Elder Benjamin Archer

Elder Benjamin Xavier Archer
Benin Cotonou Mission
Quartier Cadjehoun #1158
Block F
01 BP 3323 Cotonou
Benin
Email: benjamin.archer@myldsmail.net

Monday, December 22, 2014

"Feliz Navidad"!," Ni hao!", and "Merry Christmas!!"

   Dear friends and family, It has been a while since I've written an entry. A lot has happened since last time. I will try to go somewhat in chronological order, beginning with the weeks that I didn't write.
   First of all, there was a baptism. There is a young man around age 20 named Felix who has close friends in the church. We began teaching him and invited him to come to church, He began coming regularly and has much support from his friends and the branch members. He accepted to be baptized and we made sure he was ready  for that to happen . He is a good friend of ours and plans of serving a mission. Ha, ha, he actually just walked into the cyber cafe and shook my hand as I was writing the next paragraph.


   A few weeks ago we were invited to a party at a missionary apartment in a different area. There were three Tahitians there and my companion and I discovered that they sometimes roast pigs on the second floor of their apartment complex. Why not? The missionary handbook  is silent on the matter.

   Two weeks ago we went to another area to work with other missionaries, during the morning, after that we went back to the apartment of the other missionaries to eat, but Elder Amoah, my companion, decided to rest instead. I ate  but he didn't.  When he woke up, we decided to go to a small restaurant, that it was in the area, My companion ordered something to eat but I just had a coke(my mom called it medicine). In the tables outside there were people drinking and there were empty bottles on all the tables. After a little while, an African guy came out of the bathroom, he passed by our table and said "buen provecho" which means "bon appetit", but he said it in spanish, then he continue to his table. At the moment I didn't understand what just had said so I went and ask what he said. So he told us, I said "bon appetite" in spanish, so I asked him in spanish: "Donde aprendistes el español?"(where did you learn spanish?) and he replied in spanish "yo he visitado a muchos paises y he estudiado un poco"(I had visited many countries and I had studied a little). I felt very happy because he mentioned the name of Joseph Smith. He asked: are you from the order of Joseph Smith, right? we explained to him that we serve the Lord and he said:" si, si, si, yo se" (yes, yes, yes, I know) the man was a little bit drunk and that's why he wasn't paying attention, very well. He offers to pay for our drinks, since he has a tab in the restaurant. I said,  thank you! so he went back to his table where he kept smoking and drinking. I was asking to myself, how come he had been in many countries? what does he do for work? shortly after he came back to our table and spoke english and said: I am a pilot, that's why I know many languages. Then what he said next makes me really happy, the man said I feel happy when I see missionaries from another countries like America that "they have everything" and come to Africa because  they want to share the gospel with my people. We asked for his contact number to teach him but he only gave us his name, because he was proud that you can find his phone number in "google" with his name.  Haha.  Then he went back to his table. Elder Amoah and I, finished and we asked for the check. But the woman said that the man in the other table had paid our check. How nice!!! we went to his table and other people were with him and a lot of empty bottles, so I told him: "muchas gracias señor"(thank you so much, sir), so he stood up and gave us a handshake and said: "de nada"(you're welcome). That was a good day.


   One funny thing. There are some chinese people that live here in Benin, mostly because of the commerce. So when Elder Amoah and I pass  a particular road, there is a little African girl who always sees me  and says: "ni hao!". Hahaha, she thinks I'm chinese. Very cute.


   Another funny thing happened during "ward council" at the branch building. We were at the church with the branch president and first counselor. One of the old missionaries had left a bottle of sunscreen on the shelf and the first counselor brought it to me and asked what it was. Hehe. I thought it was kind of funny. (African people don't get sunburned, so they don't use sunscreen.)


   Oh yes, there was a mouse in our apartment. It ran out of the kitchen and into another room. We couldn't find it for a long time but the Elders in that room always  heard scratching sounds. We eventually found the mouse behind the wardrobes and it had 7 babies(perfect for Bella, hehe).


