April 2014

I believe I just wrote a blog last week, but the calendar tells me it was four weeks ago.  I'm not certain how that happened but I have never known calendars to be dishonest. 
 


 Our month began with a trip to  Abuja, Nigeria, the capital city of Nigeria.  Abuja was chosen as the     capital city because it lies in approximately the center of the country.  It didn't really exist as a city until the 1970's when Nigeria decided to make it the capital city.  Thus, it is a fairly new city with new buildings and wide roads.  It is quite a beautiful city and has been pretty peaceful.  However, the day after we left a bomb went off in Abuja killing

over 100 people.  Visiting Nigeria reminds me when we lived in Israel and had a chance to visit the country of Turkey.  At the time, the general feeling in Turkey was less "tense" than in Israel and led our daughter Cassie to say, "Let's live in Turkey and visit Israel".  I feel just the opposite here in West Africa...I am glad we live in Ghana and visit Nigeria. 

 

The picture was taken of the city of Abuja, Nigeria from our hotel room.

 

Pres. Oku-Ukpong, the stake president in Abuja and his family.  After church he
took us to his home to feed us and to meet his family.  The teenage girl is not his

own daughter but a niece he has taken  in and is raising her as one of his own; a

common practice here in West Africa.

For all our Rexburg friends, I have to mention that we received a surprise visit from one of our Rexburg neighbors, Mark and Linda Orchard.  We were walking into our apartment complex when Elder Call heard a voice say, "Bro. Call".  He looked around to see a man from BYU-I who was with the Orchard's.  He went to get Mark and Linda and we had a pleasant, but too short of a visit, with our former neighbors.  

The Orchards and the Calls in our apartment.














In March, Elder Call was asked to speak at a young single adult conference in Kumasi, Ghana.  Kumasi is a city that is approximately 4 1/2 hours north of Accra.  The theme of the conference was "Your Future is as Bright as Your Faith".  Elder Call did a great job and reminded the youth that their faith will determine how bright their future is.  Elder Call was the keynote speaker, but there were also a couple other speakers who were Seminary and Institute men. 



Former and current Seminary and Institute men

 



                                                                       young single adults in Kumasi, Ghana














We ended April with a trip to Twiful Praso to do some follow-up training we had done with the young single adults and the second training on "Come, Follow Me".  Twiful Praso is north of Cape Coast and a beautiful area of Ghana.  They grow many acres of palm trees to extract the oil.  Palm oil is the most commonly used oil here in Ghana. 

Palm Trees on the way to Twiful Praso

 

The most heartening news in Twiful Praso was we learned that the YSA training we had done earlier was being implemented.  Sometimes we wonder if we truly are having any effect so it was "music to our ears" to learn they were taking the training to heart. 

A picture of Elder Call with a District Leader.  Some of the training we did for the young single adults is on the white board behind them. 

 

One of the sweetest things we do when we go train in these various areas are the other senior missionaries we are privileged to meet and stay with.  The missionary couples are ordinary people from all walks of life doing extra-ordinary things. 



 These are the Schiffman's from Hooper, Utah.  Elder Schiffman worked with the general maintenance at Weber Stake University.  Sister Schiffman was a mother of 8 children who helped with the drill teams in her children's high school until they all graduated.  After her children graduated she got a nursing degree.  The Schiffman's are like many senior missionaries here...just ordinary but wonderful latter-day saints making a huge impact in communities where they serve.  The Church is in such great need of people like the Schiffman's.  After coming on our mission, I understand why the Church is trying to make it easy for senior couples to serve and why Pres. Monson almost begs for more senior missionaries.  Ghana alone could use many many more senior couples.  The Church provides a nice home, a car and the promise of a great experience.  What more could a couple ask for. (Do I sound like an advertisement?) 

This short synopsis does not really cover all the amazing experiences we had in the month of April, but for the lack of time, it will have to do.  I will write again in what will seem like another week, until then...keep your testimonies burning bright.