HI!!!! It is so nice to hear from you guys! Yeah I have no idea whats going on with the emails, but i didnt get any of yours that you forwarded me and have not gotten one from Adam, weird! But hopefully they will pop up eventually! I love hearing from everyone though, it really is a luxury haha! So as far as packages go, those flat rate envelopes are like 20 bucks to send and no duty gets paid on those. The other boxes or whatever are a little more to send and there is like a ten buck duty, so nothing bad. They take 3 weeks to a month to arrive I guess so if you send anything, make sure it wont rot:) But I have been craving american food pretty bad haha! You know those instant soups from Zupas and stuff? Those would be SWEET here! As long as they just require water, i could do it! No milk here though so only the water ones would work. But yeah instant potatos and things like granola bars and stuff would be awesome! Youre smart and know what I like:) Maybe for mutual the YW/YM could make little bracelets for the kids or something? If we gave them candy they would probably never leave us alone haha! They are bad enough as is haha! No they are funny! But they get beat ALOT! I see kids getting beat in the street everyday, but its just how things are here. Thats how they get disciplined. I was playing with this little girl last night, then her dad came over and just SMACKED her, i guess she was laughing too loud or something. I felt bad!

We still have no water, but we are making it fine haha. We have a big water tank in the back that fills up so we have just been filling buckets from it and using that. But it ran out yesterday so this morning we had to fetch water from a well. Crazy!!! But yes we have a toilet and sink and even a "stove!" It is a propane burning stove like the one from the girls camp. But the worst thing about no water is we cant just flush the toilet. We have to fill the back with the water buckets. So usually we flush it 1-2 times per day haha... Also always remember how toilet paper is a luxury. We just have paper haha! But enough on that hahaha.

I actually can use my card here because there are ATMs around. The mission gave us a card and every 28 days we withdraw 180 cedis, or 90 USD, and use that to live on. I will probably withdraw some money from my account soon, just to have in case I run out of my 180. So just be sure there is always about 150 in my account! Thanks:) Money shouldnt be a problem though. We can buy breakfast for 25 cents here! But not like bacon and eggs, its more like a roll filled with spaghetti! They are pretty good! Most mornings I just make scrambled eggs and toast though. I am really missing good old mexican food though haha! I wish there was an El Matador here or something! But i will adjust.

So this week we had another baptism. This time the font filled! It was a lovely brownish green! The baptism was is Bokazo and E. Cardon did the baptism. The boy was Clever, and he is 18. He was definitely ready. That Saturday and Sunday kinda sucked though because we had a hard time finding people to teach. But hopefully this week will be better! We wont have any baptisms this week, but we will have two next! One is a 19 yo boy named Aaron and the other is a 17 yo girl named Edith. We met Edith last Sunday when she came to church with her uncle. We taught her the Restoration during the 2nd hour of church and she really understood well. Then on Tuesday we taught her at the shop she works at and she committed to baptism! We were shocked! Two lessons and she was committed! At the beginning of the lesson she said she wanted to be baptized so really one lesson! We taught her on Thursday about the Plan of Salvation and she understood it so well that me and Elder Cardon legitimately had an hour long conversation on whether or not she was a member messing with us! It was crazy! She has really been prepared by God and was waiting to meet us! Aaron is a friend of Tony, the boy we baptized last week, and i guess he would always meet the Elders with Tony, but the same Tuesday we committed Edith he committed! So you can imagine that that was a good day! To top the day off, we had bought some Dr. Pepper in Takoradi the day before on P-day so we feasted on noodles and Dr. Pepper! There is an american-like grocery store in Takoradi called Garden Mart and they have EVERYTHING! Well, a lot. But it is super expensive. They have kool-aid for 35 cedis. So yeah. But the dr. peppers were like 2 cedis each so we enjoyed those. I am hoping I will get to baptize Edith and Tony, but we will see!

On Thursday i went on splits because the District Leader, Elder Mcguire had to interview Clever for his baptism. So I went to a city called Tarkwa and was with Elder Keetch. He is from Lone Peak. Tarkwa was fun! We taught some really cool people and had lunch there. I had this stuff called red red, it is beans with plantain. It was pretty good. We then got some stuff called Fan Ice, which is basically ice cream you eat out of a bag. Like the water sachets only ice cream. Not quite as tasty as back home, but it got the job done. But right after that we went and taught this lady and she gave us a HUGE plate of rice and stew! We had to force it down haha! After that day my stomach has been a little wacked, but it is fine. The Pepto really helps! I do have a weird rash thing on my hands and arms that kind of flares up every now and then, but im sure its just my body getting used to the climate. It doesnt itch or anything. We are having interviews with the Shultz' on Wednesday so maybe I will ask about it. That is sad someone went home! Its not the kid i told you about because he is in my district! I have no idea who it is but that is sad! I think i have done pretty good adjusting, but I can totally see how it could be a struggle. I know I am watched over though so it is easy to push forward. Teaching here is still kinda weird. The whole culture and stuff is just SO different that it is hard to figure out how to talk and explain things. I have gotten better though. E. Cardon helps me a lot and he is a cool guy. We will get along well. The teaching skillz will come in time.

I will just email dad in this email, so let him know. Yes it is good not to give Tiki Ice cream! I bet he is huge already! I miss that little guy! There are lots of dogs here, but they are just like the goats or chickens that run around. They are just animals. They arent like dogs back home. I miss those types of dogs whenever I see these ones. They are just feral and run free. But yeah Im sick of roosters. Every morning about 900000 start doing their thing and wake me up! As I am typing this there is one right outside the door screeching haha! I think of the velociraptors from Jurassic Park each time I see them!

Its weird to think I have almost been gone a month! Time has really flown! It is weird to think that I will be 6 months out on my birthday! I am excited to be here and learn, teach, and grow! Oh and as for pictures, we are in  Nkroful emailing every p-day other than the one every 28 days. So we call that one Sub P-day because we collect our money in Takoradi. We email at the nice cafe there where the computers are fast so I will only send pics then! Sorry! But it would take forever here.

I love you guys more than anything! Miss you all! Give everyone a hug for me!  Also, I would love you a little more if you guys got me a package in the mail;) But no you are an amazing mom and I am excited to talk to you in December and see you in 23 months! Love you!

Your favorite son,

-Elder Hackmeister