   This week we had more baptisms and it was a joyful time. One was again a good friend of a different member (Here I have really seen the impact that members can have and their importance in missionary work) and the other was a young man who we had been receiving lesson for several months. As we were filling in our accomplished goals in our daily planner, I expressed excitement (yes I do) when we filled in the two accomplished baptisms. My companion Elder Amoah said: "Yeah, this is our gift for Jesus". This comment touched me deeply. May we  all keep in mind the significance of Christmas and the ever important role that Christ has in our lives as our Savior and Redeemer from physical and spiritual death. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

                       - Love, Elder Archer -
                                                             - Felix baptism-
                                                                       
                                                                - The roasting pig -
                                                                                 
                                                                   -Baby mice-
                                                                           
                                                   


Thursday, December 11, 2014

Icecream anyone!

   Last Monday for preparation day we joined up with the other missionaries and played soccer . There are people who push icecream carts around all over the place and one of them stopped by us. That was a good day of  business for him. That icecream  comes from a big company and many people distribute it in these little carts. I probably ate  5 of them myself, they are like 20 cents each.
 

   I also got to talk to Elder Lynch who is from Scotland and he has a cool accent. Apparently Scottish people's weights are measured in "stones" instead of pounds or kilograms. I didn't know that.
   

   After  the activity my companion and I went to the huge market downtown. Among the thousads of people there, we found Elder Gray and his companion who are in our zone, haha. I was looking for a new bag because the one I brought is made out of a material that leaves black fibers all over my white shirts. Not a big deal, but it would be nice if that didn't happen.  :(




       Thank you so much for all your emails and nice messages. I ran out of time. Next time I am going to share a cool experience I had  of an African man that spoke spanish to me.



                     

                        Love, Elder Archer
 

Monday, November 24, 2014

November 24 2014 "Thanksgiving in Africa "

   Bonjour tout le monde! je vais commencer en Francais pour montre que j'ai vraiment un 'pas mal' conaissance de la langue, et en train d'amèliorer chaque jour :) C'est fatiguant d'apprendre une nouvelle langue.

    There is some french for you guys! Today I will write about some things that have happened during the week and some general aspects of life.

    This Sunday was the district conference for all Benin. An event hall was rented out and filled with many.  There were joyous feelings felt by us missionaries as members and investigators from our respective areas entered the building.  This meeting was a non- live West Africa conference in which Apostles Elder Bednar and Elder Uchdorf spoke, as well as the general primary president. I didn't clearly understand everything that was said as it was in French but they spoke about raising children, the importance of paying tithing and the need to discontinue certain African traditions. Specifically  addressed was the tradition of wedding dowry. It is customary in Africa for the bride's family to demand a sum of money or list of items from the groom that must be procured before the marriage is accepted.  This discourage and/or delays marriage for the general population and especially young members. This creates difficulty for some couples who want to be baptized and is the most complicated aspects of the missionary work here,Ii would say. This tradition also places the workload of daily life on the woman as the man feels exempt for "having paid for her". Elder Uchtdorf especially talked about the need to discontinue  this practice as not to hinder eternal progression.

    After the meeting we spoke to our investigators and friends. Sister Cecile, an investigator, brought her children along with her. One of her sons (about 4 years old) was unhappy because he didn't want to use the toilet, he wanted to pee outside. I thought it was funny. There was also sand tracked in on the tile floor and little kids would run by and slip around.

    This experience happened the day of the baptism mentioned a while ago. Anyways, Sister Adelaide, her sister and small son, and my companion and I stopped and hopped in a taxi to take us home. When taking public transportation I often ask myself "how is this vehicle still working?" We had all filled the seats in the taxi and I was in the front seat. To my surprised, the driver pulled over to pick up a young lady and she opened MY door!. Apparently it's normal to share the front seat of a taxi, I didn't know that. Haha.

   I was conscientious about spending my monthly mision funds carefully so I wouldn't run short. I now find myself with only a few days of the month left and 50 percent of the funds. I guess we will have a nice Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Something I love about Africa is that you can buy a sandwich for 200 francs which is equivalent to about 30 cents. I also had chawarma for the first time, which is the food mentioned at the end of the Avenger's. It's like a chicken and lettuce wrap with french fries in it and some tasty sauce.Here they eat a soup with a piece of goat intestine, it is so chewy and rubbery, not my favorite, but I love the rice. What most people eat here is called "patte" and is a rubbery kind of corn dough that is eaten with the hand and dipped in a sauce, Groups of people dip the dough all in the same bowl, which is kind of hard to get used to. And people think the way I put it in my mouth is funny. I tilt my head back and set it in my mouth so I don't drip it all over but everyone says it's like I'm taking medicine. Haha.

