Buckets of Water

Today at 6:48 AM

Its tradition in Ghana that when its your birthday you get buckets of water poured on you. For mine, I was pretty lucky. 2 of the elders in the apartment tried to get me but they missed. So the start of the day was pretty good. We baked a cake, sang happy birthday, the power was out all morning and as I blew out the candles and wished it to come back on, it did!!! Boko! After that I went on splits for the day with Elder Hartling in Apremdo. We enjoyed, he has a sweet area. He told everyone it was my birthday, trying to get them to pour water on me but we got dashed malt instead, and some lady we didn't even know, who didn't speak English said happy birthday as well! After a sweet day we started walking home when the power went out again. So.. we went to a resturaunt called Sizzlers (with a generator) and got pizza. They dashed us a bottle of sparkling cider and then they poured water on me. The Julanders came over that night and even sang a happy birthday for me!

The Julanders also did a black and white jazz concert at the stake center. I thought it was pretty weird, but Ishmael came dressed super nice with his date who I had never met before! He didn't tell her where they were going until they got there haha. But she enjoyed it and so did he. It was a sweet night.

Aaron bore his testimony at sacrament meeting this week about his baptism and the joy he felt during and after his baptism. It was half half fante english but it was still powerful.

This week was a lot of fun and flew by pretty fast. We have been working a lot better with the members. Sister Yalley is about to have a baby and was mad at me cause I predicted she would have it on Friday. But she said she would still name the baby after me!!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! Love you!

Elder Darren Hodges

Letters from November (and a few more)

Offisiapaa, ef fim kote bien
December 1, 2014

Transfers made the whole week feel really weird. I got my new companion Elder Cole on Wednesday afternoon. 3 Elders from our apartment left, so it was just me and Elder Hartling together all morning. The apartment was really quiet and weird. We cleaned everything and went to Assakae to see a few investigators. We went to the station to pick them up and all took a taxi home. Elder Cole is a sweet guy, he is from Salt Lake City, Utah. Pretty sweet. We are enjoying and getting a lot of work done! We haven't been in Assakae for the last few days before transfers because my comp was packing but we are getting everything back up and going!!

Elder Hartling got a new companion from South africa named Elder Meleni.

Our investigators are doing great! We had a baptism for Aaron on Sunday and it was the best! He asked Elder Gqweta to baptize him and everything thing went well. A lot of members piled into a trotro and we all went together for the baptism!!

Ishmael is doing great as well. He is still just being a boss and understanding everything we teach him! We also finally found a French Book of Mormon for Esther. Elder Cole said he had some in his old apartment so they are pouching them to us!

Thanksgiving, we had monkey bread and tried to make pumpkin pie! so good!!!

 

Me Elder Cole and Aaron

 

 

Elder Gqweta and Aaron

 

 

 

kente (Fabric store)

 

President Agana going to the baptism.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!
November 24,2014
Yesterday, after a sweet stake conference (that was just for Africa) we went to see Ishamel. He is doing super well, hopefully everything will go smooth for his baptism in the next couple weeks. He couldn't come to church with us on Sunday because of work, so he asked if he could come to the Saturday session of stake conference. He sat through the preisthood session and the adult session for 5 hours!! He is such a boss! The night before he didn't sleep too because he had work!

Aaron was at stake conference with us yesterday and a few more investigators. He is doing great too and will be interviewed this week for his baptism. He is a super sweet guy and has changed a lot in these past few months! The whole reason he is in the church is because of his friend Isaac who has been a great example to him!

Stake conference was powerful!!! It was held just for Africa and they talked a lot about things that we could work on. It was super powerful, the best stake conference I've had. Elder Bednar and Pres. Utchdorf both spoke along with a couple other people. They all talked about--no more bride price (people paying the parents for their wife), Not aspiring to positions, hastening the work, doing things the Lords way, the children are the future (so the parents have to raise them in righteousness), Ebola, Tithing, and not doing any big weddings and funerals. People here t hrowhuge parties and go into serious debt just for weddings and funerals. One thing President Utchdorf said was if any one could come to Africa just for one Sunday, see their faith and the people they are, it wold change their life and their testimony for so much better. The stake center is huge, the size of a normal one and was literally packed 20 minutes before the program started... Africa is awesome.

