Off to Nigeria

A group of Elder-I sent this picture to each of their mothers

By Greg:

It is Thursday and tomorrow we are flying to Nigeria.  We have been preparing for this training for a couple of weeks.  We will fly there tomorrow at 5:00 pm and get there at 7:00 pm.  When we fly home we leave there at 5:00 and get here at 5:00 pm.  It takes longer to get there than to get back.  OK, I know about the time zone thing, even though I am still confused and the daylight savings thing has now made it 7 hours different from home.

We will meet with the brethren in Nigeria for 6 hours from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm.  We will give them a morning break and then lunch at noon.  The Church has an office in Lagos, Nigeria and we will meet there.  We are expecting six Assistant Area Auditors (AAAs) and the local Manager of Temproal Affairs, and us and Brother Sowah--10 total.

We are staying at the local Best Western Hotel.  That is not a joke, it is a Best Western and it is near the office.  We will have a car pick us up at the airport in Nigeria but we are taking our first cab ride from our home to the airport here in Accra.  Elder and Sister Taylor are picking us up Saturday and if we are still alive we will go out to dinner with them.  That is our incentive to live.

We are here to teach the teachers.  The teachers are the Assistant Area Auditors.  They each have a "Coordinating Council" (CC) of Stakes and Districts.  These CC have around 8 to 12 Stakes and Districts (most have both) and of course those have wards and branches.

The AAAs, as we call them, have the responsibility to train the Stakes and Districts on auditing and finance.  So as we train them, they in turn train others.  This is the pattern of the Church.

There are three CCs in the Africa West Area that do not currently have an AAA (we hace 11 total).  So in the interium I am the AAA for three CCs: Kumasi Ghana, Cape Coast Ghana and Benin.  This is why we went to Kumasi last week and Cape Coast a few weeks ago.

Now you might say that once the AAAs are trained we could go home?  It isn't that simple.  There is turnover and many of them are challenged by the computer technology as well as the actual auditing function.  We are here to help!  We are going where we are needed, any time, any place, at any risk.
Besides, how many times have we talked about Laman and Lemuel beating up Nephi?  We go over the same stuff over and over and over.




Debi made some of the best oatmeal raisin cookies I have ever eaten the other night.  It was hard not to eat all of them at once.  I ate too many and then drank lots of water and felt the oatmeat expanding inside of me--but it was worth it.


I know it sounded like our bags were full of white shirts, and they were, but we did have a few other things, like 2 huge bricks of cheese, a large bag of rasins, a few cans of chicken, some M & Ms (as gifts for our lady friends on the floor) and a lot of spices and gravy mixes.





Debi is a good African cook.  So far she has taken to the "pot luck" dinners a Tuna Casserol, a big dish of cooked and seasoned carrotts, a large dish of chicken pot pie, fresh pineapple and baked beans with pineapple, green peppers, and canned ham.










We saw Elder Blake Widdison from our Muskrat Springs Ward as he came to the Temple one more time.  He leaves tomorrow for Liberia.  This is the same country that Elder and Sister Miles are serving in, he hopes to see them too.  He is so pumped up and excited.  His traveling companion is from Cote d'Ivorie and speaks French and a little English.  I snuck him two Snickers candy bars that I had just purchased at the local MaxMart.  He was so happy to get them and hid them is his pack.




Last night, one of our new friends from Taylorsville, who just got here and are serving a Temple mission, called and said they were having an emergency.  They have had a pretty rough transition so far.  They needed help.  I was reading my scriptures with my eyes closed and Debi was talking with Stalee.  I grabbed my trusty Letherman tool and we went up to their apartment.

Their kitchen sink fauset had broken off and they had hot water shooting out.  Elder Cooper was trying hard to hold a pan over the gusher and force the water into the sink, but it all was not obeying.  He was soaked and there was water on the floor.  They don't have alot of things here, but they do have water pressure.

Of course the first thing I checked was the shut off valve under the sink.  Now, if we can have a worldwide Nuclear Arms Treaty, why not a universal building code?  No valves under the sink.  I followed the pipes and they clearly went toward the hall.  So I went out in the hall.  I think the Coopers thought I was leaving.  Debi went for backup--Elder and Sister Powell.

