Entry #12

Our lives are extremely busy and has no dull moments. It has rained every day – or more appropriately it has poured every day lately. I have no official information, but I think we must have accumulated over 10 inches last week alone. Thank goodness they have drainage ditches everywhere to handle the high volume of water – it’s gone in no time. If this much rain had come to Arizona, the state would have been moved to the Ocean in no time.

We were able to catch the first session of conference – though the internet transmission was choppy at times and had to be re-connected on several occasions. We saw it with the Holmes and the Zolls in the mission home. It was most interesting to us to hear of the announcement of another temple for Arizona (Tucson). Also of great interest was the reduction in the minimum age for young men and young women to begin missionary service (reduced from 19 to 18 for young men and from 21 to 19 for young women. As noted by the conference speakers and the press conference, the number of young men and young women serving missions is expected to increase dramatically with this change – from around 58,000 to some unknown number. We were able to catch another session this afternoon at 4pm which was the Sunday morning session. Very good. What a great spirit we felt.

We continue to be excited and amazed with the growth of the church. Almost every week there is a baptism in the branches or wards that we frequent. Rodney is usually called upon to confirm a newly baptized member. Today was no exception when a lady in her 60’s was confirmed during our fast and testimony meeting. Also during the testimony meeting today an elderly man shared his testimony since he will be moving back to the Accra, Ghana area. He told us later that he joined the church in 1997 in Liberia and subsequently moved to Ghana. He said in 2003 when he moved to Ghana he was part of a group near Accra that had only 10 members of the church. He said in the 9 years since he first went there the growth caused the group to become a ward and now, recently a stake was formed in that area – a stake with 3,000 plus members. That gives you an idea of the growth. We will share some similar growth experiences in future letters – inspiring and phenomenal.

Love
Mom and Dad

We have shared below an inspiring story of a faithful African brother who recently began working at the mission home –
(excerpt from Rodney’s journal).




Francis Appiah – Conversion Story (As reported to Rodney D. Palmer – September 30, 2012)

                                                                      Francis Appiah and Elder Rodney D. Palmer

The African people have a great faith and great love for the Savior and have a certain humility which I believe
accounts for the spiritual experiences the Lord allows them to have as a reward for their childlike faith. Brother
Appiah is one of many I have visited with regarding the spiritual communications (inspiration and dreams, etc.)
that come to them.

Francis Appiah, an African brother in Ghana, started working at the Ghana Kumasi Mission home on
September 28, 2012 as a caretaker of the grounds and also has some responsibilities for care of the mission
home. He is a man that is in his late 50’s and speaks excellent English. While conversing with him he shared
with me his conversion story which is very inspiring.

Brother Appiah joined the church about 18 months ago. He told me that some time before he joined the church
that he developed tumors in his head and neck (he called them boils, but best I can tell he was describing what
I would call a tumor). He indicated that there were 6 tumors total. Medical personnel were not encouraging
regarding prospects for his recovery. He went to his pastor and had him pray for him, but did not feel any uplift
or help from the experience. Shortly thereafter he had a dream and in the dream he saw a sign that was posted
in front of a building. The sign had the name “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” and then the dream
ended. He had a strong impression that this was the true church. His pastor was critical of the Latter-day Saints
and warned him to stay clear of them. He said he still had the impression that this was the true church which he
should find.

Brother Appiah, said that two days later his wife had a dream. In the dream there were two young men – one
was a black man and one was a white man – both were in white shirts and had name tags on them. Just as she
got to the part of the dream where the two men were knocking on the door, there was a knock on their door.
They answered the door and standing at their door were the two young men that Sister Appiah saw in her
dream. The missionaries indicated they would like to share a message of the restored gospel with them, but
before they could proceed, Brother Appiah said he wanted to be baptized because he knew they represented
the true church. The missionaries taught them and Brother Appiah and his daughter were baptized at that time
(approximately a year and a half ago). Brother Appiah went on to say that his wife did not join at that time,
but just three weeks ago she was baptized. He and his family are part of the Daban Group, which is part of the
Asokwa Ward and Ghama Kumasi Stake.

Brother Appiah reported that the tumors disappeared and he had no other problems with them since.


