= Sunday, we attended a district conference in Praso presided by a general authority: Elder Adeyinka Ojediran, first counselor in the Africa West Area Presidency. He had served as a Bishop nine years, a Stake President nine years, and an Area Authority six years. Thoughts: Your leaders are truly called of God. Pray for them. They are not supermen. They have wives, children, and jobs. Harken to the council they will give you. We do not put new wine in old bottles. You need to become new. It is natural to question our readiness for the path ahead. Turn to the Lord. He promises in Ether 12:27 that his grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before Him.
= As the organist began the run-up to a hymn, the hymn book being used by the person who would lead the congregation in song fell off the stand and off of the stage to the floor below. I sprang to the book (about 30 feet away) and raised it to the person to lead the music. I was half-right: I should have also turned it to the hymn. [sigh]
= On our return to Cape Coast, the Barilleaus drove us to see where the first baptisms were performed in Ghana: a location called Baptism Beach by church historians.
= Monday, I presented a summary of the status of things I was involved with: bicycles, Ghana Card renewal, Driver classes and permit renewals, helping missionaries document their family history, apartment visits, apartment issues, clothing requests, vehicle maintenance, smoke/CO detector checks, and the day of service just completed.
= Yesterday, Mary-Lorraine (our oldest) had reached out, remembering fun life events; I replied with some memories. Today, Michelle (our middle daughter) considered going to college and asked for advice. After emphasizing that college was seldom necessary except for specific jobs, I pushed getting a GED and then going to community college =or= instead of doing those things, going to Pathways Worldwide, a path that leads to online BYU degrees at reduced rates.
= Tuesday, we brought an Elder to a place that does CAT scans. As we pulled up to KFC to feed him and his companion before sending them back to their apartment, we met individuals associated with the church who were helping missions gather and record their annual history. When one of them praised us for coming to Africa as senior missionaries and said that was a hard thing, I immediately blurted, No, it's not hard here, it's easy!! Stephanie chimed in to say that it's not hard for you [Marty], but it may be hard for other people who think of going to Africa.
= Home, I loaded two bicycles from the house next door to the truck, with help from Elders who live there.
= Wednesday, we drove to a missionary house in Elmina, about an hour and a half away. We inspected the house, delivered bicycles, and picked up broken bicycles. At the office, I received a call from Missionary Sisters in Ola that they were unable to lock their front door. The mission facility manager was ill, but it occurred to me to call Francis, the person who had supervised the water repair at our house. He found a locksmith and the lock was replaced. [whew!]
= The Barilleaus had previously shared with us that their supposedly climate-controlled storage wasn’t, that the roof had leaked, and nearly everything had molded and their children were throwing it out for them. Today they pointed out a tender mercy: The mold had skipped their journals from 1986 through leaving on this mission. Those things had been miraculously preserved!
= President Morgan asked us whether we wanted to continue what we're doing or to move to Praso to support the leaders and members in Praso: the sort of thing we had expected to do when we received our mission call. After a good family council and prayer, we concluded that we should remain in our current roles. In addition, when we go on apartment visits, we will go along with missionaries as long as they want that day.
= Thursday, we hunted for missionaries in Esiam, north of Mankessim. They told a member I was looking for them, she found me, and I followed her in a maze between many houses to reach them. (We had only had instructions to the old apartment, not the new one.) We did a visit and I used the GhanaPostGPS app to pin the location.
= At the office, a returned missionary and his parents showed up from the States. They had hoped to meet with the Barilleaus, and they succeeded when the Barilleaus returned from lunch.
= Friday after a short time at the office, we went to Lemon Lounge with the Barilleaus for lunch. We expect there will be a gap between when they leave and when a new office couple arrives; so, we began to speak seriously with the Barileaus about being trained by them so we could temporarily bridge the gap.
= For Date Night, I brought Steph to a mystery location near Pedu Junction: Fema Rest Cafe, which had touted ice cream. Alas, they didn’t have a flavor of ice cream that Steph wanted, and she was full from lunch. So, I had some mint chocolate ice cream as she watched.
= After picking up bread, we watched episodes of The Rookie. The series has its faults, but I like that it doesn’t sugar-coat or come up with pat answers to tough life problems and doesn't revel in vulgar language.
= Saturday, we relaxed. We read the second half of this week’s scriptures out loud while Steph finished her nails. Then we watched a movie with Tom Cruise on Steph’s iPad. I prepped a Sunday School lesson for tomorrow. Steph awoke past 2, turned over, not remembering that her earbuds were hooked to the iPad, and ripped the ear buds away where their cord met the main cord. [sigh]
Panoramas of Baptism Beach at high tide
Nets
Caskets. (Another photo of this facility is elsewhere in this episode; this one shows some of its items more clearly.)
Some caskets under construction, some finished
(faith radio); "Can you imagine"
{Exalted God}
{What God can do}
No comments:
Post a Comment