The BUSH and BANKU

This has been an interesting week.  For highlights, we said farewell to two of our outstanding sister missionaries on Monday; Sister Nwagboso from Nigeria and Sister Nkambule from South Africa.  They were our last two "Sister Training Leaders" or STLs.  In our mission, the STLs are equivalent to the Zone Leaders for the Sisters.  They train new sister missionaries, do exchanges with companionships periodically and help solve problems.  They will be missed.

Sister Munro is Nancy's counterpart in the Ghana West Mission office.  At Sister Scripture Study she was given a container of Vegemite, a favorite of hers.  She is from Australia!

We had a large number of missionaries in town renewing their "non-citizen" id cards.  Nancy took the opportunity to take care of some mission business.  She got their attention.

Also, on Monday, President, Heid, Stan and Wayne (our new neighbor) went golfing at the Achimota Golf Club.  It is the finest course in Western Africa.  You are required to employ a caddy to play 18 holes.  (There are no carts).  Stan's caddy was Moses.  He was very helpful and encouraging.  He helped make a terrible round of golf, actually fun.

Our office elders, Elder Fuller and Elder Falk, were so excited to retrieve mail at the post office this week and find that they personally had long awaited packages.  Elder Falk was waiting almost a month for his renewed International Driver's Permit that had recently expired.  He is now legal again!!

The mission nurse and her husband, the Jones's, were asked to attend the Ho District Conference this weekend with us.  (Ho is officially "in the Bush").  Typically, there is a leadership session and an adult session on Saturday.  On Sunday is a General Session for all members.  The Mission President was not able to attend on Saturday.  Thank goodness we didn't have to speak or instruct.  We were there as support.  A new Area Seventy was presiding and all the speakers were selected by the District Presidency under his direction.  (Elder Koranteng is actually from this region of Ghana).  It was well attended and the instruction very good.  The emphasis was on building unity and living the gospel.

This is Gilbert Oppong, the mission facilities coordinator, posing with his wife ,Cynthia, and their daughter, Matilda.  (Several months ago we shared a picture of them.  Only Matilda has changed!)

On Sunday, groups of saints came from neighboring branches of the church.  They came in buses, Tro Tros and taxis.  Our estimate of the attendance was between 400 and 500.  Again, the talks were very good and it was a great opportunity for the members to gather in a larger body.  This bus seats 45 people.  The day of the Conference there were over 100 crammed in for the 1-2 hour ride to Ho and back to Aflao, near the Togo border.  The inscription on the bus window is so typical in Ghana, and so appropriate for the occasion.

Saturday evening, we invited the 6 missionaries working in Ho, over for a brownie and ice cream at the senior missionary house where we stayed.  (John and Sarah Bodine lived there during their senior mission and were mentioned in earlier blogs. There is not a senior couple to replace them at this time, so there is a young college student who is the "caretaker".)  A few hours before the young elders arrived, we endured a major thunderstorm.  We had no way to measure the rainfall but estimate that 6 or so inches of rain fell in about 1 hour.  We learned quickly that the house has some "issues."  Within minutes, we had 4-5 major leaks to contend with and water also coming in under the front door.  There was a gutter system, but it just couldn't handle the volume.  There really wasn't anything we could do about it.  We were just hoping that we could keep most of the water out.  Fortunately, we were able to manage things.  At the same time we were dealing with our "flooding," the power went out.  That is not a good thing in Ghana.  No power, no ac.   The house actually has a system installed that captures energy through solar panels and stores the power in batteries.  We didn't really know how to operate it, but we used our best guess to get it up and running.  The city power came on after a short time. Things just worked out.

Doris is the neighbor at the Ho House.  She greeted us when we arrived.  Her son built and owns the Ho house.

We didn't have enough containers for all the drips!!

The young missionaries have been "encouraging" us to taste some Banku.   They brought some to the Ho house for us to try.    "Banku is a Ghanaian dish which is cooked by a proportionate mixture of fermented corn and cassava dough in hot water and mixed into a smooth, whitish paste. It is served with soup, stew or a pepper sauce with fish." (Wikipedia).   We liked the flavor of the groundnut soup, but would prefer a chicken rather than fish base and to serve it over rice!! 