I found a small door that I just knew had shut off valves behind it, but of course it was locked.  It was not a key lock, but just a very small round hole.  I tried to unlock it with my tool, but no can do.  I saw down the hall a similar door that appeared unlocked, so I went to investigate.  Now I knew the shut off valve was not down there, but that door held the key to solving my problem, not the real key, but a clue.  This is basic troubleshooting technics.

I opened the door and sure enough, two shut off valves.  I considered shutting them just for good measure but the occupants of that apartment might not have been happy.  I did discover how the lock worked and so I returned and took off the outside plate with the phillips screwdriver then worked the lock until it opened and then I became the hero as I turned off the two valves and the water stopped.

Last Monday we took a couple of hours off and took the Coopers down to see the ocean.  As they work in the Temple, and do not have a car, Mondays are their day off.  They wanted to know if there really was an ocean so close.

Well it may take some time to get their sink fixed, but we hope it will be soon.  We also hope Sister Cooper will stay with us.  We felt so bad for her.

Speaking of building codes, yesterday, right here in Accra, a big building that houses a large discount store collapsed and a lot of people were trapped and hurt and we are not sure how many died.  It was a new building and was being rented by the store. You can check it out by google Accra Ghana Building Collapse.

These school kids are typical students.  They all wear uniforms and they are waiting for a Tro-tro.  Notice that the boys have a mashettee in their hands, they call them cutlesses.  I want one!  Imagine in the US a boy taking a big knife like this to school. 






By Debi:

Well, Greg has said all that we have done this week.  I have been washing and sterilizing the fruits and vegetables that we bought today while he wrote this entry.  We are on our way to the temple this evening.  We will take lots of pictures in Nigeria and put them in our next blog. We are having a hard time finding a P-day when we go on the weekends for trainings.  So we fit in a shopping afternoon when ever we find time.

Everyone, keep their chins up.  The Church is true and we are so blessed to be in this land.  When we saw Elder Widdison this afternoon with the biggest smile ever it reminded me why we are here and helped me to recommit to working hard and helping along the effort here in Africa.

By Debi:

Clear, Clean, Blue Water!  Now you probably think I am going to talk about water! But actually I am going to talk about not having water.

 

Sister Haws, Henry and Leslie Odonkor

We went to Kumasi Friday.  Kumasi is about 5 hours away if you are driving in light traffic.  If it is busy then it will turn into 6 or 7 hours.  We had training in Kumasi for the Stake and Mission Priesthood leaders and their clerks.  We traveled with Arnold (the MSR manager) and two of his co-workers who were going to help with the training.  One surprise is that Arnold decided to bring his two very cute boys along because they had never been to Kumasi.  The ride became very tight when we added two more passengers to our seven passenger vehicle.  We also had our bags, computers and video projectors. 

 

You put your right foot in...

When I leave our apartment I have to decide how long it will take to reach another restroom that I can safely use.  I knew Friday morning that it would be my last until that evening.  I didn’t drink until after 7:00 that night.  The men were all right because they can go anywhere.  One time we stopped at a gas station and Arnold told me they had a place for women.  I went to take a look and this is what I saw. Needless to say, I didn’t use this women’s restroom. A couple of other times the men and boys just went alongside the road.  I looked away.  Men are doing this all over this country.

 

By the time we got to the Hotel that night I decided that I would either learn to have a bladder of steal or it would burst and then I wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.

 

We stayed at a very nice hotel.  It is called The Golden Tulip.  It even had a very beautiful swimming pool that we didn’t swim in.  I felt bad for the boys because they wanted to swim but did not bring their suits.  I would have gladly watched them if they had. The beds were hard as a wrestling mat but we actually slept very well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to our training the next morning at the Kumasi Stake Center.  I took a few pictures of Greg in the room he was going to use for the break-out session of the training.  We taught everyone in a big group and then separated the clerks and auditors.  Arnold and company taught the clerks and we taught the Audit Committees.

 

 

 

At noon, they brought in lunch for everyone.  It was a meat pie (they never say what kind of meat) and a malt drink that they all love but it tasted very nasty to me.  Plus, remember I didn’t want to drink after 8:00 in the morning. I knew that after we left the church I wouldn’t find another restroom until we were safely back in our apartment 7 hours away. Greg took a picture of me in the room with all of the men.  Sometimes I forget that I am a different color from everyone else.   

