The Wedding

Tuesday this last week I was handed a wedding invitation - the wedding of the daughter of the manager of our apartment complex. Her name is Ernestina - the name reminded me of the name my father wanted for me - Oscaretta. Ernestina goes by Tina - so that is pretty good. Ernestina was marrying Alexander. In Ghana temple marriages are not recognized by the government and so the couple must be married civilly first. Then within 3 weeks they must enter the temple or wait for a year to do their temple sealing.

The marriage was scheduled for Saturday at 2pm. We arrived promptly at the chapel as the invitation requested but we waited for at least a half hour before the marriage began. It was interesting. The choir sang songs from the hymn book while we waited for the marriage program to begin...religious songs that really had nothing to do with "love". Finally the program began with a processional as the bride walked up the isle dressed in her wedding dress, veil covering her face. The program began with an opening prayer and then two talks on marriage by members of the family that the bride and groom had chosen. One talked on eternal marriage, the other on the challenges of marriage and that the challenges were meant to be to refine our lives with God's help. They were excellent talks. Here in Africa the saints have a great understanding of the gospel, better than many in America. Maybe it is because they have so little in the way of material possessions that the spiritual blessings of the gospel mean a great deal and are internalized. After the talks the bishop married the couple, after which the bride and groom and the mothers and fathers signed the marriage license. Then the bishop bore his testimony of the restored gospel and wished the couple well. We all stood and the bride and groom walked down the isle and outside. After this ceremony, a reception was help in the cultural hall. But everyone had to wait for the pictures to be taken outside and we ended up leaving and going back home. Dad was coming down with a cold and we felt it best that we skip the reception.

It was interesting to me that this wedding was not hugely unsimilar to weddings in churches at home in that the bride walked down the isle on the hand of her father. But that is where the similarity ended. This service was much more spiritual. I felt I had been in a sacrament meeting.

This morning in sacrament meeting the bishop had the bride and groom bear their testimonies. I was amazed at the grooms maturity in the gospel. He bore a testimony that their decision to marry was not around passion and love as much as it was around the knowledge that they were meant for each other to help each other return to their Heavenly Father, that man is not without the women, and women is not without the man in the eyes of the Lord. He had completed a mission 4 years ago, courted Tina for 3 years and knew his next step to eternal life was to be married for eternity. She told had she had prayed to the Lord that she might be able to marry him in 2008 - she said their had been no talk of marriage and 5 days after her prayer he brought up the subject. Yes Heavenly Father does answer our righteous prayers. They bore testimony of the knowledge that they were beginning this relationship for eternity. It was really quite beautiful and though their decision to marry was very spiritual, you could feel the love they had for each other. I assume they will be going to the temple in the next 2 weeks.

A Fountain of Living Water

I love April and October because I can literally sit at the feet of prophets, apostles, seventy, and other leaders and be fed. Even in Africa we were able to watch conference live. Our conference sessions were at 4pm and 8pm instead of 10am and 2pm, and although we had attended 3 hours of church Sunday morning we were thrilled to be able to listen to conference in the afternoon.

One of my favorite talks this year was given by Sr. Tanner who was just released as the General Young Women's President. She quoted Nephi "Behold my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord." Sr. Tanner began to make a list of those things that she finds delight. I have pondered on this and many of the things she listed I too would list.

I glory in my Jesus. I have so much love for Him. I have seen His hand touch my life many times. I know that because of His atonement for mankind, he lends His strength, His compassion, His comfort to those who honor Him and will reach out and grab hold of any who wish to repent and turn toward Him. He is there to help me, no matter what my trials are or what type of mountains I am required to climb in life. I know that if I honor him by living His commandments, one day He will embrace me in His arms.

I delight in the restored gospel. The Book of Mormon has taught me so much about my Savior, and my Father's plan. Because of Joseph Smith and his courage to press forward in revealing the word of God against continual persecution I know why I am here, who I am, and what the Lord has done for me, and how He expects me to live.

I delight in Priesthood Keys and Temples. I have seen miracles in the lives of my children through Priesthood blessings. I have felt the Spirit of the Lord in the Temples around the world. I have been blessed to have my marriage sealed for eternity and to know my family can be with me forever. I have seen burdens lifted, miracles, healings of the body and the soul by placing names on the prayer rolls of the temples. I have been taught by the Lord in His House. I have been refined by His spirit and I know that because of my covenants, if I endure to the end I will one day see my Savior.

