Monday, December 1, 2014

"I can confidently say and testify..."



tro tro ride to the Temple!


Hoeho Group 1st ever temple trip



December 1, 2014

Family,

Another great week that has been long awaited for has come and gone!
The whole week we were anticipating our temple trip and it finally
came! Elder Zaugg and I went with Daniel, Gameli, Helen, Maxwell,
Jonathan, Beatrice, Albert, Baah Boah, Derry, and Josephine. We woke
up at 3 am and all met at the police station by 4 am to leave for
Accra! We were expecting 11 members but one didn’t show up L so we
headed to Accra with 10 members! We all slept as much as we could in
the morning so we could have enough energy for the trip! We were
making good time until we made it to Juapong (somewhere close to where
Elder Hatch is serving) where we had to take a ferry across the Volta
River. But because they closed early the night before, there was a
small line of cars/people that spent the night in their cars, so we had to wait
more than an hour to get across the river. Then we got stuck in traffic
around Tema Motorway so that slowed us down even more, but nonetheless
we arrived at the temple by 10:30! Everyone was so excited to be there!
There happened to be three other districts with all of  their members that
came to the temple at that same time! Haha there was so many people
around the temple, so that got us a little worried. We had the baptism
scheduled for 10 am but we got there at 10:30, they let the whole
Korfidua district jump us! So that was frustrating but it was ok
because everyone was happy to just wait around and talk and walk the
temple grounds! We had the office elders buy us rice and chicken for
lunch and so we were able to eat that. But luckily they had space for
the women and so they were able to hop in with the other group and get
done sooner! But there were so many men, they were going to have to wait.
We were able to take pictures, talk, and explain different things. The waiting 
wasn’t bad, we just knew that we had to get into the temple by 1 or we wouldn’t make it
back to Hoehoe that night because of the rough roads and the ferry would close 
down, so we didn’t have much time left.
So Daniel (Group Leader) and I went in again and tried explaining everything
 to the temple worker at the front door and he was like well you just
have to wait and if it gets to late you just have to cancel, and we
were like “uh… no we have been planning this for over a month,
members have sacrificed their money and time for this trip so we need to let 
these people participate! So he took us to a member of the
temple presidency, we explained everything to him and he was like
“Hey, we need to get them in right away!” So within 15 mins our
members were in their baptismal clothes waiting in line! The main
problem was that there weren’t enough jump suits to do the baptisms because
of so many people and so they were far behind. Unfortunately Elder
Zaugg and I couldn’t participate and baptize them because of the clothes shortage,
but we were able to watch! It was a great experience and everyone was
so happy! We changed fasted, took more pics, and then hopped in the tro tro
and were off just before 3 pm! It was seriously another miracle that
everything was able to be accomplished before 3! I was also able to
meet former members in the area that I had served and missionaries that I
hadn’t seen for a while! It was a long trip going from Hohoe to Accra!
I can’t imagine what
it is going to be like from Accra to New York!! Plus the weather!! I’m
just praying that there are no delays!! We were fortunate that there
wasn’t heavy traffic in Accra nor to the ferry and so we were
able to just drive right on to the ferry and cross the river! We got
home at a good time that night, but we were exhausted! It was like a 15
plus hour trip! Boys Abre!

 The following day was Sunday and we were
able to have sacrament meeting, confirm sister Grace (I was able to do it) and
then hear a few testimonies and talk. We’re hoping next week everyone
will be able to bear their testimonies on Fast Sunday about the
temple! After sacrament meeting we watched the All Africa General Broadcast
for November and it was great! Elder Gay, Sister Stevens, Elder
Ballard, and Pres. Uchtdorfs all gave talks and they were so awesome,
I really felt the spirit and understood a lot!
Well family, I love you all and this weekend we will have two great
baptisms that have been long awaited for! One of them is our neighbor
Graham that we have been teaching ever since we got to Hohoe! He is
great and will be a strong example for the members here!  Hope you
have a great week! I can’t believe the time is coming to an end.
November has come and gone so fast and now it’s only a few more days
left…. I can confidently say and testify that Paul’s words have
applied to me from 2 Timothy 4:6-8. I have done my best, of course I
had my ups and downs and struggles but I know I have kept the faith
and fought a good fight! I have learned so much from this mission and
my testimony has grown so much! Truly this is the Lords work and His
Church! I have mixed feelings about everything, I’m going to miss this
place like no other but I know all will be in the Lords hands. Love
you all, the Church is true. 

Elder Kade Eppich

Monday, November 24, 2014

"Look towards the future with faith"

November 24, 2014

Family,

Well last week flew by and it’s so weird! I wake up in the morning and
lie in my bed and just think what the heck has happened to the last 2
yr?... anyway, it’s crazy and feels weird to think of going home. I
don’t like thinking about it to be honest, but I know I need to continue
my life and look towards the future with faith.