Pictures:

At the post office where duty is charged. The postal inspector is going through a box sent to one of the missionaries in our mission. He’s charging duty on peanut butter – all items that were sent. It’s a very long process.

After church.

After a Church History Seminar with Pres. & Sis. Holmes (mission president), Palmers, the Zolls (sen. couple), and instructor.

Ester, a member of the Asokwa Ward with her little children. She wants me to teach her how to make banana bread.

Ester’s daughter - her outfit is like what most of the adult women wear – usually with brighter colors. Sewn by a seamstress to fit. A little lady.

Entry #11

We continue to very busy taking care of absorbing the increasing number of missionaries. With the latest group of new missionaries we are up to 82 missionaries. We were around 70 after the division of the missions and the establishment of this new mission. We will be over 100 by the end of the year and will, we guess, be around 140 by mid-year next year. One of the biggest challenges is to determine where it would be most profitable to open up new areas and then securing housing for missionaries. As we mentioned before you have to do a lot of renovation to get any apartment livable – and then by American standards you would consider it a very poor housing arrangement. Next week the mission president will be traveling up to Tamale – the third largest city in Ghana, where we have never had missionaries and where there are no established branches of the church. There are some members of the church in Tamale, but no organized groups. As mentioned before the difficulty is finding some leaders in the church that can get things going in new areas. Tamale is a 7 hour drive through very difficult roadways – which means any missionaries we put there will be quite isolated from the mission leadership. I am sure we will establish branches of the church and have missionaries there soon, but it will be a test for those that work there to get things started.

We are starting another round of skyping and look forward to having a video and audio session which each member of the family again. It is so good to see you when we skype and hear of the latest on a real-time basis. We love all of you and feel so blessed because of your goodness and your willingness to do those things that are pleasing to the Lord.

Last Monday we had a mission-wide preparation day (all of the zones, but one – which zone was too far away to include). It was very interesting to see all of the missionaries get together and tour a dam in their missionary attire and then change to sportswear to participate in soccer, volleyball horseshoes and card games. With transportation being what it is here, it was no small task getting Tro-Tros to get all of the missionaries there and back to their proselyting areas. Fortunately all made it and the only casualty was one missionary losing his phone and about 60 Ghana cedis (about $30 USD). See pictures of the P-Day below.

Every Monday, or P-Day , we invite the missionaries closest to us over for breakfast if they don’t have an activity going. So, we had the elders here but since the transfer on Tuesday we have sisters living in the apartment close. We had them over for pancakes and they love it. We enjoy getting to know them better. We have also invited the Assistants to the President elders but they are on their way to Tamale. Next Monday we will have them and the Sisters too. Below are the pictures of the Elders and the Sisters. Sister Nwokeka is from Nigeria, one of eight children, and is returning home on Nov. 7 after 18 months here. Before she came she graduated from college. She’s a very confident, fine young woman. Sister Gogo is from Cote de Ivory, one of five children, just got here Tuesday. She speaks French, very little English. She will be here 18 months. Both their families are members of the church. Elder Crump is from the U.S., Idaho, and will go home when we do next December. He’s a very hard worker. Elder Ramo, his name is Ramokgola but Ramo is easier, is from South Africa. He quit his college to come here on his mission and loves teaching about the gospel. His father has passed away and his mother is not a member. He has a cousin who is a returned missionary and who gives him lots of support. We love these young people.

We went to bed last night and pretty soon it started raining with lightening and thunder. And when it rains, it pours straight down! But, their drainage is so good that you can hardly tell that it rained so hard when you go out in the morning – it’s all gone. However, that makes for a very humid day. We went shopping for groceries this morning, and it was 86 degrees with probably 90% humidity. Whew! But it was very clean air and a beautiful sky with white fluffy clouds. When the sun is out, it’s very hot. The weather can change in a few minutes. Very interesting. We love the breezes that they have here. That’s what makes it bearable.

Love,

Mom and Dad 



Going down into the dam – very humid. They produce power down here.

We came out here to the beautiful lake/reservoir.

 

Guess who?

Guess who with the sisters and elders playing a tame game – Harry Potter Uno.

Horse shoes went over well. We finally got some Africans to play – they hadn’t heard of it before. Elders from Idaho and Utah.

Many loved playing football – soccer. Wow, it is BIG here.

