Apr. 10, 17 & 24, 2017

Hey everyone!!

How are all of you? I hope that you are all doing well! I am doing great over here. Sorry it has been so long. I really don't mean to let so much time go between letters, but sometimes it just happens. Things have been really good for me. I am training now! My new missionary (son) is named Elder Wilkins. He is from Snowflake, Arizona. He is a really cool guy. He comes from a big family, he is second to the last of eight children. He also really likes to play basketball. The great thing about him is that he was so prepared to come on his mission that it is almost like he is pre-trained. It definitely makes my life a lot easier. He really is a great guy and I am enjoying the chance to work with him. 

This last week we had the zone leaders visit our area and go on splits with us. We were able to add 15 investigators to our teaching pool, so we are super excited about that. We are still working with Daniel and Dina, but no solid plans for a baptism just yet. We are hopeful that with the new additions to our teaching pool we will be able to see some great results in the near future.

It is hard to believe that Easter has come and gone already. I do not know where the time goes anymore. I really hope that everyone had a good Easter and took the time to remember this special event in the history of mankind. I know that Christ really did die and rise again on the third day and that it truly was for our sakes. Words can't describe what I feel when I think about it. It really is the most special thing in all the world. 

Yesterday we had a really exciting thing happen! We had a multi stake conference in the Accra conference center. It was one of the coolest experiences I have had on my mission so far. There were over 50 investigators who attended the conference. The meeting was held to create the 76th stake in Africa, so we now have the Teshie Stake. It was presided over by Elder Vinson, who is the Area President and a member of the first quorum of the 70. It is cool because in his 3 years of being in Africa they have now doubled the amount of stakes, with more coming soon. I even found out that my last zone, Koforidua, will be a stake this summer, so I am super excited! 

I love the Gospel so much and I know that it is true. I am so so thankful to be serving a mission for the Lord. I am so thankful for what he did for me. I love you all. One more thing, 17 months in the books! (actually almost 18) Talk to y'all later!!

--

Elder Travis J. Roberts

Ghana Accra Mission

Apr. 3, 2017

Hey everyone!!

How are you?! I hope that you are well! I am doing great. We are doing pretty good here in Africa, still hot as ever though. Things in Kpone are going great. Daniel was on track to be baptized on the 9th, but he has had a small set-back, so please pray for him and us. We did find a new investigator this week. Her name is Dina and we found her while we were just out walking in our area. Also, I am getting a new companion next week. I am sad to see Elder Seeley go, but I know it will be all good. We have had a really good companionship, so I really couldn't ask for more. 

I really cant believe how fast the time is flying now. It goes way too fast anymore. I hope that everyone had a wonderful General Conference. I was able to see the Saturday afternoon session and Priesthood session. I can't wait to see the rest of the sessions and hear what the Lord wants us to focus on. 

I am so thankful for this time of year and for the opportunity we have to hear from our leaders. It is so wonderful to know that God has his chosen representatives on the Earth in these, the last days. I am also thankful for the chance we have to celebrate the Atonement in a couple of weeks. I truly can not put in to words how thankful I am to the Lord for what He did for me. I hope all of us take this special time to really remember Him and His truly life saving actions. I love all of you and hope that you have a wonderful week!

--

Elder Travis J. Roberts

Ghana Accra Mission

Mar. 20 & 27, 2017

Hey everyone!!!!

How are all of you?! I hope that you are all doing great! We are doing pretty good. Fortunately I started feeling better the next day after I was sick, so its all good. We have had an interesting couple of weeks. The first week was what I call a refiners fire week. It was a really tough week. We found no one new and everyone else we had been teaching was gone, so it was a lot of just walking around. It was a good faith building week though. 

This week, on the other hand, was pretty good. We found some new investigators after all 4 of us were working in our area and we were able to grow our teaching pool. We also had a lot more success with our old investigators. We were able to see a lot of them and teach a lot of lessons this week, so that was great. 

I am so excited for General Conference this week! It will be such a nice refresher to hear from our leaders and to hear the word of God preached. It will also be nice to hear from the Prophet and Apostles. It really rejuvenates me and helps keep me going. It is hard to believe that I have just over 7 months left. I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week!

--

Elder Travis J. Roberts

Ghana Accra Mission

Mar. 6 & 13, 2017

Hey everyone!!!

How are all of you? I hope that you all have had a good few weeks! For us it has been pretty good. We have finally had two of our investigators, Jonathan and Daniel, come to church, so we were really excited about that. It has been somewhat of a couple of slow weeks with the work, but we are working hard and still going strong. 

