Learning about the Church in Africa

We took the couple we replaced to the airport this morning. We got home without getting lost or getting into an accident. We counted that as a small victory. We are 16 steps away from the temple when we exit our front door. This evening we did sealings. The first counselor in the temple presidency, Sono Koree,was standing in front of the temple doors when we stepped from our apartment building. The man at the front desk was one of our area missionaries (from Colorado). All other temple workers, including our sealer, tonight were from Africa. It was a special experience. The names we were working on were mostly from Cote D'Ivoire and very challenging. The sealer, probably in his seventies was gracious and to me, very impressive. To see him and the two men next to him were reminders of the impact the revelation that all worthy males may hold the priesthood can have on a country and a continent.

I am learning the basics of my position. There is a tremendous administrative burden that I am trying to master. We received a thick stack of patriarchal blessings from one of our patriarchs yesterday. I asked the Area President what he wanted done with them. He told me to read them and see if they appeared appropriate. I'll start that task in the morning. It has been a special experience to work with three general authorities on a daily basis. They are all strong willed, competent men who are truly living by the spirit. Once a month, all the mission couples assigned to the area have a family home evening at the home of one of the presidency. President Snow, the Area President hosted us on Monday. He told of efforts they are taking and challenges they encounter as they discover how the Church needs to work in a developing area such as Africa. One of the Stakes here in Accra is a test area. When people come to Church, not only do they sit as families in Sacrament meeting but in Sunday school as well. Lessons come from "Preach My Gospel". All the priesthood holders, regardless of age, meet together for Priesthood and all the women, young and old meet for Relief Society. There are no YM or YW organizations. There are a number of neighborhood "pods" with priesthood leaders called for that part of the ward. They watch out for and nurture the members of that group. Literacy classes are held during Church to teach English.The Twelve are watching closely. Other wards may differ according to their needs. There are three high counselors at present. What occurs here may be a precursor for the flexibility needed in other areas when they open--China, etc.
- Elder Shipley

Akwaaba to Africa!

Akwaaba means Welcome and we certainly have been welcomed to Africa. The missionaries have been very good to us while we have been living in a temporary apartment and have been learning about our jobs. We have been taken to villages 2 1/2 hours away from Accra, we have met many wonderful Africans, we have been fed, and we have been taken out to restaurants. We have learned to get around - good thing because now we have a car and must find our own way around - our mentors left this morning for America. We know how to get to 3 grocery stores and have found we can get just about anything here if you want to pay the price - food is expensive. We replaced the Smith's - Bonnie and Byron. Last Sunday we found that they were best friends to my brother Paul and his wife Marolynn when they lived in Oregon. They are the ones that got Paul into raising dogs! Small world!!! But let me tell you a few interesting things. I will illustrate with some pictures. I wish I could have taken many more - but I was always in the back seat of the car and we were usually driving very fast so pictures were hard to get - plus as you pass by people they look right at you and I just get this feeling that they are offended - like taking pictures of animals in a zoo. So I will try to get a little brave as time goes by. I've been told that if you give them a "dash" (a little coin or two) they are more than willing to let you take their picture. Well I will try to do better in the future.

The temple compound is on Independence Avenue. As we travel Independence toward the airport trees line the middle of the street. They are beautiful but they are just filled with bats. Every limb has thousands of bats hanging from it during the day. I took a picture at dusk and you can see the bats flying - it will give you a feeling for how many bats reside in the trees - these bats are out of only one tree!

We had the priveledge of going to Oda last weekend. It was interesting as we got out of Accra (prounounced Akraw with a short a at the beginning), we traveled through a lot of land with villages now and then. But almost always we saw people walking the side of the road, carrying water on their heads. The picture is of 3 little boys carrying water. The people do not have water in their homes. They must go to a well at least twice a day to get water. Some of the pails we see are very large, but placed on the head and not one drop is lost among the grown women. Women and children carry the water. Men don't do this.

Everything is carried on the people's heads: loaves of bread, eggs, water, crackers, cooked turkey gizzards, material, papayas, just about anything. Many people survive simply by selling whatever they can and they always carry it on their heads. Nothing is carried in their hands - even little children are tied onto the mothers back. It's an amazing thing - they wrap the babies on with 2 yards of material than are wrapped around the body and twisted - not one knot! I will try to get a picture of this soon. Anytime we go out we see these scenes repeatedly - they are part of everyday life.