I delight that I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father and have had the opportunity to aid Him in bringing His spirit children to the earth that they might have an opportunity for Eternal Life.

I delight in motherhood. I have been blessed with beautiful children to love and to serve and I have always enjoyed every minute of that adventure....one that will last all the days of my life.

I delight in family. I love being with my family and watching my children and grandchildren associate with each other in love and friendship. I love watching them serve each other when needs arise. My children and grandchildren are the jewels of my life.

I delight in being married to a righteous man, a man who honors the Lord in his thoughts, his words, and his deeds. A man who respects womanhood and delights in serving the Lord.

I delight in serving the Lord. I loved working in the Church Museum of History and Art, helping children and adults learn of the history of Utah, the history of the Church, and the love the Savior has for them. It was a rare opportunity and I shall always cherish my memories. I have loved the last two months serving the Lord in the mission field. I have delighted in seeing the gospel work in the lives of people in another part of the world. It has been a testimony to me of the truthfulness of the work.

I delight in the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I find nothing that feels so good. I seek after the peace, and the warmth that I am able to have on a daily basis if I but seek it, and live worthy to have that spirit to guide me. How great of our Heavenly Father to give us a gift of the Godhead to be with us daily.

I delight in good friends who have been great examples to emulate in my life. Good friends who listen, who give counsel, who pray for me and my family, who love the Lord as I do. Good friends who I may also serve.

What do you delight in?!

St. George Castle, Elmina, Ghana

While in Elmina we visited St. George castle – a Portuguese castle built for the trade of Gold and salt in the 1400’s. Eventually the slave trade began. Women and Men were captured for slaves. In the castle lived the governor on the top level, soldiers below the governor, the missionaries on the next floor, and the slaves on the lower floor. The Castles went from the hands of the Portuguese to the Swedes, then the Danes, followed by the Dutch and then to the English. A church was located in the middle of the large courtyard. Here women were blessed before being placed in the slave quarters. Now that’s Christianity for you!!

Slaves were brought in by the hundreds and placed in mass in rooms locked up never to be let out until they were to be loaded into slave ships or die of sickness, which was rampant because of unsanitary conditions and very little food. Women saw the light of day occasionally, when brought into a courtyard for selection by the Governor for his pleasure. Soldiers also used the women. Those who would not co-operate where tied to lead cannon balls, and left in the sun to bake.Men who protested were put in the dungeon with the skullbones and cross over the top of the door. They had no light and little food and usually died within 3 days of the heat and starvation. All who died – which were many – some say over 50% - were dumped into the ocean. Our guide told us there were 12-20 million slaves that went through the slave castles. There are no exact numbers because records were poorly kept. Their destination was first to the Caribbean Islands, then later to Europe, England, and finally to America.

It was not a pretty tale in the history of the world.

The Golf Game

This story is to let you know that every now and then Elder Shipley is able to swing a club!

We had an amazing experience over the weekend. Marian and I took a few days off at the suggestion of the Area President. The Area Presidency were in Salt Lake for conference and work slows down in the Area office because of their absence. This is a twice a year occurrence and we took advantage of the suggestion. Marian has placed on this blog some experiences we had in El Mina visiting the slave castle/dungeons, driving through Cape Coast, etc.

We were quite surprised at how comfortable the Coconut Grove Hotel was and how pristine the beach seemed to be. Much to our surprise, the hotel had a nine hole golf course, which we decided to try out.

The cost was great, only $20 per person. There was no one on the course, in fact, over the two days we were there we didn’t see anyone else on the course. We picked up the rental clubs from the hotel registration desk. They only had one set (Wilson brand), so we both played from the same set. They gave us three balls to begin with, all used. They also gave us three tees, two of which were chipped.

Marian and I teed off and did pretty well. I had about 210 yards to go on my second shot and hit a 4 iron much farther than I expected. It sailed the 210 yards but landed in high grass to the left of the green. I didn’t find the ball. On Marian’s drive she broke her tee but her shot was great. Her second shot left her within pitching distance of the green. Unfortunately her pitch to the green went into the grass just beyond the green. It should have been an easy ball to find, but the grass was deeply matted, and try as we might we were unable to find that ball either. We were down to one ball, which we alternatively hit on the second hole. We were near the registration desk, so I went back and pleaded for additional balls and tees. The man looked at me with the thought of “Does this man know how to play golf!” I left thinking “Has this man ever played golf!” He found one ball and three additional used tees. We were grateful for what we got and watched each shot a little more carefully thereafter .