And there was volleyball too.

Icecream to cool us off after a hot day. Then back to the city to finish “preparation day” to get ready to do missionary work.

Sister Nwokeka from Nigeria and Sister Gogo from Cote deIvory (right).

 

Elder Crump from Idaho and Elder Ramo from South Africa

Entry #10

Busy has been the word for us as we continue to grow the mission. With this next transfer of
missionaries – with 8 new missionaries coming in next week and 2 going home, we will be at 82
missionaries. We will be over 100 by the end of the year and will probably be around 140 by mid-year
next year. Keeps us hopping trying to keep up with everything.

We had a general authority do a tour of the mission a week ago (Elder LeGrand Curtis of the Seventy)
and it was nice to spend some time with him and his wife. We had the missionaries meet in three
different locations (approximately 2 zones per location) to be trained and taught by Elder Curtis and
the mission president. In addition to being spiritually fed the missionaries, of course, like the zone
conferences because the food is 10 times better than what that can get and prepare for themselves. It
is a major challenge to get all of the missionaries together, since they have to catch a taxi or a Tro-Tro
(small bus) from the far reaches of the mission – from some fairly remote villages. We continue to be
impressed with the faithfulness and strength of these young men and women.

Yesterday we traveled again to the village of Konongo where we have two branches of the church. We
attended two blocks of meetings and spoke in both Sacrament meetings. The leaders of each of the
branches are always so respectful of us and hang on every word we speak in their efforts to be sure
they are doing everything they need to do. We spend a little time going over the Church handbook of
instruction. They are more careful to follow every section of the handbook – more so than what we
have observed in America. Their handbooks are well used – marked up and well worn. Since many of
the speakers and participants speak Twi instead of English we still find it a challenge to know exactly
what is going on. The leaders will speak English to us, but the accent is so strong it is still a major
challenge with communication. In the Investigator class one of the full-time missionaries taught the
lesson, and even though the missionary is an African (from Nigeria) he does not speak Twi – which is
unique to this area of Africa – so the Branch President was interpreting the instruction in Twi – since
several of the Investigators did not speak English. He did a magnificent job –very smooth & prepared.

This evening we will have a Ghanaian family over for dinner . The husband is not a member of the
church. He has met with the missionaries, but has never joined the church, even though his wife is
a member. They have three small children that they will bring with them. We will also have two of
the full-time missionaries with us for dinner – so we will have a fairly sizeable group for our small
apartment. The husband has indicated a new interest in being taught the gospel so we will see how it
goes this evening. Last Sunday we went by this family’s home and visited with them and left a spiritual
message. We also pounded some Fu-Fu – a weekly ritual for many families here in Ghana. (As perhaps
mentioned before they cook Casava and Plantain and then pound it into a dough like mixture – which is
then put in a soup. Looks horrible to us, but many of the full-time missionaries here – elders and sisters
– have developed a taste for it. After watching the Fu-Fu being prepared and the unsanitary conditions
under which it is preparedwe are not about to partake. (Some pictures below)

We recently had three great missionaries return home after their 2 years of service here in Ghana. We
had a meal with them in the mission home and visited with them during the meal before their departure

to their respective homes (all three of these missionaries were from America and also were leaders in
the mission. We recorded in our journal some of the experiences that they related and have included a
couple of excerpts below

Elder Briggs – Qualifying to Drive as Assistant to Mission President

Elder Briggs was called to be an assistant to the mission president and with this calling it would be
required to obtain a Ghanaian driver’s license. Throughout his mission the anti-malaria pill Doxycycline
had created issues for contact lenses for him and accordingly the irritation had caused him to remove
his lenses. As an Assistant to the Mission President he would need the lenses to obtain the driver’s
license and be able to see. He prayed for help. His prayer was answered. He was able to re-insert his
contact lenses and was able to wear the lenses the remainder of his mission without any problem.

Elder Hair – Prayer for the Electric Power to Return

Power outage is a way of life in the Ghana Kumasi Mission. It is almost a daily occurrence – certainly
a couple of times a week. The power can be out for a few minutes, a few hours or in some cases days.
Due to the hot humid nights Elder Hair was unable to get any sleep for extended periods of time and
realized his health and missionary work would suffer if this condition continued. He realized that he had
not made it a matter of prayer. He begin to make it a matter of prayer and said that many times after
the power went out he would kneel in prayer and before completing his plea to his Father-in-Heaven he
would feel the air from his fan starting to cool his body as the power returned to their apartment.

