Every day I think, "Wow, this is all so amazing. It can't get any better."  Then I give the V-8 slap and remember we're on a mission in Africa.  Every day is a new adventure.

Had a wonderful weekend visiting the members in Central Ghana. We went to Swedru to help another missionary couple, Elder & Sister Ivie.  It's about 76 kilometers, about 50 miles. Took 3 hours, rough roads.

In small town of Asikuma Ed helped set up the water supply tank (look at those bulging muscles!). A dirt platform had been built, but we can only pray it holds.  The men lifted the tank up, connected it, and then paid a fire truck to come fill it. We also had the women of the village who usually go to the stream come and get water from the truck.

I got to play with the local children. Saw 3 boys playing soccer & asked about their ball.  They had made it themselves by stuffing a plastic bag with pieces of rubber.  Our kids should know to appreciate all we have and know we really don't need to "have" so much to be happy.

Sister Ivie and I taught them to play freeze tag. Within a few minutes more smiling barefoot children came running to join in. We ended up with over 10. They taught us a tribal dance, and we played London Bridge and sang the ABC song.  They were the happiest children I've ever met.  They asked where I was from, and I explained across the ocean (which is 15 miles from them). They know the USA, but one boy said, "What's an ocean?"  Most have never left the village.  They asked for stories and when would we come back to play again.  Their parents were a little suspicious of us at first. Their ministers told them missionaries are there to kidnap them, among other things.  But I think they know now that none of those things are true! 

Members of the Church have contributed to help fund a school for the deaf children of the village, about 15-20. Many go deaf if they get malaria from mosquito bites. They meet outside and have 2 levels of grades. The cook prepares a big lunch for them cooked over a fire.  From what I saw on the 2 chalkboards they are learning to read English and many of the same science lessons we teach in the USA.

Over the weekend we also taught a training meeting for the Winnaba Stake Family History Consultants, spoke in Sacrament Service Sunday meeting, and then were asked to teach the combined Priesthood/Relief Society  (Adult meeting).  At the end of the meeting the Bishop told all the members to come back on Wednesday for everyone to work together on gathering their family history information.  Most came back and we saw about 150 of them at the Ghana Temple Sat with many family names prepared to complete. They are a wonderfully faithful people with a love for their families.
When I get home I want to be the best Ghanaian I can possibly be!

We continue to have the wonderful opportunity of teaching at the Missionary Training Center in Tema, Ghana every other Friday and Sunday as new groups of about 70+ missionaries come through for their 11 days training before leaving for their mission fields in Africa.. We also go to the Temple with them on Tues and Wed to help with their family activities. So far they have completed over 400 family names. These are amazing groups of young people. They come from Burundi, Kenya, Sierra Leon, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Congo, Cameron, Uganda, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and many other African nations. Many are the only members of the Church in their families and many have only one or no parents, because of war, disease or accidents. They've worked to earn the money to serve others in Africa during their 2 year missions. We've gotten very attached to them.

The people here work so hard and are always smiling.  This lady is on her way to set up her stand by the road to sell whatever she has for the day.  They carry everything on their heads.  Stands are everywhere along the road and sellers walk in between the traffic selling everything.  It's like a "drive-thru Walmart".    You have to buy things as you drive by rather than go to stores.  For 5 cedis (about $2) a smiling lady will throw 8 bananas into your car window while running beside the car.  Or you can buy fresh caught big snails to cook for dinner. 

The fishermen go out in the evening and come back in the morning in these big canoes.

We meet the cutest little guy, Joshua, who wanted to show us around. He took us through his small fishing village and up a lighthouse.  We talked to him about why we were in Africa and he was so excited when we gave him a Book of Mormon for his very own. We also got to visit his school and meet his teacher.

People here know of the Church and are very interested to talk about God and Jesus Christ.  We checked out of one hotel we'd stayed at in our travels and saw the clerk was reading the Bible. After talking with him we gave him one of our pamphlets about the Plan of Salvation. As we went to our car 2 other men came running to our car and asked for one. We found out from another couple who checked out after us that all 3 were sitting at the desk reading them 1/2 hour later.

Had an opportunity to visit the Ghana Archives.  I didn't even know they had one. They don't have the funds to preserve their records, so most are just sitting in piles. Sad to see the records and history of a country being lost.

We are loving the blessing of being here to serve and learn from such a wonderful group of people.  We're grateful that Heavenly Father blessed this world with some many diverse and beautiful individuals and cultures.
Everyday we are more thankful that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth in its fullness. It is our testimony that the Bible and the Book of Mormon as true scriptures to guide and help us to know more of our Heavenly Father's love for us.  He knows us each by name and cares about every detail of our lives.  We have a sign in our apartment that says, "The way may be difficult at time, but I will always be there".  We'll never regret being too kind.
We love our family and are so very grateful for all their support.
Thanks for checking with us.  Want to share these 2 pictures we have in our office.