 

I do have to say that the drive was very beautiful.  The foliage was so lush and green.  Trees and bushes and the grasses were thick.  The mountains were rugged and covered with greenery.  I tried to imagine Tarzan living around here.  We saw several farms with rice fields, banana trees, cocoa trees, and lots of corn.  We saw animals but not the kind you would think from Africa.  We saw cattle, goats, and chickens.

 

On our way home from Kumasi we saw many funerals in progress.  People wear black and red.  That is the funeral colors. They usually have funerals on Saturdays.  Funerals here are very important.  So important that sometimes it takes a year to plan everything and pay for everything (they put the body on ice for that time).  It puts the families in a lot of financial trouble.  As it got dark, it was very hard for Arnold (who drove home) to see these black people dressed in black and walking along the road with no sidewalks or even a shoulder.  It is amazing we did not create the need for another expensive funeral.

 

Arnold’s two boys are very cute and very well behaved.  On the way home they fell asleep in the back. William and Folly had to stay over and so there were just 5 of us coming home.  I think they were either going to take a bus or a plane home.  I just had to take a picture of these boys because I miss my own grandsons at home.  I let them play games on my ipad and they loved it.  I guess boys are the same all over the world.

 

Today at church we watched two sessions of conference.  I am so grateful to have the experience of being here in Africa.  Instead of watching conference at home in their PJs they come to church and watch two sessions right in a row with their little children.  That is a real sacrifice.  They don’t think so, they think it is a real blessing to hear the Prophet’s voice and hear the instructions from the Priesthood brethren in Salt Lake.  It was a very special moment to watch them lift their hands to sustain the Prophet.

 

At the break they had a beautiful birthday party for one of the little girls in the ward.  I couldn’t believe how fancy the cake was. It was a white Barbie cake. They even lit candles in the church.  They passed cake out to the little children and everyone was so happy.

 

I am still amazed here in Africa.  I learn something about the people, the country, or about myself every day. I thank my Father Heaven for this opportunity to grow, learn, and become a better person.

 

By Greg:

 

Well good luck on the Presidential Election.  When we get up Wednesday morning it will be midnight Tuesday and maybe we will check to see how it all turns out.  Here, the big campaign issue is free SHS (senior high school).  This is a very welcomed event and all of the candidates are promising they will make it happen.

 

 

 

 

 

One thing that was really interesting as we traveled in the country was that there are two very competitive cell phone companies: GLO and MTN.  In order to advertise, they sent out painters to paint houses, shops and buildings for free if they could put their label on them.  So all the way from Accra (and all around Accra,) the buildings and shacks are either blue or yellow.  This was a good thing as most of the country needed painting.

 

I also noted that in almost every town there were several Christian church buildings, some very old, and usually one Mosque.  The Mosques are all similar, with an open room that they can pray in.  The Muslims here are not Arab, and therefore not so radical.  However, they believe something is about to happen, big time!

 

 

 

They highways are very interesting.  They alternate from country roads to divided highways.  It seems to be an option to use the entire road if possible.  We escaped two crashes; the first one scared the xxxx out of me.  But we made it.  This is not a divided highway.

There is a lot of truck traffic, all the trucks are over loaded and the trucks are constantly breaking down.  I think the first skill needed to be a truck driver is to be a mechanic.  The only thing more common than a broken truck along the side of the road (being repaired right on the spot) were the roadside shops selling everything from palm oil, pottery, bananas and cassavas, and a thousand other things.

 

The Golden Tulip hotel is an international hotel chain.  The government of Ghana built the hotel several years ago but it failed due to government abuse and lack of financial incentive.  Every government leader at any level thought he was entitled to stay and eat for free, and bring his family and guests as well.  It sat empty for several years and then the Golden Tulip came and remodeled it and now it is very successful.  The people here do not think the government should run businesses!

