Week of 20251026 - Ghana Week 85: Taught Sunday School; Labeled Bikes; Sifted Medical Supplies; Got Apartment Feedback; Briefed Zone Conference; Becky Kay; Campbells Overnight; Apewoski; No Halloween
= Sunday, I was tapped to lead the Sunday School lesson. I had studied the material but had not considered how I might teach it. I did OK.
= Monday, I made and applied laminated, numbered labels to bicycles. Steph sifted accumulated medical supplies. I prepared slides for the coming zone conference.
= Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, about a third of the mission attended Zone conference each day. The locations varied: Yamoransa; Ola; Assin Fosu.
= Zone leaders presented goals, results, and future plans.
= The mental health doctor for Africa West Area gave a lengthy but varied presentation that included songs, physical props, and participants from the group.
= Some companionships presented instruction on aspects of sharing the gospel. One surprise: If it costs more than 5 cedis {50 cents U.S.} for a person to get to church, it will be very difficult for that person to attend regularly!
= I spoke on what I called mission mindfulness: aspects of dealing with apartments, bicycles, clothing, smoke detectors, English [a new language for many], food, group activities, health, being safe and secure, and Twi. Steph focused on what missionaries should eat and on using common sense to evaluate where to eat safely.
= Sister Dimmick briefed an issue with missionary tag replacement and a reminder of whose names are on the tag. Elder Dimmick discussed financial nuances, including a problem with seeing electric bills for some apartments.
= Elder Campbell gave a presentation on doing things for the right reasons and a reminder that mission rules help you be more effective. Sister Campbell reminded us that we have the responsibility and authority to do for others what the Savior wants done. With twine, they illustrated the power of unity.
= Departing missionaries bore their testimonies.
= The Tachie-Mensons discussed obedience and encouraged us to seek learning.
= Differences. Tuesday night, we ate with the Campbells and Dimmicks at Becky Kay: nice. The Campbells stayed overnight with us. Wednesday, I made the mistake of driving to an apartment in Apewoski village instead of walking there from the main road; backing out while surrounded by children was harrowing. Thursday, we were late arriving because we went to the wrong chapel.
= Friday, I went to the office and dealt with vehicle roadworthiness and bicycles. Home, I dealt with apartment issues, then bought KFC. We watched Star Trek - Next Generation. We relaxed.
= Saturday, I realized that Halloween had come and gone; it's not celebrated here. I dealt with bicycles and apartment issues. I fought to fill in journal gaps.
After church
Zechariah 4:6, in part - Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
Heading north right next to Pedu Junction is usually a choke point, but it's deserted at the moment
[I have no idea what this means.]
Perhaps a foul shot
Football {soccer}
Not unusual to see men dressed in white
Where will he drive? Wherever he wants.
Football
Setting up for a funeral?
A big funeral
New roof on old building; I think it was roofless when we arrived, but I can't find a photo to prove it.
Items for sale when they reach the main road. This is next to where we park for church.
To church
These kids were ready immediately.
..
Here come the rest..
..
..
..
..
..
Children in a tree
Ready to connect and load
Carrying
The Lord is my Shepherd
Mausoleum and graves
Graves
I wonder what this business will do?
Here comes the jungle [grin]
Football
Spectators
..
Building a scoreboard?
To funeral?
I have no idea.
To town
Taking care of business
Carrying..
Anniversary Speech and Prize-Giving Day
Progress on the building across from the Audit center near our house
Attempted oatmeal, but the oats were ground so finely that it was gross.
Potatoes, corn, green beans, and I'm not sure what else.
The Office Elders took the men's room sign to a new level: they photoshopped Elder Dimmick and me into perceived roles [GRIN].
How do I look? ;)
Steph with her medicine bag
(You're don't have 200 young adults to worry about; Steph does.)
Mission satellite phone; new SIM card; didn't work.
(We eventually sent it to Area to resolve this, and it came back OK. The satellite phone lets the mission reach out if cell phone towers go out of service.)
What started as just a grill on the corner is getting better-established.
I hope they're just sheared, not skin and bones.
..
We had to run out briefly. One headlight is usually off.
Zone conference; opening hymn: We'll Bring the World His Truth
Recitation that includes: "The standard of truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing..."
Here are goals and actuals for Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders for this Zone
Here are finding sources that led to people joining the church in this Zone. Note that as many people sought out the church on their own as were contacted door-to-door. (This varies by zone.)