    Well there is plentious (I feel like that's a word) amount of fun stuff for this entry. other than that the work is going great and we find people every day to teach. It seems that you don't really do "door to door"  in this mission but the challenge comes in keeping the members active and building the organization itself. The branch president itself ( of Cocomey, my area, if I hadn't  mentioned that) is a recent convert and so we are all working out the difficulties together. We await the baptism of Brother Justin this Saturday! He is a great investigator, he is ready but he felt he needed to wait just a little longer to be ready. He is strong and has shared with us an experience with the word of wisdom in which he asked his friend for sprite when offered alcohol at his friend birthday party. We are sure that Frère Justin will become a great friend and strength as we work to build zion.



    Farewell friends and family. Have a great Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Monday November 10th, 2014

We are getting this blog late for electricity difficulties in the mission field.   We probably hear from Elder Archer every other week :( .


   Hello friends and family! After two short 25 minute flights I am now in Benin, the mission field. So finally solved the Benin pronunciation mystery. The country I'm going to is  pronounced in the intuitive easy way of saying it: " ben - in". " Beh-neen" is understood, when pronounced that way, as being Benin city which is in Nigeria. There you have it.  We were greeted at the airport by the Mision President himself, his wife, and some other missionaries. It was comforting to see someone familiar as president ans sister Morin had visited the MTC a few weeks prior. The drive to the mission home was crazy but I'm still alive. us new missionaries got checked in, informed about funds and administrative things and filled out a lot of paperwork. During this time  President Morin was doing interviews  and I was first. (Alphabetical order I'm assuming) President Morin is from Quebec Canada and speaks French and English. He talked to me in English for the interview and we got to know each other, he is very kind. He told me to obey the mission rules, not to take "motos"  as motorcycles are the main mode of transportation here, and to not split off with the other English speaking missionaries during pday. He has a cool accent. Haha. He told me my companion would be Elder Amoah who is from Ghana and speaks English.


   After the paperwork and interviews. We were led across into another building in the same enclosed compound where we found ourselves in the main "living room" of the home. This room was nicely fixed with paintings, lamps, couches, a TV and a table set with a plate, cup, fork, knife, spoon and  napkin in each place along with some bread  and butter. There was also a small staircase leading to an elevated section with another dining table(where I sat) and a door on the left leading to the kitchen. I was amazed at the set up and was excited to eat lasagna! the food was served to us and was very delicious. Part way through  the meal, President Morin came and took Elder Hansen out of the dining room. I figured he wanted him to help bring out food or something. Later, President returned without him and ask me to follow him. I got up from the table and followed him out to the garage where we filled out paperwork. He told me " on va prendre un peu de sang" which means " we're going to take a little blood". I was thinking, really??  What is that suppose to mean?, it turns out that people who will be staying here for a long period of time need to give a blood sample for disease screening. It was ok but it just startled me at first haha. Then I had fun watching the reactions of the missionaries down below as I showed them my arm and pointed at them. Diner was finished with some vanilla icecream and chocolate cookies. Unfortunately during the dinner, I had left my camera on the table and the Elder next to me was looking through the pictures. Which was fine. But then he handed me the camera and asked me why he couldn't see the picture he took of himself. Apparently he accidentally deleted the pictures off of the whole memory card. I was a little frustrating but the majority of my MTC pictures and whatnot were safely stored on a different card.


   I departed the mission home with the assistant missionaries, with whom I live  ( I am writing this entry later that it actually happened because the power went out in the internet cafe last week before I can sent it). I was introduced to my new companion and trainer Elder Amoah! who is very friendly and an amazing teacher. We get along very well. As I said, we are blessed to live with the assistant missionaries who spend much of their time near the mission home or "bureau", as we call it, and who sometimes bring back heavenly food. About the fourth day in it  was Elder Rybin's birthday. (The assistants to the President are  Elders Rybin from Utah and leaves in December, Merril from Utah, and Bulunga from Congo) The Mission  couple at the bureau  made him curry stew and chocolate cake and he brought Elder Amoah and I some. It was wonderful because we had actually been fasting all that day and when we had come back from walking in the sun for three hours, we came home to find the kitchen locked. The APs had the keys. They arrived at around 8:30 or 20:30 rather (as the 24 hour clock is used here) and we were given this heavenly feast. Rice with curry potato carrot stew, chocolate cake, and fanta. We were thinking we were probably eating better than the other missionaries of the world. Haha. just that day :(  I haven't eaten anything strange here other than some soup with a clump of meat and a piece of goat skin and intestine, I was willing to eat it and I tried, but the rubberness of it kind of discouraged me. I will inform on later food experiences.


