Day to Day

Once every transfer we have the privilege of attending zone council. After the meeting we go to the castle restaurant for lunch. I just walked out of the castle and saw these amazing leaders in front of the ocean. I just had to take a picture. The four elders from the Kumasi Zones had already left to head home. If you think the one on the far right looks a little young, he is. President Sabey's brother and nephew, Daniel are currently visiting President and Sister Sabey. Daniel is standing with the best of the best missionaries in the world!

We were in the market shopping when we ran into a member of our branch. He agreed to take a picture so you could all get a feel of what going to the "grocery store" is like in Ghana. Hot and noisy, but very entertaining!

Fruit That Remains

The Ghana Cape Coast Mission Goal is: Bring Forth Fruit that Remains. It is taken from John 15:16: "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you."

All other mission goals are to support and meet this overall goal. The goal our mission recently completed is that every missionary (128) would baptize a husband and wife family. Our goals are met as a mission not individually. Those that meet the goal early are able to help those who are still striving to find a family to teach and baptize. We have had the privilege to help two sets of sister missionaries complete the goal by transporting and introducing them to our friends in Abakrampa and surrounding villages. Sister Wallace and Sister Awuna helped us teach the Aggrey-Fynn family. Paul was a Pentecostal minister who had been searching for the true church of Jesus Christ his entire life. He told us that he knew that if it was on the earth today it would have prophets, apostles, and seventies. He said one night he was fervently praying to know which church was true, "just like Joseph Smith". When he completed his prayer the phrase "Latter Day Saint" came into his mind. He remembered seeing a sign with that printed on it in Abakrampa and decided he needed to attend that church on Sunday. He told us that as he sat in the investigator class he knew that for the first time in his life he was being taught the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul was baptized in April and desired his family to join him. The sisters taught his wife, son, and daughter in their native language, Fante. Though we could not understand the words we could feel the spirit testify of truth. Florence and the children readily excepted the gospel and also desired to be baptized.

Paul baptized his wife Florence, his 15 year old son Manassah, and his 8 year old daughter Olivia on June 19, 2010. What joy to watch a family be united in one faith and one baptism.

Sister Coleman and Sister Afrani were able to teach Agnes, the wife of an active member of our branch. Agnes had been taught the discussions before but was never ready to commit to baptism. After the sisters had reviewed the gospel with her she said "I know it is time for me to be baptized." These sisters taught Aba Kwakuma who has been attending our branch for the last 4 months, Mary Aquah and her 9 year old grandson Abeiku Andzie, and Agnes. It was so sweet to finally see Matthew and Agnes sitting in church together on Sunday!

We joined with the Moree Ward at the Yamaransa Chapel for the baptisms. It was a joyous occasion as we witnessed 14 people enter the waters of baptism.

Sister Saunders with four of the greatest sister missionaries in the world! We waited at the Yamoransa Church for over an hour while Elder Saunders transported a van load of people back to their many small villages. As we waited, we basked in the light of the gospel and the joy of missionary work. Completing the goal was secondary to witnessing families being united in the gospel and be given the opportunity to enter the temple to be sealed for eternity. We are so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the opportunity to serve a mission in Ghana.

Daily Life in Ghana

Elder Saunders is helping an investigator prepare for the evening meal by pounding casava root to make fufu. Most families have fufu five or six times a week because it is an inexpensive but filling meal. Ama Kwakuma (lady standing behind Elder Saunders) is getting baptized on the 19th of June. This will be the second attempt to perform the baptism. She was hesitant to be baptized the last time we had it scheduled on April 3rd. Now she assures us that she wants to be baptized and will follow through with it. She is from the village of New-Ebu which is about 2 kilometers from Abakrampa.

Late in the evening several villagers come to the well to draw water. This well has underground flowing water that is about 20 feet down. They drop small buckets with ropes attached and then pour the water into larger buckets. As we sat and watched, we saw the same villagers come up to six times to draw water.

Sister Saunders and I have been asked to assist three of the ten mission branches (Abakrampa, Kissi and Mankessim). These are special branches which are not assigned to any stake or district, but are assigned to the Ghana Cape Coast Mission. President Sabey called a special branch conference for the three branches on the 30th of May 2010. The branch service missionaries assigned to these three branches are the Myers (Kissi), the Boamahs (Abakrampa) and the Imbrahs (Mankessim). President Amonkwa (2nd Counselor in Mission Presidency), also attended the meeting which was held in the Yamaronsa ward building. The meeting house was packed with people. It was a very memorable day filled with the blessings of the spirit.

Ghana Recycling

Since the people of Ghana have very little in material goods they are very efficient at using their resources effectively. What we throw away without a second thought they save and find a way to make it into something useful and even beautiful. We were able to visit a bead factory outside of Accra and watched a demonstration on how to make beads using discarded glass bottles.

It starts with the dirt from the many termite hills that are found along the road side. These mounds are everywhere and are very large and durable. We happen to be standing in a rainstorm. We are melting but the dirt hill is not! The clay dirt is strong due to the spit the termites use to hold the dirt together. The dirt can not only withstand storms but extremely high temperatures. This dirt is used to make kilns for creating beautiful African beads.

It looks like trash but it is not! These bottles will eventually be made into glass beads. They make the beads a few different ways. The bottles can simply be broken into small pieces, melted and then poured into molds and fired. The beads will be the color of the bottles that were used. The bottles can also be crushed (by using hand tools) into a fine sand. They dye the sand different colors and carefully layer it in the molds to create designs on the beads.

On the ground are empty molds that are also made out of the termite dirt to withstand the heat. The man uses the long pole sitting at his feet to put the molds in and out of the kiln. Once the glass gets very hot it is pulled out and the worker carefully turns the beads in the mold to make them completely round. He also puts the hole in the middle at this time for the string. The kiln has a hole in the back where the workers are constantly pushing more wood into the fire to keep the kiln at a constant high temperature.

After the beads cool they are taken over to be washed and shined. They are pored onto this rock where the worker uses sand, water, and his hands to rub them until they are clean and shiny.

The final product! Sister Saunders trying on the beautiful African bracelets made out of recycled bottles. These bracelets sell for 1 GHc which is .70 cents in US currancy. So whenever you go to throw a glass bottle or jar away just think what you could do with a little time, heat, and talent!

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.