A humble branch, Kumasi and Lake Bosomtwe (it's natural), and mission presidents are awesome

 July 20, 2021

The Adoagyiri Branch

We traveled to Kumasi on Sunday to train the new mission president, President Kunz and his audit committee.  The Kittelson’s went with us.  Their first time to Kumasi.  We planned to enjoy worship meetings along the way and I selected the Adoagyiri branch with President Amankwah-Appiah.  The meeting house is north of Accra 50 minutes in good traffic.

The sacrament speaker was a young mother with a child and several elementary school age children.  She talked about tithing in this way.  She knows the Lord wants her to pay tithing, so she does.  Her husband leaves town during the week to find work and returns on weekends.  The economic life is tough for many.  She also sells at the local market to help with family finances.  The market’s best time for sales is late afternoon and into the evening.  Her school children, however, leave school at 3:00 pm and she knows she should be home with them.  So, she leaves the market at 3:00 to be with her kids.  She asked Heavenly Father to help her make sales enough to take care of her family.  The other sellers in that market know when the best hours are and they complain about things being tough and not being able to sell much all day long even through the best selling hours of the day.  This latter-day saint mother said that she makes enough money each day by 3:00 to leave for home to care for the kids and not be lacking for what she needs.  She doesn't make a lot, but makes what she needs and is content.  She testified in this sweet and humble way her testimony of being obedient to this law.

She gave her talk in her native tongue which we don’t understand.  The branch president explained her talk to us during our meeting with him after the sacrament meeting.  Very touching for Elaine and I to hear.  I had to find her before we left the branch and thank her for sharing her testimony.

In the sacrament meeting we sang the hymn, “How Great the Wisdom and the Love”.  The last verse, which is seldom sung (being #6 of 6), goes:

              How great, how glorious, how complete

              Redemption’s grand design,

              Where justice, love and mercy meet

              In harmony divine!

The poetry is the beautiful, the message divine.  One of my favorite hymns.

Us two couples were also asked to share our thoughts and testimonies.  Happy to do it.  Elder Kittelson joined the church at 21 while working in Yellowstone, and soon after served a mission.  It would be fun to get him and my buddy Andy together to share stories.  Andy joined in his early twenties and then served a mission at 26 if I remember right.  Elder Kittelson is the Area Mental Health Advisor.  He talks to missionaries a lot, every morning and night.

The branch president is from out of the branch boundaries.  The branch still needs to grow a bit.  He has been a stake auditor and high counselor.  He has his own business consulting with businesses and setting up accounting systems among other things.  He knows what he is doing.  I wish every local unit was so blessed.

Lake Bosomtwe

On the way to Kumasi we took a side trip to see Lake Bosomtwe.  Being “off the main highway” I was not expecting much to drive on and a long drive at that to get out and back from the highway.  I was so, so pleasantly surprised. Most of the way was paved until we had driven around part of the lake for a while, then it turned into a trail quickly and we had to back track.  It seemed to take us back in time, even for this country, and see things "older".  The village homes were clustered together as we looked down on them, and there was a slower feel to the place than the hectic activities in the other villages.  It reminded me more of Tonga than Ghana, so I got a bit homesick for those islands. 

The lake is a natural lake, the only one in Ghana, and was formed from a crater.

Approaching the mountains around the crater valley.  The scenery is not this good in and around Accra.

The lake and valley.  The guy is carrying firewood home.  They cook with wood, charcoal or propane gas, if they can get it.  You can see the valley has electricity.

A couple of shots of a village we passed.

When the road was giving out and we were looking for a place to turn around (because I didn't have my RZR), a young man was making bricks by the side of the road.  He is married with two little kids.  He wants a better home for his family.  I was impressed with his hard work and family attitude.   He had a press that he filled with mortar and then he bore down hard to form the bricks.  I forgot his name.  Limited English but high on work ethic.  The blue things behind him are nets.  The lake is fished in the morning hours with nets.  I had to ask because there were no boats on the lake.  It was midafternoon.

We back tracked to N6 (the highway) and drove on to Kumasi.  Stayed the night at the Golden Tulip with Mobio and Atobora and his wife Theresa.

I want to go back to this lake.

Two more shots of the road back out of the valley.  All the vehicles in my opinion, are over worked.  There are three heads on that motorcycle and the number of van passengers (in and on) is anyone's guess.

Kumasi Mission

On Monday morning we packed up and drove to the Kumasi Mission Home.

We met with President Kunz and President Tabi, his counselor and audit committee chair and their one mission auditor, Brother Bright Dwomoh.  President Kunz began is tenure on July 1. Each of these brethren know so much about their duties, the training was filling in some gaps and fine-tuning knowledge, along with them making some decisions about the unit audits. A great working meeting as well as training.  I also spent some time with Elder Coombs of the office couple, on his massive expense and cash spreadsheet someone created many years ago. We fixed a few things and then I had to leave for Accra.  President Kunz called later that night to say he and Elder Coombs continued to work on it and got the bugs fixed.  He appreciated my help.  I appreciated getting to know him.  The Lord bless his mission presidents.  They do miraculous things on a daily basis considering their calling and extended responsibilities.  Working with the missionaries is only a part of their work.

Pray for the missionaries and their presidents.  They deserve and need it.