Zion in All Corners of the Earth

The other day in Twi class, we accumulated gospel vocabulary words, and then put together our testimonies in Twi. It is comforting realizing that we will be attending church in Asamang. I guess for my own selfish reasons, I am just excited that among the culture shock and misunderstandings will be an aspect I can relate to. Not saying that LDS culture is anywhere near the same in Ghana as it is in America; however, foundational elements are the same, such as our belief in a Savior who atoned for mankind and a boy who restored the gospel. There was just something cool about hearing the Savior's titles in Twi, and realizing that church members there have some of the same deep running veins of belief as I do. I cannot wait to learn from the branch in Asamang, and to feel the fellowship of sisterhood and brotherhood the gospel provides, with people who live in an entirely different cultural world than me.

Here is my testimony in Twi:

Me nim sE as0re no yE nokware

Me gyedi sE Jesus Christ ye me odimafo

M'Egya a 0w0 soro te ase

Me de aseda ma onyame sE m'abusua betumi nya bEkyebo bra

Me gyedi sE Thomas S. Monson yE 0k0mhyeni a 0 te ase.

Medaase sE Jesus Christ ab0 af0reE

Me nim As0re no nkyerEkyerE yE nokware esan (as a result of) Homhom kr0nkr0n no.

Ew0 Jesus Christ din mu

Amen

Symbolism

I loved our class today on art and symbolism in Ghana. After taking Symbolic Anthropology, I became fascinated by symbols as they are one of the foundational elements of human existence. We literally could not function without symbols - even our words are merely metaphors for our imperceptible mix of thoughts, emotion, and impulse that can never be flawlessly conveyed to the external world. I love symbols like the blatant ones we encounter through art - Katie showed a spiral on the side of a religious structure in Ghana, and told us it represented eternity - like this example, symbols can convey mass meanings full of history and complexity with just one image, that sometimes abstractly relates to whatever it is representing, and is sometimes completely arbitrary, but recognized through tradition.

In my symbolic anthropology class, we discussed the extensive symbolism behind the LDS sacrament ritual. I realized how religions use so much ritualism and symbolism for highly effective purposes. Religion poses intricate theory and inspires feelings and emotions that are hard to put into words and difficult to interpret even when they occur inside of us. Symbols create a route of expression to allow a group to form a cohesive union surrounding such complex beliefs and meanings. No wonder many Mormon kids are so knowledgeable about their religion at such a young age, they are taught the doctrine largely through relatable symbolism that especially helps in conveying religious messages that might usually be thought too mature for children to process.

Like Katie said, this will be a great for us in Ghana. It will be important for me to inquire about the representations and symbolism I see - having even a limited knowledge of what deeper meaning lies behind images, words, or behaviors will allow me to have a better understanding of the culture as a whole. Symbolism in language, actions, art, etc are the very fiber of a society and its cultural makeup.

Anthropology and Zion

This last Sunday I headed up to Salt Lake City for my great grandmother's fast sunday family home evening. I was in charge of the lesson, and when deciding what topic to do, I kept thinking back on anthropology, and the preparation for my field study. My lesson ended up being on the importance of education, and while preparing for it and giving it I had some insightful realizations. First I shared three of the most major things I feel I have learned over the last couple years through my major at BYU. These were:

• The more I learn, the more I realize how much I do not know. When I was younger I figured the more I found out, the smarter I would be. Now I realize the more I expand my knowledge, the more I realize how inadequate my knowledge span truly is.
• I have learned new definitions of what it means to be a child of God. Learning about culture and the society of man really shifts one's views or erases preconceptions one may not have ever known they had.
• I have found more evidence that there is a God. For one thing, because I do not think pure science, outside of the context of religion and creation, could create such complex unknowable beings and societies. Evolution alone could not be responsible for this. Also, God gives me hope that the worldwide and timeless suffering taken on by humans will someday be universally lifted through the Atonement.

While searching for scriptures to aid my lesson, I found some great verses in Doctrine and Covenants that directly apply to anthropology:

90:15 And set in order the churches, and ^astudy and ^blearn, and become acquainted with all good books, and with ^clanguages, tongues, and people.

93:53 And, verily I say unto you, that it is my will that you should^ahasten to ^btranslate my scriptures, and to ^cobtain a ^dknowledgeof history, and of countries, and of kingdoms, of ^elaws of God and man, and all this for the salvation of Zion. Amen.

I thought these were really cool. They prove that God sees it as very important to learn about each other as his children, to open ourselves to a variety of cultures and ways of living. These scriptures helped give my project in Ghana a deeper meaning and context. I like to think that I am fulfilling a commandment of God by attempting to broaden my knowledge of his greatest creations, and thus increase my love for humanity as a whole. By exposing myself to new culture, history, and language while in Ghana, I am obtaining knowledge and working towards Zion.