Many of the villages produce a commodity. There is the drum village - where almost every home has a drum factory out in front - these are outdoors - the wood is piled up and men are chopping and carving to get the shape of a drum. There are bead villages - where the women make colorful beads. There is a bread village where everyone sells bread that is made in the bakery in town. It sort of reminded me of the co-ops that Brigham Young set up in the 1870's in Utah.

But most villages are just a gathering of small wooden homes and a few larger stucco or adobe brick homes many with storefronts along the street. On the edge of the street are deep gutters - maybe 2-3 feet deep and a foot wide. If you loose control of your car you will high center in the gutter. I am told when that happens men in the village come running and lift your car out of the gutter. Again whatever anyone can sell, they will try as this may be their only souce of income - the people in the villages are very poor. Most make less than $150 a year! Those who live in the city and are educated can do well.


We live and work in the temple compound. We will be assigned a ward in a village to attend on Sundays, but as yet they have not extended the assignment. We are 30 steps from work and about 30 steps from the temple. In the morning we walk around the borders of the compound. I am finding it a little hard on my knees as it is all cement - so I may just work on doing exercises in the apartment until I get courage to walk outside our area.

We have met many wonderful African people. We have heard great stories of how people came in contact with the church and the miracles and changes in their lives. The gospel is wonderful because it refines people; it causes them to act kinder, to put away habits that only caused difficulties in their earlier lives, and to look to others instead of to themselves. It just puts smiles on peoples faces. It was an emotional Sunday for me as we visited the Kpong (Pong) Branch. There were problems with language - many women cannot understand English and in the villages there are many African languages. I could not help but think how wonderful things will be when we all pass through the veil and can understand one another-it will be a beautiful thing. The people here are so humble and gentle. Brother Momet that blessed the food at a home I was in began Our dearest, kindest Heavenly Father. It was so heartfelt, so sweet. We have a lot to learn from the people here.

Goodbye to our Utah Family

Tonight said our final goodbyes to our children and grandchildren in Utah. It was a fun get together for potluck dinner. The grandchildren enjoyed running up and down the length of the living room chasing each other and dancing. It was entertaining to watch and a little sad to realize we will miss 18 months of their growing up. Matt and Becky will have a baby girl in May while we are gone. I am grateful for blogs - they allow us to see these cute grandchildren in pictures. Some of our older grandchildren have started writing their own blogs. Skype allows us to have video calls to those who have downloaded the program on their computer and who have a camera and a speaker built into their computer. So technology will keep us close. That is a tender mercy! We love all of you!

The MTC

Elder Shipley and I have just completed five days of training at the MTC - Mission Training Center. Each day was filled with training from 8am to 5pm. Then 2-3 hours of homework every night. There was no room left in the inn (MTC) so we came home each evening to Robyn and Matt's home exhausted by the time we dropped into bed.

Looking back it was really kind of fun. We met wonderful couples and single sisters who have dedicated the next eighteen months to two years to the Lord. Elder and Sister Buckles going to London, England to handle public affairs, Elder and Sister Warr going to the State of Washington to develop a recreational area the church will use for youth camps. Elder and Sister Gee (formerly Mission President of Ekaterenburg Russia Mission) to serve in the Finland Temple. Elder and Sister Hatton in the picture with us are going to the West Indies. Most of our teachers were young returned missionaries. We were able to get a picture of Elder DeVries with us - he returned from the Samara, Russia Mission. He was a wonderful teacher, full of light and always happy - you can tell that in his picture.

We were immersed in "Preach My Gospel" and came to love the lessons. They said it was written on the other side of the veil and published on this side. I must admit it is a masterpiece. Most of all Steve and I learned that we make a great teaching team. We complimented each other so well as we taught. He was strong on finding scriptures, I was strong in relating experiences, and we both knew the gospel so well. As a senior couple it is so much fun because your testimony is built with bricks of experience. You have put the Lord's words to the test and have experienced the fruits of living by His words. While in the MTC we are given investigators to teach (volunteers from the community who role play their parts). Our first investigator was about 80 years old and was on oxygen. We just loved him and ignored the repetitive sound of the oxygen feeding into his tubes. That was another discovery - though I think we already knew it - we love people - it matters not what race they are or what handicap they have. We all have some kind of handicap. So we had a good time teaching him. Our last investigator of the week came into the room with her guide dog. This lesson was on the gospel: atonement, faith, repentence, baptism, gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end. I had drawn a diagram on the board and immediately realized I would have to draw that image in her mind. I was grateful to the Nevilles in our Somerset neighborhood who taught us about not petting and trying to get the attention of guide dogs - one of their daughters trained guide dogs and would bring them to church with her. It's funny how experiences combine in your life to prepare you for future tasks. We had a lovely discussion with this brilliant woman who had lost her sight.
I love teaching. I love feeling the spirit. Hopefully we will have some opportunity to teach, even though our responsibilies are mostly administrative.