Last week we had zone conference at the MTC (missionary training center). The MTC is in Tema, and my area, Kpone, is right next to Tema, so we didn't have to go very far. We had a great zone conference, and we also got to play some soccer and basketball after it was over, so that was pretty fun. It is hard to believe that it has been almost a year and a half since I went through the MTC. The time has gone really fast and I am just doing everything I can to make the most of the time I have left. 

I would have done a letter last week, but we had a really big storm come through and we had to get back to the apartment. I am actually a little under the weather today, but it should pass by tomorrow, so nothing to worry about. The area is really growing right now so we are really excited and looking forward to working with the people here. We have baptisms scheduled on the 9th of April, so we are getting ready for that. All in all that is really what has been happening for now. I hope that you all have a good week!


-- Elder Travis J. Roberts
Ghana Accra Mission

Feb. 27, 2017

Hey everyone!!

How are all of you? I hope that you had a great week. We had a pretty good week. We ended up going to the mall again today. I definitely miss Suhum, but it is kind of nice to have a few more things like the mall close enough to get to every now and then. I really like the apartment and my companions, so that is always a good thing. We even have a keyboard in the apartment that I'm able to play and not let my piano skills get too rusty. Before I left the US I thought I might end up playing more in church, but so far they have always had a member who plays.

One of the best experiences we had this week was a lesson on Thursday. We were teaching one of our best investigators and we were teaching him about temples. When we said that you could be sealed to your family and relatives that you love, his face lit up at that and he became very interested again, so we have high hopes for him. That was really the high point of the week. One more good development is that Immanuel, one of our investigators came to church, so that was pretty exciting as well! I love being a missionary and am so glad to be a missionary in Ghana. I love all of you!!
Have a great week!!!


-- Elder Travis J. Roberts
Ghana Accra Mission

Feb. 6, 13, & 20, 2017

Hey everyone!!!

How are you doin?!

I hope that you are all doing well. I am doing really good over here. Just teachin' and preachin' in Africa!! Sorry that it has been so long. That is never my intention. I just get so side tracked talking to everyone! So much has happened. Of course, being in a new area I have been learning all about it. It has been really wonderful here in Kpone so far. I love it very much. We are able to find solid investigators, the only problem is getting them to church. That is pretty normal, so it is all good. Our investigator Jonathan ended up not getting baptized, but we are still working with him. We have a tenative baptism date set for the end of March, but we will just have to wait and see. We also found a new investigator, his name is Ferguson. We just started teaching him this week, but he has been making good progress.  

It is different being back in the city again. I do miss the bush a lot, but we have been working hard and having lots and lots of fun in our apartment full of Americans. I have been able to go to the mall the last two weeks for P-day, so that has been kind of nice. I even got to eat at Pizza Hut and had the meat feast, it was awesome! It is hard to believe that we are already on the last week of February. The year is really flying by!! I don't know if it is just me but, I feel like it goes even faster without 30 or 31 days in the month. It is hard to believe how fast time is going. In March I will be 16 months on my mission and I am not really sure how that happened. It still feels like I got out of the MTC yesterday. I can say though, that I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. It really is the most amazing thing to be doing. If you ever have any doubts about going on a mission, I can personally tell you that you should go. You will be so much better off because of it. I love it so much!! Also, only 9 months to go! Its amazing that I am already at this point. I love my mission so much and I know that the Church is true!

Love,

-- 

Elder Travis J. Roberts

Ghana Accra Mission

L to R: Elder Dougal, Elder Seeley, Elder Roberts and Elder Mathews

Jan. 30, 2017

Hello!!

How is everyone?! I cant believe that we are already done with January! The time moves so fast! I am doing good here in Kpone. We just had our ward conference yesterday. It was a great meeting with some really good speakers. The Ashaiman Stake President was one of the speakers, he is a really cool guy. He makes it a point to get to know everybody. It really was a wonderful meeting. We had the ward choir perform as well, so that was a nice treat. Kpone ward has an amazing choir, they sounded wonderful and it really brought the spirit into the meeting.  

We had a multi-zone conference this week as well. We went to Boti falls and had a great time. It was nice to be back in the area around Suhum. Today for P-day we took a taxi to the MTC and played basketball and then went and had pizza. It was a lot of fun, and it was neat to be able to see the MTC again.

Great news, we even have a baptism this week. I mentioned in my last letter that his name is Jonathan. He is a really cool guy. You can see in his eyes that he is ready for the gospel, he just looks so happy. I love being in this area so much and I am so thankful to be serving in this zone. That is really all I have for this week everyone!

I love you all!!

--

Elder Travis J. Roberts

Ghana Accra Mission