The greens were not green as you can see from the picture. On the third green, Marian had about a 3-inch high ant hole between her ball and the cup. We agreed that if she hit the ant hill, we would count it a made putt—she hit it square on.

We were ready to tee off on the 4th hole when we realized that the community water well was in the middle of the fairway. There were about 8 boys with their water pails gathered around the well. We didn’t want to kill or hurt anyone, so I suggested they might want to move while we teed off. We now had a gallery of over a dozen people watching us. They kind of looked at us like why did we ask them to move. Marian hit a decent shot and I whacked the ball over 250 yards in the middle of the fairway. Many of them gasped and then understood our request.

Our second shot on that hole required us to wait for a few villagers who were passing by on the trail.

We were approached by a young man who wanted to sell us used golf balls for $5 a ball. I don’t know about you, but I would swallow hard before I’d buy a good Titliest pro V-1 ball for that amount. He was offering me a used Pinnacle. We declined his offer, which he countered with 2 balls for $4. We made the mistake of turning down this offer.

On a par three hole Marian hit a palm tree and wasn’t sure whether the ball ever came out. We fortunately found it near the green. We completed our round, with several two putt greens and probably no one putt greens. However, if you were playing with us, you would have felt very good about the two putt greens. By 9 am, we were finishing our round, drenched with sweat from the humidity. I turned the clubs back in and was told we’d be charged $5 per lost ball. I tried to find the young man again, but he was gone.

We had an experience we won’t forget and that might be our only golf outing during our mission. It stands out as our most unique outing thus far.

The Trip to Cape Coast

Last Thursday we left Accra for a little vacation to Cape Coast, under the suggestion of the Area Presidency to see a few things while they were in Salt Lake for General Conference. We had the travel people in the Area Office book us a room at Coconut Grove a Ghanaian resort in the little town of El Mina.

It is a 3+ hour drive to Cape Coast. Getting through Accra is always an interesting challenge. We have to drive past Keneshi Market where many of the Accra natives shop for food, clothes, or anything they might need. The tro tros line up to drop people off in front of the market and the traffic comes to a near stand still. Taxis and other cars plow their way through around cars making lanes of their own. It is the survival of the fittest while passing through the traffic.

Once out of Accra you pass lake Aeija, a rather large lake. Always you see small African boats out on the lake. Next comes the Liberia Refugee Camp. On our way home we discovered that it had been totally cleared. The government has been trying to dissolve this refugee camp for some time. Looks like they succeeded. Once outside of the populated area we drove through rolling hills with tall African trees spread throughout the countryside. They are majestic –very, very tall – and straight reaching to the heavens!


The speed limit changed from 80km/hr to 50km/hr throughout the trip. We hit one area where the speed limit went from 80 to 50 in about 30 feet then down the hill where the police were radaring. We got pulled over. Where is your license? Where is your insurance? After Elder Shipley pulled out his photocopy of his license he was told a photocopy would not do. Well you know Elder Shipley, he just sweet talked that officer – asked how his day was, said that our company did not allow us to carry our original license, talked and smiled and the next thing you know he just said “Watch your speed” “Go On”. Amazing – we have heard horror stories from other missionaries.

One surprise was when we were about to pass two boys to the side of the road – they quickly grabbed their merchandise to hold up hoping we would buy. Each of them had a tiny antelope – I cannot remember the name – I’ve seen them in zoos – that they held up by the hind leg with body and head hanging down. At first I thought it was a large rat or a small dog (like a chiwawa) but we were later told it was this tiny antelope. Later I saw that some people to the side of the road were grilling or smoking these animals over open fires.

We stopped in Cape Coast at the Ghana Cape Coast Mission Home. It was tucked behind a hill and way back at the end of a road. We gained an appreciation for our Area Office. We met with Elder and Sister Miles who came to Africa on the same plane we were on. They asked us what was our definition of “the bush” – we told them we thought they qualified. Bush missionaries live out in rural villages. They have no grocery stores or fast food restaurants. Many of them come to Accra once a month and do all their grocery shopping for the month – just pack their car full of food. Their homes are much more primitive than what you would find in Accra.

