Christmas and covid

Since this blog is a journal of our Africa senior mission experience, I thought it best to include a little bit of our only Christmas holiday experience in Accra, Ghana.  Some senior missionaries experience two holiday seasons in Ghana because of their calling date.  Since our mission began in January 2021, this last holiday season, December 2021, is the only one we will spend here.  

We weren't sure what to expect with city traffic, people going out of town, etc. etc., so we planned the Cape Coast senior missionary get away for December 3, 4 and 5.  It was great and we had a good turnout for it.  Everyone enjoyed it.  We stayed at the Coconut Grove Beach Resort, enjoyed learning about the Church early days in Ghana with Brother James Edwusi ("the church is true!") visiting Baptism Beach, the Cocoa Shed where they had church meetings, and their "Hill Cumorah" where they would go to pray, sometimes all night, in the hope of missionaries coming someday soon  James was the fourth person baptized in Ghana in December 1978.  A great example of a latter-day saint who continues to exercise great faith in living and talking about the gospel.  His enthusiasm is infectious.  During our trip we all went to the Kakum National Forest and enjoyed the canopy walk (I could do that every month), El Mina Castle and Cape Coast Castle.  Those who participated in that slave trade were poor examples of human beings as well as business people.  I could talk for hours about that. 

I recently purchased a book, Amazing Grace, by Eric Mataxas.  It is a biography of William Wilberforce an English politician and philanthropist who spent his life trying to improve English life for the common man and woman, and outlawing the slave trade in the British empire and in Europe.  His and his friends efforts were instrumental in making it happen.  I recommend it.  

A few of us decided to go up north to the Volta region again and stay in the Liate Wote village at the Tagbo Falls Lodge since it is the only accommodations in the village unless you stay with friends and relatives in their homes.  That "is not going to happen" as the saying goes, so we went up with the Jones', Porters and Eastmonds.  We had a great time.  That is to say until I got the Covid bug on Friday the 17th and really felt it on Saturday night.

We did the walk to Tagbo Falls on Friday night and really enjoyed it. I hadn't walked it last September and wanted to see it.  Partly to compare it to Wli Falls a bit further up north that we walked in April.  I felt good enough to do it.  Just a little cough.  It was a great walk and the forest was beautiful and so full of trees, and all kinds of plants.  It felt like walking through a movie set.  Gorgeous.  Mostly along the stream coming down from the falls.  We crossed it several times on the way up.  While resting by the pool, we heard the sound of rocks falling some where above us.  That "somewhere" was right through where we were resting and enjoying the view.  A large rock a little bigger than a gallon jug of milk, crashed down behind us and exploded into pieces shooting through the spread-out-group and not harming anyone.  I think there were angels watching out for us.  Really.

We climbed Afadjato from the other village side on Saturday because it was supposed to be a switchback trail and much easier than the Liate Wote trail.  It was not anything like it was advertised to be.  A bit more dangerous in my book with the rocks all over the trail.  It was steep with very few switchbacks.  I was disappointed.  Three of our group decided to go back to the Lodge, Marlin Porter (bad ankle), Irene Eastmond, and Elaine.  Good idea.  I decided to go to the top.  Not the best idea.  I was really tired and realized later that the illness was coming on strong and I should have felt tired, and should have gone back early to the Lodge.  Oh well.  I would have slept well but one of the local roosters kept us awake each night from about 1:30 am on.  Roosters don't wait for the dawn to make noise.  They do it all night.  I got up at 3:00 am on Saturday, found some rocks and chased the little guy out of the area.  He returned within the hour and kept up the noise.  Jerk.  We mentioned it to the staff, Sayrum and Elvis, on Sunday morning, and they called the owner, Cindy, in Accra about it.  Cindy's response was "silence him".  So the staff had the rooster for breakfast on Monday.  

The Jones' and Porters left on Sunday night while the Eastmonds and us wanted to stay over Sunday night and go home Monday so we could go to church in Hohoe at the branch there.  We did, and I did my best not to get too close to anyone.  Elvis, Emmanuel (aka Mowli) and another Emmanuel went to church with us.  They rode in the truck bed under the shell.  The three who went back to the Lodge on Saturday morning had gospel discussions with Elvis and Sayrum waiting for us to come back.  They loved it.  Elvis and Sayrum are so wanting to learn more.  Elvis participated in the Sunday school discussion.  It was great.  Sayrum had to stay at the Lodge because they both couldn't go.

I asked Nick to drive home Monday morning.  We saw the Volta dam on the way home.

Elaine got sick Tuesday, and I continued to get sicker.  Cough, very tired, smelling and tasting issues for two days, no fever.  Like a flu.  Really tired and congested nose.  The best thing about getting sick is that when my head hit the pillow each night for almost two weeks, I fell asleep within a minute or two.  Great.  I wish that would last.

Needless to say, Elaine and I were sick from then until the new year.  We missed church the day after Christmas.  We learned as the days went on that every senior missionary got sick except the Lewis'.  Even the big group that went up north to Tamale, Bolgatanga and Mole, got sick at the end of the trip or as they arrived home on the 27th.  Okay, we all got the covid over with.  Does that mean we won't get it again?  Covid, variant, whatever, not sure what it was.  We will see what happens.  2022 will be a good year, whatever happens.

It is now January 9 and we are looking forward to getting back to "normal" this week.  We learned that the locals take visiting relatives in the country very seriously.  The Accra traffic has been light, the Area office has been quiet (when we did go in last week).  We avoided the office for about two weeks and worked from home.  I can do everything I need to from the apartment except give hard copies of cash advances and retirements to Finance.  Stephen Ghartey in Finance was great to work with during this time.  I would email him Payment Request Forms and he took it from there.  I really like this guy.  He is a hard worker, great family man, good English, and the bishop of his ward.  We have great conversations when I go up to visit him on the floor above us.  And, he recently passed the equivalent of the CPA exam in Ghana.  He was soooo happy.  And I was soooo happy for him.  

The locals enjoy the holidays and travel around the week before Christmas through the week after New Years.  Speaking of New Years, the Alema Court group were at the Lewis' on New Years Eve to play games and watch a movie.  We got home just after ten.  We were woken up by all the fireworks going off around the neighborhood starting at midnight and lasting for a few hours.  Elaine and I enjoyed the show from our deck/balcony of fireworks off the roof of the apartments across the street, and down the street.  They really love their fireworks.  

There you go.  I should be able to in the future remember this holiday season.