A Beautiful Ending

I am finally home! It has been sad to leave; I almost forget that I have another life back home.

My last week in Ghana has been CRAZY. F’reals.

The last thing we needed to do before we left is to fund our first time classes. We hoped to do one class on Monday and one class on Tuesday, but Douglas had to cash a check in Koforidua to fund them, so that crammed all our funding into Tuesday, our last day in Abomosu. The plan for the week was to visit our classes on Monday and tell them about the meeting on Tuesday; clean, pack, and fund all day Tuesday; leave Wednesday early morning for Accra to get to Cape Coast the same day; stay the night in Cape Coast; and then come back to Accra to finish the week.

Because it is the Elders’ p-day, I dropped by and paid a visit. Elder Nyarko and Elder Rane were the only ones there. Elder Bay and Elder Murray went to the church to email, so I just chatted with Elder Rane. He’s a super cool guy and a really great missionary. Whenever I talk to him, though, I start speaking like a Ghanaian because he speaks like a Ghanaian bad. I kind of like it, though, to have a strange accent.

After an hour or so, they needed a turn to email, so I followed them to town because I needed to pick up a shirt and pants. As luck would have it, the shirt was not ready and the pants guy was not there, so I decided to walk with them to the church and walk back with Elder Bay so I can ask him about the pants guy (Elder Bay introduced me to him because he got some sweet chinos from him). We found them half way to the church, and I chatted small with them on the way back to the house. I’ve become pretty good friends with the Elders, probably because I can relate to them better then the other obronis (single, male, my age). The Asunafo Elders passed by too, and it was good to see them another time too. Both of them are pretty cool.

I was constrained because we were going to take the 12:30 bus to Amonom to visit our class, but when I got back to the house, Garrett said that Eva (our translator) was travelling and would not be in town. Well, that sucks, But we had planned a bike ride out there previously, and the idea resurrected in Garrett’s head and said we should go anyway, but borrow the Elders’ bikes and make an adventure out of it. Sure, why not. I haven’t ridden a bike for 5 YEARS, but it will be fun.

It was fun, actually. We picked the bikes and started our way out. I started having chain issues; it was shifting automatically (it was because I can’t freaking pedal right), and it started raining. We weren’t far, so we just stopped at the church. Garrett said he would switch bikes with me because he mountain bikes regularly and isn’t retarded at pedaling (he didn’t say that, but it was implied). It actually was a blessing we stopped because it poured hard (and it is supposed to be the dry season). It really cooled things down, though, and made the ride really enjoyable and not sweaty.

I thought I was going to die on some of the hills. And if it wasn’t a hill, it was a freakin’ pothole I can’t dodge right. And if it isn’t a pothole, it is a constant stream of mud flipping onto my shorts from the tires. All in all, even though I may have complained a lot in my head, the ride was really nice. When we got to town, I luckily was able to weave my way through the trails and find everybody’s houses. We were pretty lucky to find people, though, because many were out to the farm. After we found mostly everybody, we rode back to the house, over the hills, through every pothole, and with half of the road on my shorts.

I only complain a little. Really.

The next day, I woke up especially early to make sure my laundry would dry before I had to pack it away. As I was hand washing an African shirt, a gentleman came in to the house and introduced himself as our driver to Accra.

SAY WHAT????!?!?!?!?!?!??!

We were unprepared for that kind of miscommunication. Apparently, when I told Stephen, Jr. that we wanted our driver to come Tuesday and stay the night so we could leave Wednesday early, he heard we wanted to leave Tuesday early. The driver, Enock, woke up at 4:00 AM to make sure we could get to Accra at a decent hour.

I woke everybody up to start preparing for departure. I had mostly packed except for my wet clothes and daily things, but not everybody had theirs started. We spent the morning packing and cleaning. Luckily, Douglas came over and communicated our situation. Enock graciously said that if we leave by 5:00, it would work fine.

We had a special loan to fund that morning as well. Mama B was sick when the Abomosu class was funded, and she hadn’t been around for the weekend to fill out the paperwork. I hurried and found her at her store, and Douglas explained the loan paperwork to her in Twi. We excitedly gave her the money and said our goodbye to our Ghanaian Auntie. She has been so good to us, especially when we are especially picky about our food. She is so sweet, and I loved to hear her sing as she worked. She is a devout Presbyterian and always attended her meetings faithfully. I will miss her greatly.

