= Sunday, Steph had had a rough night, throwing up. We thought we might make the 1130 service at Abura and went back to bed. But she still was in no shape to get moving when that time came around.
= By 4, I had packed two suitcases and two carry-on pieces. Because all lithium ion items had to be carried on, my computer bag included the folding piano and portable printer. Then I made us pancakes, deep-fried fake spam, and eggs for an early supper. I synchronized my Wal-Mart phone; our mission phones will stay with the mission.
= Monday, I awoke at 0630 to find Steph asleep, sharing the couch with an open suitcase and laptop, her legs inside the suitcase, the laptop propped on them, an extension cord run across the room, and medical issues displayed. Hours later, I learned that she had been sitting up to work, then shifted position to wait for a couple of responses and dozed. After we talked, she fell back to sleep while I typed.
= Before noon, the living room air conditioner quit providing cool air. We couldn't move our activities to another room; because, I was using a ladder across the top of two stuffed chairs to help me steady the hand-held luggage scale.
= In the afternoon, we bought bread, visited with a doctor about a missionary, had salad and frozen drinks at Me3, and found a place to park at the post office. Christian works there and knows the office couple who was there when we arrived: the Barilleaus. Mailing, including estimated U.S. duty, cost over four times the value of the fabric, scriptures, and cloth cases in a box he provided.
= By the time this was done, it was too close to 5 to start shipping the sewing machine. So, we left it with him, found cabbage, and went to the office to fill and pick up the medicine bag for zone conferences.
= Home, Steph cut up a cabbage so large that it took two pans to hold it, chopped. Ground beef and cabbage: delicious, with enough left for another day. We watched Don't Miss This (scripture discussion) on the iPad in the bedroom. After, Steph finished medical work and fixed nails. I did the blog and journal. I shut down by 0100.
= Tuesday, we arrived at the Yamoransa chapel at 0900 for a zone conference. Young leaders briefed on setting goals and plans; obedience and agency; and companionship and apartment unity. After buffet lunch, departing missionaries, including us, bore testimonies that included some parting words to the group. Sister and President Tachie-Menson encouraged the group. Steph handed out medicine but had fewer takers than usual.
= After conference, we mailed the sewing machine. Home, Steph used guest and drying room air conditioners to try to make the living room usable by opening internal windows. At 5, the usually reliable phase of power dropped; I ran extension cords to the refrigerator and freezer. We tried to use bluing on white items, but it ruined them. I printed and applied luggage tags.
= Wednesday, conference was at Assin Fosu, two hours away. Different young missionaries briefed the first two topics. Otherwise, this was like the conference at Yamoransa. Afterward, we sought an inhaler for a missionary but struck out.
= Home, our six suitcases were maxed out for weight; we abandoned more items. At 0230, I finished washing towels to be left with the apartment.
= Thursday, conference was at the Abura chapel: same format. This was the location closest to us, but sitting in the back, it was hard to see and hear. We left during the discussion of goals and schedules to pick up medication for the mission but were not gone long. Bakaano Sister Training Leaders posted some things I could read: “Why do we have agency? To choose good. To choose Christ. To choose eternal life again and again.” “Remember, we are always accountable for the choices we make.” “Let us make a resolution to try and do what the Lord has commanded.”
= Afterward, Steph bought nail supplies. President Tachie-Menson invited us and the office staff to an evening meal; I suggested Becky Kay's restaurant. After the meal, we went to the mission home. We expected testimonies; instead, the others each had something nice to say about us! Then we received stoles commemorating our mission and received mission pins that included the mission's motto: We can do hard things cheerfully. Home by 10.
= Friday, we closed the door on the apartment that contained our leftover items, including a stockpile of food. The landlord is taking back the house; so, we couldn't set things up for the next seniors. We've tried to be surrogate parents to hundreds of missionaries, and now we're parting.
= The Dimmicks drove us to Accra. After resting in an apartment on the temple grounds, we ate with them and they dropped us at the airport. (They spent the night and went to the temple the next day before returning to the mission.) Although we were paying for two extra suitcases to distribute the load, we had not weighed our bags properly and some were overweight; porters quickly rearranged our bag contents and kept reweighing them until they passed muster: a great blessing!
= Saturday. We arrived in Amsterdam before 0500. Our carry-on pieces were inspected again. By 0800 Ghana time, we were on a plane to Atlanta. By 7:15 PM Ghana time, we had cleared customs without having to rummage through our checked baggage and were on a tram to the other side of the terminal. We were in the air again after 9:30 PM Ghana time.
= By 10:30 Ghana time, we were in Birmingham, schlepping our carry-ons to the baggage claim. After we retrieved our luggage, I rented a minivan for our six large suitcases. We were loaded by 11:30 Ghana time, 5:30 Alabama time but dark and rainy, on our way to a Birmingham hotel for the night.