We left the Mission Home with instructions on how to get to the Coconut Grove and were told “You are going to wonder if anything good could be out there – just keep going down the road – you will find it.” We had to wander through the roads of El Mina a quaint village from the 1600’s, first settled by the Portuguese, then the Danes, then the British. It is very much Africa – people everywhere on the street. Wood homes with storefronts selling whatever commodity they can find.


This was a fishing village – the boats were lined up in the small inlet. They fished for what looked like sardines. They used nets like they may have used hundreds of years ago. Women carried large round tubs full of sardines on their heads. Sardines were spread out on screen blocks to dry in the sun. Children were coming home from school. Every school has their own uniforms – some schools are all green, some all blue, some all purple, some all pink. The next day on our way into Cape Coast we saw groups of men pulling in the nets. It made me think of the apostles in the old testiment and their nets.


We were told not to go down the diversion road to the hotel but to turn at the next entrance. We followed those instructions but when we got to the end of the road we were confused as to whether to turn right or left. We turned left and drove through a village of homes made of bamboo and thatched roofs, and of course dirt floors. After a while you get use to this in Africa and it just doesn’t seem out of place – it is what Africa is about in many places.
These homes are clustered together in villages. One thing I love about Africa is that life is all around you. You see children being bathed in the front of their homes. Laundry is always hanging on the line. Men are chopping wood. Women are carrying their babies on their backs and water on their heads. Many are cooking their meals outside. It is just refreshing in a way – they accept it – they are humble about it. At home you do not see much of life – it all occurs behind closed doors. I think I understand why people say you never get Africa out of your system. You will always love Africa.


We eventually found our resort: A beautiful oasis next to the ocean. The room was just the bare essentials – we did have a king size bed, air conditioning, a ceiling fan, a wardrobe, a 12” television, and a bathroom with a shower, one chair, one small table.The walls were plain cream colored. One light hung from the ceiling with a light bulb. But what we loved most was eating or reading out under the thatch roofed open-air hut, feeling the breeze of the ocean and looking out at the waves and sand. We were able to walk the beach, which was beautiful and went forever in either direction. We found shells and felt the water on our feet. The resort had a golf course and we did go golfing. It was great fun – but that is another story.



On our way home we stopped by one of many stands along the road selling cape coast pineapples. I had asked our secretary, Wendy, if there was anything she would like us to bring back from Cape Coast. Without much hesitation she said, “Yes, I would love a pineapple.” Well I had heard of this love of Cape Coast Pineapples, but it wasn’t until I cut one open tonight that I found what all the fuss was – they are the sweetest pineapple I have ever tasted – not anything like a Hawaiian pineapple. You buy them green. They are narrow and long. When you cut them open they are almost white in color but as sweet as can be. I wished we had bought 8; we bought four for $2 and gave 2 away.

We will long remember our trip – and will look forward to returning another day.
We missed the Kokum National Park where you walk along suspension bridges built high in the rainforest. So we WILL have to return sometime in the next 16 months!

Everyday, An Adventure in Africa

It has been quite a week. Monday we did our grocery shopping - it took about 4 hours to go to all the grocery stores: Koala, MaxMart and Shoprite. We decided we would eliminate Shoprite except for maybe once a month. It is at the new mall and it is just crazy getting in and out of there and very CROWDED. Saturday is NOT a day to go to the mall. Monday was a holiday and so also a mistake - but it was our P-day and our cupboards were getting bare. The first time we went to Shoprite by ourselves was on a Saturday and it took us 1 hour and 10 minutes to get out of the parking lot!!! There is one entrance to the parking lot and one exit. Ghanaian are in desperate need of a traffic engineer. Monday it took us about 15 minutes to get out of the lot - not too bad - but not to our liking. Monday we got an email from the MTC President inviting us to speak at the Missionary Devotional on Thursday of this week! Elder Cardon of the Area Presidency recommended us since all of the Area Presidency were out of town on their way to conference (all but 1 which I will explain later). I was a bit in panic mode - we were taking the place of a general authority on the speaking schedule at the MTC!! But I calmed down and thoughts began to pour into my head. Elder Shipley on the other hand said 5 minutes after we received the email he received strong confirmation from the spirit of what he was to say and that this was the Lord's will. Wednesday we made a dry run to the MTC which is not in Accra but in Tema - we wanted to make sure we knew the way before Thursday. Coming back we saw a big oil tanker truck broken down on the middle lane of Independence Avenue, the main highway into Accra. When a car breaks down they put branches on the road to let you know you are coming up to an obstacle. It remained there for 3 days. They repaired it in the road - it had dropped it's transmission. Friday it was gone.