We prepped all the paperwork for our classes and asked our wonderful driver if he would take us out to the towns cause, heck, we are paying for him anyway. Once we got there, more members of the class than the 12 we had selected showed up to the meeting. We didn’t have a Twi speaker to help us tell them they weren’t chosen, so we did some informal things, gathering more information and such, with the little English we could communicate across. Our unreliable translater, Opoku, showed up and helped us greatly while Douglas with the other class. Even our driver helped us out, even though Twi is not his best language (they speak Ga in Accra). We fixed everything with the unfunded loans, but were missing a few people we wanted to fund. Joyce was at her farm (REALLY?!!? On funding day?), Beatrice was travelling (with Eva), and Joseph and Yoa were “coming.” Somebody from the class went to find them again, and they came back with the news that they did not want to participate in the program anymore. Our best student. Our favorite student. The best English speaker in the class. The first one we knew we would fund. The biggest loan in the class. Dropped us. I was angry and sad at the same time. We wasted work preparing their application and paperwork, but they took money away from somebody else from being funded. Their last minute decision meant that the ladies we turned away just minutes earlier might have been funded. The whole class was kind of sad, asking again and again if we could bring back those ladies to fund them. We really couldn’t because they needed to go through the proper process.

The rest of the funding went really well though. Douglas finally showed up and helped them understand the contract they were signing. About three members of the class needed assistance writing their initials to sign, and it was cool to see that our efforts were really getting to the people that needed it most: those who would not have any other way to get credit. It was exhilarating tying all of the loose ends and finishing our work. Joyce finally showed up from the farm, and wouldn’t you know, the 4:30 bus came by at the very last minute with Eva and Beatrice! It was miraculous. We finished all of their paperwork and got to say goodbye to all of them.

I am especially grateful to see Eva one last time. We picked out a present for her (a purse, under the direction of Zandra), and Garrett and I gave it to her along with a thank you note. As I was saying how much we appreciated working with her, I started to well up and I couldn’t speak. She did do so much for us; a stupid purse is a really small gesture. I was squeaking out some rumble jumble of words, and I think Eva was surprised. It was really the final goodbye for me. We were leaving Abomosu shortly, leaving everybody we had met behind, maybe to never see again. Saying goodbye to her was the accumulation of the whole day’s worth of anticipation of leaving. But it was so wonderful to meet all of them, to teach and to set an example, to associate with their various personalities and to learn more about their culture through them. I was sad, but I was so happy that I had such a cool opportunity.

After that surprise break down, we hurried home to finish packing and to get on the road. We made a “quick” stop in Sankubenase for Rebekah(?), one of Allan and Bev’s students, and I bought a couple bracelets from her. It was getting dark, and the clouds still lingered from the afternoon’s rain. We were worried about getting everything in the car because last time we had half of it on the roof, but luckily, everything fit inside. The trek was enjoyable except for the part when I started to get car sick. I just closed my eyes, and I started to feel better, but I was kind of out of it. I retold one of Garrett and Zandra’s stories as one of my own (about one of my friends) on accident, and that made everybody bust out. It is funny that we have been around each other so long that I don’t remember which ones are their stories.

I happily hopped in bed and quickly fell asleep after the long day. We changed our plans to go to Cape Coast in the morning, and our wonderful driver said he was headed that way to pick somebody up and offered to take us out there for free. SCORE! Blessings in disguise, yo. So we met up with him after a small tro tro ride and rode in a nice car with A/C for the 3 hours out there. Cape Coast is beautiful! It was a cloudy day, so it was really nice weather. When we got there, we checked into housing on the Cape Coast University campus. Stephen, Jr., recommended the joint, and it was quite nice, even though we were placed into the chalets out back. We then taxied to the Cape Coast castle, the infamous structure that housed slaves and was a market for the Atlantic slave trade. We first ate at a café just outside the castle. I had lobster and scalloped potatoes. That’s right, I had potatoes for the first time in three months! It was really good, but the lobster stir-fry thing had way too much ginger. It was still really good, though. The tour of the castle was wondrous, in a bad way. It was crazy to think that actual human beings had been housed in conditions like they were. The tour was a little over dramatized, but it did not take away from the fact that the Atlantic slave trade was full of evil.

They charged 20 GH¢ ($10) to take pictures, so I didn’t take any, but my dear friends snuck their camera out and took some pics, so that is how I have them and why they are all of Garrett and Zandra. The coolest part about the castle is that you can pretty much wander through any part of the castle, so I did a small self tour of all the nooks and crannies. It was really cool, and the ocean is especially beautiful. We didn’t make it to the beach that day, but it was cool to see.

