Saying Good-bye

We love getting to know and working so close with our missionaries. Which makes it hard every 6 weeks when we need to say goodbye again. We have had the opportunity to get to know Elder Haslam from Hurricane Utah. The Friday before he left we took him and his companion to lunch at the Cape Coast Castle Restaurant. Elder Saunders complemented his companion, Elder Adijefio on his "good looking tie". Instead of the usual "thanks", Elder Adijefio offered to give it to him, which Elder Saunders declined. After we dropped off the Elders I noticed something was left behind in the back seat.

On Saturday, we attended Elder Haslam's last baptism. Elder Saunders wore his new tie!

There is a special bond between Elder Saunders and Elder Haslam. We said our final good-bye to him at the Accra Temple after attending a session with the departing missionaries. It is a privilege to get to know and love so many amazing young men and women serving in the Ghana Cape Coast Mission!

Lasting Friendships

Sister Saunders enjoying the beautiful children in the village of Pra-Ewusi. We had come to visit our dear friends, Francis and Alice Aikins. As soon as we pulled the car up in front of the Aikins home, the children from all over the village began to gather around us. When we greeted Alice, she looked around and said to Elder Saunders "your people have arrived". We love the children here in Ghana, they have become our greatest teachers. They love freely with no judgement or prejudice. They are filled with innocence and wonder for the simple things in life.

We had taken some soft drinks (minerals) to share with the Aikins family. To keep the drinks cold we had put a bag of ice in a small cooler. After sharing two of the drinks with the children, we soon discovered that they wanted the ice cubes. Alice passed out one cube to each child. We watched them in wonder as they enjoyed their cold treat. On some occasions the ice would slip to the ground. No problem. They would just pop it back into their mouth. The ice seemed to be a real fascination with them and made us wonder if they had ever seen or held an ice cube before.

Sister Aikins is showing Margaret how to cook Palm Oil soup with chicken in her kitchen. She prepared soup and rice balls for us to take home. These people are so Christ-Like. They don't have much in the way of material possessions but what they have they are willing to share. We feel their love for us and the gospel of Jesus Christ and consider it a priviledge to know them and to love them.

Behind Elder Saunders and Francis is an open air oven. Alice bakes bread that she sells to other villagers in this oven. It had been about six hours since she had finished baking, yet when I peered inside, the heat was still very intense. She gives us a loaf of bread and a large bowl of oranges nearly every week when we take them home from church.

Elder and Sister Turner preparing to leave Ghana after finishing their mission. This picture was taken as they were getting into the Presidents car for the trip to the airport to return home to California. Sort of a forlorn feeling saying goodbye to our dear friends and fellow couple missionaries. It gave us a small taste of what it will be like when we have to say goodbye to all of our wonderful friends here in Ghana. We are blessed to know that friendships last through eternity. We treasure the daily associations we have with the incredible people we have met here.

The Waters of Baptism

We "hiked" over to the beach from the Moree Ward to witness some baptisms. It was hot, rocky, and tiring but we were so grateful that we made the effort.

Before the baptisms, Elders Lewis, Strong, Hill, and MacKay performed a special musical number. Thay sang the hymn, Nearer My God to Thee. The song was sang perfectly and with the ocean as the background it was awesome. The musical number invited the spirit and prepared all to witness the sacred ordinance of baptism.

Elder Adams did the baptising and Elder Lewis and Elder Hill were the witnesses. After a few tries Elder Adams was soon able to time the baptism perfectly between oncoming waves. All of the wards and branches in our area, have access to a baptismal font. Thus there are very few baptisms in the ocean anymore. This could be the only one we witness our entire mission.

Brother Pratt, a counselor in the Bishopric welcomes the new members to the Moree Ward. This is Elder Mackays' and Elder Adams area. We were so glad that they had invited us to witness this event.

Elders Lewis, MacKay, Adams, and Hill with three of the four converts baptized in the ocean Sunday. Two of the six baptisms were children of record. We love the gospel of Jesus Christ and am so grateful to be a part of helping others come to the waters of baptism.

Party Time!

I arrived at the office the morning of my birthday to discover my "little corner" was TP'd! The Assistants, Elder Lewis and Elder Dunford used their imagination and toilet paper (two-ply even!)to wish me a Happy Birthday! I was very touched by their thoughtfulness!! They are the greatest!

Our District Leader, Elder Chesa (sitting in the front with his arm around Elder Adams) conveniently moved our district meeting from the usual Tuesday to Friday. With the change he wondered if "someone" (hint hint) would bring cake and ice cream to celebrate my birthday. I was glad to and we had a wonderful (and tasty) meeting. Here I am with 12 of the greatest missionaries in the world! We love serving with the Elders in this mission. They are all incredible young men and women and exceptional missionaries!