Yesterday was a great day as we were able to see an investigator’s
sister,  Grace, baptized by one of our RC, Maxwell. She
is doing so great and it’s awesome to see the growth that he has made
as well. We met sister Grace long ago but she took a while to take
that step of faith and be baptized! We have a couple of other sweet
investigators that we are preparing for baptism as well. It’s too bad I
won’t see some of them baptized, but I know the elders will stay in
touch when I get home and keep me updated, plus the members will want
to stay in touch as well!

This week was my last Zone Conference of my mission and it was really
good! Mostly because I was able to visit all the RC and members in
Somanya, Kpong, and Odumasi! Me and another missionary were asked to
bear our testimonies and I started to cry.  Elder and Sister
Cosgrave (Kent, Brad and Ellen Mackay uncle) bore their testimony and flew home last night! They will be great Mission presidents.
Also a little side note, which was kind of
weird, was when I served in Kpong like 18 months ago there was a sister
named Pearl that was just leaving on her mission. She would tailor 
my trousers. Well sister Pearl is home and I saw her last week, it was
so strange to think she had come and gone already but cool to see her again!

The temple trip is all set up for this Saturday and everyone is
excited... I pray all goes well! The Branch President of Ho 1st branch, President TseTsay came on Thursday and did the interviews! It
looks like we will have 11 members and 2 missionaries going!! We are
very excited! Also before I forget, the river we baptize in is called
Dayi River, just so I have it on record and never forget it.... I
cooked my last big batch of jollof rice today. It was probably my best
one as well :) it should last me like 10 days and then the other
couple of days I’ll just manages by eating something else. Well, Family I
love you all and hope you have a great week! Enjoy thanksgiving....
Elder Zaugg just reminded me that it is this week.
Have fun and see you soon!


Elder Kade Eppich

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Elder Eppich is Coming Home!

Elder Eppich's release date is December 9, 2014. He flies into Pasco airport at 3:30 p.m. on December 10. We would love to fill the airport with all of his family and friends to welcome him home. He will report his mission Sunday, December 14 at 12 noon at the Basin City LDS Ward building - 160 Balie Blvd. Mesa, WA. All are invited to come. There will also be an open house at Kade's home (1582 Ringold Road; Eltopia) that evening at 6 p.m. Please come and visit and hear more of the wonderful experiences he has had serving these amazing people.


Monday, November 17, 2014

"Great and successful week as the Lord is hastening His work"

November 17, 2014

Family,

Well we had another great and successful week in Hohoe as the
Lord is hastening His work! We now have 4 missionaries in Hohoe and
are trying our best to speak to everyone about the message we are
sharing! But before I forget I wanted to wish Kraymer a Happy 22nd
birthday!! Its crazy to think how old he is now! Whenever I read the
Book of Mormon and come across Alma 39:1 it always reminds me of
Kraymer and his great example to me! Thanks Kraymer! Love you and can't
wait to see you. (this melts a mother's heart, it will be 3 years since they have 
seen each other)

Well this week seemed to go by very fast once again and it's kind of a
scary thought of coming home in 3 weeks! But I won't
dwell on that! We got our new companions on Wednesday as we
went down to Kpando to pick them up.  Sister Beatrice was confirmed a
member yesterday, and once again she was so happy! Brother Jonathan is
great and even happier as he is preparing for the temple trip on the
29th. He just continues to surprise us each and every week! He came to
church yesterday with his family history work all the way to his great
grandparents! You don’t know how crazy that is to be able to do that!
Ghana (West Africa) doesn’t keep any sort of records and so most of the
family history stuff is very difficult to do! But he told us that he
had to travel around to a couple of different villages to collect all
of the information. He even prepared it for sister Beatrice! This week the
Branch President from Ho 1st branch will be coming to Hohoe to do the
interviews for the trip! Everyone is very excited for the trip, I pray
it is a success and everyone will be able to go, or at least a good
majority of people!! We are thinking that 10 will be able to go!

We were finally able to watch General Conference as well! Haha 6
weeks later but  it was still awesome! Elder Cosgrave was able to
download the video to a USB and then send it to us. A member brought
his TV to church and we had a small opening exercise and then
watched the Sunday morning session! It was great and everyone at the
church loved it! Especially the Mormon tabernacle choir songs! I
appreciate General Conference so much more now that I’ve been on
mission. I hope that I can continue to take the time to watch General
Conference and study the talks of our living prophets and apostles
today on the earth!

Well the reason why we were not early in cafe today is because we
have a zone conference in Kpong tomorrow and so elder Iyamu and I
came Sunday night so that on Monday we can go around Kpong, Odumasi,
and Somanya to visit our RC and members! It was such an awesome
experience and super rewarding to see some of our people after such a
long time! I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since I've served in
Kpong! Everyone was happy to see us. Because Elder Iyamu served in Odumasi
for 3 transfers and I served for 5 transfers, we didn’t have time to
visit everyone that we wanted but we still saw a good amount of
people. Unfortunately one of the RC was more of a rescue mission as
they had stop coming to the church or his whole family would
disown him and so he said he had no other choice but to stop
attending church. We shared with him Matthew 10:29-38 (I think that's the right verse, 
I don’t have my bible on me) he really understood it well and hopefully it helps
strengthen him to do the right thing! But everyone else was
awesome! All the members and RC were super happy to see us but it was
so weird because their children had all grown up and are talking good
English! It was also weird when the RC or member had moved and
you meet someone else at their house and your like "hey! wrong person"!
 Gosh drag haha anyways it was awesome and
we had some great times together today! We got fed too much last night
as we had like 3 bowls of big rice right after each other! Everyone was
just happy to see us.  Well family I love you all and I’m grateful
for everything you do! I’m still frustrated that my basketball court got all
messed up! (We had a wind storm last week and it blew over our big Gorilla
basketball hoop that was bolted into the cement) Haha have a good week!

