Mid-week Upadate Sept. 27, 2012

Sister Haws has a new look!

By Greg

It is hard to believe how fast time is flying by.  We are very busy and that helps.  Everyone wondered what we would be doing, and so did we, but we go to the office everyday and every night we come home with more to do than we had in the morning.











Elder and Sister Miles just arrived



The rest of the Hooper group.  Bybees, Shulz and Haws

This week we welcome Elder Richard and Sister Sharon Miles from Hooper.  They are friends of ours and we used to be in the same ward.  Today President and Sister Shulz came to Accra to get a new truck.  They are from our Muskrat Springs Ward.  They brought Elder and Sister Bybee, who also hail from Hooper, though they have moved on.  And to make things even more interesting, Elder and Sister Asey, the Shulz's office couple, lived in Hooper for a time.  We decided this is "The Hooper Invasion of Africa!" The Miles leave tomorrow for Liberia and the Shulz' Bybees went back to Cape Coast.



We did go with them on a little assignment with Elder and Sister Fife.  They are the Area Doctor, and also missionaries.  We all piled in a van and we were a white people Tro-tro.






We went up into the mountains northwest of here.  We stopped at a wood carving area where they not only sell stuff, but they make it.  It was very interesting.

It was raining so when we stopped and ate our lunch we decided to just stay in the van.  Here we were, five white couples eating in a van, and to make it even cooler, our lunch was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that we had packed.  What a sight we were!

The Doctor told us about his work.  He is responsible for the health of all the missionaries in the Area.  He travels and trains the young missionaries and also helps us older ones stay healthy.  When he first got here, he lost a young African to Malaria.  That was really hard on him.  He is very adamant that we take our pills and have "the packet" with us at all times.  Malaria can be cured, but it takes "the packet." It is still the biggest killer of Africans around here, especially the young and old.

We are meeting a lot of wonderful people and we are impressed with their desire and spirit.  Every where we go we talk to people about the Church.  We have not experienced the typical rejection you would get on most American city streets.  Everyone is kind and interested and all wish us God's speed and we part with a mutual "God bless you."






When we were up there we got a look down at the city.  It is a big city with 3 million people.  The smoke is not a forest fire, it is burning garbage.






All these children here need is a ball and a little piece of dirt and they will play soccer.  This is a school group out at recess.


The pile of wood is for sale to the carvers across the street.

We can not get over how these women carry their children.  They carry them until they are pretty big.  Check out this other woman sleeping on the street.  This is right in the market along the highway. 


I am trying to learn a little French so I can read the reports from Cote d'Ivoire and Togo and Benin.  So, auvoir and adieu. 





By Debi:

Bonjour! We have a group of Saints here at the ancillary building (the building we live in and is also like a hotel for those who come to the Temple) from Togo.  They speak french but all of the little children are so excited to say "Hello" to us.  They want to practice their English.  They are very cute and very excited to be here.  We think we get up early to go walking every morning but when we walk out of our little apartment all of the people in the building are up and ironing their clothes for the temple and the children are already dressed for the temple.  It is 6:00 in the morning.  The temple doesn't even open until 8:00 for an 8:30 session.  I asked one of the sisters why the people all get up so early and she said that most people here in Africa go to bed with the sun and they get up very early with the sun. Well, that makes sense.  We are trying to go to bed early because we want to make use of the full time the sun is up.  We are not suppose to go out after dark and it is dark around 6:00 every night of the year.  So from 6:00 am until 6:00 pm we can enjoy the day.

The trees in this area were very green and lush.  These shops are along the highway and filled with wonderful stuff.  They are very talented wood carvers using just a few tools.




 I did ask the doctor today if we could go for a walk in the evenings around the Temple if we wore long pants and long sleeves and used mosquito repellent.  He said that they have really controlled the mosquitoes here in Accra and there really isn't much malaria unless you go out in the country. He said we could walk in the evenings around here.  We are both so excited because we get quite claustrophobic here.

We keep hearing such great stories of faith and dedication. We are so amazed with the Saints of Africa.  Pres. and Sister Shulz have just sent missionaries into a new area that they are expecting a explosion of baptisms. The people are so ready for the gospel and are listening to the missionaries.

We hope you are all well.  We are so excited to be here and the work is starting to really pick up.  We want to work and serve the Lord and serve the people here in Ghana and West Africa.

Love, Debi