 

In the lobby of the hotel there are art works celebrating other cities with Golden Tulips.  This is the one for New York.  It is really bizarre and we were not sure of its meaning beyond the 911 plane crashes.  The thing on the side maybe Osoma being killed, but we were not sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Debi is a real trooper!  She was so nice to those two boys, sitting in the third seat with them and letting them play with her Ipad all day.  Then sitting through the training and enduring the ride home.  She does it all with a smile.  I don’t know how to solve the bathroom issue.  The gas stations have this outside urination pits, some with separated ones for Ladies and Gents.  But still, they are outside and I don’t know what you do if you need number two?

 

At one of the stops, I was stretching my legs after using the pit and a taxi cab pulled through the gas station full of children.  I waved at them and they all waved back.  They kept waving.  I held my hand up for them to stop so I could take their picture.  I grabbed our camera and my Malinda Allred bag full of suckers.  At least ten children were in this little car.  I gave them a sucker and took their picture.  I wonder what impact such a small thing like that may have on them in their lives.  Will they remember that somewhere in the bush of Ghana they met an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and he gave them a sucker.  Will they ask, “I wonder what else he has for us?”

 

 

Next week we go to Lagos, Nigeria.  I think using the restroom will not be our biggest concern.

I want to add one more thing, sorry if our blogs are so long.

 

The Church tries to have its meeting houses close to the people but also visible to the general public.  We were with the Shulz’s last week and they like to go to the only KFC in Ghana.  I was talking to a man who was doing security for KFC (really helping people park).  He said he was baptized and was looking for the Church.  Sister Haws pointed to a sign just over his shoulder.  We have a chapel just down the road from KFC.  He was happy to know that.

 

Today in Church I was talking to a friend from the Ofankor Ward.  I asked how long he had been in the Church. He joined in 1987.  He and his wife were disillusioned about churches and had decided to live without a church.  One day his wife saw one of our signs (this was before the Freeze) and she attended.  She came home with missionaries.  This brother wanted nothing to do with them, but allowed his wife to have lessons.  One time, his wife said the missionaries could not continue without meeting with him, as he was the head of the house.  He agreed to give them five minutes.  They spent 2 hours together.  He said these young men had answers to all his questions.  He has been a leader, first branch then district, then he was a Stake President and a counselor in the Temple Presidency.  Now he is a sealer and teaches the High Priests in the Ofankor Ward.  He is a great man.  All because of a sign!

Goodbye October

By Greg:

 

The Ghana MTC-happy anniversary!

We had a very different Halloween and today is our 39^th wedding anniversary.  Who would have thought…?

 

Well, we visited the Ghana MTC yesterday.  President and Sister Shulz came to Accra to take a missionary to the airport and invited us to go to Tema, which is about 30 km from here, and spend the night.  We were glad to join them for two reasons:  First, we have wanted to see the MTC and second, we knew that Elder Blake Widdison was there.  Elder Widdison is from the Muskrat Springs Ward, which is also the home Ward of the Shulz’ and us.  It was fun to see him in his element and to spend a few minutes with him.  We also ate breakfast with him the next morning.  He is going to be a great missionary and is very enthusiastic about his call.

Elder Widdison at Ghana MTC

 

The Shulz' go to the MTC all the time.  They drive their in a van and pick up their missionaries.  They know the place well.

 

The Ghana MTC is 10 years old.  It is very nice.  They have a couple of apartments that are available to Mission Presidents who come and go often.  These two apartments are air conditioned and very comfortable.  We felt bad knowing that the missionary rooms are not air conditioned, but they do have ceiling fans.

 

 

 

They served us hot chocolate, a boiled egg, bread and tom brown soup. Everyone dipped their bread in the soup, so we did also.

 

 

Today there are 56 missionaries at the MTC.  There are 4 sisters and 5 of the Elders are white.  One is from Samoa.  The rest are Africans.  They are all going to one of the 10 missions in our Area or to one of the two missions in DR Congo or to Madagascar.  This MTC also teaches in French for the incoming elders who speak French so that is why some other Africans come here.  In fact, they said that when they build the new MTC next to the Temple, that one will be English and the Tema MTC will continue in French.

 

One of the sister missionaries came up to Sister Haws and told her she looked just like her mother.  Now, if she had been on her mission for 18 months I would have said, “Sister, it is time for you to go home!” But she is just starting.  She was a beautiful young woman and I guess her mother could look just like Sister Haws????

