Hello to you all back home or shall I say Anula! haha. I am slowly learning the language here but it is not Twi. It is a tribal language, but I don't know the name.
I will now answer some questions that you all have:
Tell me your daily schedule - Look in the Missionary handbook or google lds missionary handbook and look at the schedule. I wake up at 6:30 and go to bed whenever I want, usually 10:30 or later, if i am writing in my journal or letters.
What do you do for exercise? For exercise I run around the chapel/our apartment and I do push ups and sit ups and stretches, but there are no weights here. So, one day I made weights by putting bricks into mop buckets and lifting the buckets haha - pretty sketchy and ghetto but it works.
I take it you are walking. Yes we walk everywhere. We walk all day from 12:00-8:00 and then at 8:00 we walk home which takes 1 hour to get home on foot. It kind of sucks and tires me out, but i usually just sing country or songs that pop into my head.
How is your scripture study and teaching going? The scripture study is going great. I am actually learning and understanding what I am reading. My teaching is going well and I am able to teach all of lesson 1 while using references to the bible and Book of Mormon, but there are still things I can improve on while teaching.
What do you do for meals? Meals here are crappy but I survive. It is literally BYU all over again. They give us 100 Ghana cedis which is like 60 dollars to live off of for one week, and that includes utility bills like electricity. I cook eggs, indomie (top ramen), spaghetti, and oatmeal every day. I do switch up the order, but it gets old. Sometimes I will have a little bread to go with it. Oh and I did find hot coco powder so that made me pretty happy.
Have you eaten all of the things you took from home? Not yet, the Andes mints are running out and the trail mix is keeping me alive and my spirits high. The peanut butter is still not used very much and the nutella is half gone :)
How about P-day? Pdays are always the best days of the week because I can have some ME time during my letters to you guys. Going to the market is always interesting and scary because they do not have sidewalks. They have an area that people share with motor bikes and bicycles. Most of the time I am scared that I will be run over by the thousand motorbikes running two inches from me, but they are all pretty skilled drivers. I have yet to see a crash despite the fact that they do not use rules here. Pdays are Mondays as you should know by now. It is getting hotter here slowly but surely. Today we bought 40 cedis worth of electricity so that our food does not go bad in the refrigerator.
Are you getting better at washing your clothes? Washing clothes on Pday is like telling me to get up at 4 am to do chores. It is the crappiest time of the week. I so wish that I had a washer and dryer but its cool. The skin on my fingers are peeling off a bit because of the washing. It is just so difficult to do so many white shirts and garments and then the colored clothes all within 1 hours time.
Are you wearing a hat or sunscreen? I wear my sunscreen when I see that the sun is shining outside, so that would be everyday but yesterday was soooo sweet. We actually had clouds! it was so nice and breezy and the work that we did was enjoyable. I have worn my hat only once but the two years are still young and I love the material it is made out of. it is super durable and nice. I plan to wear it a lot but most of the time i am going in and out of peoples huts or homes and have to take it on and off and on and off.
What about district or zone meetings? We have had one district meeting and there were 8 missionaries. the district we are in is very very new and we are the people to open up groups and stakes and eventually wards here.
Are there others you have met from the US. Yes!!! Thank goodness. There are like 6 american missionaries in ghana and they are all pretty cool.
How long will you be in Tamale? Most likely 3 or 4 transfers and each transfer is 6 weeks.. so do the math. The reason it is so long is because I am so far away from Kumasi. It is a 6-7 hour drive.
Tell me about the language. Are they speaking Twi? The language is very weird, but if they don't speak their country's language (english), I don't talk to them. But, if I do talk to them and they don't know english, i usually just use them to practice teaching the gospel and tell them whatever i want.
Lastly, how are the shoes working out. Have you worn your sandals yet. The shoes are great, they are literally red full time now because it is sooooo dusty here. Imagine a pure red dirt road and cars driving on it and you are just inhaling their dust for hours at a time, but ya the shoes are dirty but still are holding up. I have worn the sandals but I look so goofy in them haha. I'm sure I will continue wearing them because who cares what I look like. After all I am the only one who has white skin within like 15 miles so i already look weird to them.
Well, this week was cool. Not much happened, but I only have 3 min left to type ahhh. So I want to tell everyone thank you for your emails and for the time you take to think of me. This mission is a big sacrifice for me, but I know that in the long run it is going to make me a better man. I miss and love you guys so very much! Hope the burg is doing great and isnt freezing and that Colorado is still the best state haha. Let's talk football!!!
BRONCOS BABY!! THATS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!!! GIVE THE THE MOST DETAILED UPDATE EVER AND I KNOW THAT MY TEAM THE BRONCOS CAN PULL THIS ONE THROUGH!! GO BRONCOS!!!! Oh and sorry Ellen that your team, the Patriots, suck and lost but God loves them still but i still hate them!
God be with you till we meet again!
Love,
Elder Cornelius