Real Miracle – Change in Peoples Lives

As Elder Smith was departing from the mission he responded to the question – “Have you seen any
miracles during your mission?” He replied the real miracle is the mighty change that I have witnessed in
the lives of people. Many were in the worst of conditions with their personal lives, but after embracing
the teachings of the Savior, they changed and were happy and productive as husbands and fathers and
as wives and mothers. He was amazed at how such changes could come about in a person’s life. – a real
miracle.

We had a challenging experience last Saturday in the mission home. The mission president and his wife
had just left for a branch conference when the guard to our compound informed us that water was
running out the front door of the mission home. As we investigated the situation, to our dismay a water
pipe had burst underneath the kitchen sink and a large portion of the mission home had 1 to 3 inches
of water on the floor. Rodney quickly got the water turned off, but the real work then began. With the
assistance of the guard, two assistants to the mission president and the two of us we mopped hundreds
of gallons of water out of the mission home. A plumber was called and the pipe was fixed. We turned
a bunch of fans on and after several more hours the mission home was back to normal. Since walls are
floors are concrete or tile, the damage was limited but it made for an eventful few hours.

As always we send our love and continue to pray for all of you.

Love,

Dad & Mom


Elder Crump and Elder Ramokgola – Two missionaries that live fairly close to us that we have over for breakfast most P-Days – Monday mornings. (Elder Crump is from Idaho – Elder Ramokgola is from South Africa – the only member of his family that is a member of the church. His father has died and his mother was opposed to him serving a mission, but he was determined to serve. 

 This is a scene along the highway to Konongo. Lots of produce – big tomatoes, oranges (green, pink inside), plantains, onions, cassava, etc.

 Elder Legrand Curtis of the Seventy and his wife, President and Sister Holmes and an Area Seventy and of course Elder and Sister Palmer – two of the Zones at this meeting – Bantama and Asuoyeboa Zones

They are excavating a lot next to the mission home to make place for a home to be built. The African kids are using it for a soccer.

Guess who is pounding Fu-Fu.

Close up of Fu-Fu in the making.

They really know how to use their heads.

 School kids before entering their school building. The schools are empty rooms without black/white boards. Very austere.

Another view along the street. This is at a toll booth on the way to Konongo. The hawkers love to sell when we are stopped.

Entry #9

Another great week in Ghana. We think we are finally making progress getting this new mission set up.
We have most of the systems in place and the banking and finances in fairly smooth working order. We
continue to work to arrange apartments and housing for the new missionaries coming in. We will have
over a hundred missionaries in our mission by the end of the year and expect another 30 or 40 early
next year. Substantially all of the new missionaries will be from African nations – a large percentage
of which come from Nigeria. There will be very few North American missionaries a year from now.
Included below are some everyday scenes for us.

We love all of you and pray daily for the Lord to send his guarding angels to be round about you.

Love
Mom and Dad


Our neighbors making Fu-Fu. The door behind this lady is the back door to our apartment. The girl standing lifts the pole up and then brings it down hard as her sister turns the food over. We hear this pounding almost every day where ever we go.

A close-up picture of the process. They pound the cooked plantain into a rubbery mass and then do the same for cooked Casava and mix the two into one dough looking substance. They then put it in a soup.

Another picture of Fu Fu preparation

This man – we call the carpenter is also our neighbor. He does not speak English, but we are able to communicate with him. He has this little wood shed next to our house and makes furniture. We asked him to shell our coconut that we bought at one of the stands. He took half-a-dozen swipes with his machete and the shell was completely removed (took all of 30 seconds), with the coconut completely intact. At home when I did this it took an hour and the coconut was in a hundred pieces when I finished.

Mom marvels at the hand-cranked sewing machines. These sewing machines scenes are directly across the street from the mission home where we spend most of our time. The little boy’s name is Samuel.
                                            Another view of the sewing machines – see the crank on the wheel?


Another scene across the street from the mission home. Every morning when we arrive this is the scene that greets us. They prepare the food to sell on the street Kenke and stew cooking on a charcoal fire.