One thing I love about Ghana is that you can make a friend with out even doing anything. And when I say friend, I mean will bend over backwards to help you and sincerely care and like you. I just walked a short ways down a path that leads to the boats and nets on the beach, and a boy I said, “Hi” to asked straight up, “Will you accept my friend request? I would like to be friends with you.” Not a Facebook request, but permission to be my friend. Sure, I said, what am I supposed to do as your friend? Give you money (you always have to be a little careful because that’s what most people there want from obronis)? He gave me his number, knowing that I was leaving the next day. But we chatted a bit and hung out the rest of the time around the castle.  His name is Richard, and he was super nice. He is a student at a smaller university in Cape Coast, and he actually called me the next day to see how my day went and to wish safe journeys. There was another guy, James, who owns a shop by the castle that was also really friendly. His was more money based: he wanted me to come look at his shop and to donate to a football fund. I was a little worried about him, but he gave me a cool plastic sea shell with his email and a message on it. He was always looking out for our group as we went in and out of the castle. James was his name. James Bond, 007, according to him at least. He introduced me to a guy that makes kentey cloth, and I bought some small strips to keep. It started raining, and we parted ways with James and Richard.

The power was out when we got back to the chalets, so our cabins were kind of warm, but the day hadn’t been nearly as hot as normal, so the temp was not bad at all. I still wanted to try the beach, and I thought it was close to the university, so Al and I went for a short walk before it got too dark. Of course, we didn’t find it. When we got back, it was dark, the lights were out, and we didn’t bring any flashlights, so I went to bed at like 7 or 8. I had a hard night, though, because when the power did kick on, the fan kept me cold the rest of the night (Allan had the only blanket in the room). Even though I didn’t sleep well, I was still up at 6:30. I wasn’t sure what we were going to do in the morning. Garrett and Zandra wanted some time to themselves, so they went their separate ways. We originally wanted to go to the canopy walk. but it turns out that it is an hour drive away, so we didn’t want to ride for 2 hours then ride for another 3 or 4 back to Accra.  Plus it would have been kind of pricy to go. I wanted to go to the beach, so Bev and I went on a walk to find the beach I tried to find the previous night. We walked for a half an hour to an hour and found nothing. Shootski. We ended up taking a taxi and telling him, “Take us to a nice beach that is close.” He took us to Oasis Beach, the beach right next to the castle. I thought it was going to be touristy, but it ended up being to most beautiful beach I have ever been on. The water was so warm! Not chill at all. The waves were strong, but not wicked like the ones in Huanchaco, Peru (you can read about that in my blogs about South America!) The water was really shallow, so you could almost walk right out into the part of the ocean where the giant waves crashed in. It was so beautiful. And while my Utah friends were freezing their butts off, I was baking on the beach. HA!

The beach is also used as a fishing beach, and the locals were pulling in their giant nets several hundred feet down shore.  They kept creeping closer and closer (mind you, me and Beverly were the only ones on the beach besides the fishermen), and they ended up running right over top of me as they pulled in their nets. It was cool to watch, and I was worried I was going to be in their way when they just ran over me to get down beach more. We moved our things farther back and tried to get out of the way.

At the same time, I noticed a familiar couple walking up the beach. Garrett and Zandra, who adamately said that they did not even want to see our faces the next day (exaggerating the point that they wanted some alone time [I needed some alone time, too, but that wasn’t quite an option for me at that point]), strolled up the beach and, because of the fishermen working the whole beach, ended up putting their stuff next to ours for a moment. We didn’t hang out with them long, just a quick chat, and I moved to the beachside diner. The place we stayed gave us complimentary breakfast (a shocker for Ghana!), so I wasn’t hungry that early in the morning. I ordered a coke and watched the fisherman finish pulling in their mile-long net. It was such a neat experience to see them working. The next table over, two senior high students started talking to me, and I made friends once again. Jeff and Slaws had come to the beach to buy some of the catch to cook up later. They were skipping school because they did not have the money to pay the school fees. We talked about America, and it was really funny. It went a little something like this:

“Where are you from?”

“The United States. Do you know Utah, the state?”

“No. Do you know Lil’ Wayne? The rapper?”

“No, the US is pretty big. Have you been to the US?”

“No.”

“Would you like to go someday?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“America is full of evil. A lot of money and a lot of evil.”

“Money can be used for evil, but money isn’t bad. But there are some bad people otherwise, but that is just like Ghana.”

