Week of 20240407 - Ghana Week 4: General Conference; Power; Departures; Arrivals; Transfers

Week of 20240407 - Ghana Week 4: General Conference; Power; Departures; Arrivals; Transfers

= Sunday, there were no regular meetings. I worked on the journal. Steph did a good job cutting my hair with little (4-inch) scissors. We fixed rice and brought it to the Morgans. With the Barilleaus, assistants to the President, and office elders, we watched the Sunday morning session of General Conference at the Morgans at 4 PM, ate, and watched the Sunday afternoon session at 8 PM.
= In between sessions, we saw a bit of the church's World Report. The church spent 1.36 billion dollars on humanitarian aid last year: 4,119 projects, 191 countries. And volunteers contributed 6.2 million hours.
= President Nelson spoke of the conferral of keys to direct God’s work and to seal in heaven what is sealed on earth. We miss going to the temple monthly. The only one in Ghana is too far away for us
to visit frequently.

= Monday at 0820, the power dropped. Since we were headed for the office; we did not try the generator.
= During my separate meeting with President Morgan, we went over a rough schedule for Ghana card renewal and put the next one on the calendar. We also picked a date and set parameters for a temple trip; I'm expected to plan it.
= My debit card worked at an ATM; that's one way I spell relief. However, the power was not on when we got home. When we realized our neighbors had power, I inserted the prepaid power card into the meeting and nothing happened. Having rained, it was cooler than usual; so, we opted not to run the generator. We did without power all night.

= Tuesday, the missionaries from the house next door had a suggestion: try the other meter. Sure enough, there was a slot in what looked like the older meter; that worked.
= With office missionaries, I helped exchange empty five-gallon water jugs for full ones. I drafted instructions for handling a meter out of power and merged them with my earlier instructions for dealing with power loss at our specific compound.

= Wednesday, I rode with Elder Barilleau to the power vendor he uses so I would know how to find it later on. Going to a vendor like this, you can buy a prepaid card or a code to put into the electric meter. If you went to the power company directly, you would receive paperwork to bring to your bank: more steps.
= At the Morgans, we had lunch and supper with the outgoing missionaries and listened to their testimonies. They were listening to each other; each contributed a different aspect of a testimony without being asked to do it that way.
= We discovered that personal bug spray can remove the letters from your missionary badge. It had already ruined one badge before we found the culprit. We listened to the scripture study podcast, Sunday on Monday.

= Thursday. Our electronic devices all say they are rated for 220 volts, and the outlets have many holes so you use them with anything except a polarized plug, but the electric razor's charger may have been overwhelmed by our house current, typically running at almost 240 volts. Plugging the charger into the 110 volt outlet on the back of the refrigerator regulator allowed the razor to charge. [whew]
= We said goodbye to the departing missionaries, then had breakfast with the new ones. After training and lunch, we inventoried their clothing to make sure they were starting with enough and stored clothing they won't use while they're here. We continued to take calls and texts from other missionaries. After dinner, more teaching, and testimonies, we brought a pair of Sister missionaries to our house; they stayed in the guest room.

= Friday was transfer day. We dropped the Sisters off at the Mission Home before 0700. The Elders in our compound joined us at 0800, and we drove them to the Ola chapel, within sight of the ocean if you stood on the roof. We hung out with the other missionaries in the chapel from about 0830 to 1100. New companionships were announced and each companionship learned where it would serve. As each group finished loading luggage, Steph helped Elder and Sister Barilleau hand out food and water to a representative of the group.
= Steph and I lamented the long gap in the information going back to family and friends. We considered sending the journal to everyone and even talked of doing a short video each week. I agreed to determine how far we were from sending the weekly journals up to this point.
= We picked up a meal at me3, a restaurant that caters to foreigners, bought supplies from the store below, and went home. At home, we hooked Steph's laptop to a large monitor that was there, figured out how to use the monitor, and watched episodes of a Chinese crime solver, English subtitles but captivating. We relaxed.

= Saturday. We stayed home. I eventually fixed scrambled egg on toast with jelly. For an early supper, we had leftover rice to which Steph had added pineapple and seasonings and I had added fried canned beef/chicken/turkey. (Foods that would contain pork in the Stakes don't contain it here.)
= I caught up the journal. Some notes to myself didn't make it from paper to computer, but what I intended to share has been recorded and summarized.

There were no meetings Sunday morning. In the afternoon/evening, we watched Sunday sessions of General Conference at the Morgans. The young elders sitting with the Morgans work at the mission office most of each day.

A rare sighting: the peripatic photographer. The photos in the background are the First Presidency of the church and some past presidents of the mission.

It was good to see President Nelson. He'll be 100 in September. and has been in some pain since a fall about a year ago, but he still guides the church well. (When he was a newly called Apostle, he visited our small Branch in Ankara, Turkey, in 1987 or 88.)

I created instructions for starting the generator.

When it got dark, we could tell that our neighbors had power and we did not. We had a pre-paid card to put in the meter, but our power did not come back.

It was a cool night, the coolest in memory; so, Steph fixed a simple meal and we rode it out instead of running the generator.

Which meter would you have used? In the morning, Elders next door found a slot in the left-hand meter, stuck the card in, pushed the button, and we had power.

Steph found, printed, and bound a manual: Keeping Missionaries Healthy in Africa. This is one of many works that she consults in her role as medical coordinator for the mission.

Ramen, corn, and pork

Departing missionaries ate with the Morgans. 

Office Elders joined them; someone just lost at Jenga; zoom to see the collapse. Later in the evening, all bore testimonies.

Transfer day; luggage is queued by Zone.

One room of the Ola Chapel acts as a store to support missionaries with items from church distribution.

Pizza - with corn and chicken

Back to the field, many with new companions

Meal distribution, really! The back was filled with food and water, two meals to a bag. Each group came here to pick up its food for the trip.

The Ola chapel has solar panels to augment its generator.

Me3 chicken wraps so good that we didn't stop to take a photo until they were almost gone.

Prep to make egg sandwiches: put cleaned eggs in one bowl, break them one at a time into the second bowl (just in case; my mother taught me that), dump the second bowl into the third bowl, and repeat until the second bowl has two eggs; swirl, season, and pour into the hot pan. By now, bread has come out of the toaster; spread jam or sweet chili sauce. Flip the fried eggs, finish spreading, and plate the eggs onto the bread. Repeat for the other sandwich. The propane range is so fast that the longest step is waiting for the bread to toast.