The Wedding

On February 26th 2011 Patrick and Charlotte were married by President Sabey at the Takoradi Stake Center.

Charlotte's Grandmother, sister, little brother, and mother. Like at home, family dresses in their finest for the celebration.

Sunday the newlyweds came over to our apartment for dinner. We then went to theirs where we watched them open their gifts.

On Tuesday, the 1st of March we went with them to the Accra Temple to witness their sealing. Because a temple marriage is not recognized by the country as a legal marriage, the church gives couples two weeks after the civil ceremony to go to the temple for the sealing. If they do not make the trip to the temple within the 2 weeks they must wait the normal 1 year to be sealed. The wedding was beautiful but nothing compares with the beauty of the Temple and being sealed for time and all eternity!

The Engagement

On February 25 we had the privilege of accompanying our dear friend Patrick to Takoradi for his "engagement". Due to culture and tradition, marriages are a little different than in the US. Before the engagement can be official the two families negotiate a "bride price". Before the wedding can take place the families meet together to pay the price and make the engagement official.

After the family accepts the "gifts" Patrick places the ring on Charlotte's finger and it is official!

We love Patrick and Charlotte and are so happy for them. The Church discourages the traditions of the "bride price". Hopefully the time will soon come that members of the church will no longer have the stress of coming up with large amounts of money to pay to the bride's family before they can marry and begin their own family.

Lovin' the Missionaries!

There are many things we love about our mission. The list would be long but for certain the number one slot would go to the awesome missionaries we get to serve with. These are pictures of just a few of the 130 missionaries that we have come to love. We recently received word that our mission is going to grow to 168 missionaries in the near future. Bring 'em on!!

This is a picture we took of our Zone on P-Day to wish President Sabey a Happy 60th Birthday! We love being a part of the Cape Coast Zone. It changes a bit every 6 weeks which gives us the opportunity to get to know and love more of our missionaries.

Elder Banda from South Africa and Elder Eldredge from Idaho just live up the street from the office. So we are lucky to have them drop in occasionally on their way to or from their area. "Drop-ins" from missionaries are some of our favorite times of the day!

The African missionaries love taking pictures in front of our car. We joined them for this picture after a special zone conference with visiting authorities. We are with Elder Owusu and Sister Afrani from Ghana, and Elder Fairbanks and Elder Thacker from Utah.

Once a month all the zone leaders come to Cape Coast for Zone Council. Two of our favorite zone leaders (oh alright we love 'em all the same) are Elder Mackay from Nevada and Elder Christensen from Utah. Our missionaries are the best of the best. We consider it a privilege and honour to serve with them in the Ghana Cape Coast Mission!

Saturday Memories

Once a month on a Saturday (our p-day) we go to Pra-Awusi for the afternoon. We sit and visit with Francis under their cashew tree, hoping to feel a cool breeze.

We hand out candy to the children.

We take pictures of the beautiful children.

We dine with our dear friends, Alice and Francis. She prepares us fufu, light soup, rice, fried plantains and ground nuts for our dining pleasure! ;)

After dinner I sit in her humble home and help Alice bag her 40 loafs of bread, that she will later sell. She than sends us home with any left overs, bread for the week, and oranges to squeeze for juice. A day of good friends, good food (sort-of), and good memories!

Teaching and Baptizing

We have been driving the Abakrampa Elders (Meinzer and Smith) to a nearby village to teach the son of a member of our branch. As soon as we arrived, Benard would set the chairs up under this tree and nearby children would quickly climb the tree and listen to the discussion. We have enjoyed working with the Elders in teaching investigators for our branch.

Elder Smith and Elder Meinzer with the newest members of the Abakrampa Branch.

We love missionary work! For some reason, many Africans do not smile for pictures but believe me they are happy!

This and That

This is the road to a little village called Apaakrom. We make the 30 minute drive on this dirt road 1-2 times a week to visit a family from our branch. Currently we are in the harmattan season. It looks like fog but in reality, it is dry, dusty wind from the Sahara. The thick dust obscures the sun and covers everything with a fine dust (inside and outside). Our days are still hot but now very dry and hazy.

On January 13th we said good bye to our dear friends and fellow missionaries, Sister and Elder Kiffer. They headed back to Alaska after a job well done. We love them and will miss them!

Our Ghanaian son, Patrick and his finance' Charlotte entering their soon to be first home together. It is a small apartment with 2 small rooms and no running water. But they are grateful they were able to find a place they could afford. They are planning on getting married in February. We are so happy for them.

Barbecue in January

We were invited to a neighborhood barbecue in January! That is definitely a first for us. Our landlord, Jos, had a grill made out of a large drum. It worked amazingly well!

Elder Saunders and Jos grilled chicken, fish, and calamari. Jos and his wife own the building we live in. They live in London but came for a few months to do needed repairs and improvements.

Kathryn is from Washington State. She is a retired art professor who started a non-profit organization that raises money to send children to high school here in Cape Coast. Every year she comes to Ghana for 6 months to make arrangements for the following school year. She has made it possible for many young people to complete their education when they had no hope or resources to do so. She has made many dreams become a reality for children in Ghana. I want to be like her when I grow up!

Kathryn, Carol (Jos's wife) Elder and Sister Saunders, Jos, David, and Moises. We had a wonderful afternoon with our wonderful neighbors and friends! Life doesn't get much better than good food, good friends, and a warm January afternoon!