POST 31

Hello Everyone,
          How is everything? So yeah, I am going to be once again transferred!! Haha… It seems as Presdent Holmes wanted me to learn one or two things before making me a District Leader! Yes, I’m going to be a District Leader in a place called Boukrum. (its also in Kumasi), its the north part of Kumasi around the airport. So I guess I’ll have to step it up and take care of my district members; conducting district meetings once a week, doing baptisimal interviews, going on splits with district members. So yeah, I pretty much have a full plate now. But I know that I can do it if I continue to be obedient and do all the things I am suppose to. I know that he will help me in all that I do.
           I’m going to be in a four man apartment. My companion is going to be Elder Holmes from Utah and the other two I think are from the UK, so I’m pretty sure we will be livin it up this coming Chrismas season; and hopefully do something for Thanksgiving. It’s good that I only unpacked some few things like clothes and a few other things, now I’ll only have to pack everything back up in about a few minutes. Boukrum is somehow close to Bonjour, which is the pizza and ice cream shop. I’m sure Boukrum is going to be good for me, but I’m going to miss this apartment. It’s really quite a good one, compared to all of the ones I have been to. Its amazing how fast time goes and flies when you are working and working hard, fullfilling your duties as a missionary.
           So the time I have spent here is going by little by little, but I still have a ways to go. But I’m really liking everything over here,. The food seems like candy nowadays like fufu, jollof rice and other things, but once in while the stuff is too much. Anyway I’m staying healthy, but sometimes I get a gut ache and have to lay down for a while; but I have not been sick since I came, just the one time. (my first week in Obuasi). I think I’m just maintaining my weight now days too, maybe gaining it back with all the free food people give us, but I think I’m just maintaining it. Also, the new chapel in Obuasi is up and going as of last Sunday. They said there were many people there, more than ever before. We were soppose to have a baptism yesterday, but the guy didn’t ever come.  He wouldn’t pick our calls or anything and that was pretty disappointing.
           You asked about the heat and humidity? So it stays about the same all the time. They have few seasons, but now its the dry season. It is really cool at nights and very hot and kind of dry in the day time. The only time I notice it is when I go into the clerks office on Sundays because of the A/C, but when I come out I can feel the difference. It was the same feeling when I stepped off the plane in Accra.
          So the words on my apartment building in the picture I sent are written in Twi. Awurade Na Aye, it means God is here. Almost all of the little shops and stores have something or words about God and Jesus Christ. So I can speak and say all the greetings and a little of some other things. It's a very easy and simple language to learn and speak, you just have to position your tongue right. Anyway, not too much else has happened here in Asuoyeboah.. Yeah, so I can’t think of too much else to say other than I’ll be in Boukrum for Christmas with an American!!   So I hope you have a very nice Thanksgiving and lots of fun stuffing yourselves. Make sure to eat my share as well as your own! Haha... I am thankful for many things. I don’t think we have enough time to mention them all. So thanks for everything.  I can’t think of too much that I need. Gr. Becky sent me some pictures of the snow that fell over there.  It looks like you are in for a good Winter, or at least a good start. Anway, I hope you have fun on Thursday.  Best of luck with everything!  May God Bless!!
               Love Elder Ty Blackburn

       This is my apartment in Asuoyeboah that I will be leaving today. 

It's on the bottom floor.  

                           

