Week of 20251214 - Ghana Week 92: Talks Understood; Relief Society; Space Limit; Previous Mission Leaders; Future Plans; Zone Conferences for Christmas; Ghana Non-Citizen Card Renewal; Power Drop
= Sunday, I understood most of the church talks today. Then we separated for Elders Quorum (men) and Relief Society (women), as is usual on the second and fourth Sundays but uncommon for this branch. I was asked to review duties of the Melchizedek Priesthood. I was also asked to comment on the situation of a member whose occupation is to tap trees to produce palm wine. (Members agree to not drink alcohol, but the people who use it aren’t members. That’s between him and God.)
= Home, we learned that our problem coming home might be space, not just weight, as we plan to use extra suitcases.
= Monday, I picked and prepared to sing a work by Sally DeFord, who makes Christian music freely available for non-commercial use at defordmusic.com. We had a WhatsApp video call with the Morgans, previous mission leaders. Afterward, we considered what to do when we return to the States. Steph will host a podcast; I might substitute teach.
= Tuesday, there was a special zone conference with zone review and instruction, Christmas scriptures and song and dance, and gift giving after lunch. My favorite instruction was on the use of the Preach My Gospel app (even though we don't have access to it). In the Christmas program, I performed Promised Savior, Promised King. For the gift giving after lunch, missionaries provided a wrapped gift, received a random number, and then were called in numeric sequence to open a gift and decide whether to keep it or wait for a second round.
= Tokens and passport images arrived for tomorrow's Ghana non-citizen card renewal.
= Wednesday, I printed images of passports at the office, then Steph and I supervised the renewal meeting. This time, I brought our portable printer, and that allowed us to handle missing items without having to run back to the office. It went smoothly and was done by 4. Then we hit Sam's Bee Optical Supply, bought bread at Rhabbles, and found and delivered medication to Brafoyaw.
= Thursday, there was a special zone conference for the other half of the mission. The only major difference: we ran the gift giving activity and called up three people at a time, giving each in turn only ten seconds unhindered to pick a gift, at which point the next person could compete without waiting; that sped things up a bit.
= Friday, we worked from home. Michelle, our youngest daughter, said she'll probably study for the GED before heading to college; good decision. I picked up a Big Boss pizza with three varieties, then Steph and I watched Star Trek Voyager until past midnight.
= Saturday, the power dropped. I worked on the blog from the office and learned from one of the Office Elders why they survey missionaries at transfer time regarding apartment needs instead of relying on them to report them when they see the need: because the Office Elders batch purchases for convenience and possible discounts. There's a reason for the rhythm.
= Power returned, but I continued on the blog, stopping to help Assistants to the President.
= At midnight, I spotted emails from USAA asking me to call the fraud department. It took a bit of loud talking and patience with the WiFi Softphone app on my Wal-Mart phone, but I got the card turned back on; USAA had blocked our Microsoft Office 365 automatic renewal.
The fence around the Abura chapel is mosaic for durability and looks.
Aseda nka ewuradze {Thanks be to the Lord} Hotel
No one wants to wait for this truck.
Sunday morning football {Soccer}
Construction is contemplated next to the school in Jukwa.
The house where we worship in Mfuom
Up the incline to the truck
The community had this private place to change, and a toilet. It's locked now; I don't know what precipitated that.
This was occupied until recently. Then locked. Now torn open and some of its poles repurposed elsewhere.
I still say funeral; it's a week too early for the next Muslim observance.
This small patch of corn looks good for now.
Myame Ne Hene {God and King}
Jemima Elizabeth Taylor Memorial School
The facilities of Jemima Elizabeth Taylor Memorial School (across from University Cape Coast) are apparently being used for this school now. I think the previous school went through junior high and this change goes beyond simply rebranding.
The vehicle on the left has to pass two vehicles to get back to the right lane. But there's oncoming traffic.
Worshippers at the big church at the corner of our "road" met outdoors.
And the effort to do that has not been trivial.
Fried egg sandwich with Adobo, sweet chili sauce, and apparently a pinch of pepper powder (common here)
Making a list, checking it twice..
well, considerably more than twice
Mincemeat {ground beef} purchased frozen months ago
Cabbage, split now to two pans; it won't fit in one
Cooked down, it fits in one pan to finish
Rice added the following night for another round
Someone's future dinner, tied, water provided; the bird waits for bugs to get stirred up
Almost at the Abura chapel
Special zone conference, two sessions instead of three
The Dimmicks provided envelopes and empty gift bags at the door.
Steph was available for encouraging words and consultation.
Tuna rolls, I think. Very nice.
An Assistant to the President quickly briefed overview statistics. Detailed ones are shared in Mission Leadership Council.
Goals and Actuals for the Mission Leadership Council members and for the mission as a whole
Finding sources that resulted in baptism
Baptisms by month for the MLC and mission
The Preach My Gospel (PMG) App helps missionaries organize their work
The beginning of this excellent presentation opened as a joke: “This will take about two hours” “We have 97 slides to go through” “Someone please read this screen” [completely full of text]. “No, don’t read that, we’re only joking.” “Just Kidding”. The jokes made the real overview (six items) tiny by comparison. The relief we felt may have been the reason for the jokes.