 

Our shirt project is turning out well.  The members of the Hooper Stake contributed over 225 white shirts and some ties for the missionaries and children in the Cape Coast mission.  Sister Haws and I took home all of our suitcases and brought them back full to capacity.  President and Sister Shulz were so excited to get these shirts.  I am sure we will hear more about them in the future.

 

There is one little side light to the shirts.  A young member of one of the Wards that meet here at the Temple grounds drowned a few days ago.  He was at the ocean and got caught in a rip tide and could not swim.  The family is poor and is trying very hard to follow the counsel of the Church to have a simple funeral rather than an expensive multi-day-feed-everyone-in-the-city traditional funeral.  Well, they did not even have clothes to bury him so we gave him one of the Hooper Stake shirts and a tie.  We were so glad to be able to help.  Thank you Hooper Stake!

 

 

I am still a sucker for giving out suckers.  In my bag coming back were two huge bags of dumb-dumb suckers and some rubber balls.  The kids don't have anything to play with when they are at the temple.  They are so cute.  Notice the white shirts and clip on ties!

 

 

 

 

 

This little girl is learning young how to carry heavy things on her head.  Her little sister has one of my rubber bounching balls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Debi:

 

We returned, though it was not always clear that we would.  We came back a lot heavier (at least our bags were) than when we traveled the first time.

As Greg said today is our 39^th anniversary.  We have been married for 39 years and we have eight children and 29 grandchildren. That almost makes 39.  One for each year. When we went home last week we were able to help our daughter, Judi, with her new baby.  He is so cute and such a good baby.  They named him Nathan Haws Coburn.  Judi and baby are doing great and we are so happy we could spend a week with them.  We also were able to visit with Stalee and family, Joni and family,  J.B. and family and also Sunee and her family drove up from St. George for a day and we spent some wonderful time with them in Salt Lake. We were very sad that we didn’t get to see Katie, Rindi, or Millie and their families. We did spend some time on the phone though. Coming back to Africa was one of the hardest things I have done but we are here and we are trying to get use to the time change again and put our whole hearts into the work. 

 

Yesterday we spent the evening at the MTC.  The building is so nice and so clean.  We enjoyed our stay so much and we enjoyed visiting with Elder Widdison.  He is so tall and handsome and really sticks out in a crowd.  He will be a fantastic missionary and he will definitely draw  the people to him.  He will be able to use that to his advantage and teach a lot of people about the gospel.  He is working hard and is very excited to get out into the mission field and get to work.  Pres. Shulz said that he is going to the fastest growing part of Africa and they have the highest number of baptisms in the area.  Good Luck, Elder Widdison!

 

I need to tell a little more about the sister missionary Greg mentioned.  As we were talking to Elder Widdison I noticed a beautiful young woman who really caught my attention.  In fact, I thought about going over and telling her how beautiful she is and that she will make a great missionary but then I lost track of her and didn’t know where she had gone.  As Greg and I were on our way to our room to stay the night she called out “Sister Haws!” I turned and there she was.  She said “You remind me of my mother”.  I was so surprised but I put my arms around her and told her “Then maybe you can be one of my daughters.” I told her that I have 7 daughters and she was so surprised.  I wished her well and told her that she will be a wonderful missionary.  I am sure she is very homesick but I am happy that I could hug her and show her a little love.

 

The White Shirt Project of the Hooper Stake has been a smashing hit over here at the Africa West Area.  Everyone here knows about the project and the hundreds of shirts and ties that we brought back.  They are all so impressed with our Stake and their ability to pull this project together so fast and with such a great turn out.  Thank you to all who read this blog.  We are going to send an official thank-you note home to the Stake with some pictures of the Elders and young men and boys who receive the shirts.  The thank- note will be coming in a week or so when we get the pictures back from the Shulz’.  But for now know that they are so welcomed and will be so loved by the people of the Cape Coast, Ghana mission.

 

 

This is President and Sister Graham of the MTC with the Haws and Shulz.

 

Greg and I are going to Kumasi this weekend to give some training.  Then the next weekend we are flying to Nigeria to train some of the assistant auditors there.  We are nervous and excited at the same time.  Someone told us that Lagos, Nigeria is like New York City, just more crowded and it moves faster.  We will take pictures and tell you of our adventure!  Coming Soon.