These leaders share what they have learned and what they will do with that knowledge going forward.
Then they respond to questions from the group.
This activity reminds me of a Masters class I took where teams defended solutions to Harvard business cases.
Here are this Zone's leaders.
(This pattern is repeated for each zone.)
Here are the goals and actuals for the mission leadership council and the mission as a whole.
[I've copied this from Wednesday's presentation for clarity.]
Presented by the Assistants to the President
Here are finding sources mission-wide that led to people joining the church: Home to Home; Contacting in Public; Sought out the Church; Member Referral; Person being taught; Media; SIS [Succeed in School]/Institute
The most-fruitful source is member referrals.
Here is monthly progress for the mission as a whole. This is the first full year after Takoradi and points west were removed from this mission. [Copied from Wednesday for clarity.]
August 2025: 161 converts
September 2025: 112 converts
The blue bars show the Mission Leadership Council's activity.
The important thing is to help these new converts remain strong: a job mostly for existing members.
The West Africa Area Mental Health Advisor, Elder Ryan Hulbert, gave a interactive presentation.
Stress levels - Green: none to minimal; Yellow: mild; Orange: moderate, contact your mission president if at this level for more than three days; Red: severe, contact your mission president now
[The context comes from Adjusting to Missionary Life.]
A narrowed focus can keep you from seeing your whole companion.
You need to step back to get the whole picture.
Elder Hulbert wrote poems; his daughter used AI to set them to music, with vocals! Here's one.
This one ends: So, when thoughts are dark and moods are low, remember such thoughts are from below. When thoughts are calm and full of love, those thoughts are coming from above.
..
Rumble strips on each side warn us that we are focusing too much on a rocky past or an uncertain future, straying from the present highway of reality.
Sister Hulbert bore testimony.
Sister Training Leaders from Moree presented on asking inspired questions.
Zone Leaders from Denkyra (Elders Huff and Sinkala) presented on Mission Leadership
..
One of the handbook insights presented by the Assistants to the President
Birthday chocolate
Clean apartment awards (banana bread)
God First: a new food joint that has opened up across from the Yamoransa chapel
Positioning herself to sanitize hands before lunch
These Elders are reviewing phone usage for time spent on various apps. Too much time spent on distractions signals a problem. Each companionship turns in its phone for review at each conference. In between conferences, companions and Zone Leaders do reviews, first to create a teachable moment. If phone misuse continues, the phone is taken for a while.
When staying in one place to sanitize hands doesn't work, Steph will seek people out.
No, it's not window cleaner; even though it comes in that kind of bottle and looks like window cleaner.
I rapidly briefed these topics; I've only included a couple of slides here.
I warned them not to step on toilet tank lids; one disintegrated under me.
And the ever-popular phone-on-a-stick trick. If it's small enough to fit through the burglar bars, it can be taken. [We provide oversized boxes to charge phones in overnight.]
Steph focused on what missionaries should eat and on using common sense to evaluate where to eat safely.
Sister Dimmick briefed an issue with missionary tag replacement and a reminder of whose names are on the tag.
[The Savior; you; your family name; the church]
Elder Dimmick, briefing ATM, imprest, and utility nuances.
[Missionaries (and their families) contribute the average worldwide mission cost so the missionary can be sent anywhere; then missionaries pay for food and incidentals from a card that's loaded for the specific mission. Travel expenses for the teaching area and imprest for District and Zone Leaders to assist with unplanned expenses are also loaded on the card.]
If the ATM won't give you what you have been allocated; see your Zone Leader for the rest. Because of bank fees per transaction, it's cheaper for the mission if only Zone Leaders pull multiple times and split the difference across multiple people.
Elder Dimmick can put funds on pre-paid electric meters remotely, but he needs missionaries to send him the reading on their pre-paid electric meters every two weeks so he'll know when to send money and how much. (The electric company's website won't associate as many meters as we have with a single SIM card. When Area sends another SIM card, this problem with be resolved.)
He closed his briefing with the words to Dare to Do Right.
Elder Campbell gave a presentation on doing things for the right reasons and a reminder that mission rules help you be more effective.
Cutting the string on a kite; an unrestrained kite falls.
..
Sister Campbell reminded us that we have the responsibility and authority to do for others what the Savior wants done. She recited the following statement of Elder Bruce R McConkie to missionaries when he served as a mission president in Australia. For clarity, I've extracted the text instead of posting an image of their slide..
