The Ladner Archives: Week of 20240526 - Ghana Week 11: Twi; Neighbors in Mud

Week of 20240526 - Ghana Week 11: Twi; Neighbors in Mud

= Sunday, we filled the back seat of the truck with Elders from the house next to us and made the slide for life down our "road" to the paved street. At Aponsem Square where we pick up missionaries, we found that both missionaries to Mfuoum had been swapped out. One is a native of Ghana; he quoted Luke 17:11-18 and Mark 2:5-11 in English and gave the balance of his talk in Twi. The other Elder is from the Philippines; he spoke in English of Jesus' sacrifice so we can return to our families and encouraged members to go with the missionaries when they teach.

= After Sacrament, I suggested that we discuss a talk from a recent General Conference, as it is common for men in Elders Quorum and women in Relief Society to do on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. (The Branch had been studying Come, Follow Me every week after Sacrament.) I had suggested it; so, I wound up leading it. A member translated for me. Afterward, the Branch President brought up the subject of temple preparation classes, and Steph and I agreed to present those in June after regular Sunday meetings.

= Steph worked on her planner. I located sources for more Twi definitions and learned how to use shortcut keys in Microsoft Word to readily type them into a Word document. ɛ is unicode 025B, which I mapped to {Ctrl-1}; Ɛ is unicode 0190, mapped to {Ctrl-2}; ɔ is unicode 0254, mapped to {Ctrl-3}; Ͻ is unicode 03FD, mapped to {Ctrl-4}. Yɛyɛ asɛmpakadoɔ yefiri The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. {We are missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.}

= Monday, the pressure of wet mud against the back fence of the mission compound shoved a portion of the fence into the compound. We participated in the Monday planning meeting. Steph had two medical meetings today: one local, one via Zoom.

= We made it home, barely. I grabbed a shovel from the unused guard shack in our compound to try to level dirt into ruts. Steph spoke to neighbors and got a phone number from one of them. Another neighbor came up to me without a word and gently took my shovel to use it alongside me. While he worked, I moved what I could with my feet; my dress shoes will look interesting after two years of this. When we had leveled things somewhat, I took the shovel back and thanked him. He never spoke.

= Tuesday, hoping for the mud to solidify, we worked from home.

= Wednesday, we attended a Zone conference; it included all of the zones closest to us. Home, we listened to Sunday on Monday while we made notes in the corresponding scriptures. I went to the mission Twi guide and assembled phrases from multiple sections of the guide into a testimony I wanted to bear this Sunday in Twi if I could pronounce it fluently enough. Letter combinations are starting to become familiar to me to the extent that I recognized when I was transcribing words incorrectly.

= Thursday, we were supposed to arrange a place to meet Elders who stay there. Instead, as we arrived at the foot of the driveway for the Yamoransa chapel, the Elders were walking down the driveway! God is in the timing. Home, I worked on correcting and posting housing locations to the mission map. I enjoyed Twi/matching game rounds on the phone. Wind, thunder, and rain.

= Friday, Sister Bingham had set a sewing machine in a box on Steph’s chair at the office [big grin]! The Binghams had inherited it with their apartment and were leaving soon. The sewing machines for sale here have a hand crank; it was good to have one with an electric motor.

= We brought a Sister to the doctor. (She had malaria and was placed on IV for a couple of hours.) Early in the evening, we ate at the Barilleaus with the Morgans and Binghams and watched the movie "In My Shoes". It was a DVD that had been in the house when they moved in; they had not seen it. It was good.

= Saturday, Steph started to receive medical texts at 0730. When she got a break, she watched cooking shows in Twi, one of which, McBrown, featured guests who often with the host broke into gospel songs (!), including Precious Jesus, in English. We prepared to deliver a temple preparation lesson, tomorrow. It was uneven; I need to mesh my approach better with Steph’s. I worked on pronouncing my written testimony in Twi and made sure I had extra copies, just in case.

Rain

Family, at eye level

The "road" is lower than the new drainage ditch.

Regular roads aren't in great shape either.

No one wants to walk today. The rain makes this look like a painting by a French artist, but I count at least eight people.

Work continues.

Walking to church

Steph is showing the Elders new to the Mfuoum Branch the apartment that will be rented for them (across the main road from the Branch).

This kitchen will receive screens, burglar bars, drapes, cabinets, and a countertop. Missionaries are looking forward to living close to the Branch instead of finding transportation to go back and forth a half hour each way.

Cattle and at least one bird

A Catholic school in Mpeasem, part of a network of such schools in Ghana.

Abura chapel, on Jukwa Road as you approach Cape Coast from the north

Steph's water bottle shows the depth of the ruts after we somehow made it up the hill.

Corn and broccoli

Too close for comfort; we tried to turn right down the hill instead of turning up the hill and doing a K-turn.

The pressure of mud pushed down a section of the mission home compound wall.

Steph is checking the consistency and depth of our "slide for life". It wasn't easy getting up the slide to the compound this day.

I'm shoving ridges into ruts...

Making progress

Neighbors are headed home; they live uphill from us but have been parking their sedan near the small store; their little car can't handle these ruts. Steph spoke with her and got her phone number.

Without a word, this neighbor comes up to me and gently takes over my shovel. I use my shoes to shove dirt into the ruts.

We get the job done. I take back my shovel, and he wordlessly disappears.

The shoes will need some extra care. [They survived.]

I'm proud of this dish: an Italian bean soup made from mixed beans, shredded carrots, oil, garlic powder, Italian Seasoning, onion powder, and Adobo: pasta e fagioli.

And for supper Steph served had normal fare as well: [chicken] hot dogs and fries. Tasty.

A small group sings a hymn at a training meeting at Zone Conference.

Office Elders review cellphone usage to help missionaries stay focused

As in other countries, wooden poles position forms for the next level. Here, carrying on heads is more typical than carrying things in your arms.

Lanes are optional.

Coming home, the wide rut is where I turn toward the fence to get some traction, then turn madly away from the fence as soon as the left front tire takes hold.

Perhaps someday we'll check this out: air conditioning, and within reach of the house.

Abakrampa Chapel

The tripod is used for weighing.

Shops are everywhere. The trick is figuring out which ones have what you want.

Keeping sun off the baby, not just off of the mother

There's a whole other world out there, just beyond the road.

Speaking of another world, 123 acres of land were set aside - the Asebu Pan-African Village - for individuals who wished to return to Africa after their ancestors were enslaved and taken away. They would pay just the administrative costs to register the land. However, now the right to set aside this land by taking it from existing landowners is in dispute.

Furniture purchase, anyone? (Furniture is often made to order after you sign up to buy it.)

This bump to slow down traffic is lower on this side; so, everyone shares the same half of the road.

Construction project

Recording studio

She takes carrying objects to a whole new level.

And so does this lady.

Plan ahead.

That's what missionaries help you do [grin].

And serve...

Nkanfoa Chapel Aubura. It's almost within sight of the mission compound. No organ, but one sister starts the tune and then another sister leads it from the beginning. When we visited shortly after our arrival in country, the subject after Sacrament was documenting your ancestors.