Entry #26

I just thought I would send a few things that might be of interest to you.

Last February, Dad and I traveled to Accra, the capitol of Ghana, about 4 hours south of Kumasi on the coast. There
we attended the temple – our main reason for traveling down there. At that time, Mary Joyce presented the
temple, specifically Sister Andum, an alter cloth that she had crocheted just for the Ghana Accra Temple. I thought I
would share the story of how it came about.

When we arrived in Kumasi, we were instructed that we were to be in our apartment around 6 pm every night and
not go out because of the mosquitoes which carry malaria. We are taking medicine every day to prevent malaria
but it is only 85 – 90% effective. That means that we had lots of free time every night. After considering how I
could use the time productively, I started feeling a great desire to crochet – crochet an alter cloth for the temple,
something that I could leave behind when we return home. I went on line and searched for patterns that would be
appropriate. Surprisingly enough, I found many that I could use. Then I called the temple and informed the person
on the other line that I had previously made an alter cloth for the Arizona Mesa Temple and that I would love to
make one for the temple here. I also told her there was only one problem – I didn’t have the crochet hook nor the
thread. Was it possible that I could find it there in Accra? The sister asked me for my phone number and told me
she would let me know. Well, I waited and waited. No response.

Then, one day several weeks later, while at the office, Sister Zoll, another senior missionary, came in and said she
had a package for me. To my surprise, there were 10 spools of crochet thread and a package of the fine steel
crochet hooks of all sizes! Where did she get them? The Zolls had been with the temple president and his wife at a
meeting – they had brought the supplies up to Kumasi from Accra. Oh, I was shocked because I had heard nothing – but very happy.

I started working on it. Then I realized that President & Sister Brielatt were being released as temple presidency and
would be going home on November 1st. I called Sister Brielatt before they left for the US and thanked her for the
supplies and the opportunity – that I had been praying for the blessing of making something of value to leave behind in this country. She told me that earlier she had felt the need for new alter cloths and was looking for someone to make some. She said I was an answer to her prayer and I told her she was an answer to my prayer. I was very humbled by this.

Well, I continued working on the cloth, creating and connecting 60 blocks. I started at the beginning of October and
finished in the middle of February. It was something I had worked on that was of value to this country. It was a work
of love for this people.

So, when Dad and I went to the temple in February, I was able to lovingly present the alter cloth to the temple – to
Sister Andum, the temple worker over the cloths. She was very happy to receive it.

Now, I am working on another one – I have 15 blocks completed, 45 more to go. I should be able to finish it before
we return home in November.

Included are some pictures of the alter cloth before it was given to the temple. Also, there is a picture of a couple
of products – an Arizona drink purchased in Accra at the mini Costco (has lots of Kirkland products in it for sale) and some candies given to us that were purchased in South Africa (Maynard being my maiden name).

We are grateful to be here and to work with these wonderful people. They are very humble, friendly and generally
happy. They don’t have all of the monetary comforts that we do at home, but that is most likely the reason they are
humble and happy. You are in our prayers and hope you are doing well.

With love,

Elder & Sister Palmer


As you can tell, we are in front of the Ghana Accra Temple but this picture was taken in August 2012.

This is a close-up of a few blocks of the Alter cloth.

This is the final product. It is washed, starched, stretched and drying on our bed on a towel.

Here is the Arizona drink that we found here in Ghana. It was very good too, but it was made in New York City. The candy was good too. The Holmes gave it to me for my birthday – they are from South Africa. Can’t believe that Maynard is found there!

This little pig is going to market! One of his hind feet had a rope tied to it otherwise it would have been long gone.

There were 4 baby hawks that were hatched on a ledge at the mission home. We watched the mother care for them – bring them lizards to eat. Then they were big enough to fly away. It was very interesting to watch.


Here is a flower shop along the road.

Here is a toy shop along the road.