Wayne and Meg Jones were also "brave".  Wayne has been talking about trying Banku since they arrived in Ghana about six weeks ago.  After sampling, he decided it would not be part of his diet!!  Yes, you eat with your hands!

Everyone was relaxing after having dessert.

It was a nice Saturday in Ho.  This picture was taken from a new hotel in Ho.  It really is beautiful there.  We had been asked to bring some deposit money for senior missionaries who will be staying there this next weekend.  We also will return to the Ho house for the Kente festival, so watch for highlights next post!

Suhum and More

Richard Sackitey stopped by our office with his wife and daughter to collect a check.  He is able to get supplies that we need for reasonable prices ....cooktop stoves for the missionary apartments, light bulbs, etc.  He is also the Ghana director for an NGO called "Ghana Make A Difference".  The Sackitey's are outstanding people.

(Ghana Make A Difference was started by a couple in Idaho who wanted to provide shelter for orphans or abandoned children until they could be placed with families.  In 2017 they will also sponsor a medical mission with medical professionals from the US. and Ghana.  They expect to perform 60 major medical surgeries,100 eye surgeries and provide dental care for 300.

Computer class for the non English speakers.  It is so fun to see them progress.  Sister Heid, former English teacher, is in the purple outfit.

We love it when elders "have to hang out with us at the office" while waiting for their companions at computer class or getting Non-Citizen cards.

 Nancy's Friday night dinner at La Villa, a boutique hotel with a restaurant

Yes, eating again!!  Saturday night we had a potluck at the mission home.  The Cosgraves, the Ghana Kumasi Mission President and his wife, were in town and they are seated next to Stan. (We visited them a month or two ago when we "traded" missionaries for a few weeks.  They were also a senior missionary couple here in Ghana prior to being called as Mission President in Kumasi.)  Across from Stan are Ryan and Mary Richards.  Ryan is a church lawyer on assignment for about 3 years in Africa.  Mary is an accomplished musician and the granddaughter of Ezra Taft Benson, a former president and prophet of the LDS Church.  President Heid is seated in the back next to our apartment neighbors, Meg and Wayne Jones.

Sunday we attended the dedication of the Suhum building.  Sister Heid is posing with the Branch Relief Society President.

We showed pictures of the building in a previous blog.  It is a nice facility.  This was taken prior to Sacrament meeting.   We had over 100 in attendance.  President Heid was asked to offer the dedicatory prayer.

 Elder Kamanda with a "helper" ready to greet visitors.

Three of the four missionaries assigned to Suhum posed with Stan.  Two are wearing traditional ties, one of beads and one of Kente cloth.

It is difficult to see the magnitude of this tree, located about a block from our apartment.  It is very impressive.

Side Note:
Some of you may have heard that some LDS missionaries in Sierra Leone were involved in a car crash this week.  We understand they had just arrived in the country and were being driven to their areas in a mission van when they were hit head on.  Two are in "very serious" condition and were air lifted to Accra to be stabilized before being flown to the US.  Our  Area medical doctor, Dr. Anderson, has been overseeing their care.  We encourage everyone to pray for these missionaries and their families.

Stay tuned for the next two weeks, as we hopefully will have some interesting experiences to share.

Baptisms for a family from Mali, It's a Small World, and Africa Service Day

This week has been very busy and rewarding.  We will try to be somewhat brief and let the pictures tell some of the story. 

We went to the Ashaiman Zone Training Meeting.  This is where the Zone Leaders instruct the missionaries about information they received the previous week at Missionary Leadership Council.  We were just there to be supportive and clarify any issues.  This picture was taken before the meeting began.  Notice how relaxed everyone was!

Zone Leader, Elder Akichi, instructs about "Feed My Sheep".  He encouraged the missionaries to get to know the members in their area, to invite them to help with the missionary effort and to serve everyone.  He shared an experience about a woman they met who was not really interested in the gospel message.  She had to go inside her home for a short while and Elder Akichi and his companion did her hand washing while they waited for her to return.  Her attitude softened as service was rendered.

On the way back from Zone training in Ashaiman, we snapped this picture in the market area.  This is the traffic and organized 'chaos" we encounter everyday.  Notice the one Trotro in the other lane just pulls in front of another car.  Happens all the time.  You have to be aggressive and defensive here!