In the evening the couples went out to dinner and than came back to the mission home for cake and ice cream. After listening to President's spiel about the importance of blowing out ALL the candles to get my wish, I took a deep breath and blew and blew and blew. After the third try I realized they had used two trick candles! But no worries I was assured I still get my wish!!

We love serving and working side by side with these amazing couples, the Sabeys, the Turners, and the Lambs. Though I am away from my family on birthdays and holidays I am surrounded by love and those I now consider my mission family. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and consider it a great priviledge to be serving in the Ghana Cape Coast Mission.

Another day in Ghana

We were at the Cape Coast Castle waiting for the zone leaders to arrive along with President & Sister Sabey. As we were waiting we decided to walk over to the edge of the hill and look at the waves hitting the rocks below. We had just turned around and Sister Sabey snapped our photo. All the leaders were gathered for zone council meeting and had gone to the castle to have lunch at the Cape Coast Castle restuarant. Just another great day in Ghana.

Easter Blessings

Sister Saunders says she's working, but I tend to think she has other things on her mind. The young ladie's name is "Blessing". Her mother cleans and cooks for the mission president and his wife. While she cleans, Sister Saunders willingly takes every opportunity to hold Blessing.

On April 3rd, we had a baptism scheduled at 4:00 PM. I asked the members to be ready at 3:30 so I could pick them up. When I arrived at Pra-Ewusi they were not ready, (this is Ghana) so while I waited for them to get ready, I got the local children singing, dancing and reciting English. Usually they do not smile when they have their picture taken, but I asked them to smile at the funny looking white person who was taking the picture. It worked. We then traveled to Abakrampa to pick up three of the candidates who were getting baptized. Of course all were not there, so we also waited for them. Next we traveled to "New-Ebu" to pick up the final candidate, who was no where to be found. A couple of the members went through the village and finally located her. She said she had changed her mind. (After having the mission president interview her in a special interview for clearance). We made it to Yamoransa for the baptism 20 minutes late. (Remember this is Ghana) The wait was worth it....

Here Sister Saunders and I pose with Esi Essiawa, Paul Aggrey-Fynn, and Joseph Yawson. Three of the choicest individuals I have met here. All were confirmed the following day in Sacrament meeting. The work is so sweet. This really is His work. It is a "blessing" to be here and assist in His work.

All Are Alike Unto God

On March 20 and 21 the Relief Society in the Abakrampa Branch celebrated the birthday of the Relief Society...just like the rest of the church does in March. But instead of a dinner party (like we do at home) the women arrived at the church house by 7:00 am Saturday morning and cleaned the building and the grounds. Sunday they spoke and sang 4 songs in Sacrament meeting. I had the privilege of accompanying them on the keyboard. There was a wonderful spirit as these amazing sisters bore testimony in word and song.
Sister Elsie Imbrah, in orange, is the Relief Society president. Though we don't all speak the same language, we feel the bonds of sisterhood through the spirit.

These are the individuals who are taking the discussions in Elder Saunders investigator class. On the far left is Paul, a Pentecostal Minister who after fervent prayer was led to attend our church. He knows that he has "finally found the true church of Jesus Christ", and desires to be baptized. Joseph is anxiously waiting to be baptized the first of April. Next is Nelson who was an alcoholic until he came to church for the first time and partook of the sacrament. He said at that moment he "felt something" and knew he needed to change his life and reports he has not had a drink since. Next is Ama who has attended for the last two Sundays. Kobina is slowly gaining a testimony and has been attending regularly. Esi has been attending the class for several months and hopefully will be baptized soon.

Elder Saunders with some of the primary children. When they saw us take a picture of the Relief Society sisters they wanted one of their own taken with Elder Saunders. We love the children in Ghana. Whenever they see us on the streets they sing, "obrunie how are you, I am fine, thank you". This is a song they sing in school to help them learn English.

Lauren is from Idaho and is an amazing young woman. She has been in Ghana volunteering at this orphanage for the last few months. Many of these children are abandoned by their parents who simply can't afford to raise them. The conditions of the orphanage are very sad but at least these children have somewhere to call home with volunteers like Lauren to love and care for them.

Kojo loves to be held. When I picked him up he was fascinated with by badge so I let him borrow it for a few minutes. We are standing in one of the two bedrooms in the orphanage. There are 16 children that live there. The oldest is 14 years old and Kojo is the youngest.

We are meeting people and visiting places we couldn't even imagine while we sat in our comfortable home in Utah. But we have come to recognize that we are all children of God. He has commanded us to love and serve one another. Someday we will be reunited as brothers and sisters in the household of God. Then we will see how alike we really are. We love living among and serving our brothers and sisters in Ghana.