POST 30

Well Hi Everyone,

          This past week was OK. We have been busy as usual and always tired at the end of the day. I have been learning new and important things everyday it seems. We were not able to have the baptisms for the 2 guys. It seems as though now a days they just avoid us and we even saw the one running from us! Haha..   They make themselves look so stupid, and they are somehow falling away. We have been trying and trying, but it seems like they are taking other things more important first. Trying to get someone enthused about the gospel is pretty hard at times; but when we are led and guided to those by the spirit it’s not a problem. But yeah, it seems as though once you get them going good, they are progressing, then all of a sudden they have been deceived by some pastor or some other person about the church. But we keep trying. But anyway other than that, we have been doing good.  We were able to find some few more people that are pretty powerful. Each time we meet with them, when we ask them questions, they reply with the exact answer. I have really come to know how and recognize people that are prepared for this gospel, and how they are prepared by the Lord. I think it was Friday, we were just walking down this some how abandoned road, and we somehow found ourselves at this ladies house. She said she had been taught by the missionaries before in another place of Kumasi. She wants us to come back this week. Just stuff like that makes your mission successful.
          So anyway to answer your questions? So about the internet cafe's? OK, so we have to pay hourly. There are many little ones everywhere, but there are only a few that are good and fast. It usually is about 1 cedi 50 pesewas or 20 pesewas for one hour. Then you can add however much time you want to the head man running the time. So the mission home is quite far from Asuoyeboah, its probably 20-30 min in taxi. I have only been there once since I came. Also there are quite a few Universities in Kumasi. There is one here in Asuoyeboah, so we see many college students on the road towards our area. So the community is pretty quiet and peaceful. There are many really nice houses and a lot of 1st class people. So our investigators are doing good. There are (I think) 4 or so that are really serious, and will be baptized in December.
          So today for a P-day Zone activity we went to a Pure Water Factory, (they purify water at its best there). It was really neat to see something advanced in technology and in time here in Ghana; and also to have a break from missionary work. Something else to do for a change. So there they do all sorts of cleansing, filtering under high pressures of water, and then they put it into sacheys. (sacheys are little hand held sized plastic bags) Everywhere you go you can see people selling them. They are only 10 pesewas which is 5 cents. Also on our way back to town Elder Taylor from Idaho showed me where the slaughter house is in Kumasi. It looked like quite the place.  It was very big and had lots of those Brahmas standing around. Often times you will see a big semi pulling a great big plantain trailer packed full of cows going about 80 or so down the road. Haha….
          Tomorrow is my mark, the 19th I’ll be 7 months on mission.  Haha.. Wow!! Time is going.  When I return in 2015 I will be able to handle about anything that comes in my way. It sounds like you are doing well. Anyway it’s nice to hear from you and all of the happenings going on with everybody.  So thank you once again for everything.  I better go. My time is almost up. So take care! Best of luck with everything!
                  Love Elder Ty Blackburn  :)

Stirring Banku

(It's a starchy fermented corn/cassava dough mixed and cooked in hot water into a smooth whitish paste) 

POST 29

Well Hello,
          Haha… Well this past week was good. We have just been doing the usual, staying busy and fulfilling our duties. Other than that nothing else has really went on or happened. Other than that we kind of had a slow week, not too many people had time, and no one wanted to pick our calls; but we did alright, I guess you could say. We are teaching a middle aged girl that is from Wa.  Her name is Hilda. She is very smart, and knows a lot of things that we have taught her, just the one time that we have met with. There is something about a person that you can see and tell that they have been prepared by the Lord. Yeah we are planning on having a few baptisms on the 16, but not too sure how it will turn out. Most of the people we have been teaching are getting jobs or they are moving. So I hope they will be able to make and keep the commitment.
          Yeah, so we can have use other study materials and guides other than the scriptures. For me, I have all the standard works, Jesus the Christ, True to the Faith, Our Heritage, and a few Bible and Book of Mormon study guides. So we get an hour each proslyting day to have personal study, than after we have companionship study for one hour. But sometimes at nights I study also.
          So the other ones in the apartment are cool. Elder Acera from the Philippines who is being trained by Elder Robert from Nigeria. So we all kind of do our own thing. Each of us do our own cooking; but sometimes me and Acera will eat together. So for breakfast I eat oatmeal, for lunch usually egg sandwich or rice, then for dinner we usually buy fried rice or eat the same as we did for lunch. Yesterday I found an old cookbook, so maybe I’ll start trying new things. Haha...
          Oh yeah, I almost forgot.  So this past Thursday we were coming home in a tro. So to start things off, we did not have any lessons cuz people were not on our side that day. So yeah, we got into the tro and about a min or two later down the road they stopped and picked up a bunch of people next to the college. So about a few seconds down the road from there, the mate started asking for money and he told them the price.  The moment they heard the price, they started using twi insults and yelling at the driver and the mate cuz the price was too high. From the point where they got picked up to where we were dropped, they probably stopped 5 or 6 times. The driver almost climbed over his seat back to a few of the guys. It was quite something. Haha…
          So as I said, not too much has happened; maybe this next week I’ll have something to share. Ok, well keep up the good work. I will be calling home very soon. I hope all is well. I better go. So take care.

