"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

"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

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.

"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

"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....