Our Days are Numbered

We have 5 more days before we hop on a plane and return home. Pres. Snow said "There is a time to come and a time to leave." The Lord brings you to a place, to a position to accomplish a work and then its time to leave. He is a micromanager. The Petersens, who are replacing us, will have a work to do, specifically designed around their talents and abilities, that the Lord feels is a need in West Africa.

Elder Shipley and I feel like we have completed our mission here. I was sent to map 459 church units in West Africa. It took a year to accomplish. You figure there are 365 days in a year - so I guess I was able to map more than one unit a day! Not too bad. That project took us to Nigeria, a trip we felt priviledged to experience. It also took us to Kumasi and Cape Coast. Elder Shipley was sent to bring some order. He documented every task that is done in an Area Presidency's office and created a process book for those who will follow. He organized files, and cleaned up old ones. He made it a point to get to know most everyone in our office building (over 100 workers) by name and was known for his kindness and praise. Elder Shipley was a great servant of the Area President and his counselors.

We have loved working with the Stake Presidents and Mission Presidents. They are men of God with great leadership skills, and it has been a blessing to us to rub shoulders with them.

The Senior Missionaries have become good friends. We have shared spiritual experiences, trials, health challenges, and good times with them. They are the salt that gives savour. They are lights on candlesticks. They are humble and diligent and willing to answer the call issued to all able senior couples. They have strong testimonies. It would be hard to find a finer group of people.

We will miss our Ghanaian friends. They bring joy to our lives as we observe their love of the Lord.
Elder and Sr. Shipley, Elder and Sr. Cardon, Pres. and Sr. Snow, Elder and Sr. Golden

We will always remember working with 3 special general authorities. We marvel at their intelligence and admire their tenacity in seeking revelation to guide the church in West Africa. We have watched them struggle with serious problems and be led by the spirit in solving them. They are hard workers who have only the interest of others on their minds. We have the greatest admiration for them and feel humbled that we were called to work with them on a daily basis for 18 months. It is a time in our lives that we shall never forget.

As for Africa, it will always hold a spot in our hearts. They say once you've been in Africa you are never the same. I think I'm about to find out they are right!

A Wedding in West Africa

Saturday there was a wedding in the Stake Center here on the Temple Complex. The groom was from Accra and the bride from Cape Coast. As you can see, the wedding party is not unlike one we might see at home standing on the Salt Lake Temple steps except for skin color and the groom's white suit.

The greatest difference is that this was a civil marriage. The Ghanaian government does not recognize a temple marriage as a legal marriage. South Africa just recently sent notice that it would give the temple officiators the authority to perform legal marriages. Our members in West Africa must marry civilly and then within 2 weeks they may be sealed in the temple. This couple will be sealed on Tuesday.

SOME OF THE GUESTS

A Beautiful Family

Our guide in Kumasi joined the church a little less than a year ago. Not only did he join, but also his wife and children. Some missionary had to have been feeling pretty good!

Abraham and his family had been members of another faith. Five years ago he left his church when it was announced that a homosexual was to be ordained to the priesthood. He told us that he knew very well why Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed and he could not belong to a religion that ignored God's commandments. So he and his family read the Bible and said their prayers together daily for four years. One day he came home from work to find two young men in his home talking to his children, the oldest daughter being 20 years old. He decided he would sit in on the next discussion to determine if he needed to tell them to leave. He had lots of questions, but he found each one was answered as they taught. He was particularly touched when he was taught about temples and the sealing of families. He said he knew well the scripture in Malachi about turning the hearts of the daddies to the kiddies and the kiddies to the daddies, and now he understood. His new calling is that of the Stake Family History Consultant and Abraham is excited to do the work for his ancestors.

He said, "Before I joined the church I was good, but now I am better." Others have told me this is one thing they love about church: they are taught how to be better people. They call our church the "quiet church". Most of the churches in Africa have meetings filled with drumming and dancing. The people are entertained but are not given much spiritual food to feast upon.

Abraham and his family are waiting anxiously for the day they will be sealed together in the temple. Pres. Snow has often taught, Salvation is an individual journey; Exaltation is about family.

The Ingenuity of Children

Who needs toys? What a great idea for teaching children letters!!!

Three Villages

Four hours drive north and west of Kumasi are three villages: Awewoho, Antwi Adjei, and Mission. These villages are deep within the rain forest - a 1 1/2 hour drive on a dirt road. Elder Shipley was glad for his experience on Maple Creek road which was not unlike this road only this road was much longer. The rainy season this year was exceptionally prolonged and so the road was moist, filled with ruts and water in places.

Br. Bonsu, our family history director, grew up in the village of Antwi Adje,and has relatives in the other two villages. He and his brother led us and the Bevans, our family history missionaries to meet their family and see what a real village looks like. They sent word ahead during the week that we were coming, but unfortunately the village did not receive the notice. Most of the people were out to their gardens and farms so we saw only a handful of the village people.

Br. Bonsu's family is rather amazing in that they did not get trapped in the poverty of the village. Thirty years ago, Russia was giving African youth full ride scholarships, hoping to convert them to socialism and communism. It was not a successful project for Russia, but it was a huge benefit to the youth of Africa who were able to get an education. Our associate, Brother Bonsu, became a veterinarian. His brother, Peter, attended medical school in Russia, completing his residency training in the United States. He is a pediatric opthomologist in Kumasi and is working with the Moran Eye Institute in Salt Lake to upgrade the opthomology department in Kumasi. Another brother, Peterson, became an agronomist and works for the Ghanaian government improving crop production and exports. The brothers have a sister who majored in Accounting and works for a bank. Only one sister remains in the village.

Realizing education is the key to unlock the door that shuts out the world and dictates a life of poverty, Brother Bonsu has used his own money to build a school for his childhood village, knowing the children's future in the village is hopeless without an education.
Elder Bonsu is on the left. His brother Peterson, the agronomist, is on the right behind just a handful of the village children standing in front of the school. You can see one of four classrooms. The inside of schools here is very spartan. Desks and a chalk board is all the furnishings of a school room.



The Bonsu's village Antwi Adje has no electricity and no bore hole, meaning no source of clean water. The children walk to the river to fill their buckets with water which they carry back to the village on their heads several times a day.


This year is a real problem. The rains have been so heavy that the river has gone over its banks and they are not able to walk to where the water flows. Instead they must pull their water from the muddy overflow of the river. Br. Bonsu's next project is to save money for a bore hole for his village.


We came baring gifts to the village: pencils, erasers, and composition books. We also brought them a treat. I felt like the pied piper as the children came from every nook and corner of the village when they saw that I was handing out candy. I was amazed at their humility and concern for each other. No one grabbed at the candy. When I would ask if I had given them some already, they would say "Yes but this boy or girl has not had any."

Before leaving, we all sang I am a child of God to them.
I am a child of God
And He has sent me here
Has given me an earthly home
With parents kind and dear
Lead me, Guide me, Walk beside me
Help me find the way.
Teach me all that I must do
To live with Him someday.
It was a touching moment. Oh that the world could realize that we are all God's children.