   Here baby goats, chickens, dogs, and pigs roam free in the streets. The other night I saw fireflies for the first time! they are really neat. It was almost like being in the garden of Eden with all the animals roaming around and the fruit trees. (Bananas, papayas and coconuts).

   I had my first convert baptism experience on Saturday November eighth. Her name is sister -or in french- Soeur, Adelaide. She is an older woman who lives with her daughter and two songs. My companion Elder Amoah had been teaching her with his previous companion for about three months. The day before the baptism Elder Amoah said I was going to baptized her. I was kind of startled, I figured he would, since he had taught her for so long and...  is proficient in the language. But it turned out okay. The prayer in French wasn't difficult ( or her name, phew...) and a member explained to her what was going on to happen and what to do in the native language of Fon. As I stood there dressed in white with her in the font I deeply felt the great importance of missionary work for God's children. The scripture in Moses 1:39 came to my mind many times that day: " For behold this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man". I felt at that moment "vow", this work is being accomplished right now". I realized that I had been entrusted with part of this great work and through obedience could be a great instrument  in the hands of the Lord. This experience strengthened my determination to be faithful and obedient to all the mission rules and responsibilities so that I may have the spirit with me to accomplish  my purpose as a missionary. As I learned in the MTC, " You will spend an eternity preparing for a mission and you will spend an eternity remembering your mission , so don't have any regrets. If you were to serve again, be able to say you would serve exactly the same way you already did"



                                              Good bye!  -Elder Archer.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

wed. Oct. 22 2014 last week at the Ghana MTC.

   My district and I leave for the mission field on the 28th, so only six more days in spiritual prison. Haha. Our days still consist of about ten hours of classroom time and some exercise/physical activity time outside. I like to play basketball or soccer, depending on the amount of people on the soccer field. Sometimes there's too many people for it to be enjoyable. But either way it relieves the stress from being inside all the time.

   I have been playing the hymns on the electric organ for every sacrament meeting since I've been here,  it has been quite enjoyable. I anticipate to giving a talk this Sunday in French. What's funny is that the speakers are picked right then on the spot and our district has only had about three people speak and those three have each spoken around two to three times.

   The pre-mission informative booklet said that a barber would visit the MTC fir haircuts. Apparently. ....that doesn't happen. The MTC has some electric clippers you can borrow but not skill hands and American hair is more technically difficult to cut than African hair., I would say.  So, Elder Larson (from Morgan UT) and I arranged an instructor - accompanied visit to a barber shop outside and across the street from the MTC. I got my hair cut firt and it turned out okay. Elder Larson told the barber that he wanted his hair cut just a little shorter than mine.  I try to contain my laughter when the barber decided to go ahead and run the clippers over the top of his head and buzz all of his hair off. I could tell by Elder Larson's facial expression that he was surprised at what just happened.  It wasn't completely gone, but it was very short. Everything turned out alright though.  It was funny.

   Well I can't think of anything else overly interesting or different from the regular schedule to write about. There surely will be more to write about once I get to the field. Ah yes, about the field. One of our instructors Frère (brother) Djoussou told us that everything is cheap in Benin and Togo. In his African accent he told us: " On my mission, Fanta was our wadah " hahaha. I am excited. If clean water is hard to find then I guess we'll drink Fanta.