               Love, Elder Ty Blackburn

POST 28

Hello Everyone,
          Well here we are once again. So this past week was another good and successful one for us. We’ve been staying busy with not much time to think about home and everything. I’m just focusing on my duties and the Lords work. We were able to find some new people, and they are really progressing. Their names are Gladys, Esther and Kwabena. So Gladys goes to the University of Wennaba in Kumasi, Esther is a school teacher, and Kwabena works at a saw mill. We are planning on baptizing them on the 16th or so of this month, with a few others as well.
          Well I am doing very well. Yesterday was Stake Conference in Dichemso. (which is a part of Kumasi) There were people everywhere!! There wasn’t enough room for everyone. There were even chairs set up in other rooms and the hall ways in the church, even outside with tv’s. There were so many people that it made me realize again that the church is true!! One of the area of the seventies were there. For us missionaries, not many of us got a seat; so we were in the halls and outside, so I didn’t get to hear much if the conference. It was a very good time for all. Everyone was happy and smiling after. I saw a lot of the missionaries and chatted with a lot of them as well.
          So I recieved news from Elder Cockrum in Obuasi that Linda was baptized last Sunday. It really made me feel good to hear that she had made the step. Anyway, like I said, we have been staying busy and busier than ever doing the Lords Work.
          This place is very dusty and always at the end of the day my shirt is pretty much red, especially the collar. We walk a lot more as I have said before. We have been having a member come with us a lot, and I can see the difference whenever there is a member present in a lesson. I know that because of us bringing and using members more, that is why our investigators are progressing so good. We went to a members house on Friday. When we got there, they had prepared us food. It was Banku and Eba. The Eba wasn’t bad, (its a Nigerian dish, very simalar to banku and fufu in a way). As for the banku, I can actually eat it now a days; but I was forcing my self to eat it, and it was all my gag reflexes could take. So the moment I looked up, there stood this dog, he was staring at me and wagging his tail. So I said, “Forget this, I can’t finish all this”. So I gave the rest to the pooch!! He had it gone in a few seconds. I know it was bad to do, but I couldn’t carry on!! Haha...
          Ok, so about my companion (Elder Ugbah from Nigeria). He is a convert. He says he joined the church when he was like 8 or 9. The rest of his family is less active or non members. I’m not too sure of what he likes to eat or to munch on. O yeah, yesterday I received Annette’s package and when I opened it up, his eyes lit up like a torch. Haha.. He took some few things.
          So about the music and DVD’s, every companionship is suppose to have a small DVD player with a screen, so yeah we have one in the apartment. We watch preach my gospel. With the flash drive that I have, I have gotten some music and a couple of movies like '17 Miracles' and 'The Other Side of Heaven'. So I’m enjoying some of the things that we have back home. You can send something like that if you want.
          Well not too much else has happened, just Work! Work! Work! I can’t believe that we are in November. The first of January is just around the corner, then I can say next year is the time.  haha… That is good to hear Eli got her call, California! WOW! Tell everyone hello Belle, Chap, and Bryler.  Well thanks again for all the news and the happenings back home. I really appreciate your words of advice and encouragement. I know that because of my faithful service, he is watching over you guys. Keep up the good work.
                      Love Elder Blackburn

Me and my companion Elder Ugbah

This is the LDS church in my area.  

