AWA Mission President's Conference October 2008

(sorry we are not in the picture)
Part of our responsiblities is to help with the logistics of Mission President's Conferences. It is always held at one of the nice hotels here in Accra. We are blessed with being able to mingle with all of the mission presidents in West Africa. We learn with them and we eat with them.

Once a year a member of the Twelve Apostles comes to train the mission presidents. This past weekend we had the priviledge of sitting at the feet of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Council of the Twelve Apostles while he ministered to us. Along with Elder Holland was Elder Steve Snow, president of the Seventy. President Snow (our Pres) said sometimes we are like coals far away from the fire. Our coal over time cools down and we just need to return to the fire to warm up until we glow again.

We were instructed by Elder Holland for several hours on Friday and another hour and a half on Saturday followed by a session in the Accra Temple. After, we all gathered in one of the ordinance rooms where Elder Holland spent an hour and a half explaining his thoughts on the temple. In future posts I will try to write about what I learned. It was an experience I shall never forget.

Attending the Ghana Accra Temple

This post is a letter sent home by a student who was in Ghana on a journalism assignment. While here she decided to attend the temple. These are her words.
"Saturday morning I woke up early and went to the temple. I was told that if I wanted to do baptisms I would have to join one of the ward youth groups that came on Saturdays. I felt a little bit of of place, but overall the experience was amazing. The temple is strikingly beautiful on the inside. It definitely had African influences in the architecture and decor. Dark mahogany wood, colorful stained glass windows but still sparkling and white like any other temple. When I was getting ready in the bathroom, I spent quite a while trying to wash my feet. The dirt from the walk there had stained them a reddish, brown color. I've been to the temple lots of times in a handful of different places but never have I felt the contrast between God's house and the rest of the world like I did that day. Accra is a noisy, dirty place. There is so much disease here and poverty. So many visible things that make life difficult. Life is difficult everywhere you go, but unlike at home where the difficulties are mostly subversive and internal, here you can see them physically before you. Walking out to the world and into the temple, I felt the change more than I'd ever felt it before. I sat in the font, watching one kid after another go down into the water and I felt incredibly close to the Savior. I was so grateful for the experiences I've had over the past weeks that have brought me low enough to feel the need for the temple, a need that in the hustle and bustle and relative comfort of normal life in America, is sometimes imperceptible. I also thought about the miracle it is that a temple exists in Ghana. As I watched those kids faithfully taking part in temple ordinances in a place so clean and so peaceful and so different from the rest of their world, I also felt an incredible rededication to paying my tithing. If I can contribute to making it possible for temples to be brought to the corners of the world that need them the way Ghana needs them, I will."

Elmina, a Fishing Village

On the way to the Coconut Grove Hotel we pass through Elmina, a fishing village whose call to fame is the Elmina Castle - a slave castle from the 1600's. Elmina is a picturesque village. The fishing boats go out in the morning and come in late in the morning or early afternoon filled with fish. The women then take the fish and dry it for 3 days or smoke it for hours. The drying is sometimes done on screens and sometimes in the sand. Watching this whole process is like going back in time. When you go through Elmina you think "I am really in Africa!"

Kakum National Park

A week ago we drove up to Cape Coast for the weekend. Our last retreat before the return of our Area Presidency. We stayed at the Coconut Grove Hotel on the beach. It is beautiful there. We had been their last April and vowed we would return. We had dinner Friday night with President and Sr. Sabey, President of the Ghana Cape Coast Mission and their office couple Elder and Sister Miles. Then on Saturday morning we picked up the Miles and headed for Kakum National Park. It is a 135 square mile remnant of the vast rainforest that once stretched near the Atlantic Ocean shoreline of West Africa from Guinea through Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana. The tropical rain forest is so thick that the light barely breaks through the treetops. Although the park boast of 300 species of birds, unique monkeys and the highly endangered forest elephan, spotting animals in an uncommon joy. As our guide Doris would say, "You will see animals on the Savanna, but not in the Rainforest.

One of the major attraction of this park is the "canopy walk." Constructed in 1994 by Canadians for scientist to study butterfiles and birds, the walkway is a major attraction in Ghana...one of 4 canopy walks in the world. The walkway is suspended 110 feet above the forest floor. the suspension bridge is made of steel piping with a narrow plank of wood covering the top and netting of rope separating you from the abyss. There are 7 bridges connected by landings around tree trunks. For myself who has a fear of heights it was a leap of faith to take that first step - by the time I got on the 5th bridge, however, I was totally enjoying the experience. The bridge sways a bit and creaks underneath your feet, but the view is beautiful and after you get used to it you realize this has been a grand experience of a lifetime.

After the suspension bridge we took a nature tour with our guide Doris. While waiting for our group to gather we had a great conversation with her about "the family" and its eternal nature. We find that whereever we go people have questions for us. They have heard of the church and many want to know more and have a desire to attend our meetings.

The nature walk took us past trees whose bark was often used for medicine. Bark of one tree, when ground up into a politice and wrapped around a broken bone with plantain leaves, changed every 3 days, would heal the bone in 21 days. Berries from one tree were used for pain medication like asprin. One Vine was used to make sponges. It was all very interesting and we realized that the Africans know much more than we do about healing bodies with plants.

Cantonments Primary Program

Today we attended Cantonments Ward. It was the Primary Program. I believe every child had a part. The music was led by one of the 10 or 11 year old girls. No one read their part - each child had memorized what they were going to say. It was an incredible program that would have stood up to any we see in America. Wished I coud have taken pictures ...but that is not allowed during a sacrament meeting.

Being in that meeting was a real treat!

The Youth of Christiansborg Ward

A few weeks ago Salt Lake called asking for a video of some of our youth talking about what they had done in 2008 and what their goal was in 2009. We did not have a script. We gave the youth of Christiansborg Ward about 5 minutes to rehearse whatever they wanted to say and then we ran the video camera - clearly an antique. Few in Africa have video cameras. I of all people was selected to run the camera we were able to find. A real joke - because I can't even work the one I have at home! The film was sent to Salt Lake but one of the Sr. missionaries caught this on her little camera.

The Soccer Stadium in Sekondi

Soccer is the big sport in Ghana. The Soccer stadium in Accra is nice but this one in Sekondi, a suburb of Takoradi, is state of the art. When we drove up to see it for a brief moment I thought we were in America! It was built to host the African Cup a year or two ago.