It's important on the first contact to learn the person's phone number and where that person lives, if you can. That lets someone else follow up if you don't get the opportunity.
Set goals for key indicators. Results depend on the agency of others, but if you don't try, nothing happens. If an activity is possible, zero is not a useful goal.
I liked the distinction between the level of weekly planning (what days you’ll meet with someone) and daily planning (what content you’ll concentrate on).
Track commitments. “When you teach people to keep commitments, you are teaching them to keep covenants. Making and keeping covenants is an essential part of the gospel of Jesus Christ and God’s plan for his children.”
There are many fields available to fill in for a baptismal record, but only a few are mandatory for baptism; the others (such as for family history) can be added later by the clerk. It occurred to me that the system obeys the law of witnesses: the clerk can’t create a membership record for a convert by himself, and neither can the missionary.
Departing missionaries bore their testimony.
Getting everyone to fit was not easy.
(These are not the "final" photos, or we would be in them [grin].)
Sanitizing hands before snack time. No, it's not Windex.
A program focusing on the Savior's birth
Luke 1:38 - And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her
Scripture readings
..
Performances
President Tachie-Menson
The Dimmicks, distributing more gifts
Missionaries bringing gifts for the gift exchange game
This hall is decked with pizza and fancy non-alcoholic drinks..
Elders came up by zone to receive white shirts. (Sisters received funds to buy a dress or have one made.)
Osahene Cristo {Commander Christ}
At the Ola chapel, preparing for the team from Accra to renew Ghana non-citizen cards
The annex at Ola is reaching final form.
I held the paper while printing so the breeze wouldn't blow it forward.
(I had mis-printed some items; having our portable printer with us let us recover readily.)
Loading a net onto an aboboyaa
8 cedis from the fish statue (Bakaano Roundabout) to Elmina, a 15-minute ride. (About 75 cents at the end of 2025.)
Students clearing the ground with cutlasses
Ɛna Pa Yɛ -> Ɛna Pa Yɛwɔ {We Have a Good Mother}
Thinking of a friend, a diesel mechanic
The aboboyaa driver agreed to take him as a passenger.
I had not noticed this kitchen before. Oguaa is the traditional name of Cape Coast.
Pizzaman/ Chickenman/ Pinkberry, across from University Cape Coast and next to a high school
The traffic from the university can be a little heavy.
Ɔkyeso Nyame {Provident God}
Not by might
Zechariah 4:6 - Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
Steph is getting the bread this time.
Asking whether I want one loaf or two. I responded with thumb and forefinger, which for me meant two but which looked like an "L" shape. Confusion.
Slim lumber
Returning carefully from the pharmacy across from Rhabbles
"Speed Limit"..
A closer view
Some don't wait when traffic slows.
That jogger moved quickly.
Saying goodbye to a cleaning implement we brought from the States. I used it to help get a can open: bad decision. Even damaged by me, it has served us well for years.
Special function at the Audit agency
When it says "long vehicle" on the bumper, it's not kidding.
Paapa Yesu {Father Jesus}
Breakfast for the other half of the mission, in the second round of Special Zone Conference approaching Christmas
Collecting phones for audit
Same slides as on Tuesday, perhaps a little clearer here
(followed by the same Preach My Gospel App briefing, skipped here)
President and Sister Tachie-Menson took a photo of each companionship at each conference.
Performance
Sanitizing, more organized this time
Briefing a revised procedure: come up three at a time. The first in the group gets a count of ten to pick a gift, then the next in the group gets to pick even if the first hasn't finished looking yet.
(These changes add some urgency.)
(If I had to design a successor to this, I would have the participants bring a gift for their own gender and label the gifts that way. Too many guys got perfume and stuffed animals.)
Of course, just having Steph in the room is exciting.
for Doctors in Service (DIS) Clinic
God is love
Approaching Pedu Junction
Traffic is backed up all the way to Adisadel College from the reinforced traffic humps near our turn.
Are you going to leave that bundle sticking up?
Two super packs of Indomie ramen; a ¼ can of fake spam, four eggs, pineapple jelly, Adobo, and the oil packets from the Indomie.
Traffic to return from Pizza Hut was going to be a problem; so, I resolved to take the back way going home instead of trying to break into traffic.
While waiting, I noticed a tilted cargo container across the side road from Pizza Hut.
The entrance to the side is so tight now that I went up to the teaching hospital and turned around so I could approach this from the far lane to have more room for the turn.
The little store, when it's manned, is where I purchase data for the WiFi router.
A road depression that neighbors have packed trash into in an attempt to fill it.
No, don't go up the hill. Follow the road to the right.
Digging into the Christmas gift basket
Missionaries heading for the paved road to catch a KK or taxi to their teaching area, a distance from here
No power at home this morning, I brought our laptops to the office to use the Internet and back them up. The power at home was back by lunchtime, but I stayed there, working on the blog and interacting with Office Elders and Assistants to the President, until mid-afternoon.
Cattle at the entrance to our "road"
Activity
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