Entry #8

This has been a very eventful week. Early Monday morning we drove, with another senior couple (the
Zolls from Sandy, UT going home at the end of October) to the capital city of Ghana – Accra (accent on
the last “a”). It took nearly 6 hours to go a distance of approximately 150 miles due to the poor roads,
wild drivers and congested traffic. There are points during the trip that the road almost disappears or
is under major construction. It was quite a trip. Along the way we went through many small villages.
Most of them were very primitive – adobe walls, no electricity, outdoor cooking, very little to live in and
they are selling produce along the highway. It sure makes us appreciate what we have at home. The
country up in the mountains is very beautiful and lush – no pine trees but other kinds of foliage.

We arrived around noon and immediately indulged ourselves in the only mall in all of Ghana. It was not
too different from some of the smaller malls in the United States – there was even a food court with
pizza and rides for the kids - and there are a fairly good number of American type products. We stocked
up on things like Peanut Butter, meat and a variety of other items. We actually stopped at a store on
the outskirts of Accra that is affectionately referred to by the Americans as Costco. While it is very small
it stocks some of the large sizes and quantities of products frequently seen in the United States. We also
visited a fast food place in Ghana that is familiar to Americans – KFC or Kentucky Fried Chicken – believe
it or not (no McDonalds). Never thought we would be so enthralled with a fast food place, but it was a
treat to have something that was familiar and very tasty. But, it lacked the best drink ever, A&W Root
Beer – it was good anyway.

We stayed at the West African Missionary Training Center. It was very nice. There were about 100
young Elders and Sisters (19 to 21 years old) there preparing to go out to their missions. We really
enjoyed meeting them. They are from all over the world – the US, New Zealand, Australia, Nigeria,
South Africa, UK, etc. We also met Pres. & Sister Graham, the MTC president and his wife.

It was extremely helpful for us to visit the Area offices while we were in Accra. The Area office for all of
West Africa is located in Accra and we were able to accomplish a number of tasks with various finance
and supply people in the Area offices. Then of course we had the heroine experience of retracing our
steps back to Kumasi on Wednesday afternoon. Accra, while not anything like most American cities, is
so much more modernized and accommodating than what we daily experience in Kumasi.

On the spiritual side we had the special opportunity of attending a session at the Ghana Temple and
then sat in on a marriage or sealing ceremony for one of the African men who had recently returned
from our mission and married a beautiful young lady who was a recent convert to the church. This
young lady was of the Muslim faith, but inquired of this young elder via mail about the church and due
to her seeking for truth and due to a strong desire to know what our Heavenly Father’s plan for her
while on the earth lead to her joining the church and being endowed in the temple before this young
man even returned from his mission. To make a long story short they fell in love and were married. It
was great to be with them in the temple.

Another interesting story – not particularly significant, but gives you an idea of the humility and
goodness of the African people. One of the guards at the mission home complex took the missionary
discussions and was baptized and is so faithful in his church attendance and studying the gospel. One
evening he caught Rodney before he left the mission home and ask in a very kind way if he would help
him tie a tie so he would be able to have a tie with his shirt the next Sunday. Rodney tied the tie for him
and got it all ready for him so he could just slip it over his head and tighten it up and he would be ready
for church. He was so grateful for the help and was looking forward to being at church the next day with
his tie.

We had another experience that warmed our hearts – an experience with one of the African Elders we
were helping get some missionary supplies after a Zone Leader Council meeting. We noted that he was
struggling to read some of the information on one of the packages. Rodney asked him if he was having
trouble seeing. He initially did not want to admit that he was struggling to see. Mary Joyce offered
him her glasses and asked him to look through them. Initially he was reluctant, but when he saw how
clear things could be he had a new smile on his face. We told him that we would arrange for him to visit
an optometrist and get some glasses. He was so kind and so appreciative it made you want to reach
out and embrace him. In addition to the eye problems he had a slight speech impediment –stuttering,
which made us want to help him ever more. His name is Elder Nwatu, and we will be following up to
help him. These young elders are fantastic!