One aftenoon we had some returned senior missionaries speak to us about their missions. The first couple had been called to Greece. Their friends upon hearing of their calling, said, "You'd better call your mission president. I heard that another couple just left for Green and that filled the need to have a couple there." So they called and sure enought they were not needed there so they were told they would go to Sicily. They began preparing for Sicily and when they went through checkin at the MTC they were told their mission assignment had been changed again this time to Jordan. The second set of returned missionaries were two sisters who had been companions in Australia. The mission president sent them to a tiny town, Findly, Australia with a population of 2200. The town had had missionaries repeatedly and every house had been tracked out repeatedly to where the town of Findly hated the Mormons! They said they went to get groceries and the cashier closed down the register so that they could not go through the line. They were rejected everywhere so they decided they would create a 90 day plan. Their plan was just to serve the people and become their friends, not to try to teach them anything about the gospel except by example. They joined weightwatchers, went to sewing classes, helped at the Catholic Fair in town. The mission went from 90 days in that town to a full 18 months. The first Christmas the community churches joined to form a choir whcih would give a holiday concert. The Mormons were not invited - for "they are not Christians" (Hmm where have we heard that before!). So that was ok - they attended the concert. By the time the next Christmas rolled around they had made such good friends with everyone in town the Mormon Church was invited to join the choir. At the end of the performance the community gave out an award and that year the award was given to these two sister missionaries. In eightenn months they had turned the town from hating our faith to embracing those who were members.
The lesson: be flexible on your mission = do whatever you feel the spirit guides you to do.

Well we had to get our picture taken in front of the map - after all, all our kids did. We leave tomorrow morning for Accra, Ghana, arriving on Tuesday morning at 8am Ghana time. The adventure begins!

A Night To Remember

Last night our dearest friends, Mike and Sally Hess, threw a party in our honor. Our Somerset neighbors came to say goodbye to us. The night was filled with good food, stories, laughter, hugs, and tears. It was another gift - another tender mercy in our mission journey. Sally worked so hard to make the evening special. Our hearts were filled with gratitude.

To our neighbors we say "Thank you" for caring enough to come. We were strengthened by your your love, your testimonies and your faith in us. We had never lived more than 3-4 years at a time in any one place until we moved to Somerset. We spent 20 years there in a paradise of people. People who were committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. People who were full to love and freely gave of themselves to teach and guide our children. People who set examples of courage and faith as they went through great trials. People filled with talents, knowledge, and testimony they willingly shared. Our lives were so enriched by each and every person we came to know. These people picked us up when great trials came to our family. Through their service, their faith and prayers, and fasting we experienced miracles when all looked hopeless.

We loved our neighborhood parties and birthday lunches. We loved walking the trails in the foothills and through the streets of our neighborhood. It was a neighborhood your children could feel free to run to the park and play and be safe. A neighborhood who celebrated the freedom of our country every 4th of July with a parade through the streets filled with children on bikes they had decorated, trucks and 4-wheelers filled with grandchildren and children dressed in red, white, and blue. The parade was followed with a pot-luck picnic in the park including an art show which hung on the park fence, displaying neighborhood talent. There were the yearly golf tournaments sponsored by the Bells. When our children grew up and moved into their own homes, we were included in empty nester's family home evenings. Somerset was Mayberry. We will never forget you!

The Gift

Our son-in-law, Steve Casos, gave us a wonderful gift. On Sunday evening we flew (at his expense) to Boise, Idaho where he and Holly are seriously investigating in the event Steve accepts employment there at Saint Alfonso's hospital. Holly also flew in that night with no knowledge that we were going to be there as well. Both flights were late. Holly's came in last at 1:12am. We hid behind a pillar at the bottom of the escallator and jumped out when she and Steve got to the bottom. It was a great surprise and we hugged each other tightly with tears in our eyes. We had not seen Holly and Steve since July. It was a beautiful gift to spend one day with them. We looked at a Center for Autism, and at homes in East Boise that day. We had a wonderful lunch with a few of the doctors and one nurse. When we said goodbye at 5pm it was a tearful yet joyful goodbye. What a fun day...a special gift...a tender mercy!

