand! Its about how the church came to ghana and sort of the beginning of everything, plus i met the guy that wrote that book so that is pretty cool as well! I hear it is very good!

Thanks for sending all of the addresses and stuff! i hope you guys have a great week!

Love,

Quinton - squanto