On Friday we spent nearly 5 hours in the bank and post office – hassling the sytem and getting banking
chores done and picking up packages for the missionaries – including going through customs with the
packages. One of the silver linings in the ordeal was one of the bank officials ended up providing us
with more cash (cedis) than we were entitled to – a fairly significant sum actually. Due to our very busy
schedule we had put the money in the office safe and had not even verified the count of the money.
Rodney received a desperate call from the young lady who had been assisting us in the mission banking
transactions. She was significantly short of cash and thought that she may have given us too much
money. We had her hold on the phone while we counted the money. Sure enough she had given us
too much money. It was after closing hours on a Friday evening and she asked if she could come by the
mission home and retrieve the money. Of course we said yes and a short time later she showed up at
the mission home. She was so kind and gracious and we had a short religious discussion and provided
her some information about the church. This situation was actually a blessing because we believe it will
pave the way for a smoother bank relationship after she witnessed our honesty and help.

Even though life here is very different for us, we just love the people. They love to smile and talk to
us. Those who we’ve met are very sincere and loving. They have a love for God and Jesus Christ. We
are enjoying being here to share with them what we have to help them be happy and have a more
meaningful life. There was another baptism today after our Sunday meetings. They are very receptive
and the work is going forth. It’s great to be part of this wonderful work.

We love you – please keep the emails coming – we love to hear from home.

Love,

Mom and Dad


At the Accra Temple

The Costco in Accra. Its official name is La Fiesta Hacienda – strange that it’s a Spanish name here but we were like kids in a candy store – Campbell cream soups, pickle relish, large Krustez pancake mix, tomato sauce, etc.!

At the temple. Some young ladies tending children – notice the babies on their backs and how their feet stick out forward. Sometimes there are shoes on their feet and sometimes all you see are 10 toes. Rodney and Sister Zoll.

The newly weds.

These Tro-tros are all over the place! They are little “busses” and are PACKED past the limit with people and will just stop in the road to let them off. Traffic is ALWAYS terrible. The slogan is, “the nose goes.” Very congested.

A street market – lots of venders with everything. Ghana is the king of small businesses! (Good looking tomatoes!)

More venders in the street market.

The West African MTC. We stayed upstairs in one of the general authority rooms with a nice soft bed. It was free for us. Nice!

Entry #7

Dear Family and Friends,

We have been so busy that we didn’t send a letter last week. That did not stop us however including all
of you in our prayers every morning and evening.

Last Sunday we traveled to a church branch that was about 75 kilometers from where we live (35 or
40 miles) – a place called Konongo – a village or town that is between Kumasi, where we live, and the
capital of Ghana – the city of Accra. With roads and traffic conditions the trip took us a couple of hours
and was risky business – to say the least. We took a couple who are part of the mission presidency here
– President Amoako and his wife (picture below) – a wonderful black man and his wife that we worked
with to hold a leadership meeting with the leaders in two branches as well as the leadership in the district.
We went to two sacrament meetings and spoke in both meetings. These saints are really faithful and can
they ever sing – a lot more volume and enthusiasm that we generally see at home. Below are some of the
pictures taken on the road and at the church building.

We had our first group of missionaries arrive this past week – two sister missionaries and 6 young men
– Elders. Just to give you an idea of the names of the missionaries – all of which are from other African
nations – They are – Elder Appiah, Elder Ojok, Elder Noble, Elder Musasizi, Elder Cherekedzai, Elder
Chiweshe, Sister McGill and Sister Ngwenya. We have five mission zones – Asokwa, Asuoyeboa,
Bantama, Dichemso and Sunyani. The zone Asuoyeboa is the one that gave mom the hardest time.
It’s pronounced like “a(short)seeohbwa.” It took forever. Here are some of the names of the other
missionaries: Nkanyane, Nwokeka, Okechukwo, Ubokudom, Nwatu, Kkwo, Kumakech, Ejiobianu,
Tlathi, Udo-Bassey, etc. Boy, it’s interesting to get used to saying their names but to try to understand
them on the phone is something else. They are used to us asking for them to repeat many times. Then
they give up and say that they will just text it. That is a good thing. We also know that Akwaaba means
“ welcome here” and Majoya (mahoeya) means “fine, thank you”. Medasi means thank you.” The Book
of Mormon is written in Twii and many are given out. Sure can’t read it though. The language is spoken
lower in their throats and of course is quite fast. At church today we didn’t understand much again.

