Merry Christmas from Ghana!

 Howdy Hon, 

Merry Christmas from the Ghana Senior Missionaries, the Ladners.

SSS - December 22, 2024

Hi There, 

Can you believe Christmas is next week?!  Oh, my word, it doesn’t feel like it yet.  I miss not being a part of the Annual Nativity Exhibit back home and seeing everyone take on the spirit of the season.  Sigh, but I love it here in the Ghana Cape Coast Mission field.   The people here are amazing, helpful and always smiling!  I am grateful for God’s little tender mercies like the one in this picture.  One of our young missionaries gave us this wonderful little olive wood nativity.  I know he doesn’t know that I collect nativities and love to volunteer them to be displayed in the annual exhibit.   It brought great joy to me to open this package.  

I was torn between giving three snippets from this week’s studies or simply bearing my testimony of Jesus Christ.  Umm…  Well, it’s the Saviors’ birth next week.  I should bear my testimony of the importance of that in my life. 

I am grateful that a 14-year-old boy, Joseph Smith, had enough of an empty cup that the Lord could pour into it.  A young boy who was lost as to which church to join and read in the scriptures, James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” to know whom to ask.  A young boy who had enough faith in a loving God to actually do what it said.  I’m grateful that when a 22-year-old me, a young single mother who desired to know who she was, or more importantly whose she was, she could follow that same verse.  I  needed to know where my young daughter and I should go to become the daughters of God that He wanted us to become: honest and virtuous women of strong faith and actions that represented Him.  I’m grateful for the day I kneeled beside my sleeping daughter’s bed and prayed to the Lord, with a sincere heart, with real intent to act, with faith in Jesus Christ, to a kind and loving Heavenly Father - desiring to know where he wanted me to be, where could my faith in Him grow, where could my relationship with Him be strengthened, where could I learn more of the attributes of the Savior that I needed to develop in my own life, and how I could know the path I needed to be on that would help me to be not just my mother’s daughter, but to be my Heavenly Father’s faithful daughter.

When Jesus Christ stretched forth his arms on the cross to become my Savior, that is something I am unworthy of, yet he still loved me enough to offer himself anyway (not just for me, for you too).  I am grateful for his atoning sacrifice to help a lost daughter to find her way and change her heart, change her mindset, and change her life: a decision I will never forget or regret.   My decision to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior has been the most and the BEST decision, I have ever made.  I continue to strive to be more like Him, to live more like Him, act more like Him, love more like Him and serve more like Him.

I am grateful for the ability to study and learn from the Bible and another testament of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon.  These books teach me how to live my life as a daughter of God and keep me on a covenant path back to Him. 

I am grateful for my family and a wonderful husband who loves and studies to be a faithful son of our Heavenly Father.  I am grateful for good friends who are always supportive of my choices and who are always a ready ear.  I am thankful for the Wards that have helped and continue to help shape me.  I am grateful for those who have served me in my times of need.  I am grateful for those who have allowed me to grow by serving them in their times of need.  I am grateful for my faith in and my testimony of Jesus Christ as the only way back to our Heavenly Father.  I am grateful to serve a fulltime mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I am grateful to the young missionaries who leave their home, family, friends, school, and life to serve and preach the gospel to all the world. 

May the Lord bless you and may you be willing to accept it.  Remember he loves you, and so do I. 

Afehyiapa (Merry Christmas)

Sister Ladner, MCH

Ghana Cape Coast Mission

SSS - December 15, 2024

Howdy Hon, 

1.      Have you ever wondered if a thought or impression you had was from God or from your own thoughts?  Ever felt it was hard to wade through all the deception in making a right or wrong choice?  Well, I know I have many times while learning and growing my relationship with God. “John 1:9 ~ That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”  The Light of Christ (not the Holy Ghost) is an influence that comes from God.  It’s an influence for good in the lives of all people.  It also helps to prepare them to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  One of the ways that Light comes to us is by things like having a conscience – which can help someone choose the difference between right and wrong.  The more gospel you learn, the more that conscience kicks into play when you make decisions. Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light,”   Just remember if the impression/thought is to do good and brings light to you and others, then IT’S ALL GOOD!   

2.      Be slow to anger.  There are so many things that we allow to push us to be angry. Have you ever thought about the consequences of your anger?  To your co-workers, friends, family, church family, total strangers…  Did it help the situation, did it bring peace, did it uplift, did it bring unity, did it make others feel good… not any of the times that I have allowed it to get the best of me.  We are human, but we also have control over our reactions.  Ecclesiastes 7:9, “Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.”   In high school I hit the lunchroom wall hard enough with my fist to stop everything and have everyone look towards me.  A teacher came over and taught me to count to 10.  Imagine if I had hit the person I allowed to make me that angry.   I’m sure nothing good would have come from that, probably quite a few bad things for both of us.   Proverbs 16:32, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city”.

