I Love the Expressions of Africans in the Church

Africans have a unique way of expressing themselves. They are very insightful and speak from the heart. At our Mission President's Conference this week one African Mission President's wife said, "It is like we are a bug on the edge of a big room. We have so much territory to cover!"

A film crew from the US has been in Ghana filming clips for a family history training for the Africans. They asked general questions in addition to family history questions. Clips they might use in other things. Now these responses were not written out - they came spontaneously from the members.

One said, "The temple is like a magnifying glass into myself." Asked about Relief Society, one African sister said, "It heals us psychologically, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. If you are not going to Relief Society you are slowly dying. The manuals are like a journal of instructions to us from Mother Eve."

How beautiful is that! Can you see why I love these people. Their hearts are so open. They speak what they feel.

Building from Centers of Strength

One of the themes to be heard throughout the church in West Africa is "building from centers of strength". It is easy to send missionaries out to the remote villages away from the larger cities where members can be baptised easily, but retention is poor because the strength of the church is not there. The new member finds little support in holding onto his faith: sometimes because he cannot read the scriptures as he knows no English and for others the distances are too far to get to a church, which also makes it difficult for them to renew their covenants by taking the sacrament, study the gospel in Sunday School, RS, Primary and Priesthood meetings, and to be home taught and visit taught. The new members faith is like a seed not planted on good ground and therefore shrivals up and dies.

So one of my jobs has been to map all our buildings on Google Earth. Africa has few maps and most of them that we have are not accurate, so Google Earth has been a real blessing. I have located almost 400 buildings church owned and also rented throughout Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria. One mission president called me yesterday so excited that he could see where his wards and branches were! Here in West Africa there are few street names...to find your way to a church or a business or a home you are given landmarks. The church is down the road that is across the street from the large Evangelical Church that has not been finished. Or the church is next to the large Ebony tree. Look for the Shell station, turn right till you reach the pink house..... So until now the mission presidents have known the towns the churches are in, but never had the exact location pointed out to them on a map.
I love working on projects like this. During the last year people were sent out to get GPS co-ordinates. There is a temple missionary who gathered all the data and organized it. My job was the easy one and I had fun doing it. It helped me become familiar with all the wards, branches and stakes in the nine missions. Now when a stake president calls I recognize immediately the name of his stake and know what country it is in. So the blessings worked both ways!

MaxMart

This is for my brother who requested a picture of the grocery store. This is one of four that we go to:MaxMart.

They are all very much like a grocery store in America with rows of shelves displaying their goods, dairy section, fresh meat and cheese counter and a freezer section - usually only one row - always like a chest freezer (not upright). The rows are much shorter than we have at home - maybe 12 feet long. They say if you see something you like "buy it" as it may be "finished" the next time you come to the store. They have many American brands. Cereals like Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes and Raisin Bran by Kellogg - Can't remember all the others as those are the one we have bought. But they are expensive anywhere from $7.50-11.50 a box. We've been able to pick up Krusteaz Whole Wheat pancake mix as well. We buy most of our produce at outdoor fruit stands. It's cheaper that way and in some cases better.I bought strawberries the other day in a market. I asked where they were from and they told me Lebanon. That's why I bought them - they were pretty safe. If they had been grown in Africa I probably would not have picked them up. The way they fertilize the crops and the water that is used on them is generally unsafe - so we have to be careful what kind of produce we buy and we have to treat all produce with water that has clorox in it...though I use Fruit and Vegtable Rinse from Sunrider. The papayas, mangos, and pineapples here are superb! We have fruit salad regulary.

Back to MaxMart - We like this store for its selection of cookies, cake mixes, ice cream, laundry soap and canned goods. Upstairs it has a great household section where you can buy dishes, utensils, towels, etc. The third floor has appliances and electronics. We go to Koaola for cheese, yogurt, bread, butter, bacon, turkey for sandwiches, and flour. Then to Shoprite for their meat. I bought the strawberries at Double Seven - they have Pringles at about half what the other markets sell them and they are good for nuts and meat - but I still prefer Shoprite for meat. Once a week we go grocery shopping - usually hitting at least two of the stores if not three. Groceries for the two of us are about $200/week. I figure if we were to eliminate any sugar products it would probably be about $150/week. It's a thought....

Another great place is Fiesta Hacienda - we knickname it "The Costco" because it carries many bulk items from Costco (including the Kirkland brand) : Large jars of peanut butter, huge boxes of Raisin Bran, the huge bags of chocolate chips (though sometimes you have to chop them up as in shipping they have melted together), cases of rootbeer, etc. It is just fun to go in once a month to see what they have and we buy it if we are interested as the next time we come in it is likely to be "finished"!

The Easter Bunny Found Us!

Thanks Ben! We ate the peeps within seconds after receiving our package. We especially loved getting your picture and drawing. They are proudly displayed in our office.

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.