These bowls each hold half a salad.
Luke 1:46-47 - And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
No wasted opportunity. My guess is that a goat is being purchased from the truck.
A serious load of greenery
8 cedis (about eighty cents) for a bag containing 30 half-liter sachets of water (if the price on the truck is current)
This is unusual; I would expect Onyim {He knows}, referring to the omniscience of God.
Baptisms by Mission Leadership Council (Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders)
Baptisms by the mission as a whole
How individuals who were baptized were found. The green bar represents member referrals; I can't make out the rest of the slide.
December through December, Mission Leadership Council and the mission as a whole
A pair of zone leaders presented setting goals and making plans
Their closing slide: Remember, obedience and hard work bring blessings and happiness.
I could not follow the presentation of Yamoransa zone Sister Training Leaders; they used small, underlined fonts for most of their slides, and I couldn't hear from the back of the room.
They did provide snippets from a call letter: you will be expected to honor the covenants you have made with Heavenly Father.. and follow the righteous counsel of your mission president.
An Office Elder chimed in.
Companionship and Apartment Unity
(presented by Assistants to the President)
The most important comment (not on a slide): If you have a problem with your companion, the best way to solve it is to talk with your companion, not with others. [Good advice for marriage as well.]
They also spent some time on scheduling your day.
President Tachie-Menson chimed in.
(I confess to being a little distracted; I had not finished planning my final words to this group; I did so by the end of this presentation.)
Zone leaders preparing to announce clean apartment awards
Someone on a nearby hill has re-used a poster for an unknown purpose.
Elder Quicay and President Tachie-Menson preparing for photos
Photos by zone, with some individuals not in the zone looking on. Sister Dimmick is in the foreground.
(The item closest to you is spinach: nice, though a little spicy.)
Pizza was on the tables for missionaries to have a slice while they waited their turn for the buffet.
Testimonies from departing missionaries.
I couldn't take my own photo; so, I took theirs..
She sang sweetly, though I could not hear the words.
When Steph returned from a call, I moved us back one row; the pew we had been sitting on was coming apart.
Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16 - And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
Consultations with the Mission Medical Coordinator
Some leaving in a hired van
Still visiting
Almond and chocolate coating
Organized chaos. The power phase that runs the living room lights dropped. So, curtains are open for light. When I lift a suitcases with the handheld scale, I prop part of the scale handle on a ladder rung so I don't have to hold up the entire weight at chest height myself while I wait for the display to settle down.
Wed/21 Jan
Where else would you wash your taxi?
Near the turn we remember for a missionary apartment
God Never Fail Enterprise
Imagine coming up on that in the dark..
or that
A little like Alabama pines
This not a short cut; this is the main road from the coast to reach a major city.
Ready to ride
Graves parallel to the road
The airbag wasn't enough.
Unusual enclosure for an aboboyaa
Sweeping is usually done with a broom only about a foot long.
Many places people want to see are testaments to cruelty. A sign such as "Welcome to Assin Manso Slave River Site.. Never Again" carries to me an undertone of "welcome to hell". Slaves were washed in the river and then marched miles to the coast to wind up in another continent - if they lived: a stark difference from indigenous slavery, as bad as that was.
Painted vignettes and symbols on the wall of Assin Manso Senior High School..
Perseverance. Success is not an accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love for what you are doing or learning to do.
Carrying a table
Be Wise!!
One person can seem small against this backdrop.
Everyone wants to pass, regardless of a curve or hill.
Yesu adi nkummin {Jesus has triumphed}
Psalms 133:1 [RSV] - "How wonderful it is, how pleasant, for God's people to live together in harmony!"
Afehyiapa oo!! oo!! is for emphasis
This is a greeting used from Christmas through New Year's, close in literal meaning to happy new year {year-meet-good} but often applied specifically to Christmas.
Maybe the engine failed and he slid back?
Nyame Na Ayɛ {God has done it} Enterprise
Koso bɔ mpae {Keep praying}
Goal, Plan, Schedule (GPS), and You
(compared to a driving route)
..
Regular and Preparation Day Schedules. (Missionaries here proselyte three hours on their preparation day; it's not completely free to them.)
Moral Agency and Moral Decisions
Things you've already agreed to do
[One of their slides, re-typed for clarity]
This mission is not about you.
(Elder Bednar, being blunt.)
Who cares what you want?
[The natural man does]
Service, compassion, turn out [outward, not inward], love
The journey from testimony to conversion
Each day, Assistants to the President presented on Companionship and Apartment Unity.
