I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!
First
off, I'm sorry I don't have my Christmas photos for you today... I will
try to send them to my mother later and maybe she can upload to
Facebook or something but there won't be any in this email.
There's
not much to report on proselyting wise this week. We did get the whole
zone together and carol outside of the supermarket in town on Christmas
Eve. That was pretty cool. Elder Renfroe hooked his laptop up to a tv
and we played the church's nativity videos between carols. It was fun.
Afterwards we were given like 100 pamphlets and handed them all out to
people. It was powerful.
Also we had a stake
Christmas activity where all of the branches put on a little skit and/or
musical piece. That was really fun to watch.
Kintampo Falls was really cool too! Maybe you all will eventually get to see pictures of it.
(Here is an excerpt of a description of the Christmas Eve caroling event outside the supermarket from Elder Renfroe. He and his wife look after the missionaries in Tamale, and basically keep them alive.)
"Today the missionaries and us gathered at Melcoms, the closest thing there is in town to a store of any kind and I think they liken themselves as the Walmart of Tamale. Uh, no. But, there we were nestled into a corner of a courtyard in front of the store, perfectly situated in the focal point of a solar oven. It got so hot, my iPhone quit working...
As we formed up to prepare for our sort of concert, a loud speaker was blaring African music with a bass note that occasionally hit a frequency well below human hearing level yet, somehow was at the same harmonic frequency as my intestines. It shook my belly like a bowl full of jelly. This little shop was advertising their special sale that was just in time for Christmas. I sat and wondered as we waited for the people from Melcoms to bring out a television and a power cord for our piano, how were we going to get them to be quiet long enough for us to do our thing. I went over and asked them if they could shut it off at 2:30 so we could sing Christmas carols. I really don't think she had any idea what I was talking about. It could have been because the music was deafening, or it was becase she spoke very little English, or she was Muslim (I figured that out because she had her head covered just like everyone else in the room.) or it was a combination of all of those things. I thought she said she would turn it off, but it didn't sound convincing to me. As we are roasting in the heat, surrounded by Muslims, pummeled by the incessant music, and worrying whether Melcoms would really bring the TV, I thought there is no way this is going to happen. Then I thought, this will be interesting how the Lord works this out. Sure enough, the TV came and miracle of miracles, not only did the music shut off, but Jerilyn went over and asked if we could use a microphone hooked to their speaker and we would mention them to the audience. Did I mention that she is the peacemaker in the family. The music stopped and I was handed a microphone. 'Ladies and gentlemen, we are not the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but we are Mormons here to sing you a few Christmas carols and tell you the story of Christmas.'
We sang and played the short videos of Christ's advent that have recently been produced by the church, interwoven with carols. Muslim kids sat around and watched, people paused, heads were turned, and some stayed for the whole 35 minute presentation. Afterward, the missionaries did what they do best and started talking to people. It was great. It was miraculous."
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