Less than a week...

Dear Pops-

I know, less than a week until Christmas! Crazy huh, we had a little bash last week at Cape Coast. President Sabey and the Mission Couples chipped in for all the missionaries to have a mission tie and a nice plate of food for Christmas. It was pretty great, saw a lot of my MTC mates. They are doing well, most of them have had Malaria or Typhoid at least once. I, knock on wood, haven't had as much as a sore throat or runny nose.

We are having a Christmas dinner at "Grandma Nana's." She is a 74 year old woman that would be eating alone but we decided to join her. We will chop tortillas, beans, rice, and fresh pineapple, bananas, and popo. We should be having three baptisms this Sunday. It is small in numbers but very powerful and all thanks to the Lord! Two of three have been taught for over a year by missionaries and finally we started having them come to Church and they are progressing, no complaints at all!

Aw, I was somewhat hoping you guys would be going with Erin to Grandma and Grandpa's to spend Christmas. Hopefully the neighbors are doing well, tell them Christmas greetings and extend my love.

This week we hit up some new houses and have ten new investigators, we will see how they progress. The weather is pretty much the same now, we have been really blessed to have a little more clouds as of late. The haze is some how hard to pick up due to the winds of Windy Bay or Winneba.

That is great to hear that the heart is ticking well! It better stay that way for a long time.

Well hopefully your health continues to go well and that you don't become sick. I kind of miss the cold. It is odd to go from summer into summer. Make the most of Christmas and just remember that it is in remembrance of Jesus Christ. A fun story for you guys if you haven't read it is called "The Fourth Wise Man."

Travel safe, have fun, and most importantly give Kenzie a hug for me : ] Thank you much for everything, I hope that I can live up to be the most of your expectations. I look at my life and am very grateful to have had you and Kenzie and realize how ungrateful I am and was. I love you guys and hope all truly goes magnanimously!

Merry Christmas, sincerely with love,
Elder Thacker

Photos from the Field

November 23, 2009 - Happy Thanksgiving!

Letter to Hal on November 23.

Happy Thanksgiving, this week will be slim pickings (food wise) homaton has gone into full force. It is crazy to see the dust in the air making my sight more limited each day due to the haze from the Sahara desert.

Hmm, I have never heard of that movie ["The Blind Side"]. You will have to let me know if it was good. We don't hear any news or anything about America, especially movies, except from new missionaries coming in so I have no idea what is going on in the world outside of letters/emails.

Wow, I guess the weather has really changed around for you guys and has become more of that of winter. Well hopefully everyone is okay and the weather doesn't treat you too bad : ]

Score! BYU is doing well that is good to hear, big game this weekend (fingers crossed).

One thing about a mission, you pray a lot. And I have learned that most people don't pay attention to prayers or even remember most of what you say. But they are good and bring about good none-the-less.

Cutting down a tree for Christmas will be a lot of fun, find a good tree for me and take photos : ] Also tell the Bradleys and everyone hi for me. Tell the Bradleys that Elder White says hi also, he is a cool missionary from Vernal that I get along with very well. He is my district leader. We went on splits together last Friday, it was sweet. That same Friday it was Elder Collins birthday (Zone Leader) that lives in the same apartment as Elder White, so we had pancakes. That was pretty awesome, we made our own syrup from Mapleine that was given to him by a girl that was visiting on a thing like Sarah did.

I have learned basic greetings, the languages here are very specific. Like if you say Apomwei (How is your health) you have to answer Eyaminadoom (By God's grace) but if you say Otendain (How are you) you have to answer Oye (Fine). They are practically the same question but if you answer with different ways they chastise you. Like if you say how are you and then they don't answer back, only "fine" not even "good" is allowed, then they will chastise you xD I know also how to ask for prices, to say where I am from, that I am hungry, etc.

I just rode a trotro before coming here from going to an activity in Cape Coast where we went to Kakum's National Park, a rope bridged forest area. That was fun. I took a video and photos. I would send them now but you forgot to send the computer cord xD No worries I will just find one here to buy and make it work haha

We are planning on nine baptisms this Sunday and six baptisms for the other elders (Latapu and Leko) as well, making a total of fifteen if everyone shows up for interviews and then comes to Church on Sunday. For the people I have baptized so far they have come almost every week unless they travel somewhere for whatever reason, which is somehow common due to how families are here in Ghana. But they have remained active so far. For past converts if we go visit them through out the week or someone from the Church does they come. If not, then they sometimes don't. It will be interesting to see as time goes by.