There is another funeral celebration in the road that the Mission Home is on. They close the street and
put up a large tarp. Inside are many chairs. And the music is very loud jazzy and we can feel the beat in
our office. It lasts for a day or two for 24 or 48 hours. People actually pay to go because there’s lots of
nice food. The families make money off this funeral. The ladies usually dress in black fabric wrapped
around them and their heads. Quite interesting. I’m afraid that we get quite tired of listening to it.

Speaking of food, when we get home at night we are quite tired (about 6pm). Making dinner isn’t easy
because we don’t have the convenience foods like at home – most is from scratch. Mom had learned
to make flour tortillas so we’ve had cheese crisps with salad one night and wraps with cheese, lettuce,
Kirkland chicken (yes, we’ve found it here), cucumber and tomato. It was pretty good. Another night
we had rice patties with ketchup and green salad. When she makes rice, it’s a large quantity. What isn’t
needed goes into the refrigerator. To make a rice patty you take 1 cup cold cooked rice and mix it with
a slightly beaten egg. Stir it together (add onion, green pepper, etc. is optional) and pour some into a hot

non-stick skillet and brown on both sides. Put cheese on top with ketchup. Pretty good. We’ve even
had pork & beans with rice mixed in and warmed. Pretty good. Even the pan cakes we have on P-day
are all by scratch. We have an excellent recipe for them – the Elders liked them too. Got to be creative.

We are driving to Accra with another senior couple, the Holmes following in their car. We will go to the
temple and come back on Wednesday evening. The Holmes need to be back earlier. In Accra we can
get better food – like the big jars of Skippy peanut butter which we love and stock up on. We are looking
forward to going to the distribution center and the Area Offices. We will be staying at the MTC which
rents out rooms for those who are out of town at a minimal rate. Will tell you about it next time.

Congratulation to Jeff & Alice – Bryndlee Heidi, a cute name for a cute little granddaughter. Please send
pictures that we can print out from email. Unfortunately the pictures on Facebook don’t come through to
us. They are filtered out. Everyone, please send pictures.

Mrs. Carson was in a care home when we left home and we were able to visit her before we left. She is
now in hospice care and is fading fast. Just thought you might like to know. We will miss her.

We are enjoying the work here – it keeps us very busy – especially Dad because everything here is cash
and we have to go to the bank quite often which can take an hour or two. When we get home at night the
other senior couple let us borrow the TV series “Mentalist” . Have you heard of it? Boy, we really enjoy
watching it – an hour show. It helps us to wind down and fills up the time before bed because we can’t go
out after about 6pm due to mosquitoes and safety.

We pray for you all and love you. We appreciate your prayers. It’s been fun to Skype with you.

 Love,

Mom and Dad


This is a picture of some of the way they load the trucks. This highway to Konongo Branches was a good road – just very poor drivers (dare devils) and large trucks – even bigger than these.

Pres. and Sis. Amoako who road with us to Konongo The church building is the white building behind Dad. That’s our silver car.

 Primary in the Konongo Branch 2. It was a very small room. They sure can sing!

The arrival of the first new elders and sisters to our mission. They are all African. Great young men and women!

We see big trucks like this hauling these humongus logs that they’re hauling in from their forests. I don’t think are many left. These truck travel on single lane roads all of the time.

This is the way they carry their luggage. This is looking down our apartment street. On the right there is a mechanic working on lots of cars parked along the street.

A carpenter who lives next to our apartment. He makes everything by hand. He doesn’t understand English but is so nice. The curls of wood from lots of planning are on the ground. Almost done with a kitchen closet.

Entry #6

Dear Family and Friends,

The power just came back on after being out awhile, a frequent occurrence, so I can proceed with this
letter which I had anticipated doing earlier. It has been great to have skyping sessions with most of you
and we look forward to hooking up with the rest of you as we try to coordinate your schedules and deal
with the time difference (7 hours in Arizona and 6 hours in Utah). It was interesting to see beefy looking
Tyson and we are looking forward to getting a glimpse of McKenzie. We will miss being at the baby
blessings of both Tyson and McKenzie. It was fun to hear of Riley’s heartthrobs as she begins dating and
to get excited for Brooke as she prepares for BYU. It seems like yesterday that her parents were the
students at the “Y”. It was great to see and visit with each of you that we have Skyped with so far and
are looking forward to sessions with the rest. We are anxious and praying for Alice and her delivery.