We are constantly amazed how so many items can be balanced on the head along with carrying a baby!!

This is Dramane, Miriam and Junior Bagayoko from Mali. 

They traveled three days on a bus from Mali to be baptized in Ghana!!  Mali is 90% Muslim and the church does not have formal recognition, although a small group of members and investigators meet together in a village near Bamako. 

Dramane works for a large chicken farm (20,000 chickens purchased from France) and is an egg salesman who delivers his product on a three wheeled scooter.  He met his wife in high school.  She does not speak English but understands some French.

Dramane studied English in Utah for 10 months and became acquainted with the church there.  He wanted to be baptized in Utah but because it was against his father's wishes he respected that decision.  Now that is father is deceased he wanted to be baptized and his mother approved.  He and his wife had permission from our Africa West Area presidency to come to Ghana because he was already so familiar with the church.  Although there are about 30 potential investigators that also want to come here for the same reasons, the church will not encourage expansion until political and legal issues can be resolved.  Since it is a predominantly Muslim country, church officials want to make sure that members will be safe and that the church organization is welcome.

The Jones helped teach the missionary lessons to the Bagayoko family.   They were also taught by the young office elders, AP's and a set of missionaries in the area, one of whom is a French speaker.  We just supported!!

 The picture is of everyone who attended the baptism.

 Elder Bulunga baptized and spoke the ordinance in French.  Most baptismal fonts in Ghana are outside and have the same design.

After the baptism we celebrated with the family at Burgers and Relish.  It was the first time that Miriam and Junior had ever had a hamburger.  They ate everything!

The young missionaries each devoured a double burger!!

 

It was a week for plumbing issues.  A hose under the sink at our old apartment burst and we helped clean up with our new neighbors, Wayne and Meg Jones.  A few days later the canister for our water filter in our "new" apartment sprung a leak and Stan had to do some repair as well.

Friday night we attended the Ghana temple and then went with some senior missionary couples to dinner.  Joining us was Stanford Webster and his wife from Australia.  They were visiting his parents, who are senior missionaries serving as executive secretary to the Africa West Area Presidency.  As we visited, we discovered that Stanford served his mission in Calgary, Canada and that Ryan Pace was his companion for about six weeks!!  We couldn't believe that someone coming from Australia and someone from Oregon would have a connection in Africa!  We immediately texted our son and he and Stanford exchanged greetings and emails.  They had actually connected at BYU after their missions.  Ryan said he really loved being a missionary with Stanford. They worked hard and still found time to laugh!!  Stanford runs the family pharmaceutical business in Australia and he and his wife have four children.

Yes, eating again at the Lord of the Wings.  Stanford Webster is seated next to his dad, and his mom is next to Sister Heid.

Every year the church encourages the various church units to do a service project to benefit their community.  This one was scheduled in the Ashaiman area where we attended Zone training earlier this week.

On Saturday we drove to West Adenta where part of that Stake unit was doing yard work and cleaning corridors of the Pantang hospital.  They had about 200 people working and we got there just as they were finishing the project, which ended an hour earlier than anticipated.  We took a few pictures.  The yellow vests say Mormon Helping Hands.  Some of the pictures include our missionaries.

 

Sunday we traveled 1 1/2 hours to Akuse, a bush area of our mission.  We had never been to this location before, which is only about a mile from the Volta River.  The church recently divided two units to make a church building closer to members. There are two lone missionaries in this village.  This rented house is the church, the missionaries' apartment, and truly is the nicest building there!

After the meeting started there were about 60 in attendance.  We were asked to give a short testimony and thought.  Most of the meeting was in English, but sometimes the local dialect was spoken.

The canopy of trees is a nice entrance to the Akuse area.

When we came back form Akuse, we went to another baptism.  Francois is Dramane's friend from Mali.  He also traveled here to be baptized and Dramane was now eligible to baptize his friend.  Francois has a brother in the US who is a member of the church.  Francois has a college degree in literarcy and desires to come to the US to get his Masters in International Relations.  He hopes to help Mali become and stay a peaceful country.

The two friends from Mali are now both church members.

Selfie of Elder Pace and Elder Osei-Brobbey.