We had a very exciting and inspirational time since our last post. We were able to attend our first endowment session in the Accra Temple. (I can't take credit for this beautiful photo though.) It is such a beautiful temple. The stained glass has purples, blues, greens, golds, yellows and browns in African geometric patterns. Spectacular! We took Elders Makendangwe and Imende down for a temple session and interviews with President Judd. We asked President Judd if he wanted to interview us too, and he said no, I'll wait until I have a longer time. Don't know what to think of that. When we were sitting in the celestial room, Elder Makandangwe came in with a big smile on his face. Then Elder Imende came in with an even bigger smile. It made us so very grateful that the full blessings of the gospel and temple are now available to every worthy member. To top it off, we had a nice visit with the Temple President and Matron. They are from Chicago and love it here just as we do. Because the temple district includes Cote D'Ivoire and Togo, they have to know French because that's the language of those two countries bordering Ghana.
Baptism of Shepard.
Shepard is a young woman age 15 who joined the church. In this photo is Elder Anderson, Gabriel, Shepard's father, Shepard in the center, Patience, her aunt who introduced her to the gospel and Elder Gagnon. The 2 Elders are the ones who taught her. Jessie and I have been helping teach her father and step-mother Fostina. Hopefully one day they will follow their daughter and enter the waters of baptism. When I interview the young people here for baptism I am pleased with their knowledge of the gospel and how well they have been taught by the missionaries.
MAMA ELIZE
of the Drifting Angels Orphanage.
We went to Tsito to visit the Drifting Angels Orphanage. We want to do a service project there with the Young Single Adults and we went to see what their needs are. In retrospect, what don't they need. This beautiful woman, Mama Elize, and her husband have been running this orphanage for about 10 years on their own. There are 142 children being helped here, ranging from ages 3 months to 20 years. They come from all different walks of life, some are brought because the parents can't take care of them anymore, or they are incapable of caring for them.
Some of the children. These boys really got tickled when I talked to them like Donald Duck. It's funny to see their faces at first. It's like, did I really hear what I just heard. Then they start to laugh and try to do it themselves. It's really fun to do.
The orphanage grows most of it's own food with the help of the children. These boys are sorting and cleaning the dried bean pods. The farm here has been given the award for the best farming in the Ho region. twice. We were shown what they do and it is really wonderful how much they produce and how they get the children to assist. Their schedule starts at 4:30 am with a devotional and prayers. Then those 6 and older go to school, while the rest are taught in house. They are trying very hard to make them contributing members of the society and are doing a great job.
The two Elders helping the boys shell the beans. Well, at least one Elder is helping. They put them in the bag, then they beat it with the club Elder Makendangwe is holding.
The beautiful setting the orphanage is in. But the road to get there in horrendous. We had to use four wheel drive a few times, and it wasn't even raining.
Beautiful Mama Elize and beautiful Sister Lyon
Sister Ansah (though she's not a member). She is 97 years young.
We are trying to get a group started in Tsito. They are part of the Ho branch, but it takes a half hour or so by taxi or tro-tro to get there. Some of the members come, but others can't afford the fares to go to church and back, so we are trying to get the church to come to them. We have been meeting with them and hoping we can get enough to come. Just like in Alma 32, we have planted the seed, now we need to nourish it and help it grow. We have been teaching them about faith, sacrifice and the blessings that come from obedience. We are hoping they can spread the gospel to their friends and family. There used to be a branch and missionaries in Tsito, but they were taken out and we hope to get them back.
This is the sky we saw when we were starting to teach. Most of the time, it's to overcast to have good sunsets, let alone the great one's in Arizona. We miss the sunsets there.
Sorry, just can't resist pictures of the little children. We could take them all day. This little girl is quite unusual because she has long hair. All the others we have seen, both boys and girls have close cropped hair.
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| What a cute little family. I love how their school uniforms are so big on them. There were several people watching us as we took their photo to make sure we meant them no harm. Loved that. |
. THE END OF ANOTHER GORGEOUS TIME IN GHANA.
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