Post 27

Hello Everyone,

          Well this past week was good. We have been very busy doing our duty. We were able to have a baptism yesterday. It was a guy that lives very far from Asouyeboah. He says it costs him 18 cedis round trip to come to church.  He lives in Tepa where there are no missionaries.  He loves the church and everything about it. 

          We have been working really hard, and not too much down time at all. I have noticed that when you really focus on your work, the days and weeks go by faster. It really makes you feel good to be tired enough to lay down at night and fall asleep.  Also me and my companion are doing good, we are always joking and laughing around.

           I really like my new area.  It has a lot of really great people, and people that are prepared for the restored gospel. So the area we teach in has the really rich people all the way down to the dirt poor. We have a few people we teach that have mansions and 3-4 outfits. The one was a truck driver in America, and has been all over the United States. He says he has stayed the night in the Salina Truck Stop. I asked him why he would come back?  He said it was too much work for him!!  Haha... Yeah, so there are many powerful people here in Asuoyeboah. We have a bunch of people to be baptized on the 16 of November. So the people that we are teaching are many. I will tell u about a few.  So we have Maybell.  She is about 23 or so and has been taught everything, we are now reading the Book of Mormon with her. She really wants to be baptized, but she needs to get married first. (she has small child) She even says she wants to go to the temple!  Also there’s Gladys.  She lives in Apatrapa, which is part of our area. We were passing by one day and we stopped.  So we started teaching her.   She says she has met with the missionaries before, a few years ago.  I could see the tears come to here eyes when we started talking about Joseph Smith and the First Vision.  She could remember just about everything. So other that that not much has happened.

          I have grown to love the people over here and admire them for who they are.  I have also this past week mastered my tolerance.  I have realized that not much of anything that happens or people I am around can bother me.  Also I have acquired a lot of patience with my new companion. So just the other day I was thinking about everything and all the happenings back home; and then the hymn “All is Well” popped into my head. So I know that all is well back home with everyone. I can’t wait until Christmas to be able to call home, and get an ear full of everything! This week I will take pictures of a lot of different things. It sounds like everyone is doing good.  I can’t believe Gr. Dick is turning 70, wow!. Well I better go. So take care! May God Bless! Till next week!  Love Elder Ty Blackurn

POST 26

Well Hello Everyone,
          Well Monday is here once again. Like I said last week, I was going to be transferred to Asuoyeboah, which is a part of Kumasi.  I have really been liking this place. The apartment is OK, they say its very old, buts it’s nice for Africa I guess. Yeah, so having 4 instead of 8 is much better.  It’s a lot more quiet, and peaceful. The chapel is nice. It’s just like the ones we have back home. At church on Sunday I really felt welcome and at home.
          You will never believe what happened. Well OK, so on Wednesday was transfer day. We went to Metro Mass in Obuasi. (me and Cockrum). We waited there for about almost 2 hours. We decided to take tro tro. So we went into town and a bunch of people tried to take my bags, and wanted me to pay them to carry them. I was so fed up with them I was about to blow and just pop one in the mouth!  So we finally left Obuasi, so right when we got about to Kumasi we had the police stop us, and ask what is in the bags on top. So I just told them clothes. So anyway, we got to Kumasi Metro Mass and the APs took me and my new companion who’s name is Elder Ugbah, from Nigeria to the mission home. I was able to meet a few incoming Elders and talk for a while.  That was fun.
           Ok, so there are two Nigerians in the apartment. (my companion Elder Ugbah and Elder Roberts) Elder Roberts is training a little guy from the Phillipines. His name is Elder Acera and is always speaking Tagolog!! Haha.. He is a funny guy to be around.  He was soppose to come when I came, but due to Visa problems, he came later. He is one of the 18 years olds. My companion Elder Ugbah is a hard worker, but he does not know the difference between working hard and working smart; he just finished his training but he’s learning. haha...
So probably the top three things I have learned so far within the six short months I have been here are

1- Learning how to recognize the spirit.
2- Having faith in all things.
3- Learning how to work with others.