The netting is a blessing, at 7 going the insects and animals start coming out in our apartment and start to attack us so if we want peace we go to our beds and turn on our fan then study or whatever. There are tons of animals and insects in the apartment and we just had it sprayed. They don't build buildings here the same, that is for sure, so they just enter in through all sorts of places. But the netting takes care of me : ]

Well I hope everything is great in Utah and that everyone is well.
Much love <3

Elder Thacker

November 19, 2009

Here it is high 80's I would think, and it is becoming hotter every day xD The people I am meeting are awesome. As of right now we have eight people we are working with that are "progressing" in the gospel and their lives. Four people are being baptized most likely this 29th. Their names are: Daniel, Christian, Otoo, and Andrew. They are awesome people that have started attending church and are taking well to the lessons. The Church is a small old building that has a small baptismal font in it. I will take photos of it some time and send them home.

Our house is big and very nice in comparison to other buildings. We have a shower with cold water, a toilet that doesn't flush well, and we sleep under nets to not be eaten alive by bugs when we sleep. We have lizards, spiders, and all sorts of bugs that live in our house with us. It is interesting but a fun expereince to learn from. I have had seven types of fufu, goat, wachi (beans and rice made together), shito (a pepper sauce), and some other dishes. They are going to start cooking dogs and cats soon since it is the Christmas season and that is what they do here. Daily doings are teaching, teaching, walking, teaching, and walking. Then I come home prepare for the next day eat dinner and pass out. Umm any other questions feel free to ask and I will let you know what is going down here in Ghana.

Please send letters from home to our address. I would love to get them, but i dont have enough time to read and respond to e-mails cause the internet is way slow and I only get so much time.


Elder Morgan J Thacker

Ghana Cape Coast Mission

POB 30150

Salt Lake City, Utah 84130-0150

USA

Letter from the Mission President

This letter and photo were sent from President and Sister Sabey upon Morgan's arrival in his first area.

We hope you will enjoy this picture of your missionary arriving from the MTC. We are so pleased to have Elder Thacker in the Ghana Cape Coast Mission. We appreciate your efforts in preparing him for this mission.

His first assignment will be with Elder Akpapunam in the Swedru District, Swedru Zone. We are grateful for his willingness to dedicate this time to the Lord and know he will come to love his service here. We have taught him that he is literally the representative of our Savior to the people in his area. We have promised him that, as he strives to do what the Savior would do each day, he will be guided by the Spirit and will steadily become more like the Master whom he is serving.

Missionaries love to hear from those at home. Letters are a valuable aid in helping them to be happy and do their best. Therefore, we encourage you to write often. You may also send a letter through the church mail pouch or letters and packages through the postal service or private carrier (abiding by the instructions on the enclosed sheet). Only the postage to Salt Lake City is required for pouch mail.

Thank you for sharing your son with us. We consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to serve with him and will delight to see him progress spiritually as he learns to love and serve our Heavenly Father’s children here in Ghana.

Sincerely,

President Mel Sabey and Sister Sandy Sabey

November 17, 2009

I was a marriage counselor last week that was very funny. Also I was able to watch one talk from General Conference: Sunday Morning Session for Thomas S. Monson. The rest of the time we watched Conference it was in Fante so I didn't understand. Then they changed it to English at the end.

Well here it is just heating up, we are becoming hotter and hotter here each day. The weather coming up is called Homaton (wrong spelling), but it is where the wind comes off of the Sahara desert and makes the weather here very hot and dry.

We are teaching about eight people a day that count, but often there are a lot of people that we teach around them but it only counts for one person. We have a few that we are preparing for baptism: Daniel, Otoo, Andrew, Joseph, Christian, and some eight year olds. I won't be boisterous so I won't tell you anymore about baptisms unless you guys want to know.

The church is an older yet very nice building that makes the people of Winneba think that the Church is very wealthy and will give them money. The apartment is a big one in comparison to others. There are three bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a hall, and a garage that we do our wash in. The scenery is great, lots of tropical stuff, but not as great as it would be if people wouldn't stop chopping down all the trees. Also the coast is very nice. We proselyte close to it every day, so that is fun.

The food: We have over seven different styles/flavors of fufu, a food called Wachi, ballfruit, shito, plantains, lots of rice, and some other dishes. I mainly eat rice, hand made tortillas with eggs, fufu, and ballfruit. We also have amazing pineapple that is three or four pineapples for one cide. Umm anything else? Feel free to ask otherwise I am forgetful.

Weeks are flying by, that is for sure. I am still in October other than I write the date on our missionary calendars. So BYU beat New Mexico or lost? I hope they smoke Air Force xD

I received the package yesterday! Ah it was sweet. Funny story about yesterday/today--the internet workers of our typical cafe went on strike so we couldn't use internet there. We aren't sure when they will start working again if at all, so we went looking for others and they were all closed or full all day until now when I finally was able to get one that didn't rip me off with bad internet.

I'm in great spirits :D Know that thigns are good for me so long as you keep talking to me. I can e-mail family whenever I have time, due to poor internet and such.

Love much-
Elder Thacker

September 14, 2009, Family e-mail

The message below was sent via e-mail on September 14, after Elder Thacker had left the MTC. Sorry this is being posted so late!

