A Thing Called LOVE

Valentine's Day 2013, our second in Ghana has brought us to reflect on some of the things we LOVE.  There is a simplicity to life in Ghana that we have come to take for granted.  We can celebrate holidays in a very simple loving way.  Our children will appreciate that Elder Lyon made heart shaped french toast today and our Valentine's Day Cards were homemade.  

 We LOVE being here, we LOVE the people, we LOVE each other and we LOVE many of the little day to day blessings we encounter and often take for granted in this unique time and place.  We would LOVE to share some of them with you ... The birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees and a thing called LOVE ...

 We are always trying to see the birds we hear singing in the trees each and every day.  Usually we are not able to see them because of the thick foliage they hide in ... but every once in a while we are lucky enough to see one in plain sight.  We LOVED being able to see this Blue Bellied Roller.

 As we stroll along we are delighted with the sight of different flowers in bloom, each season brings new surprises.  When we ask the local people for the names we are told "flowers".  Gotta LOVE it!

 When driving every once in a while we LOVE to be surprised by a tree in full bloom.  This one dressed in red was perfect to share for our Valentine's Day blog.

 The mango tree in blossom ... we LOVE the mangoes, they are delicious and available almost all year round.  The months of September, October and November they are not in season, just long enough for us to really miss them and again taste their sweetness.

 Kente is the national cloth of Ghana.  We LOVE it and are always on the look out for unusual colors and designs.  We LOVE to hear the clicking noise of fast feet and fingers making the cloth.

 We LOVE the children.  They are so happy to be photographed. They LOVE to pose for the camera.

 We LOVE the Elders we serve with.  These two are among our favorite sons away from home.  Elder Anderson from Idaho and Elder Imende from Kenya. Got to LOVE their contagious smiles and LOVE of the gospel.

 The Ghana Accra Temple will for ever be among our most LOVED temples.  And we LOVE the Traveler's Palms that surround the temple grounds.

 One of the greatest blessings we have had here are the experiences of bringing families like this one to the temple to be sealed.  PURE JOY like this fills our HEARTS with LOVE for Ghana.

 Oh the LOVE we felt this last Monday morning when we came to the newly rented building for the Tsito Branch.  We were truly expecting to come and start cleaning it on our own ... to our amazement several of the branch members were already there, doing what we had planned to do and were enjoying a break drinking coconut milk and eating coconut!  By the way, we LOVE fresh coconut too.  They even opened some for us to enjoy before we joined them in cleaning.

 We LOVED having Flat Stanley join us for a few weeks from Frisco, Texas.  We were so glad he came, it helped us see Ghana through new eyes again and learn to LOVE it all over again.

 We LOVE going to a beautiful place, Wli Falls.  We LOVED meeting strangers from Germany, and Japan who enjoyed this as much as we did.

Gotta LOVE the surprises you see when traveling the roads here.  This caught us off guard ... three men on one motorcycle carrying a bicycle.

 LOVE the rain after a long hot day ... and the beautiful reflections on the ground after the storm.

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

By this shall men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

John 13:34-35

 Happy Valentine's Day 2013

Christmas In January?

Christmas in January?  Our children and grandchildren decided not to spend much on themselves for Christmas this year.  Instead they bought clothes, toys, candy, books and other items.  Then shipped them to us so we could share them with the needy families we know.  The families were so excited to receive these gifts and were very grateful.  We're sure our children and their families will be blessed by their generosity.   But the packages didn't arrive until January, which is perfectly fine here because the giving of gifts can happen any time between Christmas and the end of January.

 

FLAT STANLEY

He was visiting us, sent by our grand-daughter Olivia and we just couldn't keep him out of the photos.  What a camera hog.  Here he is with 2 of the packages that were sent.

 The contents of the packages as we get ready to assort them for delivery.  Stanley was amazed by his bounteous goodies.  He then decided it would be much more fun to play Santa Claus instead.

THE ALAMETA FAMILY

 Surprised and excited to see what's inside the box wrapped Ghanaian style.

 Digging in to see what the box contains for them.

 Yay, the dress for Bernice fits.

THE ADEDIA FAMILY

 Next we went to another family where there were plenty children, and adults too.  Lots of joy was brought to both young and old.

 There were coloring books and colored pencils in the box.  They were thrilled to be given just a few pages and a couple of pencils.

 LOOK! I got a car.