          So I was not able to burn a tie. We were so busy on Saturday that I pretty much forgot; but I plan on doing it sometime this week. OK this cafe is really crappy and is very slow, so sorry for the short letter. I hope all is well with everyone. It sounds like the gather went well, and you are getting them home a little at a time. So I better go. So take care. I love you all. Till next week!!
            Love Elder Blackburn

POST 25

Hello Everyone,
          Here it is Monday again and one more week down. So Saturday, I got news from our District Leader Elder Gakaka that I was going to be transferred. He told me about five or so different things, where I was going and who I was going to be with. So I didn’t believe him. Well, when I got back to the apartment I started asking him, and he finally told me the truth; after all day pulling my leg. I felt like ringing his neck! So I’m going to be transferred from Obuasi! I’m going to Asuoyeboah, which is in Kumasi. I’m going to be in a four man apartment, and my companion is a Nigerian who just finished his training, so it wont be so bad. I’m sure that there are many people out there that are ready for the gospel.  I leave Obuasi on Wednesday. I have to be at the Metro Mass in Kumasi at ten thirty.  My new area isn’t far from there, maybe 10-15 min in a tro tro I guess.  Elder Kgabaga is my zone leader, and is close by.  He said he is there for me.  He was the one that was in Obuasi when I first came, (Elder Sonpons trainer).   Cockrum is staying and going to be with Elder Stentzel or something like that. He’s another missionary from Utah that I came with. Also Elder Nielson is coming to Obuasi to train.  There will be TEN missionaries in Obuasi now; and all under the same Roof for the time being. They are looking for another apartment, but who knows when.  All I know is I’m going. I was kind of sad at first.  I was hoping to stay at least one more transfer, and to be able to open the doors on the new chapel. O well, maybe someday I will be able to do that in another area. But I hope to come back before I go home and see how everybody is.
          Yesterday I had to talk in church. Our branch President called and asked if one of the missionaries would give a talk.  I said I would. I talked on Missionary Work and Member Missionaries. I had about an hour or so notice before church. It was totally by the spirit! I talked for like 15 min with hardly no preparation.  I guess it was my retiring address.  haha…
          So about my shoes. The pair of Rockports are about bald on the bottom, and are not too safe to wear when its muddy. The Eccos are pretty much just like new.  They have worn off small on the bottoms, but are just like new. I think they should finish me. Yeah I rotate them, but now I’m starting to wear the Eccos more. If I do need shoes eventually, I’ll just go to the market and buy a pair for dirt cheap with my bargaining skills. Haha…
           So about Linda, she is 18 years old. She was a referral from one of the members.  She has known about the church for quite some time, but her mom really never wanted her to come to church. She says that her mom is ok with it now. She has a baptismal date for the 3rd if November. She works for Tigo, (its a phone company). Cockrum says he might come back to marry her! Hahaha... Yeah, so ill try to take more pictures of little shops and things.  Everywhere you look, you can pretty much find anything you want.  You just have to know where to find it. There is no order or anything like that here.  It’s all pretty much a giant cluster.
          I'm actually glad I’m getting a new start at things; new people to see, new scenery, four man apartment.  Well that is all good to hear all is well at home.  I wish I could just get a breeze or smell of the fall weather. It is getting hotter here in the day time and colder at nights. They call it Ramatan or something like that; it means dry season. I have started to have small head aches, its probably cuz I don’t drink enough water.  The drink mixes help with dealing with the water.  It sounds like dad had good luck on the Mt. and Gr. Becky said that Branson got so cold that they had to stop and make a fire for him. Haha... Won’t be long. I cant even imagine what it is like to actually feel cold! haha… Well I love you all.  Tell dad that I’m thinking of him, and to keep up the good work. Sounds like it’s that time of year; snow flying and almost Halloween. What is everybody going to be?? Take care!  Till next week.
    Love Ty

Me under the sign board next to the chapel

Me with a member and his family.

A typical white mans food in Africa.
IndoMie (Ramen noodles) mixed in with fried eggs, then salad cream. haha.. 

(its actually not bad at all)