First Month in Accra, Ghana

Akwaaba!!  The Ghanaian word for "Welcome".  We have  been in Ghana for just over one month and we are falling in love with the place and the people.  To help you better understand where we live and our circumstances, we decided to include a video.  This is our first attempt, hopefully we will get better.  In the video you will see the "Crown Jewel" of Ghana.

http://youtu.be/VDeJrgyFsfo


With the many things we have been able to accomplish, it seems we  have been living here longer than a month.  As I mentioned before, we did not replace anyone, so we basically had to start from "scratch".  As a reminder, our assignment is with the Young Single Adults.  Included in that assignment is to train stake presidencies in stake YSA Committees and Activities and to train and ensure that Young Single Adult Mutistake Activities are occuring.  We are also over teaching the "Come Follow Me" program to all stakes/districts in Ghana.  At first this felt like a daunting task but we decided to follow the old adage: "How do you eat an elephant?...One bite at a time."  We began by visiting the youth Sunday School classes and YM/YW.  The youth in Ghana are delightful.  They are eager to learn and desirous of doing what is right. 

A picture of the beautiful young women in the McCarthy Hill Ward in Accra, Ghana.  I don't think you will have any trouble picking out where I am standing.

 

As we visit classes we have been able to assess where the most help is needed.  Ghana was under British rule until 1957.  Because of that the school system also followed the strict and authoritarian British style of teaching where the teacher did all the talking and the students sat and took notes.  That same form of teaching has carried over into  many of the classes in the church.  The YM/YW are expected to bring a notebook and pencil to class and are often reminded to take notes.  This form of teaching is quite contrary to the teaching recommended in the "Come Follow Me" program.  After making this observation, Elder Call and I came up with a plan for teaching leaders and teachers.  We then got it approved by the Area Seventy.  After receiving approval, we have been contacting and visiting many stake presidents, stake presidencies and district presidents to offer our services.  They have all been very excited to have us come.  We have done one training so far, which went very well, and have several others scheduled.  Since we have been given charge for the whole country of Ghana, we will be doing some traveling in the near future. 

 

 



 

 

 

   Since we visit a new ward every week, Elder Call has been busy with the GPS on his I-pad locating all the meeting houses in Ghana.  Generally the meeting houses have gates around them and they are locked.  However, we found a meeting house in the city of Teshie, just outside of Accra, where the gate was unlocked and a basketball game was being played by the local youth.  Elder Call watched the boys for about as long as he could stand it.  Then he asked for the ball, lined up where the 3 pt. line would be, threw up the ball and it fell through the hoop.  The youth were then very willing to let "the old bald man" with a white shirt and tie play basketball with them.

 

 

 Ghana is considered to be the most religious country in the world.  More people in Ghana consider themselves religious than any other nation in the world.  They have a belief in God and they don't mind letting people know it.  On many of the public buses of transportation and also private cars, there are signs with reference to deity. 





 A bus called a "tro-tro" with a picture of Jesus and "Halleluyah" written on the back.

Ghana is quite a poor country but the people are happy and industrious.  To make a little extra money, many people will go to a wholesale market to buy different kinds of items from food to fabric, and take them around the streets to try and sell them for a profit.  They will carry many of them on their heads, especially the girls. When the buses or cars stop, the people will come up to the windows to ask those inside to buy what ever they are selling.  Most of the time we shake our heads and say "No, thankyou."  We do keep some money in the car to give people who are handicapped in some way for the government has no programs to help them.  One day a "cute" young came up to the car window.  I shook my head "No", but he didn't leave.  He smiled this cute little smile and kept asking me to buy.  I finally rolled down the window and said, "If you let me take your picture, I will give you some money". 



The picture of the young man who wounldn't leave.  I can't even remember what he was selling.








Our office is really taking shape.  We finally got some filling cabinets, cork boards and white boards.  We also went to the small Church Distribution Center they have here and bought a picture of the First Presidency and the Ghana Accra Temple.  I mentioned at the last posting that the Director of Temporal Affairs said that we needed a window in our office.  I decided he was right...so now we have a window in our office complete with potted plants and flowers. 