The Campbells handed out small cords. When the strands of this cord are united, the cord is strong.
When they are not, not so much.
Doxy, Dewormer, Malafan, Candy!
The Dimmicks, with President as photographer
Missionaries spilling out onto the lawn. The table has ties to purchase.
A commercial refrigerator for beverages
Two ladies riding sidesaddle, facing opposite sides of the motorbike
Mirrors; the frame colors seem standard.
Becky Kay. We ate upstairs.
Upstairs, you sit on padded couches.
Best burger the recipient has tasted in Ghana
I noticed the smiley face.
As usual, the driver-side headlamp is out.
The Campbells spent the night with us.
Sister Campbell tried out our folding keyboard.
Elder Campbell looked at the silver flute.
People of Cape Coast celebrated (and still celebrate) the beginning of a new year at the beginning of September with processions and rituals. [This sign was still up in October.]
These metal frame buildings within sight of KFC look suspiciously like a car dealership.
Wednesday, conference was held in the High Council room of the Ola chapel.
"... When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates."
[President Monson]
Sister Training Leaders and Zone Leaders reporting
[The man in the middle is an Assistant to the President, also looking at the screen.]
Sister Hulbert, watching her husband present.
Elder Hulbert, showing how broadening your focus from self to others helps you deal with various sources of stress in your mission.
When we are heavy hearted, we perceive less of the truth and make poorer decisions.
One of the poems Elder Hulbert created and for which a daughter used AI to set it to music with vocals.
[Fall back on what you know and build from there.]
Less pressure, less stress
More pressure, more stress
..
This time, just the English version of this poem
More poetry
More poetry. Stanzas end with -
If not us, who then? If not now, when?
Their presentation was on asking inspired questions and on the importance of listening. Elder Mayo was wrestling with the projector to show their slides.
Listening
President Tachie-Menson, chiming in
You can help, but ultimately, people have to act to find answers for themselves.
These two also presented, but their topic is lost to history.
Zone leaders, announcing awards of banana bread for the cleanest apartment in their zone
Running up the stairs to the High Council Room where the conference takes place
Phone audit
Look closely; I included the photo-shopped image of me that the Office Elders had placed on the men's room door.
[Consider what and where you eat.]
If the vendor finishes diapering a baby and then handles the food, go somewhere else.
You don't want to feel like this.
If the vendor scratches her butt and then handles the food, don't go there.
Elder Dimmick
The Campbells briefed that you can learn the steps, but to do the dance, you have to hear the music. Don't just go through the motions. Love is central to what we do.
His Glory Cold Store
Nyansaboakwa Nyame Kokaama {The All-knowing God} Enterprise
Unusually short, and laying on its side, also unusual. The protrusion is where the outboard motor goes.
More typical
Cement water tower
Steph, positioning herself to help me back out of a crowded set of turns at Apewoski village
Progress on the building across from the audit agency on our "road"
..
One-eyed truck
Carrying cooking oil
I'm going 80km (50 mph). In the distance, I see these and wonder whether they'll all take one side, cross the road, split, etc.
We're headed north to Assin Fosu for the third conference split.
He's served 25 years as the paramount chief of the Asebu traditional area.
The backpack will be replaced with a baby when she grows up. This is an echo through time.
Ghanaians take the idea of a wide load to a greater level.
Awkward to pass in light rain, and he's dropping dirt (not visible in this photo). And of course people are using the shoulder.
Definitely counter-culture, his sign means {My Enemy Is God} Auto Engineering
Notice the oncoming truck
And sedan, and a long string of vehicles behind them
God Never Fail Enterprise
Continuing to our destination
I can't tell what this is.
Tongue-twister, until you get used to it
$1.25 per liter of diesel on 30 October: $4.73 per gallon
Unlike the usual Adrinka symbol for sword of war, these items, which look like clubs to me, are curled inward instead of outward.
This is just a regular apartment building with decoration.
Nyame Ahyira So {God Bless It} Cold Store
Notice a dad with kids.
We see sample furniture in our travels, but usually you would go to a vendor, provide a deposit, and wait for it to be built for you.
Probably
Odomfo Yesu {Gracious Jesus} Organic Fertilizer
K Foso Hene: Paramount chief {Omanhene} of the Kokofu traditional area
Kae me brɛ {Remember my fatigue} chop bar
Lion of Judah
Wreaths
I fear that her grave got only this sign at 90 years old. It reminds me of the small aluminum signs used for pauper burials in a large cemetery in Tuskegee. After one mowing, the signs get moved and there's no telling where the person was buried. This one looks a little more substantial; time will tell.
