March 30, 2015

Hello.  Thanks for emailing me.  Great to hear from you.  The true happiness comes from serving others.  Thank you for being a great example to your grandchildren. Tell Brody I'm proud of him too.  Yeah I'm doing great.  Am going on transfer this Wednesday.  I'm going to the eastern part of Ghana to a small town.  I'm really sad to leave my area.  The Camp I really want to stay more months. But am going.  We had wonderful week.  We are having baptism next Saturday for Osman and his Mother.  They are from New York but her husband is a member.  She came to visit him last month.  She was born in Muslim family and moved to USA 15 years ago.  So her husband is a member.  She likes the teaching and about the temple work because her family are Muslims and she knows that they don't believe in Jesus Christ.  She was thinking of her family.  Those who passed away and when she heard baptism for the dead she was happy.  We helped her to understand.  She is happy for that so she went to be baptized in her husband but she is going back to New York on 11 of April so she is moving after her baptism.  The good thing is her husband is a member.  Even strong member.  He's our ward clerk.  He will help her to gain her testimony but am leaving them Wednesday.  For Regan he's such great father.  We meet with his x-wife.  She is really living very hard life.  She stays around his house but she drunk very much.  We meet three times this past week with her.  She is drunk all the time.  We try to help her to stop but she don't want to give it up.  He don't want to stay with drunk woman too which is right for he don't drink, don't have any problem that will hold him to be baptized.  He came to church yesterday. Another bad history, the husband and wife have 4 children.  They all are members.  We visited them 4 weeks ago.  They cooked for us.  We had wonderful time with them but I don't see her husband at church and I asked her.  She told me he travel but yesterday I asked her again and she called me and told me that they are not living together anymore.  I'm sad and asked her why.  She said he don't want her again.  She is Liberian and he's Ghanaian.  Bishop knows the problem but I don't really know if he's working on it.  She took two of her kids with her and moved to the camp.  I really feel bad about him.  He even got married to other woman after his wife left the house.  He took his new wife to his house.  Ohhhhhhh weakness but when I was in Ashtown I met a member who's a hero to me.  His wife passed away in birth-time of their daughter 9 years ago.  He since that time is not married to anyone and lives with his daughter doing everything with her.  Going to church every single Sunday with her in each ward in our stake because he's Stake Family History Director but he attend Sunday in different wards in our stake and he will take her with him anywhere he go on Sunday.  During the week she will be at school because he don't have anyone to take care of her for him.  He's a great father.  For Charles he's doing great.  He's a movie director.  He's going back to Liberia soon to shoot his new movie.  I told him I want to study Cinematography.  I really want to work with movies.  He told me he has a place for me to work with him.  I told him I'm a missionary and can't do that for now.  He's going to be married in November and he invited us to Liberia.  He will pay all my needs but I told him I'm still on a mission and I can't go to his wedding.  I feel bad but no choice.  All the RC are doing great and active.  We have a dog.  She lived with members and when we visited them she became friends with us so now she will go all the day with us.  She don't want to leave us and do her business.  She eats her lunch with us too.  I love that dog.  For my school I really want to study Cinematography and work with Cinema.  If you help me with this I will be grateful to you.  For your money I used it to buy shoes and suitcase and other needs but I still have some of it.  I will use wisely.  Thanks for all things.  For the love and care about me.  Tell everyone Happy Easter and have wonderful time.  I miss Emma and Lydia.  Please tell them I missed them too.
Much love,
Elder Birresa

March 23, 2015

Hello.  Yeah long time since I heard from you.  I'm doing great.  Good to hear from you again.  So Griffin is going to Madagascar.  That is wonderful.  Is he going to learn French?  Is he going to Provo MTC or Ghana MTC or South Africa MTC?  I hope he will love his mission.  I had a few friends from Madagascar when I was in the MTC.  As for me I'm doing great here in the camp.  But there is some bad news.  They are going to destroy the camp and build a market so they asked everyone from the camp to leave in three months, which is so bad and a lot of people don't have a job so they can't support their family.  I feel life will be hard to them when they leave the camp.  Our ward is going to be closed too.  But the good thing is we baptized Charles last Saturday.  He's happy.  He's leaving to Liberia very soon.  He's dating a member in our ward too, which is good.  We are working with Leon, Regan and Dolly for the next month.  For Leon his brother is a member we baptized last month.  He referrers to us and we are teaching him and he will be ready for the next month.  Regan is Liberian.  I feel bad about  him.  He has three children under 8 years and their mother left them with their father and he's doing his best.  It is not easy.  We are teaching him.  He likes the teaching and he wants to be baptized.  We are having his baptism on 25 of April.  For Dolly, she stays with members so she comes to church since we start teaching her.  Having wonderful time with members doing what is right.  Our conference was nice.  Talked about to stay strong and faithful.  Many missionaries are going back to their home.  It is really hard honestly.  It is really hard to survive with weather and power and other, but it is for small time and not forever.  I'm happy for Brody.  Try to send me email once in a week please.  It means a lot to me.  I don't have anyone to write me.  Thank you for all thing.
Love
Elder Birresa

March 9, 2015

Hello, how are you?  Happy Birthday!!!!  We baptized two people last Saturday.  Troken and Jimmy.  Jimmy had special interview with President Patrick.  We passed his baptism for March 21 with Charles.  It has been great week.  We did great.  We had 8 people yesterday at Sacrament.  We have few people that we are working with for the coming month.  I went on exchange with Elder Reeves this week in their area.  It was wonderful to be there with him.  There is an orphanage in our area run by member.  They are from Idaho.  We went there.  They have 46 children.  They are nice to play with them.  All our recent converts are doing great, coming to church on time and participating in church meetings.  Justice is planning to go on mission next year.  He's preparing himself for that.  My past one year in Ghana is very good.  I really learn great things.  I past some hard time and very good time in the past year.  I have talked with:
949 contact,
855 other lesson
172 member percent lesson @ 3 convert
14 people from Ghana
5 people from Liberia
4 people from Nigeria.
I love the work that I am doing here in Ghana.  Sharing the things that I truly know to be true has helped me to have unshakable testimony about the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Wednesday we are having a mission tour (conference) with the West Africa Area President, Legrand R. Curtis Jr.  Thank you so much for all the things that you have done for me to support me with my mission.  I'm half done and I will finish the rest.
With much love and respect.
Elder Birresa (your son).

March 2, 2015

Hello, how are you?  For me am doing great.  We had wonderful week again.  We had 15 people yesterday at Church.  Troken and Patric they are ready for next Saturday to be baptized.  We taught all thing they have to know before their baptism and Troken helped us to teach his younger brother.  He's somehow a hard person to teach.  I feel we are forcing him to teach but his brother, Troken wants us to teach him.  Charles, we are preparing him for the next month.  He comes to church 2 times.  He's Liberian.  We taught about the restoration of the Gospel, the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.  We asked him to pray and ask if these things are true.  We gave him his own copy of the Book of Mormon.  We marked for him a place to read from the Book of Mormon.  It helped him to know the truth about the Book of Mormon.  Yesterday he shared his testimony with members about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.  That is a wonderful moment of the week.  Our recent converts, they all are doing great.  They are coming to church every Sunday.  Even Agustina.  She came to church this past two Sundays with her mother, which is very good.  We found few people that are interested to hear our message.  We will work with them.  We will have two baptisms next Saturday.  They are ready for that.  They will have interview by zone leaders this week.  Next year at this time I will be in mission home to fly back to Ethiopia.  I really miss my family and Injera.  Thank you so much.
Much love,
Elder Birresa