           
           
                  Until then, farewell - Elder Archer.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Oct. 15 4 week at the Ghana MTC :)

Mama! Si recibí la foto del osito, ustedes en el templo, en "La Puente", y el de Hadco. Me gusta el hogar nuevo del osito :)Ya se fueron los de Madagascar pero te mandare de nuevo la foto de Elder Andrianaivo. Me llegó tu cartita :) pero no los dulces, todavia. Hoy fuimos al templo y estaban arreglando el aire acondicionado, asi que fue como una sauna adentro del templo! :o ay ay ay. Hoy las cocineras  hicieron hamburguesas para los misioneros Americanos :') que tierno. Y hoy tuve mi primer corte de cabello! Te mandare una foto. Fui con un instructor y  otro misionero a la peluqueria y le cortaron  demasiado al Elder Larson. Je je, como pollito tierno!. Como pasaron la conferencia general? Aqui vimos todas las seciones a la vez. Cuatro horas! Comemos piña cada noche como botana antes de dormir. Mmmm. Ha sido una buena semana. Ya hace frio verdad? Prendieron el calientador de bella? Y aseguranse de pegar un pedazo de carton en el vidrio por adentro,
 arriba del calentador si no se puede quemar la Bella. (quemar? Esta bien deletreado?) Gracias por darle de comer :) Mmmm. Que más. Voy bien con el Frances. Puedo enseñar la restauracion casi sin problema. Seguire practicando. Le llego a Elder Whitt un paquete de Oreos asi que tuvimos una ceremonia especial en el cuarto :) Sigue mandandome fotos. En la foto Elder Siogbo que juega balón cesto con nosotros, con el presidente del CCM, presidente Robison. En la otra foto estamos en el templo, fuimos hoy ( Estoy usando una corbata morada porque alguien me la regaló he he).  :) Les quiero mucho. ELDER ARCHER


MOM! Yes I received the picture of the little bear, you in the temple, "The bridge", and of Hadco. I like the new home of the bear:) The missionaries  from Madagascar left already. I got your little letter :) but not the candy, yet. Today we went to the temple and they were fixing the air conditioning, so it was like a sauna in the temple! : ay ay ay. Today the cooks made hamburgers for the American missionaries :') How sweet. And today I had my first haircut! I'll send a photo. I went with an instructor and another missionary to the barbershop and they cut a little too much off of Elder Larson. He he, he looks like a baby chick!. How was general Conference? Here we saw all the sessions at the same time. Four hours! We eat pineapple every night as a snack before bedtime. Mmmm. It's been a good week.  Is it cold now? Did you set the heater for Bella? Thank you for feeding her. :) Hmmm, what else? I am doing well with French. I can teach the restoration almost without problem. I will keep practicing.  Elder Whitt got a package of Oreos so we had a special ceremony at the room. :) Keep sending photos. In the picture Elder Siogbo who plays basketball with us, with MTC president Robison. the other picture is us at the temple today (I'm wearing a purple tie because someone gave it to me, he he).  :) I love you guys. ELDER ARCHER.


Thursday, October 9, 2014

The Ghana MTC

    SEP. 23.    My MTC companion's name is Elder Boateng, he is from Ghana. He is very diligent and make me think of Nephi. I play the piano on Sunday, I like it. I am learning french, My companion and I just taught a lesson in french!, just after 3 days. One of our roommates  is from Togo Elder Avegna so he corrects our french. His companion is from Madagascar Elder Adrrienaivo! he just talk Malagasy but  is progressing well in English and french. That's incredible. But there are sister missionaries who speak Malagasy, so he has somebody to communicate. Today we went to the temple. It was a beautiful experience. The carpentry on the inside is very nice. This is teaching me that the gospel is perfectly the same in the whole world and all are capable of receiving and accepting and be blessed.
    Apparently in the culture here, it is wrong to use the left hand to greet or pass objects to other people. Elder Joseph's companion is left handed ha ha, we have funny moments when he forgets that.  We had the opportunity to go to the mall and eat pizza!
   Well everything is going well, I am busy but I like being here. Hope you are well! Love, Elder Archer.

    OCT. 7.   Bonjour! I am already half way through the joyous MTC experience. A new batch of two-week missionaries has just arrived and all speak french except two. It is getting easier to understand French. When I first arrived I heard the native missionaries speaking to each other in what I supposed to be a native language. When I asked someone else what they were speaking, he told me: "English!" since the first language of most African people is a native language, they all have accents whether they speak English or French. I was worried that French would be more difficult to learn but it had been okay so far. I can communicate just about anything I would need to say and I can understand a little more of the spoken word each day. It is difficult to try to say something that isn't in the present tense. I struggle somewhat in that aspect. My Ghanaian companion Elder Boateng(bwah-tin)  and I taught our first lesson on the third day and it actually wasn't too bad. We has since taught many practice lessons to our "investigators" here in the MTC.