 Dressed in their pretty new clothes with papers and pencils in hand.

 We wish to thank you very much for the wonderful gifts.  Patience, a mother of some of the children wanted to know if our children who sent these gifts were coming to see us.  She wanted to thank them personally for the joy they brought to her family.

 All dressed in their brand new clothes as they get ready for church.

THE GAFAH FAMILY

 This is Prince, Foster and Abigale also affectionately know as our "Porch Children".  They come over almost every Sunday afternoon.  We sit with them on our porch where we read, help them with homework and play games.  They are very grateful for the gifts they were given.

 Prince and Foster trying "Pop Rocks" for the first time.  They didn't quite know what to make of them.

ELDER AND SISTER LYON

Sorry, sorry, sorry (must repeat 3 times here) but when we saw the chocolate covered marshmallow Santa Claus's, the mini Hershey bars and the Christmas marshmallow treats, we knew they must have put them in for us.

Those who participated by sending gifts or money to help buy the gifts don't realize how much joy they brought to those that received them.  The people here have so little, so anything they receive is very much appreciated.  They have a custom here when you are given a gift or a person does service for you, they call or visit you the very next day to thank you for your generosity.  We also wish to thank those who sacrificed and were so generous in helping to bring much joy into the lives of so many who have so little.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We are sending out the "Old Year" and ringing in the "New Year" with photos of what we have seen New this Year.  Enjoy seeing something that may be New to you also.

"H" is for Helping Hands as they move their store to some place New.

 "A" is for an artist who Yearly performs in the streets

 "P" is for a New game we taught the Young Single Adults using presents.  It was the right/left game.  There was a story read and every time you heard the word right, you passed your present to the person on the right.  The same when the word left was used.  They loved this New game.

 "P" is for a parade of school children as they begin the New Year in School.

 "Y" is for Yayra (in blue) with her family, a Newly baptized member of the Ho Branch.

HAPPY

 "N" is for the New flowers we saw on our morning walk.  We had never seen these before this Year and we walk by the place frequently. 

 "E" is for the evening sun.  Every evening during Harmatan we see a New sky.

 "W" is for the Western Green Mamba we saw on our way to Wli Falls.  This is a New one for us this Year.

NEW

 "Y" is for Yvonne the New little girl.

 "E" is for elegant, the way this woman looks who is New to our branch.

 "A" is for apparel.  The New apparel that Raymond, his wife Veronica and their son Benjamin are wearing.  Their New clothes were made by Veronica.

"R" is for the New red trees that are flowering in the forest.

YEAR

 

These are some of the New things we have seen this Year.  Hope you and yours have a HAPPY NEW YEAR.   Or as they say here, "Happy New Year, Many Happy Returns and May You Have A Prosperous Year".

12 Days Of Christmas, Ghana Style

One of the traditions this time of year is to sing the 12 days of Christmas.  So we would like to present to you our own 12 Days of Christmas, Ghana Style.   Have fun singing along to our version.

ON THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME:

 

A Village Weaver In A Palm Tree

ON THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: 

Elder And Sister Lyon

And A Village Weaver In A Palm Tree

ON THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME:

Three Eating Fufu

Elder And Sister Lyon

And A Village Weaver In A Palm Tree

ON THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME: 

 Four Cows To Market

Three Eating Fufu

Elder And Sister Lyon

And A Village Weaver In A Palm Tree

  

 ON THE FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME:

 

Five Pretty Ghanaian Women

Four Cows To Market

Three Eating Fufu

Elder And Sister Lyon

And A Village Weaver In A Palm Tree 

ON THE SIXTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME:

Six Togo Dancers 

Five Pretty Ghanaian Women

Four Cows To Market

Three Eating Fufu

Elder And Sister Lyon

And A Village Weaver In A Palm Tree

ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME:

Seven Faithful Elders

Six Togo Dancers

Five Pretty Ghanaian Women

Four Cows To Market

Three Eating Fufu

Elder And Sister Lyon

And A Village Weaver In A Palm Tree

  ON THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME:

Eight Crocs A Sunning

Seven Faithful Elders

Six Togo Dancers

Five Pretty Ghanaian Women

Four Cows To Market

Three Eating Fufu

Elder And Sister Lyon

And A Village Weaver In A Palm Tree

ON THE NINTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME:

