Week #48

"Uri the trainer who trains?" hahah

well transfers is this week and ive been called to train!! im kind of stoked but also nervous know that the beggining of your mission effects the rest of it! and if its not good. oooooo you will suffer ooo!! i went to some meeting with the 21 other trainers this group. got 9 coming from provo mtc so it will be just like me when i came!! hahah gonna be sweet!!

this week is honestly hard to beat. between moving presidents shippment into his house. to answering like 234897289 questions from a humanitarian group from the US.to having 10 investagators at church and even  finding out that this saturday a year long investagator is going to be baptised!! what an amazing week it was!

i want to talk about the miracle of sister Sarah and her answer to her prayer to know the truth.

so sarah is the first councelors wife in the Nkanfoa ward (brother victor), brother victor has been a member for about a year and a half and was endowed about 6 months ago. hes wanted his wife who was born and raised a catholic to join the church so that he could be sealed with his family in the temple. they have 3 children that are sooo spazy i love them, one of them is also baptised. july 6 of 2016 sister sarah was referred to the missionaries. (last year) shes been taught almost weekly if not dailey this past year.

shes the women i talked about a few weeks ago how she has always hated the church because of some of the way the members are in there life and have made big mistakes. thats why sarah has not joined all this time. so the custom in west africa is usually the women has to go to the church of the husband (they dont have to but usualy they do) brother victor has been sooo patient this whole time and has allowed her to go to her church. but for the past 10 weeks she has come to church.

the whole ward knows sarah and has tried to help her know that this is true, prayer after prayer, testimony after testimony has been said to sarah. and all this time shes recieved small answers but not enough for her to know the truth. but brothers and sisters, God does answer prayers, in his time...

sarah was asleep a few nights ago when she had a dream, in the dream she was simply asked, "sarah where is your temple recommend?" she said she wanted to insult the man cause she knew that she cant have one cause shes not a member. she then woke up, very confused i bet so she woke up her husband brother victor. she told him what happened in her dream..

brother victor then explained to her that the only way to get a temple recommend is to  be baptised. she immediatly knew it was an answer to her prayer. she said i want to be baptised this saturday! we are soooo excited! over 1 year of missionaries and a million prayers... prayers are answered!

and guess what they are even playing on going through the temple 1 year from saturday to be seal for time and all eternity! i am soo grateful to be apart of this wonderful prosses!!

love you all sooo much!! another great week ahead of us!!

elder jeppson

1.the 21 trainers!
2-3. helped move presidents shippment from home inside his house! HAHAH president is sooo funny after we set up his matress he said come try it hahaha

4.just pday ballin

Week #47

FOOD

well nothing to really say about this week except we ate a LOT of food hahaha i think my prayers have been answered cause i was soooo tired of not having Fm's in nkanfoa (free meals) but man like 4 Big fufus and boncu fms in a row hahah

the work is great! everyday elder ogar and i get closer and closer and our teaching styles are sooo powerful now. ive learned a lot from him and i continue to learn everyday. lots of contacting this week. HAHAHAH elder ogar and i both had a prompting to try to talk to this one lady walking by but when i greeted her she didnt respond I kept walking hahah Ogar on the other hand stopped and tried to talk the lady. SHES DEAF. hahah we both didnt know how to react but just made little heart symbols and waved bye hahahaha we both just died laughing!! but who knows maybe we planted just a small smallllll seed! hahah oh mission is funny!

nothing much to say about this week but i encourage each and everyone one of you that read this email to sit down one night and just write a list of all the possessions you have. write EVERYTHING. when you get done youll feel somthing that i cant describe in an email. a feeling of gratitude and love that your father in heaven has for you. being grateful is not always easy especially during trials but we all have soooo much and sometimes we dont even recognize it. god love us all and blesses us with so many things, sometimes more then we even need... 

ghana has taught me a lot. and everyday i learn more and more from the most humble, grateful people in the world! 

love 

elder jeppson

1. the district!!

2. LOTS OF FUFU.... WE ALL DIED

3. more fooooooooood

4. ogar and i with our kentay matching ties. (CUTE, I KNOW)

 

Week #46

People are watching YOU.

well i wanted to start with a joke this week sooo...how long is a Chinese man? (answer at the bottom hahaha)

Average week i guess. kind of sucked missin the 4th of july but we made the most of it and made some chicken sausages with bread and watermelon to celebrate hahah GOD BLESS THE USA

Got a text this week from one of my old investagator named Paul. Now brother paul i taught for about 5 months and met with him almost everyday. Paul knows the church is true but his uncle, the one he has been staying with (the old bishop) said paul needs about 6 MONTHS of learning before he can be baptized.... what the wow hahah

All the text simply said was, "elder jeppson! im being baptized this saturday! i am very excited. thank you for andswering my questions and helping me find the true church." i sat back and thought about how many times i had taught paul. and although i wont see paul get baptized, i had such a peacful feeling and full of graditude that i got to be part of pauls conversion! im sooo blessed and i cant wait to call him saturday and ask him how it went! 6 months that man has waited for just a few seconds in a faunt in the middle of west africa, yet the effect of those few seconds is eternal! i love being a missionary and being an instrument in the lords hand.