3. We are taught that we should not judge others (honestly, we are not worthy of doing so anyway). But there are situations that cause us to have to judge, but we need to make righteous judgements. That means relying on Jesus Christ (back to the Light). Isaiah prophesied in 5:20 that people would “… call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter”. There may be some difficult situations to see the difference in. No worries. Simply put, just remember - All things of God invite us to do and be a good person, to uplift, to believe in Jesus Christ, to love God and serve Him. Anything that is evil persuades us to sin, tear down, deny Jesus Christ and to rebel against God.

That’s it for today folks. Remember that God loves you, and so do I. Have a blessed week!

Sister Ladner, MHC

GCCM

SSS - December 8, 2024

Hi There, 

1.      There may have been or come to be a time in life when following Jesus Christ may seem too hard, too much to bear, and too lonely.  But once you come to understand who He is and His attributes, you come to understand that nothing is too hard (hard yes, but not too hard), too much or too lonely.  When you learn that He can strengthen you for any task or trial, shoulder any weight along with you and is always with you.  Sometimes beside you, sometimes behind you – pushing you forward, and sometimes He’ll just carry you forward a bit when you can’t seem to do so yourself.  When you allow Him to be who He is and be there with you, you become who He knows you can be.  Remember, when you stand with Jesus Christ, you are never standing alone, even if others may try to make you feel like you are.  I take great COMFORT in knowing that.    

2.      When you need Him, you can always call upon the Lord.  You can ask for His help, in the name of His son, Jesus Christ.  He can give you the power you need to press forward in all righteous endeavors.

3.      Forgiveness is a big thing, for the forgiver and the forgiven.  I have many life experiences working to be the forgiver; as I am human, I am sure as the forgiven as well.  As the forgiven by the Lord, I have still returned before and had to repent and truly change my heart as well as my mind.  Each time I have sought His forgiveness (and if needed, hopefully yours too) he has allowed me to truly repent.  As others seek forgiveness from me, and do so with real intent, I must remember to work to do the same, be forgiving.  Now, sometimes that may come with boundaries, but also absolute with forgiveness.   Some of these situations I truly had to rely on Him to help me come to the point of forgiveness.  Being the forgiver has almost brought as much peace to my life as being forgiven.  It is a heavy burden to bear on both ends. 

I hope that you are finding great joys in the Christmas season in learning more about Jesus Christ and His great love and atoning sacrifice for you.  Remember, He does love you so much and I too love you, my friend. 

All the best!

Sister Ladner, MHC

GCCM

SSS - December 1, 2024

Hello there, 

1.  FAITH - Faith has never been about what you can see and do.  The Lord asks us to trust Him, preach of Him, love Him, and love others like you love Him.  I wake up in the morning and just take a breath, because I have faith that the Lord will make sure there is air to breathe.  I pray to God to help me as I go through my life, some prayers are longer, more tearful, more pouring out of my very being to Him and I have faith that once I step foot out of the door into the world He will be there to guide me, help me, teach me, pick me back up, whatever the lesson is that I need to learn or the character I need to develop at that time.  I know that He is there, has been there, and will always be there.  How precious it is to have faith, love, hope and charity in this life. I don’t know if it would be worth the daily effort if I didn’t know that He IS there, because He said he would be and He NEVER lies.  

2.  HOPE - Hope is knowing, wanting and expecting the promises that God has given us.  Jeremiah 17:7  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.  Guess what, hope comes by faith.  We hope for a better world and life.   Hope to us is like an anchor is to a boat.  An anchor keeps a boat attached to where you want it to be.  Even in hard winds and strong waves.  It helps to keep it safely attached and not floating aimlessly away in wrong and dangerous directions.  You depend on it to keep still.   

3.  The idea of going out with missionaries used to stress me out (fear).  I might misquote, or not remember the scripture, say something crazy, give my opinion and leave the person thinking it’s doctrine…blah, blah, blah.  I had to learn to become humble and rely on Him in many things.  Prepare myself and pray to be a help wherever I could.  The Lord is ready to take your weakness and make it a strength.  Especially when it’s a strength for His will.  Weaknesses help us to become humble before God.  Again having that faith in Him.  

Have a wonderful week and remember Christ loves you, and so do I!  

Sister Ladner, MHC 

Ghana Cape Coast Mission