 

Transfer news came this week. I'm staying and getting Elder Cole. I have no clue who that is but I'm excited for the change. Today we had cinnamon rolls at the Julanders and watched Forever Strong! my favorite movie!!! So, I'm kinda hyped up cause of a lot of sugar and watching a sweet movie.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Elder Hodges

Yo Akwaaba
November 17, 2014

This week flew by again! We are teaching a new guy named Ishmael and he is sweet! He has come to church twice now and love the church! Plus he is super buff and just stacked on stacks. I really dont know what more to say about him, he is super sweet! One of our investigators (Flora) had eye surgery in Accra the other day and is now in the house for about two weeks. Plus she has to wear these weird sunglasses for about a month. We went to visit her with the Kaitoos the other day and she seems to be doing well. Its like talking to a blind person.. she just looks somehwere else while she talks to you. Everyone else is doing really really good. The members are super powerful as always and helping a lot with the missionary work. Nothing too crazy or different this week.

By the end of the week I'm usually pretty tired. So Monday is always nice to relax small in the morning!! Today we went to Vienna beach to enjoy the ocean breeze, nice warm air, and some football and rugby! We had some tortillas and stew to eat too! Enjoyment!! It was for our zone activity this month and it was a lot of fun! I'm sorry everyone is freezing at home, especially those in Rexburg. But I know you'll be okay. I hope these pictures warm you up! Love you all!

Elder Hodges

 

 

Beach!!

 

The woman sitting behind me on the trotro.

 

 

 

GCCM
November 10, 2014

This week went by super fast and was a whole lot of work. I don't have a lot of time so I'll make it short.

A lot of missionary work, the members are helping us so much and we are getting a lot of work done in the branch. There have been a few late rainstorms. This last week we were in Assakae when it started raining really hard, so we had to take a trotro to get to Kwesimintim in time to Dorcas so we could review the baptismal interview questions with her. By the time we went from the station to her house we were soaked from the rain! So we had a lesson with her, Took off our socks and shoes, put our bags in plastic bags, and walked home in 3 feet of rain puddles. We were soaked by the time we got home.. But it's all because the church is true.

This Sunday we had a baptism for Dorcas with Tenekrom. The Stake President was there and for some reason super happy!! The baptismal service was sweet and the spirit was super strong!!

It was a great week and there is still a lot of work we gotta do this week!

Elder Hodges


Happy Halloween!!!!!!
November 3, 2014

We had a great Halloween here in Ghana!!! its fun to explain to members here exactly what we do for Halloween. Some people just look at us like we are stupid when we explain it though. Others don't believe us!! But to celebrate we had a nice Pumpkin stew that one of the Elders made for us! It was so good! It was a groundnut pumpkin stew! We didn't dress up in costumes. Sorry. 

Speaking of dressing up, I got a wonderful package in the mail from my parents! Thank you! It had the newspaper from FCAD, which was so sweet! And it had a shirt... with batman and robin on it... from the 70's. I love it.

The work here in the village of Assakae is crazy! We have a ton of people to teach and to help come to Christ but it's hard to find time to see everyone and get it all done. But we are working better with planning well and making it work. The members are helping us so much! Aaron and Dorcas are working towards their baptismal dates for the end of this month and its going really well. Then there is  Frostina and another mother named Frostina. One is staying with a member family and the other is a referral from the same family. Frostina can hear English small so we need a translator to help us because my fante is horrible. But she came to church this Sunday in Takoradi for General conference and is doing super well!!!  Flora is another woman who came to church on Sunday with her younger sister with the Kaitoo family and loves the church! Her and Kathrene (a referral from the branch presidents family) both came to church and accepted to be baptized in the first lesson we had with them! Kathrene looked at me half through our lesson and asked " Elder Hodges, I haven't been baptized, can I do that in your church?" so we explained it to her and now she is super excited! We are meeting with her whole family next Sunday! A lot of sweet miracles have been going on in Assakae! A lot of people are just super prepared for the Gospel!

Sunday we had General conference at the stake center!!It was super sweet and powerful! Frostina couldn't understand most of it, but she told me how warm and happy she felt! The church is true!

Love Elder Hodges

 

 

 

Don't want to stain the shirt!

 

Frostina and Isaac

 

Assakae

 

 

 

Elder Gqweta and Kwodwo

 

 

October 27, 2014

 

I really don't know what to say about this week. We had interviews with President Stevenson this week here. It started off the week really fast and since then it just kept flying by. There were a lot of funerals going on in town and Assakae, so there were really a lot of parties. Our mission president has been raising the bar with the work we are doing here and it has been really sweet. It's forcing a lot of the Elders to stretch and work a lot harder. Its so nice to see the mission continually getting better and better. 