“Obama visited Ghana. He was born in Africa you know.”

Stunned look. I know there are controversies, but even to be propagated even here? “The President is supposed to be born in the States.”

“He was born in Sudan.”

“Who told you?”

“He did. He came to Ghana in 2009.”

“Wow. He told you that?” *Snicker*

“Yup.”

“Do you like Obama?”

“No.” *Straight up shocked. Obama stuff is everywhere*

“Why not? Many Ghanaians like Obama.”

“He is evil. He practices gay.”

*Holding back the snickering* “Oh I see.” They don’t mean he is gay, but that he supports gays, and homosexuality is not accepted well among traditional Christians in Ghana.

HAHAHA It was so funny. They had so many misconceptions of the US, but still dreaded that they were from Ghana. I tried to get across that Ghana is a beautiful country and they should love the fact they are Ghanaian. We had to leave shortly after to check out of our rooms in time. It was awesome chilling on the beach, talking with the locals, taking in the culture and scenery, and just relaxing. Going to Cape Coast made me for sure want to come back to Ghana. I hadn’t been so sure before, but after the beauty of that part of the country, I will definitely make my way back.

Once showered, packed, and checked out, we found the bus station and waited for an unusually long 2 hours for a bus to come. The bus was really nice, and the roads are super nice as well. The bus ride was exceptional, especially given our last experience with the Metro Mass busses. We made it back to the office later than we had planned, but I did not regret at all our trip to Cape Coast.

We planned our trip to Cape Coast on Wednesday and Thursday because the branch from Abomosu was coming to do work in the temple on Friday. Friday morning, we woke up early and made our way to the temple to see our wonderful branch and to serve and worship in the temple. The Accra Ghana Temple is one of my top favs in terms of temples, and I loved working there all morning. I started with recording for conformations, then I did a session. The session was jam packed with people. There were several members who were going for their first time, and it is so fun to help them through the session. Most could speak only small English, but some were French speakers, meaning they were from Ivory Coast or some other West African nation. The session was very long, but I had no qualms waiting in such a spirit-filled place.

I had met Stephen, Sr. in the locker room before I went to my session. He did not make it into my session, and was still waiting in the locker room when I finished my session. Which means he did not make the session that had just started as we left and had to wait another 2 hours for the next session. Poor guy, he is just trying to get his whole branch through! Apparently, Friday was a holiday, Farmer’s Day,  and that is why the temple was so busy that day. We wanted to get home and prep for the departure the next day, so we said our final good bye and tro troed back to the office.

I ended up not packing but working on SEED stuff. We still had some online stuff to fihish about our loan recipients. I could have finished in an hour, I think, but I kept watching Christmas videos and listening to Christmas music, so I was really distracted. I AM SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS!! I haven’t seen snow, I haven’t been freezing, I have barely seen Christmas decorations, and I just want to be festive!! After working hard at not working, I called my parents and Facetimed with them for a few hours. They are crazy, but I am so excited to be back home for a bit.

Saturday felt surreal the whole day. It did not feel like we were leaving; it just felt like another regular day. I packed all morning, and while I was packing, my laptop fell off onto the cement floor. I almost went crazy. I thought it was done for. Thankfully, it just needed a reboot, and it is working fine still. Of course, it happened on the LAST FREAKING DAY IN GHANA. Such is life. After I was all packed, Garrett and Zandra returned from their shopping adventure and told me all about the vast amount of kentey they saw.  I then had to go out and get some, even though I thought I was done. I made Garrett take me to the place where he saw it, and I got some really spectacular material. It is so cool, and it is so Ghanaian. I love it so much. Spent too much money on it, but it is awesome!! I picked up a goat meat kabob (I didn’t like the spices very much, and the meat I had was super fatty, so it wasn’t very good). We loaded our things into Enock’s car again, and he took us to the busy airport.

We had a scary interruption in the Accra airport. All five of us got pulled aside because our visas had expired. Say what? I thought it was a 90 day visa, and we are at like 88 or 89 days. Nope, it was a 60 day visa, and we all stayed past the limit. Luckily, they just said pay us $20 and we will update your visa. Well, I hope it goes to the right place and not in somebody’s pocket, but at least we made it out of the country.