We can forgive
Because we don't have to be the same
A gathering place is a designated location in an existing Church facility where young single adults and their friends can gather for some or all the following:
- Religious education and gospel learning together
- Service and social activities
- Temple and family history activities
- Self-reliance, education opportunities, and support groups
- Missionary and community-outreach activities
- Other Church programs
A building in the far distance, visible from the Assin Fosu Stake Center, is a 24-hour hospital.
President Tachie-Menson organized us for photos by zone.
Steph applied sanitizer to missionaries before lunch.
The tables had pizza, apples, and water; those waiting for their turn at the buffet had those available in the meantime.
Assistants to the President, and Office Elders
I joked that I couldn't take my own photo while bearing my testimony; so I would take theirs.
Obituary notices are on posters instead of in newspapers. They would be a good family history source except that once the posters come down, there's no way to retrieve this information.
Africa West Area Vision 2026
Become a lifelong disciple of Jesus Christ.
- Become more holy.
- Strengthen families and individuals.
- Gather scattered Israel.
People use Assin "Foso" and Assin "Fosu" interchangeably.
Skills training occurs Tuesdays and Thursdays here.
[The distribution center is a store where one can purchase church-related items such as scriptures and garments.]
This building hosts three wards.
Members rotate doing routine building maintenance (worldwide).
Publishing the intent of parties to marry (notice for banns) is required by the government in Ghana. Form E is used "for one person" when the parties go to different church units; each party provides written notice to their own church unit. If they go to the same church, only one notice (via Form F) is required. An announcement is made in English and "vernacular" on three Sundays --
abcma.gov.gh
This leftover notice provides the schedule for a Stake conference.
Members grouped to clean the building
Medicine and consultation
Heading back to Cape Coast
Queen Mother and Chief of Assin Nsuta, but the wrappings are funeral colors: confusing.
Ɔtanfo Nyɛ Nyame {The enemy is not God}
Ɛye Adom {It's Grace}
Fa wo ho adwen {Think about yourself}
Pushing his store behind Cape Coast Castle
The left turn behind the castle to ABSA bank and Melcom
ABSA bank. Shoes for sale on the sidewalk.
I believe in God
King of Glory Electrical Shop
Andy's Trading Enterprise is a good place to shop.
Perhaps two fish dancing
Tupperware is not dead yet.
We won't get to see this building on our "road" completed.
Birthday for Elder Hall (an Assistant to the President)
These were filled, then set aside.
Thursday morning; light patterns
Heading out for almost the last time
Recycling is serious here.
Prisoners
The aboboyaa is passing the truck on the right.
As is the motorcycle
Though in the motorcyclists' case, they were setting up for a right turn.
(Yes, that's Pizza Hut in the background.)
Livingstone. 1 Peter 2:3-7 - 3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
Imagine setting these up each morning and taking them in each night.
Ready to be opened for a drink
Water delivery; this is the dry season.
[Seated in the back, it was tough to see and hear, but a few things from the Bakaano Sister Training Leaders stood out...]
Why do we have agency? To choose good. To choose Christ. To choose eternal life again and again.
Remember, we are always accountable for the choices we make.
Let us make a resolution to try and do what the Lord has commanded.
Assistants to the President..
spoke on companionship and apartment unity.
President Tachie-Menson chimed in. Don’t coast; speak when you have a suggestion. If you focus on weakness, that’s all you will see. If you continue to be distracted in your relationship with your companion, you will find it hard to feel the spirit. When you are married, what will you do? Will you end so much love because you hit somebody? Will you go to your parents to help with your wife? Instead, have a weekly companionship inventory where you lovingly identify things you can work together to improve.
Office Elders brought in more tables for lunch.
Sister Tachie-Menson listened to her husband.
Difference of opinion - tolerate other's view
Pride - don't provoke
Lack of communication - companionship
[and Disobedience - Ephesians 6:6]
Michael (Mission Driver) and President Tachie-Menson positioning the camera for photos
Some others waiting for their turn..
Steph rushed back to be in position to sanitize missionary hands before lunch.
My turn; I got positive feedback
Find joy in the work.
Make and keep memories.
Take time to be present.
The Lord loves effort.
Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16 - And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
Providing Malafan, an alternative to Doxycycline for African missionaries.
We bring a scale: a source of discussion by missionaries.
..
Some switch the device between kilograms and pounds.
This ward chooses to have a different pair of teachers each week for Primary.
Qualified volunteer instructors lead classes at this Gathering Place. [Google it.]
Ɔtanfo nnye Nyame {The enemy is not God}
The mission van passed by while I waited for Steph outside Georgina's Beauty Citadel.
Interesting decorative grass
Imagine unloading this van.
The Tachie-Mensons outside Becky Kay's Restaurant
Not sure what this is now, but there's a lot of it.
My meal is seafood with noodles.
Assistants to the President. Patrons sit on couches upstairs at Becky Kay's.
