Holy Ghost Fire! Holy Ghost Fire!

Sam's email this week:

"Dear Family

The computers are going very very slow.It has taken me about 1 hour to just read your emails. I am glad that dad is still recovering nicely and it makes me laugh to know you guys almost celebrated Easter a week early. My companion and i also made you a short tape recording. but i don't think i can send it because of the computers, but i will try next week.

As for me i think i am doing very well. Elder Ewudzie and I are starting to get along much better. We both just woke up one day and decided that we should be brothers. You asked if New Lagon was a university town. From what i understand there is a university here, i am not exactly sure where, but i am pretty sure there is one around. I hope that answers your question. New Lagon is pretty nice area, the only hard part as I told you last time is that the church is so far away. The church is in a town called Adenta which is one of the towns next to New Lagon. Adenta is pretty nice little town that actually is where we live. We live in Adenta in a place called the Flatts and we ether walk or ride our broken bikes to New Lagon, which is not easy.

We are teaching a pretty good group of people. One of them named B frustrates the heck out of me though. He keeps telling us there is really about, well he would say, a thousand and one ways to get to heaven. He says he believes in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. We keep reading with him in both books that there is only one way to heaven, but he refuses to believe us. Elder Ewudzie and I are starting to worry though that hes not exactly all there, but we are not ready to give up on him yet.

Another man we just started to teach named P lives out in a place called Nana Crom(which is still part of our area.) We have a branch missionary out there that has found this young guy. We went out Sunday morning and convinced P to come to church with us. So we took a tro tro to a neighboring town and then made about a 30 to 45 minute walk to the church. I worry that he wont come next week because it was so far. People here in Ghana really have to have a strong faith in order to join the church.

I am learning though that it is very easy to change some peoples minds, not everyone, but some. For example that other night Elder ewudzie were walking home. So guy yells at us as we walk by "ill cut you!" Now i have heard many people say this phrase many times so i just decide to yell back "No you wont!" The guy just says "oh okay." It made Elder Ewudzie and I laugh, i think he must have been drunk or something.

I actually have a lot of interesting experiences walking home at night. Another one i had i think on Thursday. We were walking home and it was pretty dark. We walked through this field kind of by our apartment. There was bunch of people in the field running around screaming like a bunch of fools. I asked Elder Ewudzie what they were doing and he said "praying." I was like "ha ha yeah right," but as we got closer that's what they were really doing or that's what they thought they were doing. There was on guy jumping up and down as fast as he could clapping his hands chanting something. Another guy ran by us screaming "Holy Ghost Fire, Holy Ghost Fire." Now i have to admit the Holy ghost fire guy made me laugh, but the rest if the people made me very sad. It made me sad because it shows that Satan has taken the gospel here and twisted it so much, that people think they are doing right when really they are not at all. I guess that's why the church is here and spreading so fast in Ghana, because the people here are really ready for the truth.

Well that's about it for my week.I am glad Joey is having fun in baseball. Thank you very much for sending those packages. I am very excited to get them. I am going to try and send some cool African stuff home soon. So be expecting that. I know I cant do a lot to help, but if there is anything i can do please let me know. I hope you all have a great week, and i really hope this email makes it to you. I love you all so much.

Love Elder Sam Beck

-please tell me when dads next scan is as soon as you find out?

-i know you just sent some packages, but if you get a chance could you send me some face wash? thank you."