We had a milestone here in Ghana on September 24, 2013.   Elder Call had a Birthday.  We did not have the usual roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravey because the roasts here are very expensive here.  I also was unable to bake the normal dessert of a cherry pie because we had not been able to find shortening.  (Since his birthday we have found some shortening so I will be prepared for his next birthday.)  However, I made a cake and was able to find a Snicker's Bar.

 

 

 

 

We truly are loving our mission in Ghana.  In the coming weeks we will be fulfilling more of the assignment we have been given and thus traveling throughout Ghana more.  AND we have been asked to team teach an Institute Class with the Stake President and another priesthood leader.  We are both excited to teach and is something I was hoping to be able to do when we received our call to Ghana.   The class is Religion 324 "Preparing For An Eternal Marriage" and will be taught on Friday evenings at 6:00pm and when we are in town, we will be  scheduled to teach. 

We also have been able to have some "real" missionary experiences tesitifying of the truth of the Gospel with others and sharing the Book of Mormon.  We hope to be able to share some of those experiences on our next Blog. 

MTC and Arriving in Ghana

We arrived at the MTC in Provo, Utah on the August 5, 2013.  Because we took our car, we stayed at the Marriot Hotel a few blocks away.  We spent a marvelous 10 days in training and getting to know the other senior missionaries.  We broke the record of the number of senior missionaries to enter the MTC with 128 of us.  I felt like it was a little bit of heaven, but we were also anxious to get out on our mission.


In front of the building at the MTC named in honor of my great, great, grandfather Heber C. Kimball



 



From the MTC we went home to Boise for a couple of days to unpack from the MTC and repack for Ghana.  Then early Monday morning on August 20th we left Boise airport for New York City and then a 10 hour flight to Ghana.   

 

We arrived in Ghana to find our accomodations for the next 2 years to be very adequate.  We live in a one bedroom apartment in a complex owned by the Church where there is also the Temple, a stake center and the office building where we "work". 

The kitchen of our apartment in the Ancillary Building

Our home for the next two years which is great.  However, at times we have no electricity and other times no hot water.  The biggest problem is when there is no water at all. 

 

 

 The apartment complex is on the left where we live and the office building is on the right where we work.

When we got to Ghana we met with Elder Dube, a native of South Africa, who is the 2nd Counselor in the Area Presidency.  He told us that we would be working with the Young Single Adults in Ghana in training leaders and making sure that stake and multi-stake activities were happening.  He also wanted us to work with the Young Men and Young Women in the "Come Follow Me" program throughout all of Ghana.  I must admit it is a little overwelming, but with the great companion I have, I know we can make a difference with the youth here in Ghana.

 

 

Since we were not replacing anyone, a new office had to be found.  We were located on the ground floor in the corner of the building.  The office has no window and when the Director of Temporal Affairs came to see it he remarked that it was unacceptable because it lacked a window and if we lived in his country (Switzerland) it would be illegal.  We told him it was fine and we were OK with it.  During this conversation with the DTA a Ghanian young man, Charles, was installing a computer for us and heard the whole exchange.  After the DTA left the young man bowed his head and in a quiet and sincere voice said, "Elder and Sister Call, thank you for coming to Africa".  I replied, "Charles, it is our privilege!!" 

 

Since we will be working with the leaders on improving the "Come Follow Me" program, the last two Sundays we have visited the YM/YW classes.  The first week we asked where the young men and women met for Sunday School and found out they had no teacher.  I told them, no problem, we will be the teachers.  Elder Call and I enjoyed teaching that week.  The next week we went to two different wards to observe.  The Ghanian youth are wonderful with strong testimonies of the Church and the Book of Mormon.   They seem to hunger for the truths of the Gospel.  However, the traditional way of teaching here has followed the old British style of copy and memorize.  The students are "reverent" but not often engaged in the lesson.  There is much work for Elder Call and I to do. 

A class of beautiful Ghanian young women. t