The hardest thing we have done so far!

 

By Greg:


The beach is lovely this time of year.

We have done some hard things on this mission, but the hardest thing we have done so far is what we are going to do next week.  We are going home.  No, we are not quitting or sick or dying.  We are going to Salt Lake to meet with all of the other Area Auditors from around the world for an annual training.  This is not the hard part.  THE HARD PART WILL BE GETTING ON THE PLANE AND LEAVING HOME AGAIN  AND COMING BACK HERE.  We are not sure who is responsible for this inflicted pain, but I am sure someday we will thank them for putting this obstacle in our path so we can grow by overcoming it.

The Buzzards are always waiting

 I still have buzzards circling above me most of the time. These were in a dead tree outside our window.  They are just waiting for me to slip and fall. I can almost hear them say to each other, “What do you want to do?”

 

We went to Cape Coast on Friday for a training session Saturday morning.  When the Europeans first came to this area, they set up shop in Cape Coast.  This was before Columbus sailed to America.  In fact, Chris was on one of the ships that came here, as a younger man.  They called this the Gold Coast because there was lots of gold.  Eventually they decided to deal in salves.  They build castles all along the coast and the biggest castle build just for selling slaves is in Cape Coast.  We did not go there, but they give tours.

 

This was not one of the main castles, but is high on a hill and is old

When the English finally took over in 1877, they moved the headquarters to Accra where it was considered not as hot and humid and subject to so many diseases.  Before then, the Dutch, Portuguese and Danes were also here.  They were all doing business in the “Triangle of Trade”.  They brought goods to Africa, Slaves to America, raw material (sugar, molasses, tobacco etc.) from America to Europe and then loading up with stuff to trade with in Africa and doing it again.  The Africans were the enslavers of their fellow and the sellers, the Dutch, English and Portuguese were the wholesale buyers and the plantations in the New World were the retail buyers.  Just a small fraction of the total slaves actually went to the United States.  This is a very sad tale.

 

We traveled to Cape Coast with three men, Arnold, Folly and William. They are all Africans of course and have other names.  They let us play one thousand questions with them all the way there and back.  Here is a sample of our questions:

Q. Are those leather chairs and couches for sale? A. Yes, would you like to stop and look at them?

Q. Do many African men have more than one wife? A. No, one is enough, not many but some do.  There is a saying, you can tell a man who has more than one wife because his clothes are never clean and he smells.

 Q. Why is there tension between African Americans and Africans?  A. We do not understand them; they have a good life in America, why are they always complaining.

 

 

 

Q. What is that lady doing.  A. Making gravel with a hammer.

Q. Why is she doing that? A. That is the business they are in.  They get big rocks and make smaller ones.

Q.  Do you eat rats and dogs? A. Dogs, sometimes, rats no.  We do eat grass-cutters; they are kind of like rats.

Q.  What is that? A. It is sugar cane.

Q.  What is that? A. It is fried plantains.

Q.  What is that? A. It is like a little fried cake.

 

 

Q.  What is that? A. It an ant hill.

 

(Okay, these really are ant hills.  They are all over the place.  In fact, Accra means ant hill.  These are about six feet high and sometimes they are hollowed out and used as cooking ovens after the ants are driven off)

 

Q. Who is going to win the election here? A. Over the last 20 years all of our presidents have been named John.

Q. Is there a John running? A. Yes, he will probably win.

Q. How many men are running for president? A. 36.

Q. Are there wild animals in Ghana? A. In the reserves.

Q. How much money do these people make (shop workers)? A. $1,500 US a year.

Q. Can educated people get jobs? A. Not easy right now.  Unemployment is high.

Q. Is traffic always this bad? A. No. sometimes it is worse.

 

This is a typicaL intersection.  There may or may not be lights or stop signs.  These folks do not understand the concept of taking turns, you go, then I go, the he goes.  No, it is if there is a slight opening I am going.  They honk their horn and go.  It is really like the bumper cars at Lagoon, except we are driving the Church's car and we don't want to bump anyone.

Q. Does everyone in Ghana have a cell phone?
A. It is estimated that 24 of the 25 million people in Ghana have cell phones.