I have very little time to write you, I am sorry. Internet is slow here and stuff. Sorry to not make it more personalized I truly wish I could : (

Africa is pretty busy and interesting: I have moved from Tema where I was in the MTC to Winneba, which is a very very poor area (second poorest in all of Cape Coast Mission). I have a cold shower every day. They speak Fante, Pidgeon English, and a few other languages. I am picking up Fante a little. haha. I eat the same three meals every day since I have $10 a week to live off of for food. I have oats for breakfast, banana and bread for lunch, and rice with tomato sauce at night pretty much every day.

I am hoping to be baptizing six people in a week and a half. My companion is Elder Akpapunam from Nigeria. He is quiet but nice. I live with two zone leaders. They are awesome: Elder Moloi and Elder Collins. I was burnt due to Doxy (Malaria Pill) for this week but I am doing a bit better now.

My area is very very tropical and right on the coast. Almost no one has cars here, mostly taxis. The driving here is crazy but very few wrecks. People are very poor here. (Pardon my spelling and grammar due to limited time I must cram to write you.) Tro tro's are crazy, mine broke down today. The way they work is they take a van and cram as many people as possible in. We had 20 in mine today. I have to take a taxi to my area each day because it is far from the apartment. We are finding a new one for in five weeks we have four new missionaries coming in. I was told by zone leaders I could possibly become a trainer in five weeks, meaning I would be the senior companion. President Sabey and wife are awesome, I love them. Zone conference this wednesday. We had 61 missionaries at the MTC, it was sooo crazy.

The filth here is abundant but the people are very nice. The sewer here is above ground and people throw trash everywhere. Sewer color varies from purple to black to green. It smells horrible. Everyone listens to music on blown out speakers everywhere. Lots of Bob Marley, remixed American songs, and African blasting all over. I have over 30 investigators with my companion.

I cannot send pictures home through the internet, it's too slow. Everyone: Do not send packages in boxes! It costs tooooo much for you and me, because they charge me for boxes. Use the $11 pouches to send stuff. They don't take duty on those. For ideas to send, I would like scripture stickers too, like they are little different colored circle stickers for marknig just the end of pages for different topics.

Winneba is like an Arabian City mixed with a Mexico city in my opinion, just on the sea shore it is over populated and crazy. All the children call me "obrunie," they love white people here. The power went out for the past two days. It was funny and kind of crazy.

The Lord has blessed my companion and I greatly to touch the hearts of our investigators. We had three show up for church Sunday and many are willing to listen to our discussions progressively. I have a lot I wuold love to tell you all but alas I have run out of time. Ask me questions and I will answer them.

I love you all very much and hope all is well. I do have e-mail, just limited to an hour a week and the internet is sloooow.

Love,
Elder Thacker

Morgan's First Letter Home!

September 1, 2009

Dear Family,

The plane ride was long, I didn't sleep on it. There were 14 other missionaries that went from JFK to Accra with me.

There are a lot of cars broken down everywhere and the cars are all very old. There are a lot of unfinished buildings around, lots of tropical trees with the buildings dirty and colorful.

The MTC is nice, the food is good, no fufu yet, we have a lot of rice, chicken, and fruit. Yams were offered but I didn't have to have them. 8^)

They have a plant food that is like play doh you put it in a ball and dip it in sauce and then swallow it without chewing. (It is not fufu though) The pineapple here is amazing!! The pineapple from America is no good in comparison.

We play soccer (football) almost everyday, it is a lot of fun. There are 58 Elders and 5 Sisters, there are a lot going to the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, or, somewhere else?

All of the White Elders are going to Cape Coast.

I have a Nigerian Companion right now, Elder Essien, he is quiet and difficult to understand at times. There are two Elders from the Congo (Mpoy and Mapalma) who live in our same room, they stay up til 11 PM and then wake up at 4-5 AM.... It is insane....

MTC is three stories, and I like most things here. We have classroom time that is 4 hours in the morning, and 3 hours at night, where we pretty much get lectured the whole time, I wish they would do more group learning, 1 lesson discussion, instead it can be a little boring at times. Our teacher speaks in French most of the time since we have a lot of French speaking Missionaries here too.

They have a pretty cool greeting with their hands, greetings are a big deal in Ghana.

Love, Elder Thacker

or as the West Africans say Elder *shock-uh* (Thacker)

Address

Elder Morgan J Thacker

Ghana Cape Coast Mission

POB 30150

Salt Lake City, Utah 84130-0150

USA

This is for the "pouch" service. Only Postcards and letters that are single sheet, folded into three-panels, and taped at the top only (no envelopes), may be sent through the pouch.

I hope to hear from you soon!

Elder Thacker

Re-Cap

I have been called to serve in the Ghana Cape Coast Mission and will be in the Ghana MTC August 21st. Thank you all for coming to my fair well and for supporting me.

Love,

Elder Thacker