Nine Giant Yams

Eight Crocs A Sunning

Seven Faithful Elders 

Six Togo Dancers

Five Pretty Ghanaian Women

Four Cows To Market

Three Eating Fufu

Elder And Sister Lyon

And A Village Weaver In A Palm Tree   

 

ON THE TENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME:

 Ten School Students

Nine Giant Yams

Eight Crocs A Sunning

Seven Faithful Elders

Six Togo Dancers

Five Pretty Ghanaian Women

Four Cows To Market

Three Eating Fufu

Elder And Sister Lyon

And A Village Weaver In A Palm Tree

ON THE ELEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME:

 Eleven Ships A Sailing

Ten School Students

Nine Giant Yams

Eight Crocs A Sunning

Seven Faithful Elders

Six Togo Dancers

Five Pretty Ghanaian Women

Four Cows To Market

Three Eating Fufu

Elder And Sister Lyon

And A Village Weaver In A Palm Tree   

ON THE TWELFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME:

Twelve Clapping Children

Eleven Ships A Sailing

Ten School Students

Nine Giant Yams

Eight Crocs A Sunning

Seven Faithful Elders

Six Togo Dancers

Five Pretty Ghanaian Women

Four Cows To Market

Three Eating Fufu

Elder And Sister Lyon

And A Village Weaver In A Palm Treeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  

Have A Very Merry Christmas 

And A Happy New Year!

The African Tree Of Life

Missionary tradition often includes the designing of a Zone T-Shirt.  When Elder Lyon was asked to help with a design for our zone, "The Koforidua Zone" he immediately thought of the "African Tree of Life", The Baobab Tree.  We love picking this tree out in the beautiful green landscape as we drive to and fro on our travels through Ghana.  Some of the Elders wondered why the tree, so he wrote a great explanation of his design.

The Design 

 The Meaning

The Tree...For the tree I used the Baobab (pronounced bow-bow) Tree; also called "The African Tree of Life".  It is called that because it provides shelter, food and water for animals and humans.  This tree represents our "Tree of Life" as seen by prophets in visions.  The tree provides water.  Christ said "I am the living waters".  Isaiah 61:3 says ... "That they (missionaries) might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified".

The Fruit...The fruit of the Baobab tree is edible and can be used to make various dishes including a bread.  In John 6:35 Jesus said "I am the bread of life".  The fruit also shows the low-hanging as well as the high-hanging investigators the missionaries find.

The Sun...The sun is shining through the tree.  Plants need sunshine to nourish them and help them grow.  The sun also represents the light of Christ and how it can permeate through each one of us and help our testimonies grow. 

The Roots...Every plant needs roots to secure them in the ground and to provide nourishment from the soil.  We are to be firmly planted in the roots of the gospel and are nourished by the good word of God.

The Names..."Koforidua" is growing out of the tree therefore symbolizing the growth of the church in the area.  The nameplate shows whose church this is and it is placed in the center showing we are centered in Christ.  The "Zone" shows we are firmly planted in the roots of the gospel and enveloped in the arms of a loving Christ.  Ephesians 3:16 says "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in love".  The zone is being held up by these roots.

 These two Baobab trees are growing together, just like us.  Over the years and especially during this mission we continue to grow together in love and life.

 A recent excursion with the Young Single Adults ... we walked to a Baobab Forest near the Xavi Bird Sanctuary.  This is Sister Lyon with Comfort.

 The fruit of the Baobab tree was cut open by our guide for us all to sample.  There are many seeds inside about the size of large peas or small grapes, they are covered with a white fibrous coating.  You just pop them in your mouth to enjoy the sweetness, then discard the seed after chewing off all of the white coating.

 The fruits fall to the ground around the tree, we were all given a fruit to take home.

According to Wikipedia, the Baobab Tree is known as the tree of life, with good reason, providing shelter, clothing, food, and water for animal and human inhabitants of Africa. The cork-like bark and huge stem are fire resistant and are used for making cloth and rope. The leaves are used as condiments and medicines. The fruit, called "monkey bread", is edible, and full of Vitamin C.

The fruit has a velvety shell and is about the size of a coconut. It has a flavor somewhere between grapefruit, pear, and vanilla. The tree can store hundreds of gallons of water.  Mature trees can be hollow, providing living space for many animals and humans.  

Baobab Tree, "The African Tree Of Life"