May 2014

We started off the month of May with a holiday, so a couple of the senior missionaries decided to go on a little excursion to see a couple of waterfalls here in Ghana.  Before reaching the waterfalls we passed through a local village.  It was market day.  It was such a typical scene of so many other market days in West Africa, I decided to include a picture.

 

We visited two waterfalls.  The first was Boti Falls and was quite crowded with many visitors. The President of Ghana used to have a home by Boti Falls.  The home is still there, but it is no longer a residence of the president but is used as a guest house.  There is also a 1 l/2 hour optional hike, which option we chose not to take. By-the way, note in the picture the large mango in Elder Call's hand.  He bought it as we hiked back from the falls from the young boy in the picture.  We've seen some pretty big mangoes, but this was one of the biggest.  The fact that a persuasive young boy asked if he would buy one, may also have had something to do with his purchase.  For your information, he did not buy any apples from the other young boy, but he did give extra money to the mango seller to share with his friend. 



 

The trail down to the falls had the typical lush vegetation of an African jungle.  It looks beautiful...  however the humidity and heat makes it feel not as beautiful as it looks, i.e. it's hot  and muggy.

   

 

 There were two falls, and if you look closely, you can see both of them in this picture.  Also notice the brown water.  It makes it rather unappealing for swimming.  The soil here in West Africa is very rich and has a dark reddish color making the streams and river a brown color.  However, the red color of the rivers and streams comes from two sources, the color of the soil and the removal of the vegetation, thus soil erosion. 












The second falls were called the Akaa Waterfalls.  These were not as spectacular as Boti Falls, but we also had the falls to ourselves, which was nice.






May also included three trips for training.  May began in Nigeria and ended in Nigeria with a trip to Cape Coast in between.  The first trip to Nigeria was to the city of Enugu.  This was our first visit to the city of Enugu and we found the people there as wonderful as ever.  One of the training we do is to help each coordinating council organize multistake activities for their young single adults.  While in Enugu, we had a chance to visit the facility/university the stake was considering to hold their multistake conference.  During our visit we met some students attending the university.  We asked questions about them, and then, of course, told them why we were there and if they had ever heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  They responded that they had, and one young man had been particularly impressed with the church and wanted to know more.  We got his information and made yet another missionary contact.  He is the one with "the shades".

From left to right:  two students, a member of the church showing us around campus, the counselor in the district presidency, the young man interested in the church, AND the most handsome senior missionary ever...Elder Call. 

We stayed over Saturday night and so were able to go to church in a small branch in Enugu District.  Though the branch is small, the church is growing very rapidly in Nigeria and the church is finding it very hard to either rent/or build enough buildings to keep up with the convert baptisms. 

The middle of May took us to Cape Coast where the Stake Presidency had asked us to come and speak at their stake conference.  Elder Call spoke at the priesthood session, on Saturday morning; we both spoke Saturday afternoon; and then both spoke again on Sunday.  I think by the end of the conference they had had enough of Elder and Sister Call. :)  The fun part of speaking there was that, except for the priesthood session, Elder Call and I stood at the pulpit together to speak.  They had not given us a subject but asked us to choose our own.  So, Saturday we spoke on "The Joy of Marriage"  and Sunday we spoke on "Raising Righteous Families". 

 

Cape Coast is, as its name suggests, on the coast.  The hotel we stay at is therefore also, on the coast.  However, we have yet to take our suits and take a swim in the ocean.

 

Cape Coast is also the area in which the very first baptisms of the church took place.  After stake conference on Sunday, we had a meeting to help the young single adults plan their multistake conference.  After the meeting, we asked if they could show us on our map, where the first church services took place and also where the first baptisms took place; known as Baptism Beach.  They told us they would do better than that...they would take us there. 

 

 

We all got in our car and we went to the first building where church services were held before missionaries ever came to Ghana.  It is known as "The Cocoa Shed" because it was originally built to dry cocoa beans before they are ground into chocolate.  The first Ghanaians were converted by one single Book of Mormon.  It was one of those old blue paperback books with the statue of Angle Moroni on the front.  To decorate the room, the first "members" had a statue of Angel Moroni made and it was placed at the front of the room. 

 

The building was locked, but we were able to look through a window.  If you look closely, you may see there are holes in the ceiling.  There were also holes in the ceiling when the members first met there for church.  When it rained, which it does often, members had to be careful where they sat.

 

Next we drove to Baptism Beach.  Our "guides" told us it looked somewhat different when the first baptisms where performed, but this was the exact spot.  Much of the sand has been removed from the beach exposing more rocks, thus when the first baptisms where performed, they walked down to the pool of water formed by the rocks in the ocean, on a sandy beach.  Though the area is more rocky, there is still a special feeling there. 

 

 

 

 

One of our guides, was actually baptized at Baptism Beach in 1988, ten years after the first baptisms in 1978.  They were having a water shortage in Cape Coast, so they used the ocean once more for baptisms.  It is an especially sacred place for him.

I mentioned that May began in Nigeria and ended in Nigeria.  After we returned from Cape Coast, we flew to Nigeria to do some training in the cities of Uyo and Calabar.  There was a little problem with our flight, but  with the Lord's help/hand in our lives, we eventually got where we were supposed to be. 

 

I have mentioned before that the Church takes care of its senior missionaries.  One of the nicest hotels we stay in is called "The Meridian Hotel" and it is located on the outskirts of the city of Uyo, Nigeria.  Thought I would give you a couple of pictures to get those of you who are planning on a mission, desirous to request Africa; and those Not planning to serve a mission....anxious to go. 



 

 

 I wanted to end with a picture of one of the reasons we have been called to serve a mission in Africa.  It is a picture of the young single adults in the Calabar 3rd Ward where we attended church the Sunday we were in Calabar.  The church, and thus the Lord, is very concerned with this particular age group and thus they send missionaries from the other side of the globe to train in programs to help, support, and strengthen them.  They are the future of the church, they are "the hope of Israel" in Africa.  And...of what we have seen of the young single adults here, the church in West Africa will be in great hands!