Feb 27 2021     We have 4 senior missionary couples that live in our apartment complex. One of the couples are in a different mission and we only see them occasionally. The other two couples we see all the time and try to do something with them on a regular bases. One of the sisters decided we needed to see the Accra Zoo together. She also decided that the women should try driving since it would be a Saturday morning and the traffic would be lighter. I think we all know by now just how awful it is to drive here, so this is a BIG DEAL!  We each took our own cars and followed each other. You have to be gutsy when you drive here or you don’t go anywhere. I would say you get honked at but they honk all the time to let you know they are coming.  Especially the motorcycles. They drive down the middle of the street, on the sidewalks, coming toward you.... It really doesn’t matter. They don’t have to obey any rules and they don’t have to stop at stop signs. They go any...

 Today was a fun day. We went, with two other couples, to the Dubois market. They have it twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays. We saw a lot of other missionary couples there, and we all had fun looking for interesting things to buy. I'm excited to say I found a lot of things, and I love them.  They have the cute fans that make wonderful decorations and work really well when you go to church to cool you off. I also found a nativity,a bag, a necklace, and a small decorative elephant. Ross found a tie and some bagels. I could have bought more,but I thought I would save something for later. Afterwards we went to a place they call little Costco. It isn't anything like the other grocery stores. It's found on an alley that has no parking at all. You try to find a place along the alley and hope you don't go in the ditch and you hope no one hits your car while it's parked. They are actually pretty good about not hitting your car, if you consider how many cars and truc...

Saturday February 13, 2021 we took a trip with other senior missionaries and two families to the east end of Ghana very close to the border with Togo.  There is a river there, the Volta River, that empties into the Atlantic Ocean at the Gulf of Guinea at Ada Foah.  The river comes out of the north in Burkina Faso and flows eventually to where we saw it.  It was dammed up north by the government to create a large lake, the Volta Lake.  It produces most of the electricity this country enjoys.  The waters of the lake and river contain a blood fluke that causes "schistosomiasis".  The following is a notice from the Area medical nurse from 2018, paraphrased. "The blood fluke goes in through your skin into your veins and from there can spread to bladder, kidneys, intestine, liver, spleen and very rarely brain.  The treatment is fairly easy.  However if not treated, this can lead to chronic illness and cancer of the bladder and intestines, liver failure ...

We attended the Maamobi ward today;  our second Sunday in Accra.  It isn't far at all from our apartment. Maybe three kilometers.   It gives, however, a very different view of Accra than our neighborhood does.  The service was worth attending in spite of not being able to understand everything that is said.  The masks don't help.  The English spoken as a second or third language by the speaker doesn't help.   Our ears are not yet tuned to the different accents to the syllables we keep hearing.  We had called the bishop earlier in the week and asked if we could come by and attend the meeting and then afterward observe how he and his clerk account for the week's donations.  He was very gracious and said (in words more or less) "of course".   We need to understand the way unit financial transactions are handled here and get a real feel of the traditions and culture so we can be of assistance.  Many Ghanaians don't make m...

Our apartment is very nice.  We feel fortunate.  Our morning and evening commute is not far, and if the traffic is good, only ten or fifteen minutes.   I want to remember what we see each day when we work at the office.  Once we get to Temple Square  and enter the area administrative building and what we see as we leave.  Here they are: When we arrive at Temple Square, we enter the gate and get our temperature taken (must be wearing a face mask or no entry), then drive past the area administrative building, distribution center / patron housing building, around the back of the temple and park in front of the stake center, which is south of the temple.  We walk in front of the temple the into the area administrative building where Rebecca or Bernice greet us.  At the end of the day when we leave the admin building we get to see and walk past the beautiful temple again.

We were very fortunate on February 11 to see the MTC and take a short tour.  The MTC is still closed.  When it opens to receive missionaries is still up in the air.  Like everyone else, we hope it is soon.   A couple in our MTC group last month were the Hills; Dell and Deni (Denise).  They are heading to the Philippines to be Humanitarian missionaries as soon as the country opens up.  They previously served in Mongolia and then in Ghana. they loved their Ghana experience working in the old MTC.  They returned from Ghana in 2018 soon after the new MTC was open.  They spent a short while there before completing their mission and coming home.  They were so excited to learn we were going to Ghana.  It is through the Hills that we met up with Solomon Amoah a supervisor or assistant manager there. the Hills worked with Solomon. He is a young man with a small family.  He and his wife have two children, one newly born.  The MTC is...

February 10, 2021 Today we met the Area Auditor, Atobora.  Elaine and I are called to be assistants to the Area Auditor so we will be close workers and friends for as long as we are here and after.  Nice guy.  We first met a few months ago in a short zoom meeting.  It was good to meet in person.  He is retired.  It is mandatory in the country to retire at sixty years old.  So he had to a few years ago.  There is a lot for us to know to get up to speed with.  We asked a lot of questions to give us a flavor of how things happen at the ward and branch level about customs, economy (cash vs electronic transactions), how to pronounce names just to mention a few.   He knows all the assistant area auditors.  They have a great responsibility to communicate with and train the stake auditors.  That is a big job.  There are many stakes (and districts) here as the church is growing.  We will get to know them too.  We are...

 February 9, 2021, Accra, Ghana Remember the car we were supposed to have? To drive around on our own so we are self-reliant as far as transportation goes?  Well, I let Sister Dick know this morning about the prior night's "missing car" episode.  I didn't want to call her last night and worry her.  She has plenty to concern herself about.  So what if a car might have been stolen.  We are in Africa (that really isn't fair because cars are stolen daily in every major city in the U.S.).  So, I texted her this morning and she got right on it. The story is this.  We had to ask our friends the Weston's to give us a ride to work today.  They are very kind and more than willing.  Elder Weston did, however. give me the key to drive to work in the morning traffic.  That commuting around here is an adventure and is being left for another day's blog.  Veeery interesting.   We drove into Temple Square and the ladies saw someone we...

February 8, 2021, Accra, Ghana Our first day at the Area office was not what we had expected, but then again, we didn't know what to expect so I guess we really had no expectations.  As a result of the day's activities, we received a computer, a phone and an office to call our own.  Getting set up as a worker/employee on the Church's email and electronic systems is a big process.  All this happened after we were first introduced to certain people on each floor of the four story building.  We met people involved in building reception, communications, humanitarian, legal, finance, YSA activities, IT work, and a short tour of the Area Presidency offices.   Our tour guide was Laneth Dick, the wife of the Area Executive Secretary to the Area Presidency, James Dick.  She is the assistant to the Executive Secretary and they work amazing well together with no one, like me, a novice and new to the activities of the Area office, thinking they both didn't have th...

 I drove the car today.  The traffic is very light on Sunday so it is a good day to practice.  I drove to the ward meeting in Tesano at the Tesano ward.  We had sacrament meeting (fast and testimony) and then Sunday School.  We met many of the ward members.  The meetings are in English.  I will learn to train my ear to understand better what is being said.  The grammar is generally very good.  It is the accent that makes it a challenge to catch everything that is being said.  I will get there because I am guaranteed a great deal of practice of the next many months.  The testimonies are short and straightforward.  It was good to be there.  Here are some pictures of a few people we met.   The woman in red cleaned the podium and microphone after each speaker.  Dominique works for the UN in Accra and has been a member for about two and a half years.  He was formerly the preacher in his prior church.  I...