The flight was sooo long. It was a red eye, whatever that means. I could barely sleep, so I watched Home Alone, Superman: Man of Steel, and Now You See Me. The set up on Delta’s new plane is super awesome. They give you a TV in every seat so you can watch, listen, and play whatever you like. It was a life saver for that 10 hour flight. When we landed in JFK, we waited FOREVER to get our luggage. So long, Bev and Allan missed their flight, and the time for my flight was creeping closer. Of course, we were late landing as well, so I only had about two hours. They streamlined the customs process, so it was way fast. Anyway, the luggage door on the plane would not open, so when they finally got it open, I had about 45 minutes to go through immigration, recheck my bad, and find Terminal 2. WHERE IS TERMINAL 2?!?!?!? I was in a hurry, and a train was leaving for each direction. Luckily, a man was on my same flight from Accra and was trying to get to T2 as well, so we asked and hopped on the right train, somehow found T2 after going downstairs, upstairs, inside, outside, and booked it to the gate where they were boarding my flight. So many blessings! I would have been so sad if I had to wait around at the airport for a flight. I was the very first to get my luggage, so I thought I was the only one who was going to make their plane. Luckily, Garrett and Zandra made it right in the nick of time (and that is no joke; last ones on the plane). Bev and Al had to figure everything out because of their missed flight, so I hope they figure every thing out properly.

I am so excited to be home! I listened to I’ll be Home for Christmas, and I broke into tears on the plane because I realized I was so blessed to make it home for Christmas. But I also was thinking of my wonderful time in Ghana, and I couldn’t help but break down. I’m sure the guy next to me is thinking WTF dude? But whatevs. I’m in freaking America now!!

T Gives

We bought a $85 turkey.

Yup. It wasn’t really our choice; we were invited by Elder Dalton, and he asked us interns to get the turkey. Ok, we thought. That will be alright.

Now where do you get a turkey in Ghana?

Just go to Kwabeng with a Ghanaian, and they can negotiate the price for a frozen bird. It should be around 150 GHC.

That’s $75.

Well at least it is split among five people. Hey, I remember seeing some turkeys running around Akokom. Let’s call Douglas and see if he can strike a deal.

170 GHC later, we have a live turkey delivered right to our doorstep on a motorbike. Not quite sure why we had to have an $85 turkey for Thanksgiving, but we have turkey at home, so of course we should have turkey here.

About six hours after we got the turkey, Stephen came home and slaughtered it for us. I have never seen a bird slaughtered, so I helped the whole time even though I was a little reluctant because that isn’t really my thang. Of course, he kept the head, feat, and some organs because Ghanaians eat every part of the animal. We just wanted the meat.

About 24 hours after we got the turkey, it finished roasting in the oven. The scent of turkey surprisingly did not fill the house, which kind of worried me, but it actually turned out really well. I tried to help, but Beverly really wanted to do the driving. I whipped up some garlic mashed yams, and we all gathered next door at the World Joy building to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal.

Elder and Sister Dalton host a T-giving meal every year. They invited many of the couple missionaries in the mission to come and eat. I hoped to see Elder and Sister Nielson, but I found out that they are headed home. Sister Nielson has been sick, and they need to get them home to get her attention. I was sad because I’d hoped to see them before I left, but I guess I will see them when I get home instead.

Elder Dalton and Elder Elmer barbequed chicken for everybody, and Stephen, Jr.’s wife Sonya brought PUMPKIN PIE. There was cranberry sauce, stuffing, green bean casserole, everything to make a real American Thanksgiving. There were also some Ghanaian dishes for the locals who did not like our American eats. The local Elders gathered along with some of the local Ghanaian members, and we all partook of the wonderful feast.

And when I say wonderful, I mean freaking wonderful. Of course I ate too much, then got a piece of pumpkin pie, Ghanaian chocolate cake, and Fan Ice (basically vanilla ice cream). Then somebody brought out apple pie. I did not have room for it, so I decided to just have a small bite of somebody else’s piece. Bad idea. It was the best apple pie I have ever had. Straight up. I found room for the extra piece of pie, but it came at a price. That piece of pie put me over the edge. But it was so wonderful.

We took a short nap then had to travel to Sankubenase for a meeting. The class there was super keen and responsive. It was fun to teach them, and we got some really good feedback about the system. It was tiring, though, because our Thanksgiving nap was cut short. We were there for a few hours, and we had a hard time finding a taxi because it was kind of late.