Wednesday night we drove President Snow and his wife to the airport to catch their flight to Salt Lake. A few hours later we drove Elder Cardon and his wife to the airport to catch their flight - we arrived home about 10:30pm.

Thursday we went to Tema to the MTC. There were 24 missionaries in the MTC. When we arrived they formed a semicircle and we shook hands with each one of them. I made it a point to pronounce each name and asked each where they were from. I was amazed to find about 8 or more from Liberia. About the same number from Nigeria, a few from Ghana, about 4 from the US.They will go to one of nine missions in the West Africa Area: Sierra Leone Freetown Mission (includes Liberia), Ghana Cape Coast, Accra Ghana, Cote D'Ivoire Abigan, Nigeria Aba, Nigeria Enugu, Nigeria Lagos East, Nigeria Lagos West, Nigeria Port Harcourt, Nigeria Calabar. Elder Shipley noticed that two were from the same ward. He asked the second one if he knew the first. He said, "Yes, he's my brother." His companion said, "He'syour brother?!

Steve writing now: Most of the countenances of the missionaries shown brightly. There were one or two who were very quiet and one who wouldn't meet my eyes. I held his hand in a handshake until he had to look up. One of the U.S. missionaries was conducting for the day. Sister Harmon, the MTC mom played the piano. After the prayer, a trio sang a hymn--then Marian was on. She was scheduled for 15 minutes but only took 12. She did a great job, giving advice from our children to missionaries entering the field. She spoke of the type of men and women they could be if they put their lives in God's hand. It was their choice to become a Man of God or a Woman of God. She told them that following the gospel: faith, repentance, baptism (sacrament, temple), the Holy Ghost, and Enduring would bring them to becoming a Man (Woman of God) and that these principles had to be repeated every week of their lives. They were not learning Preach My Gospel just to teach others but to internalize it themselves.

My assignment was to speak on obedience and honesty. I had developed a powerpoint presentation for the Area Presidency on that subject. When it is polished, the intent is to present it to our Area Seventy, have them present it to the Stake Presidents, then to Bishops. On the other track, the Area Presidency will present it to the Mission Presidents and the MTC president, who will teach it to the missionaries. This was a trial run. I felt, however, that we had to discuss the reasons for obedience and honesty. I focused on Mosiah 18:26 which explains the rewards or payment for Church service--that being the grace of God. We then reviewed page 697 of the Bible Dictionary and agreed that grace meant "enabling power." We reviewed D&C 88:78 and how this enabling power is given. We agreed that God knows our thoughts and they must be clean to receive enabling power. I discussed how I had received progressed in receiving this power in my life, as a missionary, member, bishop, stake president etc. I said I had such a long way to go. Two days before I had been praying for the Spirit and for my children and grandchildren and that I would be able to magnify my calling. We agreed those were pretty good things to pray for. I stated that in the Area Presidency meeting later that same day one of our General Authorities gave the invocation and prayed for revelation and the spirit of prophecy. We then reviewed D&C 93:12-13 and agreed all of us had a long way to go and we needed to be obedient, honest and clean to receive all that Heavenly Father wants us to have. The powerpoint presentation was given next. We closed by talking bout D&C 84:33-38 then discussed Hynm #185.

The Spirit was very strong--much more than I deserved. Elder Golden later asked how our talks went. He wasn't surprised that they went well. He asked me who had assigned us to speak, I said a General Authority. He said, yes, that is correct and because we were on specific assignment, we had the right to the same blessings they would have. Makes sense to me. God can really use us for His purposes if we'll allow Him to do so.