 Much Love,


Elder Kade Eppich

Monday, November 10, 2014

"God is great and answers our prayers"

November 10,  2014

Family,

Well this last week was pretty crazy for us as we got transfer news a
little early! They are adding 2 more missionaries to Hohoe and so
Elder Zaugg and I wont be together anymore;  (we are pretty sad but it
will be nice to not be so lonely.  My new comp is actually a comp I have
had before. His name is Elder Iyamu from Nigeria. He is a funny
elder, so it will be interesting to have him to finish my mission! It
really caught Elder Zaugg and I by surprise! Also, I don’t know if you
remember how when I was a ZL in Tema and the Stake President was
telling us how they need a certain amount of members to split the
stake? Well, it just reached that point and so yesterday they created
the Ashiaman and Tema stakes! It was sweet to be able to serve there
and help be a part of that! Unfortunately Edward and Patience had a
funeral that they had to attend this weekend so they weren’t around:(
It made us sad but we had another amazing Sabbath!

November 9, 2014 will be a day I wont forget!
It all started when pretty much all of our
members were at the church before 9 am and we had the District
Presidency and their families come to support the Hohoe Group! We had
a total attendance of 38!! it was crazy! Our small little room was
packed! 14 investigators and 24 members! (9 of which were from the District
presidency) We were so busy trying to make sure everything ran
smoothly! Yes, I conducted and Elder Cosgrave led the District
business as they released me as Group Leader and  Elder Zaugg as the
Assistant Group Leader and called Daniel Opoku as
the new Group Leader and Gameli as the Assistant Group Leader! It was
awesome just to see how much growth both of them have made in the
last 3 months! Daniel led the Sunday school class as we ordained
Jonathan and Gameli as elders and then when he finished, the
executive secretary took the class and prepped the members for the
temple trip and preparing names for baptism! We were able to take part
as president Avorn (DP) set apart Daniel and Elder Cosgrave set apart
Gameli! It was awesome and so great to be a part of! Truly we are
seeing our hard work pay off! The Group is starting to really grow!
This last week we had some super sweet new investigators come to church that
hopefully I will be able to talk about them next week because I have
a lot to talk about today! Also, yes mom, President Senanu was so happy with
everything we have been doing as well as the district presidency was.
We sang "Love at Home", "I stand all amazed" and "Come Come Ye
Saints"!! it sounded awesome!!

So once we finished the 2 hour church service, set apart everyone and
ordained the newest elders of the church, we headed down to the river
side for sister Beatrice baptism! The whole district presidency came
to support and sister Beatrice asked me to baptize her. She was so
excited! After her baptism and when we were walking up the
dirt hill she kept saying, "I love you, I love you" haha it was so
sweet because she can’t speak any English, but she has felt the Holy
Ghost tells her what she needed to do. After we changed in the
neighbors house, we came out and Beatrice asked to bear her testimony.
That is when we found out that when she was sick a few weeks back she
prayed and asked God what she needed to do to receive Salvation.
Her health was bad and she was scared of dying, and after that
she had a dream that Kwame(me) and Kwesi(elder Zaugg) carried her down
to the riverside and baptized her in front of a bunch of people! and
that is exactly what happened! We probably had about  20 plus people
there to support her and it was her exact vision that she saw and so
she knew that it was God that revealed to her what she needed to do to
gain Salvation! She loves Elder Zaugg and I so much! It is going to be
so hard to say goodbye to everyone here! Hopefully one year from today
 we can have two couples here in Hohoe be sealed in the
temple(Helen and gameli. Jonathan and Beatrice) that would be
awesome!!

Then to make it even better Elder Zaugg and I have had water problems
where no water has been flowing to our apartment for about 10 days now and
so all of our water was literally almost gone.  Once we returned
to the apartment after the baptism, a huge rainstorm came super fast out of
no where (it actually shouldn’t be raining anymore at this time of the
year) and started to pour super hard so Elder Zaugg and I ran outside
and started to catch water from the runoff off the roof! In
30 minutes we collected 60 gallons of water! We have a water
tank outside and so we would be catching with our little buckets and
then running over and pouring it into the tank! Haha we were soaked
when we finished! But it gave us enough water to wash our clothes today
and wash our dishes! God is great and answers our prayers! Good
memories! Well family, I love you all and hope you have a great week!

much love,

Elder Kade Eppich


I will try and send pics I little later....