People are watching YOU. as latter day saints those that see you in your dailey life have a curiosity about you. they notice and watch your actions and its simply because the light of christ is in your life. This is a Great thing! but it also can be very harmful to the reputation of the church. recently had a lesson with a long time investagator who finnally opened up about why she still doesnt want to join the church. she said that she had notice that some of the members werent being good christians and doing very bad things. she said if this is truley gods church then the members would be very good.people.

i was sad to hear this news but we tried to teach her how the church is perfect but the people of the church are not and they still make mistakes. the lesson i learned is not that the members of ghana are not good but that People Are Watching Us. so in all things do what is right. if we members do what is right in the sight of the lord people who are not of the church wont have any troubles about the church. president uchdorf once said something like, "be a faithful latter day saint and if necessary use words." meaning that in our actions people should see we are good disciples of christ and that we truley have taken upon his name and if we feel the spirit tell us too. share our thoughts with words!

Remember PEOPLE are watching! so do good in All things!

love you all! 

elder jeppson

its a statement... How Long is his name and he's a chinese man

1. 4th of july Feast!!! hahaha
2-5. Little farm day!! IN THE RAINNNNN! hHAAH
6.yamorandsa zone and president and sister hillam

Week #45

the legend President Stevenson

what a cool week it was! president stevenson left this morning for the USA!! the whole country of ghana is gonna miss that man. he taught me sooo many things but above all i think the best thing that man taught me what really understanding Agency can affect your dailey life. understanding agency helps understand that everyone has there choice to do WHAT EVER they want to do. like god we too must learn to respect everyones agency and their decisions, sometimes we know people are making the wrong choice but all we can do is just pray for them and show a good example. but we Must all learn to respect the agency of others and just do our part. Im gonna miss president stevenson! that man is sooo powerful and a true diciple of christ!

....that being said... president and sister hillam are sooooo COOL!! we are gonna enjoy these next few weeks and i cant wait to get to know them!

sister beatrice was baptize on saturday. shes fat so i had to do the baptizm cause ogar was scared hahah man i struggled to pull her up ill be honest hahah but the baptism was soooo sweet!

well ive been reading about the wars in the last few chapters of alma, one of the most well known stories is of course! Helaman and the 2000 strippling warriors. as i was readding though i realized somthing i havent thought of before. when the laminites are chasing the 2000, helaman says that they could not turn left or right or they would be surrounded by the lamanites and overtaken. so helaman and his men ran in a straight line away from them not turning left of right but running straight away from danger.

in our life when danger is following us or temptation, lets not even give in just a little by turning just small to the left or right. RUN in a straight line away from danger. now this could be a literal sence or spiritualy. we must not give in even just a little, when we do, just as helaman states, we would of been overtaken and destroyed. like i said i love this story! means sooo much to me!!

keep it up and ENJOY THE GREATEST HOLIDAY IN THE WORLD! love you all. thanks for the prayers.

elder jeppson

1.me and like 2000 bucks of one of my members kentay!! 

2. beatrices baptism!!

3. some of us elders in cape coast pitched in for a painting made for presidents going away gift. LOOKS good!

4. one of our members sons named moroni celebrated his BDAY so we went and just enjoyed!! (elder stevens and i are july born so we got to help cut the cake)

Week #44

listening to the testimonies of God

man weeks are just flying..... soooo messed up! but elder ogar and i are just having such a good time! beatrice is gonna be baptised this week and everyday we are just meeting more and more people who are soo prepared to hear this gospel. missionary work is tooooo good!!

crazy story this week. that wedding we attended last week, the father of the groom, a nigerian was the one who made it possible for the wedding to even happen! with out his faith that he could convince the brides father to let his son marry his daughter,they wedding could of not of happened. the father brought his WHOLE family from nigeria to have his sons wedding in ghana! just an amazing good man!

after he had done all this work and the wedding was over us missionaries hung out and cleaned up the place. but before we left the father of the groom gave us his testimony of this gospel. man what a powerful testimony he bore to us 5... the things he said were truly from the spirit of the lord and i will never forget the warnings and testimonies he bore. the next day he left cape coast with his family back to nigeria a 2 day car ride.

but not even 2 hours out side cape coast the family was in a terrible car accident and he was killed instantly on impact while his wife went into and coma and his kids with many various wounds. what an awful just devastating news that was to hear when we found out. made the whole town of nkanfoa just sick. after all that man did to witness his youngest sons wedding he was killied.

just the night before i was able to witness probably one of the last testimony that man bore in this mortal life to his fellow saints. i thank my heavenly father for those few precious minutes with that man. he truley was a diciple of christ. prayers be with his family and his friends. its not easy but that man finish his work on this earth. he witness his youngest sons marriage. 

ive contemplated if i hadnt of listen to his testimony that night before. i could of missed something that god wanted me to hear. i learned that when ever ANYONE is bearing their testimony, Listen. there are things that each of us needs to hear and if we dont listen, those promises said we can never achieve because of just a small moment of not listening to the spirit teach us. its not always easy to listen to others especially when you feel that i already know the stuff that he knows. we have to be humble and take the correction and counsels from Anyone who is testifing of our savior jesus christ. 

again, god is in control and if we listen to the holy spirit, he will bless us.

love you all!! 

elder jeppson

1.nkanfoa district! and the durrants

2. elder offorikuma went home! gonna miss that guys sooo much!!