After we made it back from Tema, at 5:30pm we picked up Elder Golden, his wife, and his daughter (he is also a member of the Area Presidency) to take to the airport. Now we were in charge of the Area Office...a strange feeling - any emergency and we would have to deal with it. At 1am Friday morning we received a call from Elder Golden - their plane had computer problems and did not take off. So at 1am we went to leave for the airport. We got to the gates of the compound and found them chained. So we buzzed security and they finally came and unchanged the gate then went back to the gatehouse to open the gate and off we went. We got to bed about 2am.

Friday we woke up to no air conditioning (not fun in 90% humidity). Our apartment was 27 degrees Celsius. I called Eric who came to fix it. He serviced the air conditioner and said nothing was wrong in our units, that it must be the outside unit. I got to work at 10:30. At noon Eric called needing the keys - I went over and let him in. He had about 5 men with him - he then explained that he called a professional company in to deal with the problem. Elder Shipley and I had an emergency to take care of so I left the keys with him. When I came back they had put two portable air conditioning units in our apartment - I believe they are like swamp coolers - we have to empty water out of them every 3 hours. It seems we will have these until Wednesday of next week until they can get the parts to fix our air conditioner. We had company for dinner at 4:30. At 6:15 everyone left for the temple except us.

After our friends left, we sat around waiting for the call to pick Elder Golden and his family up to go to the airport again. At 10pm we were told to come. We dropped them off, waited to make sure the plane was going to go then headed for home. At 2am we got a call that the plane was not going to leave AGAIN. I felt so bad for them. We waited until we got another call at 2:30am saying they had got their luggage off the plane. So off to the airport again to pick them up and take them home. When we walked out of our apartment building we found all the saints from Cote D'Ivore who had come to the temple this week. When we returned about 3:45am from taking the Golden's to their home these wonderful people with all their children were still outside. Some packed in the tros tros (pronounced Tro Tros- the people's bus transportaion) and some just sitting on the planters and steps on the outside of the temple. They would be looking at a good 8-10 hour journey home. Their love of the temple and their faith in the Lord is incredible. And we complain of a 45 minute drive in Las Vegas!

The Golden's were told thier plane would leave at noon .Elder Shipley and I were to go up to the lake here in Ghana with a group of missionary couples at 7;30am. We had to cancel out so we would be able to take the Golden's back to the airport at 9:30am. At 9am we received a call from Elder Golden. He had called travel in Salt Lake and they told him he could not go on the early flight as he would need to stay overnight in Frankfurt, and he had no visa for Germany (he is from S. Africa). Bottom line they are now leaving tonight and will travel on Sunday making connections to Salt Lake - not ideal, but a necessity.We hope we can get them to the airport and still make it to "Aniie" at the National Theater. One of our church employees has a daughter in the cast. It should be fun to see Annie with an African cast!

Like we say, Everyday is an adventure in Africa!

Literacy: The African Challenge

Learning English is the task of many of the African people. Those who went to school learned some, but so many of the older (35+) did not have the opportunity for school. Just recently the government here declared school would be free to the children. Previously many children were unable to pay for school. If there was any money for school, the boys were sent. Girls stayed home and learned homemaking skills and might have sold goods on the streets. The women in particular do not know how to read. There ability to read English and to attend school is their ticket out of poverty. It is also the key to growing strong faithful members in the church. A person who cannot read their scriptures has a difficult time learning how the Lord works in peoples lives and what the prophets have told their people of Christ.

Ghanians are religious at heart. They want to please and desire baptism. The problem is they would easily be baptised without knowing anything about the gospel. At one time that is what we did. But the missions recognized the need to teach the people about Christ, about faith, about repentence, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the end. The people need to be taught the plan of salvation to understand the committment they make to Christ when they are baptized.

A similar challenge arises when trying to nourish their faith. Dialects in Africa run in the hundreds, maybe thousands. It is too costly to try to translate the scriptures in all the dialects here and so to grow in faith, light and truth, the people need to be able to read and understand English.

The Literacy program was born out of these needs. It began about 6 months ago. It is taught on Sundays, during Sunday School and Relief Society, and generally it is taught 2 other days of the week. Those competent with the English language in the wards teach the others. The pictures you see were taken during a training session for the facilitators (teachers) in this stake. There were about 12 present. I came to observe. It was an interesting day. I learned a lot about teaching English as a second language.