This week after talking to Elder julander, one of the senior couple missionaries, I was thinking a lot about goals and governing values. A few weeks ago he gave an instruction on setting values in our lives, things that we will live by that are eternal. And then setting long term goals to live by them and or develope them. Then to set short term goal, yearly and monthly goals. Then to take those goals and make daily and weekly plans to work towards them. The only thing is picking governing values to live by. Its pretty deep. But thats been on my mind this week along with a lot of work o do in Asskakae. The members there bring friends to church! what more could a missionary ask for?!

Love you all

Elder Darren Hodges

 

waiting for an appointment with Coby and Kofi

GQETA AND TWITTER

October 20, 2014

 

This week was pretty sweet! I went on splits with Elder Gqweta this week, it was so awesome! It was just pure enjoyment. We split Tuesday night after ward coordination and I went to his area for all of Wednesday. We made tortillas, really bad ones, and slept and went on to the next day. I really can't explain why it was so great. Maybe because we could just actually understand each other, so I actually got to talk to someone all day. He is a black guy from South Africa. Pretty sweet.

This week we met a new investigator in Assakae, named Daniel. He has an older brother who is serving a mission in Nigeria and is the only member in his family. Daniel loves the church and wants to join, its just that his parents were very against it when he was wanting too. But that was a few years ago, as we talked to his parents now, they are okay with it, us teaching him and all, and we even have an appointment to go and see him with his mother! Hopefully all goes well.

We have been teaching a lot of new investigators, so we have been teaching a lot about Joseph Smith, the Restoration and The Book of Mormon.

It's been a lot of helping people find out if its true and finding answers to their prayers. I just thought, life and missionary work would be so much easier if God could Twitter or post thing on your facebool wall.

#its true lol

That would be so nice!!! but its not always like that. Well, its never like that. But its so sweet when people do receive answers. Its just something you really cant explain but just shows you the church is true!

 Love Elder Darren Hodges

Bananas Rice and Toast

There's a bug that has been going around here that a lot of missionaries have been getting lately. First Elder Gqweta and Elder Harlting, then some other elders out in Axim. I got it this last week and it sucked. There really wasn't any medicine to help it but the doctor put me on a diet of plain rice, bananas, and toast. And apples, but there aren't really a whole lot of apples here. I still regret how much I took apples for granted. They are so good! I've only had  about 3 or 4 the past year. But all in all I felt a lot better by Saturday so Elder Richards and I mad some waffles! We used a waffle iron I got sent for Christmas that you just put over the fire. It's so sweet! So we had some waffles Sunday morning, I get elder Richards to go running with me every morning by bribing him with waffles! He loves em!

Elder Larsen came to Takoradi the other day and stopped by to see me! But we were still out proselyting and teaching so I didnt get to see him. He has  been begging sister Taylor to make him some of her banana cake! It's so good! She finally told him to come pick some up, then when he got there she told him to deliver it to me! Haha she is so awsome!!! And I'm grateful Elder Larsen didn't just eat it.

We started teaching a young man named Aaron. He is super sweet and has been prepared by The Lord so much! As we were talking to him the first time we got to see him, he talked about how his father, who was some spiritual herbalist, had a bunch of books from the church including the Book of Mormon! His father passed away a couple years ago, and Aaron had to stop going to school and make money to provide for his family, as they went through his fathers stuff, who he really looked up too, he found the Book of Mormon, and kept it. Then later Isaac, a member moved to Assakae and became really close friends with him. Then, Isaac joined the church later and Aaron saw the huge change it had in his life and wanted to do the same! It was pretty sweet!!

It's getting hotter here with the dry season but I'm enjoying it a lot and Ghana is sweet.

I'm just really tired cause we have been working hard and at the same time trying to get better from the sickness that's been going around. But it's all worth it!

Love Elder Hodges

 

 

The main road in Assakae

 

The "queen Mother" and her funeral parade. With a cow?

​

 

Assakae town.

 

October 6, 2014

We had a lot of work to do last week so it was pretty crazy and tiring. Bridgette was confirmed a member in church this Sunday which was sweet, and she has bee enjoying a lot! She keeps telling me how happy she is but she cant really explain why, it's so awesome! Like the other day she greeted someone that she had argued with, then she greeted back, and she just said it made her so happy!... it doesn't make sense how that made her so happy, but its really just cause she was baptized and enjoying now!!! It's so sweet!

Sunday we showed up at church and a woman that I have never met asked me to give her a blessing... so as I gave her a blessing everything just kinda flowed and she cried and said I told her exactly what she needed to hear! It was just one of those moments where you feel like your doing the right thing. A lot of the time, it's really hard to live up to what everyone expects of you. As in being a perfect, powerful missionary! And it's not easy, but it's moments like that where you know that your doing good and The Lord is proud of you.

We played volleyball this morn with a bunch of members at the chapel and then some football as well! It was a lot of fun!

