Special Christmas Program

Here are pictures from our Special Christmas Devotional.  The whole Kumasi Mission gathered in 3 different groups to have a special devotional with President Cosgrave.  

The Entire Kumasi Mission were given matching t-shirts for Christmas from us Moms back home!

The Three Amigos!!

 Brothers Porritt and Antwi

 Good Times and Good Buds!

 This dinner wouldn't have been possible without the help of many.  These ladies are some of the best! Sisters Wardle, Cosgrave, and Veronica

 Yep, I'm at the end of the dinner line

Our Skit

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you!! and Happy Boxing Day! (Ghanaian Holiday today the 26th)

Well this week was really sweet but we really struggled with the work. This week people around here were just going up and down to town and back and everone was busy busy busy. Nobody was keeping their appointments, and people were travelling like crazy. We struggled to teach our serious investigators this week. And to top that off, nobody came to church.. kinda discouraging. 

On the positive side, we did have about 60+ at church on Sunday, which is probably a branch record in Nkawkaw 2nd Branch. A LOT of members came to church, and it was nice to have my first full chapel here in Nkawkaw, even though the chapel is quite small compared to a standard chapel. 

Also another great part of the week was that a lot of the members have been bringing us food, or inviting us to come and eat at their houses. so we have been well fed this week, and we are going to our branch President's house tonight for another great meal. 

Sorry this email is short, but we are not having much time, and we just got done with the Nkawkaw District Cup between the 3 branches here in the Nkawkaw District. unfortunately we took....... last... we lost both football matches. On the positive, our branch won the volleyball tournament, so that was cool. 

I would like to just let you all know along with the Christmas season, that as much as we think about Christmas and all of that great stuff, we sometimes overlook the 23rd of December being Joseph Smith's birthday. I really am thankful that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to a 14 year old boy, and restored their gospel through him. I know that Joseph Smith was called of God to do a great work, and I know that I am continuing that work right now as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I love the calling and responsibility that i have as a missionary. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and He is ALWAYS there for us as long as we go to Him for help. He is our light in these dark times. I love you all, and hope you have had a very merry Christmas, and have a Happy New Year. 

Love Elder Porritt

 Branch Health Walk on Saturday

Caroling on Saturday

Caroling on Saturday

Christmas Eve Dinner!!

The Best Christmas Present Ever!

Christmas Morning. Spending time together as a WHOLE family is what life is all about.  So grateful that our sweet Missionary was able to spend some time with us also.  He has such a Zest for life.  He is always happy and smiling and you never know what face he will pull on the camera!  We love you Elder Porritt!!

Our 2nd Son, Elder Antwi

Here are some pictures that our son, Elder Antwi sent to us.  Here is his letter to us this week also:

Hello daddy,this week am doing great and am feeling good everyday and I will soon go back and continue my mission.Daddy I know you are doing fine?

Daddy I like the camera you bought for me very much,so I promise that I will take good care of my camera well and I know oneday I will come to Utah and I will show you the camera and the pics on it,and also I want my children to know somthing about this camera so I need to keep it well so that I can show it to them  in future.

Daddy I  will back up all the pictures on the flash drive so that it can be save for me, I will  tell you  if am having any problem of  backing up of the pictures on the flash drive.And also I used to go out with the missionaries here in Agona,so I will also ask Elder Yates to help me too.

Daddy am very excited that the family went to that wondeful meeting,the Halladays are great people and I will never forget them in my life.

Daddy I like everything in the package and my former compaion has send me message that he also like his package.One thing I like in the package is the family picture and the letter and am going to keep it well.Daddy tell baby Jaycie that  Elder ANTWI  loves her and I will pray for her everyday.

Daddy there was no room for  Jesus when he was born,there was no room for His message when He was on earth but HE has promised as that when we prepare a room for Him in our heart  we will feel joy in our heart and celebrating His birth is for us to prepare a room for HIM  and I know one day He will come back again and we will all meet HIM with His glory,so I know will enjoy this Christmas.

So we have one family that we went there to share the gospel with them and we rendered service to them and planning to go to their farm to harvest their maize for them and and I  have some people need to go to visit them and render service to them in various home,because I need to show the light everywhere.

Elder Antwi and Yates with this Special Family

Elder Antwi took these pictures with his new camera.

 Elder Antwi is an AGGIE TOO!!!

 Three of some of the best Missionaries in Ghana, Elder and Sister Wardle and our son Elder Elvis Antwi.  We love them so much!

Eating me some Pig Heart!

Well hello to all of you, and a happy holidays to all of you as well.

This week was another good one for teaching and serving and testifying of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We didn’t have much success this week, as far as people coming to Church, nobody of our investigators came. But we are still working hard to continue teaching them and helping to resolve their concerns.

Unfortunately I don’t have a ton to tell about this week.  but the highlights of the week come in the pictures, first of all one day while walking a new route in our area, we came across a nice river, and we had walked about 15 minutes into the bush and couldn’t walk back the way we came or we would have wasted a ton of time, so well, we crossed. It was nice, in the picture the water looks really clear but when we were in, it was like alligator water hahah, nice and murky, sweet experience.

