9 Months Down!

10/26/09--- Ok, I have had this email in draft as I did not finish it and was unable to, but the info to you, a "week or so ago" is still true.

SORRY... I have not been slack in updating you on Gentry's life in the mission field, just busy! Gentry is doing SO well and has grown SO much in the Gospel. I continue to be AMAZED at his growth and insight when it comes to himself and what he is learning and has learned about his faith. He has even given me encouragement and advice that has caused me to laugh. Not, that I think that what he has said is funny or "out there" but that he is right and that he is actually counseling his Mother. I am so grateful that he is my son and how Heavenly Father is working in his life to help him, me and those that he serves.

He told me that he KNOWS serving a mission was the right thing for him to do. He feels that he is getting older in the mission field. He says that it is a good feeling but "scary" as one day he will look around and it will all be over. In one of his emails, he wrote,"I keep saying what I would be doing if I were home but I cannot see myself not here doing this at this moment in time. It's crazy. You have to rely on the Lord soooo much as a missionary more than at home. You have no sense of real comfort other than Him. Your apartment is unsafe to you, your companion may not be the best, you don't know what to eat, you feel like you don't know what you are doing at times but through it all, I know that I could never imagine myself anywhere else." Ok, now if you know me, you know that I cry VERY easily when it comes to "matters of the heart," Gentry and spritual feelings. When I read this, I LOST IT!!!!! He is seeing first hand how Our Father in Heaven is there and if he trusts Him, He will help!!!! Over the months he can see in himself how he has grown and that things have gotten easier. He says that they just got a new Missionary in their apartment and he is having a hard time. He and Gentry talked and he asked, "will I get use to this and was it hard for you?" Gentry was able to give him encouragement as he too, along with SO many other missionaries have been where this "greenie" is.. Baptisms are going well for Gentry and his companion. Speaking of companion, Gentry's new companion is a branch missionary and is Ghananian. He says that he is only 18 years old and is serving currently with Gentry because another missionary got sent home. Alot of things have been going on with other missionaries which Gentry says, "missions are NOT for the light hearted."

Gentry reports that he LOVES reading the Liahona and wishes that he had read the Ensign and other Church publications when he was home. He realizes now just how connected we all are around the world. I told him that while he wishes that he did read more, the important thing is that he is reading NOW!!!

It is really hot there in Ghana. There is something called the "rainy season," where it rains ALOT and so much that at times, people have lost their lives. Now mind you, though it rains this much, it is STILL HOT!!! It may be a little cooler but not much.

I laughed in one of Gentry's emails where he talked about how while out tracting they will walk past "missionaries" of other faiths that are talking to people and passing out literature. Gentry says that they "eye" one another as at times it is the same people that maybe they have just talked to. Gentry says that the thing to it is that OUR literature is FREE!!!

It is ALMOST 9 months that "Elder Son" has been in the mission field. He is learning alot and misses EVERYONE here in the US! I KNOW that Heavenly Father is pleased with his efforts and that he is and will continue to be blessed!

~Mama White