Not to much happened this week except a lot of work and fun! Gotta love ghana!

Love y'all

Elder Hodges

Como se va?

September 29, 2014
Como se va?
These past 4 weeks have just flown by and honestly just feel like its been about 1 week. i cant believe its almost october and Taggarts birthday is this friday too!! Happy birthday!!! When its someones birthday here, you dump a bucket of water on them.. haha yeah that ghana.

One day while we were walking from Kwesimintsim to Assakai some girl stopped us and wanted to talk to us.. but she kept speaking super fast french and it was hard to undersatnd her. but i found out that she is a member of the church who moced here from ivory coast! Her name is Estelle and is super sweet! Her madame (the owner of the dress shop she works at) hires woman from ivory coast and then brings them to ghana to live with her and take care of her shops for her. Thats nice and all but the madamfu is not nice at all. Estell told us a couple weeks ago she came to the church at assakai, but her madamfu got super mad, and took he French Book Of Mormon from her. so we are working on getting her a new one so she can read it again. but she was so happy to see us and the members! she came to church on sunday and enjoyed with Henrietta who is a member from Cour' Di Voire. She has been teaching us french while we have been trying to teach her english, its kinda fun!!

We Bridgets baptism this sunday! After church in Assakai, we fit about 20 people in a tro tro and all went to the stake center for her baptism! it was so sweet! The branch President spoke at the baptism and it was super powerful. It was the first baptism in the branch with the 2 first missionaries there!!!

The members here are so sweet! They love us and are giving us a lot of people to teach and to see! Time is flying by because we stay so busy here. But all in all this is my favorite area i have been in so far, and its all because of the sweet people here!!

Hope all is well in the states! 

Love Elder Darren Hodges

 

 

 

                                                               ​Me and Elder Gqweta

 

Abura Dunkwa 

 

 

 

                                                                     Yamoransa zone

 

 

​a random spiral staircase cemented in the ground

 

 

 

 

September

 

 

September 23,2014
Pigs and Stuff

The power was out all day yesterday so  wasnt able to email. But i have a little time today to send a short one after district meeting today!

The asaake branch is doing super great here still, the members gave us a lot of people to teach which helps the work go along so nice! Bridgette is doing super well, she came to church again this last sunday and is also helping us teach one of her friends! She has been taught for a long time by the missionaries but there was just never a place close enough for her to go to church!

Transfer news is coming this saturday because of the 4 week transfer. but the next transfer will be 8 weeks long!! crazy.

Highlight of the week was an insrtuction Elder Gqweta gave us about personal courage, standing up for what we believe not just here but also at home! Gordan B. Hinckley said that the cost of discipleship is personal courage. To stand up for what we believe no matter what others will say. He used Paul as a great example.

Plus, yesterday for P-day we roasted 3 pigs for 3 zones and enjoyed! Elder Ma'fu was the one who put it all together and helped us cook them. It was so good! i havent had pork since i left the states!

All is well and great here is ghana! Love you guys

Elder Hodges

 

September 15, 2014

Asaake aya fine papaapa

Last Monday night we went to the Kaitoos family for family home
evening! Their house was so nice! They are a super sweet family that
joined the church 15 years ago and now the husband is the first
counselor. He is so sweet!!!  It was so much fun to go there. Their
son is a returned missionary but had not been coming to church the
last few months and has been having a lot of trouble with life. We
didn’t get to see him this last week when we went there, but he came
to church this Sunday for the first time in months! It’s a nice
blessing because his parents were very worries about him.
The next day we got a call that we had to be at the zone leader’s
apartment early in the morning to renew our non-citizen ID cards at
some random bank in Chapel Hill. The whole time I was waiting I was
with Elder GQweta talking to two guys from china. The accent was
really hard to understand and one of their names was Lee. At least
that was his easier name. He had some other long name I don’t know how
to pronounce at all.. We have been doing a lot of proselyting this
week in Asaake. The members there are so sweet! The branch president
is always doing work for the branch and missionary work with all of
his friends at the same time! The members love us! We are the first
missionaries that they have ever had and are giving us a lot of
referrals to contact and teach! This week we were trying to find all
of them visit the members and teach the referrals we saw or set
another day to come see them! It was a pretty sweet week!
Elder and Sister Curtis came this week for a mission tour here in
Ghana! We all went over to sekondi for it. Some elders out in terkwa
had to come and spend the night because it was to much travel for them
to do in the morning. I got to see Elder Ble! The elder from cour di
voure! He’s the one that was teaching me French in our last apartment
together!  Elder Curtis was so sweet! He talked a lot about alma 5 and
all of the questions it goes through. He then told us to go through it
this week and ask ourselves all of the questions again. One thing I
loved that he said, he said it in the MTC too, was our testimonies are
like lasagna. It just grows layer after layer. It won’t come all at
once, even though some layers may be thicker than others, it just
comes small small.
He explained the whole ebola outbreak as well.
President Curtis also talked a lot about how much he loved president
and sister shulz. All of the work they did for this mission and how we
need to continue to make it better and better. He explained how
revelation always continues and the changes made by Pres. Stevenson
are revelation acting right in front of us.
The work here has been pretty sweet. We are still working in two ares
right now, and thanks to our awesome members, asaake is doing super
well right now! Their honestly my favorite members so far. And it’s
only been 2 weeks!!! Tonight we are going back for family home evening
with sister yalley! She is from cape coast! It’s so nice to talk to
her! It’s like talking to someone from home!!
I love this area and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else! I know that
life is just like a roller coaster, we have ups, always followed by
downs, and then ups again. But thanks to all of these ups downs curves
and other stuff, all of it make slife fun and enjoyable. If it was
just flat, like a train. The ride we just be boring. (no offense to
anyone who works with trains.)
Love you all!
Elder Darren Hodges