Next, one of our members family butchered a pig, and we ate with them. It was SWEET!! (Pig heart tastes awful by the way)

The highlight of the week came on Saturday when I got to go on exchange with my guy, Elder Stirling. We had a wonderful day, and taught some really powerful lessons, I was mainly really glad to see his wonderful way of teaching and testifying to these people. He is such a powerful missionary! We had a sweet time together, and I was glad to learn a few things from him. It just goes to show that as a missionary, it doesn’t matter how long you have been on mission, you can always learn things from other missionaries.

And last, I finally got a haircut, it’s been a long time since I rocked the bowl cut so we thought it was fitting... haha

I know that God lives and loves us, He is willing to forgive our mistakes and sins. I know he forgives us when we come unto Him for that forgiveness. I hope all of you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Continue serving people around you and lighting the world. I love you all,

Elder Hunter Kenneth Porritt
scripture of the week: 3 Nephi 9:13-14

YUM!!

Me and Elder Stirling

Rockin the Bowl Cut!

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God

Fine Afternoon to you all!

Well this week was a great one here in Nkawkaw. We are really doing a lot of teaching, a TON of service, and having a great time spreading Christmas cheer, unfortunately it doesnt feel to Christmasy with it being like 110+ each day, and no Christmas music outside, but Christmas is in our apartment that is for sure, we are having  a blast.

We had some progress this week with a few people we are teaching, unfortunately it wasnt any of the people I mentioned last week, but this week we have been serving and teaching a sister, St (another St) who is the wife of one of our members here, and she is Jehovah's Witness, and she really has about infinity questions about the Church, but we are trying to just teach her simple truths, and we invited her to come to Church again and to pray about all the things that we have been teaching her, and well, she showed up yesterday and really felt good about Church. So things are looking up with her.

The main thing that i got this week was some strength in my testimony. And that strength came in the Restoration, and the first vision. Each time  I teach and testify of that amazing and unforgettable event, I gain a better, and deeper understanding of why Joseph Smith went to pray that day, i understand more why Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ HAD to both come to visit Joseph Smith.  And i KNOW that this event happened the way Joseph Smith said it did, he really saw a pillar of light, and the Father and the Son really did appear to the young boy. I know that this Church is true, because it has the same foundation as the Church of Jesus Christ in His life, (see Ephesians 2:20 ; Eph ch4 and 1 Corinthians 3:11) Plus i know its the true Church, more importantly and more powerfully, because I have prayed to know for myself, and I have received a strong witness from the Holy Ghost that its true. I know to the point that i have no doubts, i have nothing that could make me deny it, and i know that whoever really truly prays about this, they can know just as i do, and as Joseph Smith did,

Just as he read James 1:5, i also encourage you that with anything in your lives this scripture in James will help you, ''if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.''

I love you all and hope that you continue to #LightTheWorld with your service and Christ-like love that you show to others.

Love Elder Porritt

Things are getting festive here.. haha. Mission is the best!

 Us Elders with Elder & Sister Wardle...They are the Best!!  They came for apartment checks.

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given

Well hello on Saturday afternoon here in GH, this is weird that i am emailing you on Saturday, but today is P day since Monday we will be having our transfers instead of Wednesday due to the Ghana Elections.

This week has been sweet honestly. The highlight of the week was our Mission Leadership Council and transfer news came... First of all our MLC was really great!! We talked about the progress of our mission and some of the things that are holding the mission back from really really baptizing a lot. In the month of November our mission baptized around 100 people, that is about 1.2 baptisms per companionship, which if you compare to some missions in the world, its pretty dang good, but if you compare it with the missions here in the west Africa area, its low.. our mission should be baptizing a LOT more than we are, but there are a lot of little little dumb things that are holding back the progression of the work, but we had an amazing council about repentance and how we can help all our missionaries to be more dilligent and obedient in the work. We are really trying to help our Zone to apply this council, and we will be having our Zone council next two weeks. I am really excited to hold that Council.

Also with the 'Light the World' going on, we were glad to be able to do some service this week, every day we are trying to do small acts of service, but yesterday (Friday) we went to our recent convert's (Stella) house and we did some major weeding in front of their house. We have really been seeing a change of mind and heart with her brother Kw (not a real brother, but another guy who rents in that house) but we are hoping that we can get some progress going with him and get him to church. 

The news is in, and well I am glad to say that I'll be staying in Nkawkaw for Christmas because we are really planning for a WHITE Christmas, not a snowy Christmas, but a Dressed in White Christmas for a few baptisms. We have some people who are really progressing towards baptism who we are hoping to baptize on Christmas day!! Those people are Fra and Kw and possibly Kf too depending on their coming to church and continuing to keep commitments with us.

I love this time of the year, Christmas tunes have been ringing in our apartment for the last week and we are really trying to light Nkawkaw with our service. I know that the Savior Jesus Christ came to this Earth. One Scripture that we are focusing on as a mission for this season is Isaiah 9:6 which says 

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace..  

I love this scripture, when i read it, i read the Titles really slowly and ponder the meaning of each on individually. I know that Jesus Christ is my Wonderful Savior, and I am trying to come unto Him each and every day, i pray that you will do the same. I love you all and hope and pray that you have a great week!!

Love Elder Porritt

Our MLC meeting with the crew haha

 Our service