2 people, 2 different stories, 1 reality
i went on exhange with a good friend of mine named elder zakuani from DR Congo and we met a man who the best word to describe him is and anti christ. i would love to share you our experience with him, his name is peter.
then ill share you our experience with a man named benjamin who has to be the most gospel centered person ive met, his whole life is about god. all day he wants to know him.
both peter and benjamin are roughly the same age, 60's.
Peter:
lived in italy for a lot of his life, came back to ghana to retire. 25 years of his life he was a priest in the church of christ. after "deep study" he came to the conclusion that the romans had changed everything in the new testament and that jesus christ never actually came to this earth. and even if he did he didnt save us from our sins. (my heart sunk sooooo deep as i heard those words come out of his mouth, a feeling of sadness i had never felt in my life)
the lesson was pretty pointless, all of his interpretations of Isaiah's revelations were sooo stupid. the best part of the lesson my companion elder zakuani bore a testimony on something i never knew. he said (in the small english he knows) that before he joined the church, he was a muslim. he knew no christ, no god but allah. but as he prayed about the book of mormon, as he received an answer he could never deny the feelings he felt. even though he didnt know christ completely still, he knew he lives and died for all mankind to be saved from their sins. thats why he joined the church and left the Islamic life that he knew.
as i watched him bear his testimony i was sooo full of emotion for the converting power of the spirit was sooo present in the room. peter was touched i could tell, even though he still wants proof that jesus christ is the savior and wont except him. i learned how that if we dont listened to the spirit of the lord and start leaning on our own understanding not only will we leave the church but go opposite of what we were doing. tearing down the name and blessings of christ.
Benjamin:
hahahha this is my guy! hahaha benjamin owns a well and sits in a chair all day as people come to get water from his well he takes at most 10 cents for a big bucket of water. hes been going to the church of pentecost as long as he can remember. as we met benjamin the first time he told us that he knows god put us both on the same path for some reason and he wants to find out the reason why. as he began the lesson he asked if he could pray he started the prayer and stated, "father we pray to thee, we pray to thee for a purpose, to find truth." WHOLE FETCH if you could've seen my smile during that prayer hahahahah
benjamin came to church yesterday, bore his testimony of the truth that he already sees and knows about this church, contributed in sunday school, and is ever humbled to learn more. what ive learned about benjamin is that some people are just sooo prepared by the lord. the group in otuam has been here for only 2 months now.... and already we are seeing those the lord has prepared many years for the church to finally come here. so excited to watch it explode and see how fast god intends for the church to grow in all 4 corners of the earth.
2 people: i love the ghana cape coast mission. i get to see both sides of the spectrum, the rich retired man from italy, and the humble poor, water selling man from otuam. This is perspective, and everyday it just gets better in better.
we choose the path of our destiny. one had the truth lonnnng ago and ran from it, while the other just found it and is ever ready to find and discover more truth for himself. as my beloved mom would always say, "choose the right" sooo grateful for these 2 examples to me. both the good and bad im learning from them. and hoping to shape my life according to what god wants and the experiences im learning.
god bless ghana, god bless you all
yours truly
elder jeppson
1.some funny tv show came to mankissem! FAT fish market mammes come on the stage and have a dance off! AHAHAHAH watching 300 pound women dance is toooooo goood
2-3. zakuani and i, gotta love the only hat allowed in our mission hahah
4.some fishermen making his nets, what an art.
5. african football, hahahahha these people go nuts for football.
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