3.meet baby kendrick!! (littlerly named after kendrick lamar hahah)

Week #43

fathers!

happy fathers day!! even though im a day late fathers should always be appriciated for all that they do! especially ole bishop jeppson. what a guy hhaha love that man!

well we went with presidents son this week! sooooo much fun! guys a great guy and it was cool to see how a state side missionary taught the lessons compared to how we teach them. we had a blast and i of course bought him a bunch of things to try hahah he said he like them all so that was cool!! ahah

well i dont have much to say this week. we taughts lots of lessons, im close to the ocean so weve been having a nice breeze to keep us cool. i love it hahaha coming home tired is a good thing but cause im getting fat im trying to work out but im just soooo dead i cant motivate myself hhahahahahahah ohhhh welll!

this week i was talking with some elders how when teaching the gospel and especially the plan of salvation, its sooo much easier to teach about the past. things like the pre earth life, the creation, the fall of adam and eve. because they happened. they are the FACTS, but when teaching about our life after death, it requires a person to exercise a lot of faith. we have to teach on our knowledge of gods plan for us and back it up with scripture to show that the plan of happiness, IS REAL. and its happening right now.

but what we decided as a group of elders is that if gods plan worked PERFECTLY in the past, it will also work PERFECTLY in the future! its exciting to think that the future is yes unknowable but at the same time it is a fact. the next life will occur cause its a fact and its all apart of Gods eternal plan for his children. 

i love this gospel and i love learning more and more eachday.

(halfway done with the book of mormon) masta that book is tooooo goood oooo

till we meet next week!

elder jeppson

1. my trainer, Elder Divver, completed his mission and went home this week!! love that man and how he taught me to really work as a missionary! till we meet again dawg!!

2. Evans stevenson, came out with us on exchanged! we enjoyed paaa!

3-4.WEDDINGS ARE THE BOMB!! HAHAHA DANCED SOOOO MUCH

Week #42

accepting THE plan

this week is kind of hard to describe, but the impact of it is unforgettable.

friday was just an average morning, slunch out of bed, walk to the couch and "rest" for a few minutes lol i go outside and polish my shoes, iron my shirt, have some egg sandwhich (EVERYDAY) went to my personal studies and studied out of the words of alma the younger. after planning, made some stew for lunch. chopped it with a caprisun. then got ready and left the house.

we were going to see a momi named sister Doris. sister doris also has 2 daughters that we teach her with. one is 10 and the other is 15. all three of them doris,emmanuela, and anas are all investagators who are planning to be baptized next month.we walked with a member to translate our message with her. the lessons was on God and his relationship to us and the importance of Families. the lesson went great!! the spirit was ever present! anas came out half way through the lesson very sick and she didnt stay for more then a minute before she went back to her room.

after the lesson we left and went to our next appointment, sister adjuwa. we talked with her for a while before the lesson and then a short lesson on joseph smith. towards the end of the lesson we get a call from Doris, the momi we just taught. i pick of the phone and all she is saying is simply, "Anas is Dead...." she was crying and screaming on the phone. she told us she was at a nearby training hospital.

we got in a taxi and went to the hospital, my mind could not believe it, i just saw anas not even 2 hours ago alive, yes sick but alive! as soon as i stepped out of the taxi. momi doris was in my arms uncontrollably crying.... her 10 year old baby girl, Anas. has just minutes ago taken her last breath. 

elder ogar and i did everything we could to comfort sister doris. but it really was just too much. while we waited on the curb till her family members arrived, my companion and i could not control ourselves. as we sat there crying for what had just happened, i felt prompted to sing to sister doris, a song i knew she could not interpret/understand, "i know that my redeemer lives." as i began to sob and sing awfully through that wonderful song. momi doris stopped crying and listen to the words. 

even though sister doris knows very little english. she heard something that i can not sing. she heard and felt the love of heavenly father and his son jesus christ. i know. I Know sister doris was comforted by the spirit. we said a prayer with her and after a few hours we left to go teach another person.

The way god works. had it not been just that morning we had talking about family and how they can be together forever?? had we not discussed that god will always comfort us during our trials?? had we not just discussed that if we follow christ, and endure to the end. nothing. nothing can stop us from living with our familys and christ someday.

brother and sisters. God lives. i know it. he knows you. and he is there for you.

we attended the funeral this morning. what a great morning for poor little anas. but she is where she needs to be. receiving the gospel on that side of the veil. What a powerful lesson i learned this week. i will never forget the feelings i felt.

God bless you all

elder jeppson

1-2. last zone conference with president stevenson!!!

3-4. elder youngs BDAY