 

September 8, 2014

Last Saturday we got transfer news that I was going to serve in Takoradi! The week has gone by pretty fast because of transfers and all. Monday we had our normal p day and went to Moree for family home evening with the other Elders. Then Tuesday was just some goodbyes to a few members and investigators we got to see.

Early Wednesday morning we had to go to the station at Pedu for transfers. We got there around 10 am and had to wait there till 1 pm for the new elders to go to takoradi with us. So Elder Rowe and i went and got pizza! It was at a super nice restaurant (at least for ghana) and it was behind some random gas station. So we ate there and went back to the gas station. I had some left over pizza so i gave it to the new Elders who had just come from the MTC. They were so happy!! i still remembered my first day there when i was talking to Elder Beck!

It was then a few hours on a tro tro to takoradi. My companoin is Elder James. he is pretty sweet. The area just got a new branch in it called Asaake. So we are doing a lot of our missionary work there! the members there are so sweet! and the chapel is a rented apartment but it is so nice!!!! The Branch President and his counselors love the missionaries and are just so nice to us! We are the first missionaries they have had yet.

There are two investigators there that are named Daniel and Bridgette. They have been taught by other missionaries for a long time but because of travel and other stuff, they just kinda fell off the radar. But the Asaake branch has been open for 2 months now and they have been there at church every week! They are powerful and know everything we have been reviewing with them so far.

The area is split in two. we are still working in takoradi town at a place called kwesimintsim. Its more city and reminds me a lot of home. just a lot more dirty. Its hard sometimes. it makes me homesick to behere because i miss Cape coast and here it looks so much more like home would. but its starting to go away small small.

All this week we have been trying to adjust and find our where all of the members are staying in our area..

but small small

We played basketball and football at the stake center this morning with the district! it was a ton of fun!

im still trying to figure everythng out here in this area but im sure itll come soon. The members are already my favorite just from the ones i have met and got to see last sunday. Im excited to be here. the area has a lot of potential and great members!

Love y'all

Elder Hodges

Takoradi

We got transfer news this last Saturday and I will be transferred to Takoradi. Over in western region. I'll go to be with a Nigerian I know named Elder James. I'm pretty excited. I haven’t been to Takoradi since the time I was brand new on mission and they sent me over there on the wrong tro tro on accident haha..

But there were a lot of goodbyes this week and I had to tell everyone goodbye on Sunday at church. I bore a really short testimony, yeah I cried, but to save all the trouble I just didn’t talk too long. Mostly cause I didn't want to cry more. The members in Aburah Dunkwa are so sweet. I really got to know all of them so well because the group is so small. But I'm really going to miss them so much.

Michael is still doing really well. He is still coming to church and all of the activities. He has a baptismal date for September and he should be ready to go. He has changed so much. It’s so sweet to have seen him change so much in just a short time.

We had an activity today at the mission home again. Playing football and we made some cinnamon rolls! I was hoping President wouldn’t send me away too far from Cape Coast but it's just about the opposite. But I know its for a good reason and I'm excited to get out of my comfort zone and have new challenges, new people, and experiences as well. Takoradi is a really nice city. Bigger than Cape Coast.

But the next couple days will just be packing and sitting on a long tro tro ride to Takoradi on Wednesday.

I hope all is well at home. Just know I love you people and will be talking to you next week with a lot more to talk about!

Love Elder Hodges