The Villages and People of the Abakrampa Branch.

Margaret visiting and shaking hands with one of our members mother who is 96 years old. She was using a rock to smash some kernels of corn when we approached her. The robe around her shoulder was thrown around her right before the picture was taken. Good thing, it wasn't a pretty site.

This is a picture of one of the part member families in our little Branch. The husband, Mathew is very faithful in his church responsibilities and now his wife Agnes has agreed to be baptized after having the discussions. She has come to church two weeks in a row and bore her testimony at the last fast meeting. The couple live in one of the Little Villages which attend our branch. Note the little cement houses that dot the hillside behind them. A crowd of about 15 small children had gathered behind me to see the "White people".

Here Margaret is visiting with seven members of the branch and several villagers. Any time a camera comes out they rush to get into the picture. We have to disguise our intent and then hurry and snap the photo. This was during a village service project to clean up the local medical facility. They called it a Hospital, but I told Margaret to shoot me before ever taking me to it.

A look at the kitchen, bathroom, sheep pen and laundry at one of the homes of a member. The home is very small with no furniture. The husband and wife (both in their late 60's) and a old lady walked to the service project in Abakrampa which is over 5 miles away. They started walking at 5:00 am and got there just before us at 8:15 am. We gave them a ride home to their village afterwards. This is the village where Margaret met the woman's 96 year old mother. The people are very poor, but don't know they are. They are by far the happiest people we have ever met. We consider it an honor to work with such loving people. They have accepted us whole heartily.

Day By Day We're Learning the Ghanaian Way

We want to share a few highlights of another week in Ghana. We are keeping busy and enjoying the people, the weather, and being involved in missionary work.
We attended our first Ghanaian wedding on Saturday. It was held in the Ola Chapel. Everyone came in their finest clothes. Except myself and Sister Sabey who wear our missionary attire to ALL events.

All the "Aunties" of the bride wear homemade hats. They are made of starched fabric and are quite amazing.

Elder and Sister Turner, Elder and Sister Saunders, Sister and President Sabey taking a time out to go to dinner. There are some nice restaurants at beach resorts. We enjoy going to dinner with the other couples and watching the amazing sunsets on the beach.

The children love us and we love them. This little boy is in our branch and is constantly moving. He finally held still for a picture with Sister Saunders.

We were invited to the Imbrahs home for a "fufu" dinner. We were taught to eat with our hands out of the same bowl. Elder Saunders is catching on a little faster than Sister Saunders who still prefers her own bowl and a spoon. Fufu is a Ghanaian favorite and was served with hot chicken soup. Bro. Imbrah was surprised when we did not eat the chicken bones and explained that is the best part of the chicken. Elder Saunders tried a bone to be polite....he is much braver than I am!

Thankful for Good Food and Good Friends

Thanksgiving dinner with good food and good friends. From left to right; Lanaya (a humanitarian volunteer from the states), Sister and Elder Turner, Elder Woodhouse and Elder Odom (the assistants), Sister and President Sabey at the mission home. We went to dinner expecting "cranberry chicken" and was surprised with turkey and all the trimmings. We are so grateful for the blessings of being involved in missionary work and being surrounded by people who love and serve the Lord.

We have new neighbors! Dr. Angel from Atlanta Georgia and Dr. Lee from San Diego California. They moved in to the apartment above us. They recently completed school and came to Ghana to open up a chiropractic clinic. They invited us over for a fish dinner. The food was delicious and we had fun getting to know them. Elder Saunders is holding our roll of napkins (I never knew there were so many uses for toilet paper!)

We attended our first baptism. Eleven were baptised! Sister Saunders with four of the girls from our branch. The two older girls on the left, Georgina and Regina and the girl in the black dress in the middle, Mary were baptised at the Yamaronsa Chapel. It is a beautiful building that sets up on a hill overlooking the town of Yamaronsa. It is about 20 miles from Abakrampa where we meet.

Some branch members and the eleven that were baptised. Elder Saunders and I were sitting quietly in the baptism service when it was announced that we would give talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost. Of course we didn't know ahead of time but we are learning very quickly not to be surprised...it is the African way. We were also both asked to be the witnesses (oops!) Elder Saunders explained that I would not be able to do that. We love the people in our branch and feel it a privilege to worship with them.

Day trip to the Jungles of Africa

Here is another photo of the walkway we walked in the KaKum forest. There are elephants in this forest, but we did not see any on this day. We had a great time regardless. The day was very hot and humid (about 95 degrees with 99 % humidity). We spent the rest of our preparation day doing cleaning and laundry.

Jungles of Africa high above the ground.

Here is the start of our adventure into the jungles of KaKum forest. This is a hanging walkway that is about 100 feet above the ground. It is hard to see the bottom because the trees are so thick. A very hot day and very humid. The walkway is approximately 3 football fields long.

The picture doesn't reflect how hot it is, but we assure you we were soaking wet.

Our Home Away From Home

We thought you might like to see where we spend most of our time. We arrive every week day at the mission office and work from 8:00 a.m. till 5-6:00 p.m. Most days we only have each other's company. This was the day of Zone Council so many of the Zone Leaders came into the office before the meeting. We also attended Zone Council and than went to lunch with the Zone Leaders! That's when this job is FUN!

Sister Saunders at her little corner, working diligently!

Elder Saunders goofing off as usual!!

A Day At The Beach

This weekend we needed to get away from our apartment due to a very LOUD wedding celebration just outside our gate. So we decided to take a stroll down the beach. It was very beautiful from the road. But when we walked along the beach we were amazed at the garbage everywhere and the smell of rotting fish in the breeze. Not quite Hawaii!

These boys were playing volleyball using this old fishing boat as the net. They used a small flat ball and seemed to be having a great time! The children are very friendly and seem to be quite fascinated by us "o-brunies". That's what the children yell with delight whenever they see us.

Many fishing boats line the shore. When they are no longer usable the broken pieces remain on the shore as well as the other boats, nets and fishing gear and of course all the fisherman's
garbage that they have thrown in the ocean and on the beach!

Sister Saunders in her missionary beach attire enjoying the "beautiful" (and smelly) surroundings!