One More Day

It is hard to imagine. This morning when I woke up I realized that we have only one more day in our Las Vegas home.
It has been an intense 2 1/2 weeks while we have prepared to leave for a year and a half.

First and immediate when we arrived home (I had been in Utah helping Heather with new baby Brooklyn) were shots. I had 6 in one week, Steve had 5. Our immune systems were in shock I think! Then the next task was to gather everything together for our visa...no small task! Each of us had to have our passport, police record clearance, 24 passport photos, an international drivers license, a resume including our education, work experience, special skill, leadership background hobbies, and special awards or achievements. Also certificates of graduation from high school and college, a certified marriage license, and notarized copies of as many certificates and awards as we could find. Fortunately when we moved from Utah I organized all that kind of stuff in boxes and labeled a box for each person in our family --much to the protest of Steve who just wanted to through everything in a box and organize it after we had moved - (I told him I'd never get to it!). Within two days we had EVERYTHING - except the certified marriage license - we had our temple marriage certificate that we had notarized but that would not do. Fortunately I had a doctor's appointment to check my pacemaker on Friday of that week in Salt Lake. Robyn picked me up at the airport on Thursday about noon - it was her day off. It was a day of unfortunate circumstances - the State Vital Records office did not have our certificate and directed me to Logan where we were married. We literally plowed our way through Sardine Canyon only to find out Logan did not have it. After some time looking the lady said to me,"Did you happen to get your marriage license in another county." "Well yes - if my memory is working correctly we got it in Provo." So off to Utah County - Provo we drove experiencing a white knuckle experience back through Sardine Canyon. We began with prayer - the snow was blowing 12 feet high across the road which was caked with the white stuff. Others were sliding off the road, but I knew that HF and the angels knew I had to have this certificate and somehow we would make it through, and we did. After 4 1/2 hours of our driving adventure that day, I walked into the Records office in Utah County ten minutes before closing and sure enough they had the certificate. I felt that day that I had failed Genealogy 101. The next day I delivered the certified marriage license in person to the missionary travel office. The church office building is highly secured and on my approach to the hallway to reach the missionary department I attempted to go through the turnstile whose light was green only to find bars fly out to stop me and the alarm to begin shrill repeated beeps. Steve asked me if I told security I had set off alarms worse than that - I did step out in the rose garden at the white house while we lived in Washington DC area and set off the alarms.

Thursday and Friday were the days of President Hinckley's viewing. Thursday my son in law (Robyn's husband) said he walked right in - no lines. Well Friday after I got through at the church office building I decided I would go to the viewing only to find lines wrapped around outside, knowing that the lines also wrapped around inside the building. I stood in line for about 10 minutes and moved a foot - I came to the sad realization that my desires were not going to be fulfilled. But as I stood there in line the spirit was just beautiful and I was glad I was there even for a brief few minutes. I felt sad that I wasn't going to be able to see him one last time. He was such a great man. A great worker in the Kingdom - he was a visionary and he was a doer. As I left the thought came to my mind "It's ok. You are doing what President Hinckley would want you to do and you are honoring him."

Finding clothes was easy for Steve - white shirts, dark pants, ties. For me it was a little more difficult - summer clothes - short sleeves, light weight just don't exist much this time of year - but a few spring clothes are hitting the racks and between the items I could find and what I already had in my closet it will do - they tell me to take only 3-4 outfits - are they crazy!!
Well I have 5, I think. Fortunately I was told by Sr. Smith whom I'm replacing that I can purchase fabric over there and have it made up for about $20. I will probably dress like the Ghanians- I like that because I like color - the idea of wearing conservative black, dark blue, etc. everyday for 18 months just doesn't appeal to me - but I would have been obedient if this was what I was to do - maybe that is why we are being sent to Africa! The Lord really does know me!

Well our bags are packed - we fly out to Ghana on Monday the 18th of February. We are flying Delta which turned out to be another blessing. Steve is a platinum medallion member of Delta till Feb 28th, 2008. This allows us to take 3 pieces of luggage each (150 lbs each)- not sure how we are going to maneuver it around but we will somehow - we will most likely leave one piece in Africa - maybe one of the missionaries there can use it.

Homes and bills - many logistic nightmares but I think we have solved 99% of the problems. We've packed up our clothes in the house for storage. We've compiled many letters to children, friends, and neighbors detailing contacts if needed. We are about ready. Guess we'd better be - we leave in the morning!