The Tachie-Mensons and Office Elders are to my right.
This thing needs a Dagwood press.
We bore our testimony to our peers one last time.
[Then instead of bearing their testimonies, they each had something nice to say about us!]
Then we received stoles commemorating our mission and received mission pins that included the mission's motto: We can do hard things cheerfully.
Elder Dimmick topped off the electric meter for the two houses in our compound, and I brought the remote next door for the Elders there to keep up with.
Packed. (Carry-ons other than that red bag are up front.)
The stuffed chairs had suspended a ladder to steady the luggage scale. I moved them back to their usual position, in front of our desks.
The building we've been following the construction of on our "road"
Unusual way to carry a bicycle
The Nkanfoa Ward building, at the last turn for the mission home
Cargo container behind the office
President Tachie-Menson and Elder Kofe, waving good-bye
The Dimmicks drove us to Accra in their truck.
Adinkra symbols; also a stylized boat over the entrance
Mankessim Melcom, as seen through a vendor's stand
Ɔbra yɛ mmbɔ ma {Life is full of misery}
Sister Tachie-Menson called for the login to Steph's mission phone.
Life as usual for many here. The lady in front is carrying firewood for cooking.
When I think of the effort that will be required to turn N1 into a four-lane highway for the width of Ghana, to me it's on a much greater scale than building the Panama Canal.
La Positivite {Positivity}
We've reached the construction spreading from Accra.
There's a chapel in the distance; it might be one of ours.
Construction makes driving more of a free-for-all than usual.
Air conditioning: an oddity for an apartment building
The dust is harder for our eyes to penetrate than it is for the camera. In other words, the driving is *tougher* than it appears in these images.
Goats and workers' backpacks on top; men sitting under the truck below
A hearse not dressed up to double as an ambulance
Building this highway is a big undertaking.
Traffic is often forced away from the highway-to-be.
This was one example of what seemed like a half-mile of onion sellers.
Mystery solved. We've speculated about what the rest of the load might consist of. For this truck, anyway, goats ride above cattle.
Some people set up shops at the edge of the future highway. Motorcyclists use the unfinished highway at some points, with impunity.
Pizzaman/ Chickenman/ Pinkberry [ice cream]
Perpendicular to the highway
Where there's space, someone will use it.
Non-functioning toll booth
[I have no idea what this is about.]
Pedestrian walkway with stairs
Bible Nti {Bible, therefore}
Many ads encourage people to work or study abroad.
We're getting closer to our destination.
Youth discussion on the Bible set that the Church makes available to film makers
We overlooked a large complex. There's a mission training center here.
I'm not sure the rest was successful, but we did our best.
A moment with the Area doctor and hs wife
Time to eat. The menu was similar to the Noble House menu in Takoradi..
But this place had a gong
And a Lazy Susan on the table
It was a longer day for the Dimmicks; they had been driver and navigator.
The porters were a great help! They evened out suitcase contents to get them below the max.
Flying over Lake Volta at night: by surface area, the largest artificial reservoir in the world, completely within Ghana.
I watched Jane, a documentary about Jane Goodall, and partly about her life with Baron Hugo Baron van Lawick, her photographer, who became her husband for a decade.
A chimpanzee, using a tool (a stick he has modified) to get termites from a termite mound.
I had not known about her family life. Their son grew up to be a boat builder.
This is the way most of you remember her. I saw her give a talk at Huntingdon College in Montgomery.
Hugo's dream was to continue wildlife photography.
Her passion was to do a longitudinal study of chimps in one place (and to train others, and to help others understand them).
She consulted her mother.
They divorced but remained friends.
Jane's study of the Gombe chimpanzees continues today. It is the longest continuous study of any animal in their natural habitat in history.
Hugo von Lawick spent the rest of his life on the Serengeti making films. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest wildlife photographers of all time.
Carts for carry-ons: a great blessing. Yes, that monster red bag was one of Steph's carry-ons (holding another carry-on inside).
The gangway looks short but isn't.
This gives a new meaning to double door..
And here's the other side of the door, with no connecting walls on either side! (Maybe the airport was remodeled?)
A quiet passenger shared our space.
Interim destination: Atlanta
Something to do for five minutes
I held Steph's meal until she was ready.
(On one of the legs of our journey, I opened a packet that I had thought would be food; it was a wet wipe.)
Tram under runway at Atlanta
To know this is our gate, you have to read the fine print.
Our turn, Atlanta buildings in the distance
We had brought "crunchburgers" on board.
Guidance to our destination
No mats in the minivan; they said they don't use them. We finished setting a phone to find our hotel by putting the vehicle at the edge of parking nearest the airport building and using the airport's Wi-Fi.
In the tradition of Snoopy's unfinished novels, ours would start: "It was a dark and stormy night."
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