We sometimes meet people who remind us of friends and acquaintances. It happens to me often. It's fun. People are people all around the world; personalities, energies, smiles, mannerism, etc. in one place remind you of someone in another place. The fellow above is an employee of the Area Office, a custodian. He is also a great bishop. Bishop Amos Aidoo. He reminds me of Herb Beisinger and the Bruce Borrowman the builder. A mix of these two friends. Full of energy, and a big smile. Herb from boyhood in the old Bountiful 31st Ward neighborhood, and Bruce of Woods Cross.
Last Thursday we went to the ancillary building next to the "Jubilee House", the presidential office building where the President of Ghana has his office. This ancillary building is as close as we could get to the Jubilee. Brother Bannerman works as a fireman now for over 30 years. He is 57 and must retire in three years. Brother Ghartey in finance arranged the meeting after I told him I wanted to get into the Jubilee House. He made a call and a few days later here we are meeting with Brother Bannerman and taking a tour of this ancillary building. He has been a member of the Church since 2015. His son brought home a Book of Mormon. The dad got made and said he would burn the book. Instead he put it on the shelf. A few weeks later he noticed it and the intent to burn it, picked it up, opened it up and started to read. Interesting. He read more. It felt good. He would drink and smoke with a friend on the weekends. Not a good thing because he neglected his family. Not long after reading the book, on a Friday night, he told his friend this was the last time he would spend time with him like this. He got up on Saturday, kept his promise and hasn't had liquor or a smoke since then. Very unusual. This doesn't happen, but it did this time. He invited the missionaries to his home and was baptized not long after. He is a tough fireman, and a gentle person at the same time. He takes good care of his boss and manages the office and the personnel. He also takes good care of his family. He and his wife and all the kids are members of the Church and very happy about it. Oh, Sister Marla Olsen is also in the picture. She and Elder Dale Olsen are the communications missionaries in this Area. We invited them along with us. It was fun for us and them. Dale took the picture. He's okay with that. I like that guy a lot. He and I get along. In fact, I think he gets along with everyone. He worked as an EA (enrolled agent) preparing tax returns for a firm in St. George for many years before he and Marla decided to "go on a mission". Glad they did.
The Sunday after the ancillary office visit, we chose the Christiansborg Ward to visit. We ran into Brother Bannerman and his wife. It was good to meet her too. That Sunday there were two A70s there along with the Area DTA, Francis. The A70s are from Ivory Coast and were heading home that afternoon. Francis is the high counselor to that ward. If we stick around this place long enough we will get to know what everybody does in and out of our Area assignment.
I wrote this post a week or so ago and didn't complete it. So, now I have.
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