The work here has not been without its challenges, not the least of which is battling the legal red tape
with banks, postal authorities and law enforcement personnel. We are finally learning what you can and
cannot do here, but you have to have a lot of patience. The systems here are so archaic and inefficient.
Most of the government and other officials expect some kind of pay, just to get their cooperation. We
try to tell them that we are missionaries and bring blessings not gifts or money. Most of the time we
are able to get what we need, but it takes hours, most of the time, for tasks that should only take 15
minutes.

With the large increase in missionaries that will be coming to this mission – substantially all from other
African nations versus North America – we are very busy getting housing and trainers, etc., etc. to get
them started in the missionary work. We will be doing much more traveling to the remote areas of
Ghana, which is frightening with the terrible traffic and road conditions, but we are confident that the
Lord will watch over us, as we are on His errand. I think we mentioned in an earlier letter that you have
to prepay the rent on apartments for the full term of the lease – so if you have a three year lease you
pay the full three years on the day you sign the lease. In addition, all the living quarters are seriously
deficient, so we have to arrange for considerable upgrades to make the conditions tolerable. Each living
quarters has to have a water tank, water pump, water filters, gas tanks and toilets installed. Most of the
housing here do not include these – leaving the improvements up to us before the missionaries move in.

The mission president and his wife have been journeying out to the various zones in the mission and
holding a brief conference and providing a meal for the missionaries. The meals are a great delight for
the missionaries. (The missionaries have a limited selection of food and typically such food includes
a lot of rice and bread.) We have attached a picture showing the one zone that was brought into
the mission home. The good news is they received a great meal and enjoyed briefly some nice living
quarters. The bad news is they return to much less favorable living arrangements.

One of the biggest challenges, which I believe we dwelled on a bit in previous communications, relates
to obtaining food to eat for the week. It literally takes us 4 or 5 hours to obtain the food needed for the

coming week - something that would take 30 or 45 minutes in the United States. We still only are able
to obtain a fraction of that which we would be accustomed to at home. Each store has this but is out
of that so we travel to the next one to see what that one has or hasn’t. We have to go to about three
different stores and then we get our vegetables (which are washed in Clorox water at home) at a stand.

As I am sure we mentioned before the families and individuals we live around are so helpful and
friendly – which contrasts greatly with the experience you have with various regulatory and government
authorities. When we go on our walks the children just love “high fives” and don’t want us to leave. It’s
the same way at our church meetings. The people are generally spiritual in nature and are receptive
to the teachings of the Savior. They are so eager to help you when you have a need. The African
missionaries are a great joy to be around. They have such strong testimonies and convictions of the
restored gospel. Most of the African missionaries are the only members of their families that are
members of the church and in many cases their families are not supportive of the missions. With the
knowledge that they have little or no family support they still serve and serve faithfully. One of the
missionaries we had over for the evening meal last Monday evening has been substantially disowned
by his mother, because he elected to serve a mission for the church and put his education on hold. He
is from South Africa, but he is one of the most cheerful missionaries we have. He has only been on
his mission for a couple of months, but we anticipate that he will be one of the leaders in the mission
before his two years are up.

Love,

Mom and Dad


View outside our kitchen window – our neighbors in the same four-plex we live in are cooking a tomato based soup on charcoal early in the morning.

Another view just outside our kitchen window – a young African girl sweeping the area – which she and other women do faithfully, each morning. Notice the short broom. They all have them – no handle. They even clean up the outside of their shops with these brooms. Our poly tank back there which is our 1 st water filter.

Veronica – a young lady who served as a missionary in our mission a couple of years ago, who now helps with meals at the mission home when a zone is at the mission home for a conference. She’s been to culinary school and makes some great meals!

Missionaries in the mission van heading back to their mission area – mail on their laps. It’s packed full - the AP’s are driving.

An interesting shot of some typical transportation along a busy street here in Kumasi.

Another picture taking of shops along the road as we travel the streets of the city.

 

Lunch for the missionaries at the mission home. They loved it! Great guys. Sorry it’s so blury.