Welcome to Luke's Mission Blog!

This is my first experience with blogging. Jean was an old pro. She had a blog for her cancer journey and a blog for Ashton's mission to Japan. I'm excited to share Luke's experiences with those who are interested, and I figure this is the best and easiest way to go forward.

My plan is to put much of his email content that isn't personal here with a few edits for spelling and punctuation--I am an English major after all--and perhaps add some of my own thoughts. He has only been in Ghana ten days but I was amazed at the maturity and spirit I felt by his second email. In some ways it didn't even sound like Luke, because he already seems to have grown. I'm proud of his efforts to serve the Lord and I know he'll be blessed and so will we.

We received this great picture from the Ghana Accra West Mission secretary the week before he departed.

His first email was just a few sentences long:

I've made it to Ghana. Things have been pretty good so far.  The flight was long but now that I am here it was totally worth it.  I met up with the other missionaries. There were like fifty of them.  The MTC is one of the most amazing buildings I've ever seen. There is still so much to see and do so I don't have a lot of time for this email.  Just wanted to say hello and tell you that I got here safe.  I'll tell you more later.

His next email came a week later and I felt such a powerful spirit:

So much has happened since I've gotten here. Most of the missionaries at the airport were going to different Ghana missions but a lot of them were going to different African countries too, like Madagascar and Nigeria. I've been learning so much during my classes about how to greet and teach people in the mission field, and I learn more about the Gospel every day. All the missionaries here are great. My companion is from Utah and overall a pretty cool dude. He's SUPER friendly and greets EVERY person we walk past with a handshake or a surprise hug while they don't even know he's there or have ever met before (fortunately this didn't happen to me.) My schedule is pretty busy and I've constantly got things to do even on p-day (which is Friday).  I went to the Ghana temple today (which is just down the street from the MTC). It's a beautiful building. I'll see if I can send you some pictures I took of it but you could probably find better ones on line.  I'm not exactly the best photographer in Ghana. The first day here felt like it took a week but was full of good experiences. Ever since then the days have been feeling shorter but I have been having a great time here (I've got like a week left before I head out.) I don't think I have felt the spirit so strongly in my whole life (besides in the temple.) My time here has been both the best and the worst time of my life. The best because every day I learn something new. The spirit is super strong, and I've met a ton of great people. And the worst because all I've wanted to do is leave so I can go start teaching. I've wanted to do that since we said goodbye at the airport, and everyday that feeling grows stronger.

Also the most amazing thing happened here just two days ago.  Elder Bednar of the twelve apostles came here to give the dedicatory prayer of the Ghana MTC. I got to be an usher which gave me the opportunity to talk with and shake the hands of a couple members of the seventy, and I sat just behind the choir like five or six rows away from the pulpit. The Mayor and Chief of Police of Accra were both there along with several people from the press. The spirit was so strong during his prayer that I almost cried; I wish I could have taken some pictures but it was prohibited unless you were given express permission. Overall a pretty cool experience.

As much fun as I've had here I've missed you guys, along with everybody at church. Not nearly as much as it would take to make me ever want to go home early but still. I miss my room, I miss my friends, and I miss you guys. I miss talking with you about stuff and having you around to guide me. I miss listening to Crystal play the piano or having funny little conversations with her. I miss playing video games with River and Ashton (even though we would fight sometimes.) I miss talking with Symber and getting advice from her about the future. And I wish I could talk to you guys again. I'm looking forward to Christmas when I can FaceTime you all, and I have been praying for you all pretty much every day. But I'm glad I'm here, and I've felt so inspired by the Lord lately that I feel like I could do anything!  

P.S. This email took like forty minutes to write, and I have limited time so if nobody gets an email from me this week make sure they get this one. And feel free to put it on Facebook or whatever, thanks.