Q. Do people get mortgages to buy homes? A. Some.

Q. What is the interest rate? A. 30%.

Q. Can a person own land? A. It is very hard.  Most of the land is owned by the old village chiefs.  You pay once for a 99 year lease.  Don’t worry what will happen in 99 years. Then you build your own house.

Q. Does the church own land? No. They also lease.

Q. How about the Temple. A. It is a lease.

Q. How old are you? A. William, 45; Arnold, 44 : Folly, 34.

Q. Did you have to pay your father-in-law to marry his daughter? A. No, it is not like that.  It is more like everyone in her family, including “Aunties” gave a list of things they wanted, and then you had to either get those presents or negotiate down the requests.  Have you seen the movie about the 10 cow wife?  You don’t want your wife to be just a horn and a tail.

Q. Are we there yet? A. No, not yet.

 

By Debi:

 

Our trip to Cape Coast took us 3 ½ hours to get there and it took us 4 ½ hours to get back.  Now that might not seem too long until you realize that it is 160 kilometers to Cape Coast which is about 100 miles and then you realize how bad the traffic is.  It is strange because not very many people can afford cars here but there are so many taxis and tro-tros that it really plugs up the roads.

 We tried to take some pictures on our way because this was the first time we have left the Accra area.  We met Pres. and Sister Shulz  Friday evening and we had dinner at a nice outdoor restaurant that was part of a hotel.  The food was excellent but it took a very long time to get it because they really only cook to order, so everything is freshly made.

 We slept at the mission home.  They have a very nice spare bedroom that they call the apostle room because Elder Holland has stayed there.  It was so nice to see the nice mission home. 



























President and Sister Shulz are such good friends and were great hosts.  President Shulz is a fantastic mission president and is loved by all.












This is the mission president's home.













On the property is also a small building for their office and another small building that houses the AP’s apartment. We met the AP missionaries.  They were so great.  One is from Salt Lake.  His family is from Tonga and he wants to play football when he gets home.  He has made himself a homemade set of weights to work out with. The other missionary is from Kenya.  He is going home this Tuesday.  He is very excited but he feels very scared at the same time.  We asked him to meet and say hello to Pres. and Sister Broadbent when he gets home. 






 




This is the missionary apartment for the APs.  The other building is the office.














I think this is how Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble would also have gotten in shape for football.  This young Tongan pumped this cement like it was paper. 

 

We took a picture of a lizard in the mission home yard. (Sorry kids, we tried to see something wild but this was the best we could do)  There is lots of security for the property.  The gate and fence protect the outside and they have bars on all of the windows.  There is also a guard that is there on the property.

 

 

We went to a very nice church for the training in Cape Coast.  When we arrived we thought we were the only ones there because we had the only car in the parking lot.  When we came into the high council room there were already about 20 men there ready for the meeting.   They all came in taxis or tro-tros.  These good brethren spent about 6 hours of their Saturday for the training.
That is our car in the parking lot. 

 

After the meeting we went outside and we saw some young men playing basketball in the parking lot of the church.  Of course, Greg had to go and give them some pointers. (They were stepping on the wrong foot to make a lay-up)  After a few suggestions they started a little pick-up game.  They had a great time and Greg still can hold his own on the court.

 

In the back of the church there were some sisters preparing for a ward couples dinner that night.  They were pealing kasova (it is a root that they peel, pound and then make what they call foo-foo). They were also preparing fish to grill out in the open and to make soup that they dip the foo-foo in.  Greg told the sisters that they are all beautiful and that brought a lot of laughter.

 

We tried to catch a few scenes on the way home because there was still some daylight.  Ghana is a land of contrast, especially in the living conditions of the people.  We saw shanties along the shore of the ocean and we saw mansions on top of the hills.  We see very large stores in a three story building and then we see a little grass shack selling tomatoes or pineapple along the side of the road. We saw beautiful tropical trees and grass and whole towns with only cement buildings and dirt roads.  But the one thing that the people here in Ghana seem to possess is happiness and peace.  Almost all of Ghana is in church on Sunday.  They take care of their families and they have a strong desire for peace.

 

Even though we still feel like we are in a very strange land, it is becoming more and more comfortable and more beautiful.