This is the direct route from Cape Coast to Assin Fosu. (You could add an hour by going to Twifo Praso and then heading east, but that route isn't much better.)
Galatians 3:7 - Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
I'm always intrigued by the name of this property: The House in the Trees - Guest House
Nice-looking apartment building
Wo dɔme a bra {If you love me, come} Chop Bar
Nyame Na Aye {God Is Good} Enterprise
The Nido ad says: I'm learning to keep asking 'Why Not?' Curious kids will change our world.
I did say this is the direct route from Cape Coast to Assin Fosu.
Yes, we're driving through the hallowed-out portion.
Nyɔnko Pa {A Good Friend} Engineering and Spare Parts
[The wrong location, as it turned out. And since the meeting had just started, we didn't get an immediate reply to our texts for help.]
Chickenman/ Pizzaman/ Pinkberry are catering a funeral.
See the portrait of the person being honored?
The correct destination
We missed individual zone briefings.
President Tachie-Menson helped with the stool.
Representing a completely stressed missionary
This poem ends... the present is the portal to eternity.
There was a presentation on asking inspired questions and listening.
They asked for comments. Here's Elder Campbell.
Dramatizing how bad you can feel
You will feel bad if you don't choose food wisely.
You don't want to feel like this.
Picture a vendor diapering a baby and then wanting to hand food to you without washing her hands first. Go elsewhere.
And then it was lunchtime; different from other days where we presented after lunch
Donations (not tithing) started the Perpetual Education Fund (PEF). In specific countries, it provides education loans with little to no interest, a portion as a scholarship, and a discount on the loan. [And help if repayment becomes a burden.]
I saw this flyer reminding students how to use mobile money to make loan payments.
These young Elders share a song.
Testimonies from departing missionaries
Assin Foso Ghana Stake Skills Training Agenda
The Church in Ghana. All of this growth has occurred since 1978, just before I became an Air Force Officer.
As of 2024, more than 113 thousand members
Community Development Network Rachael (CDNRachel) provides access to educational content. It's like WiFi, but just for the content on the server. [The server is in a local "Gathering Place" that helps young single adults and their friends participate in wholesome activities and
experiences that will bring them closer to one another and to God.]
The Ezra Taft Benson Agriculture and Food Scholarship helps members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in financial need obtain higher education or technical training in specific areas of study related to agriculture. Appropriate areas of study include (but are not limited to) agronomy, horticulture, animal science, and nutrition.
When I served in a church cannery as a cannery operator and FDA-certified canning inspector, I used to send samples to the Ezra Taft Benson Agriculture and Food Institute as a check on our quality and if something went wrong (such as a temporary drop in power) could reach out to a process authority there for an alternate procedure.
Links to other topics were posted here.
Members take turns cleaning the building.
Many of our meetinghouses serve more than one congregation. Notice the times overlap a bit. That works because each group starts in the chapel and then moves to classrooms for the second hour.
Steph, waiting for customers. She is displaying dewormer (taken every few months), doxycycline (taken daily), and personal bug spray,
Sister Chakomoka wanted a photo with Steph.
[Maps say Foso; descriptions say Fosu.]
This tie vendor found refuge from rain under an overhang; Steph and Sister Campbell are visiting her.
Nyame Na Ayɛ {God has done it}
Often, you can't dodge the potholes.
Ɔtan nni futuro {Hatred has no future}
Peace and Joy Chop Bar and Restaurant
Disabled vehicle ahead; see the plants laying on the road?
Amos 5:18 - Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
For context, see Amos 5:12 - For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.
[Most technology is here. Availability is a matter of affordability]
This new lock froze; we almost didn't get into our compound. We replaced it with an old lock. [Downside: it had fewer keys.]
A missionary was locked out and threw a rock to get someone's attention. (Ouch!) I taped the glass at their apartment until it could be replaced.
Heading back home at 1100. The building in the distance is the one being built across from the Audit building.
Back on N1 past 6, to pick up KFC. I had fallen asleep and so started late for this. We avoid night driving here when we can.
As often happens, only one headlight was working.
Star Trek - Next Generation
If you think of Dr. Soong as Data's father, then this is his mother.
Activity
Here are this Zone's leaders.
..
No comments:
Post a Comment