      Breakfast usually consist of a large piece of bread smeared with butter, a boiled egg or fruit, and hot chocolate or a fruit juice. Lunch and dinner include a pile of rice (as a fallback/alternative", if people don't like the food) with a piece of chicken, some coleslaw-like salad and a side of roast beef, potatoes, pasta, spaguetti, or just sauce. We like to joke around here about all the rice.

     We had been to the Accra Ghana Temple three times now. There is a heavy contrast between the craziness of the drive there and the peacefulness of the temple. It is a beautiful place. There is a stake center in the temple complex along with living quarters for people who sacrifice much to travel far to visit the temple. We have the opportunity to go once a week. Today our district performed baptisms for the dead for the first time there. It has been one of the most special spiritual experiences so far.

        Due to time I will continued this entry later. Goodbye!

         -Elder Archer



Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Ghana MTC

Elder Archer arrived at the Ghana MTC on Thursday, September 18, 2014.

English:





Spanish:

Mama! Haras un blog? Como Taylor? Porque asi entonces escribo en ingles para todos. Esta bien comunicar en espanol. Me ayudara mejorarlo y practicar :) (te dire que no puedo poner accentos, como en la "n" pero, aqui va). La comida esta bien, ha sido arroz con algun tipo de pollo o otra carne. No he tenido problemas de estomago. Tres bien. Mi pude oir en el lado isquierda y pense que era por la preccion de la avion. Pero se mantuvo por 3 dias, asi que .. ore? (I prayed) que si pude volver a oir y el proximo dia llego el doctor para una junta de salud. Despues de la junta hable con el acerca de mi oido y dijo que era una infeccion, me hizo una prescripcion para gotas. (Suena familiar?) Ahora puedo oir y no he visto el doctor aqui desde ese dia. :) Muchas gracias al Senor por ayudarme a sanar. En su proprio modo y tiempo. (Fue rapido, 2 dias). Ya me siento perfectamente bien! Mi companero de MTC se llama Elder Boateng, es de Ghana. Es muy diligente y me hace pensar de Nephi. En un discurso que dio un hermano aqui, el menciono la cancion "Love at home" y todos empezaron a cantar "There is beauty all around..." me hizo llorar  hasta me siento sentimental en pensarlo. Jeje. Ha sido muy especial. El domingo yo toque el piano, me gusto mucho. Estoy apprendiendo Frances y mi companero y yo ya acabamos de ensenar una leccion en frances! Despues de 4 dias! Uno de los companieros en nuestro cuarto es de Togo, asi que nos corrije el Frances. Se llama "Elder Evegna". Hay otro companiero de cuarto que es de Madagascar! "Elder Adrrienaivo". Solo habla Malagasy pero esta progresando bien en ingles y frances. Que increible no? Pero hay unas hermanas que hablan Malagasy, asi que tiene alguien con quien comunicarse. Hoy fuimos al templo. Fue una experiencia muy bonita. La carpenteria por adentro es muy bonito. Me ha ensenado que el evangelio es perfectamente igual en todo el mundo y que todos son capaz de recibir y accpetarlo, y que seran bendecidos. Tuvimos la opportunidad de entrar al centro commercial y comer pizza. Jaja, hize un .... "withdrawal" pequeno de mi cuenta en Mountain America por modo de ATM. No me dijo cuanto cobraron por cambiar el dinero de dolares a cedis, hmm. Seria bueno si vijiles a mis cuentas por internet. Hasta puedes bajar applicaciones de banco en tu celular para que sea facil chequar. Puedes encontrar una lista de mis cuentas y contrasenas en el libro de charlie brown en mi cuarto. No creo que usare mucho dinero, pero seria bien poner attencion. Apparentemente en la cultura aqui, es malo usar la mano isquierda para saludar o pasar objetos a las otras personas. El companiero de Elder Joseph es de mano isquierda jaja, asi que tenemos momentos chistosos cuando se olvida de eso. Bueno, todo me va bien. Occupado. Pero me gusta estar aqui. Espero que se encuentran bien! Con amor, Elder Archer.  PS Here is a thank you message: "Greetings from Ghana! Thank you so much for your kindness and loving support. It makes me happy to tell others that I come from Layton Utah and I think of all of you influential friends and family who have helped me become who I am today. I will work hard to represent those who sent me. Sincerely, Elder Archer.