Stephen asked us to put together a song for our last Sacrament meeting in Abomosu, and we picked God Be With You Till We Meet Again. We were supposed to practice all week, but we all forgot until Saturday night late. I was almost in bed when I remembered, so I had to drag my butt up and round everybody together. We really sound good together; its pretty unbelievable that a random group of college students sound so well in a group. The song really hit me because I may not see them again until we meet at Jesus’ feet. I almost lost it during practice, but I kept it together mostly. I knew the next day would be worse.

We practiced again in the morning, and it was good. No babies. Even during the actual performance, I held it together. Until I sat down. I started tearing up bad. And I was on the stand, so everybody got to watch me cry. We were invited to bare our testimonies, and I kept my composure well. Stephen spoke a short minute and told us that we are like his children and he loves us like a father, and I lost it again. For the closing hymn, we sang Silent Night. I was already emotional, and hearing everybody’s voices sing in their lovely accent knowing it would be a while before I would hear it again made me lose it bad. If Silent Night was any harder to play, I would have fumbled that ball.

I was emotional. I was crying. I was so happy to have met them and so sad to leave. I felt Stephen and Margaret’s love for us, and I love them back. Then I heard right behind me a girl running up to the window, and she shouted, “Obroni!” The one thing I won’t miss. HAHAHAH I lost it even more, but I couldn’t stop laughing instead! I made eye contact with Elder Rane, who was blessing the Sacrament, and I laughed through the whole closing prayer.

Church was interesting, too. Instead of formal lessons, the branch had been randomly chosen to provide feedback to the church about their church experiences. For us literates, it took less than ten minutes, but for the other 90% who could barely read or were illiterate it took the rest of the two hours. We went around and helped everybody else fill his or hers out.  Church went by really fast, though, and we were home before we knew it.

I organized some of my stuff to get ready to head out. We don’t leave Abomosu until Wednesday, but I know we are going to be busy until then, so I wanted to be prepared. I also pulled out some stuff I don’t want to bring home so somebody could have here. When I was finished, it was perfectly timed with our leave to Douglas’ house. He invited us over for dinner, and I was super excited to meet his family. Travel was kind of ridiculous because of the lack of taxis working on Sunday, but we managed. His house is very Ghanaian, but it has cement floors and finished ceilings, which is probably more advanced than most. We had fufu, rice balls, and stew. I tried to chop some more fufu, but it was so hard. I started to gag about the 10^th piece I put down, and after a few more, I had to stop. I even only took a half of a ball of fufu and still couldn’t finish half of it. The stew was really good though! I took part of a rice ball and finished my stew. We weren’t long which was nice because Margaret had planned a huge dinner for us when we got back.

Margaret prepared everything we loved for dinner: Npeho (garlic yam soup), geloff (with cinnamon!), spaghetti noodles with veggies, baked chicken, fried chicken, and corn on the cob. It was Thanksgiving all over again! She worked all day on dinner, and it was so worth it! They invited the Elder’s over, so they were able to partake of T Gives 2 as well.  After dinner, Margaret and Stephen sat us all down and gave us interns presents. We were not expecting that at all! Margaret gave us all African wear, and it is really nice wear! All of the men got African shirts, and the ladies got cool dresses. We all got bracelets, and the women got a little more jewelry. It was so thoughtful. They both told us again that we were basically their children and were welcome any time we come back to Ghana. They have done so much for us! What good people they are to let random strangers into their home, provide for their every need, then throw a wonderful party and give the picky strangers presents. It speaks to their generosity and righteous hearts, but we really aren’t strangers. One of my favorite lines in the song My Shepherd Will Supply My Need, a song I prepared with my ward choir two years ago, are the words, “There would I find a settled rest while others go and come, no more a stranger nor a guest, but like a child at home.” I really feel like one of their children here, always welcome, never burdensome, not quite a guest, never a stranger, but as if I could walk in the door at any time and have a meal, a bed, and love. They have been such wonderful parents, Ghanaian parents. Mama B was also here, and she has been so good to us too. I can’t forget her! What a way to experience a country and culture than to live with the people, eat like the people (mostly), work with the people, serve the people, dress like the people, even talk like the people. I have been overly blessed with this experience, and I can’t believe it will all be over in one week.

Happy Birthday Ma!

Soooo…. It’s been two weeks since I’ve written. Lets just say that last week was not eventful. We were just working on business plans and didn’t do much else. We did find a nasty huge spider in the house, but apparently, spiders are not poisonous or dangerous no matter if they are bigger than your hand and could eat you whole. We killed it anyway because we didn’t really want to share the house. I also bathed with a spider, but it was dead, so don’t you worry.

This last week, though, was really fun.

After church on Sunday, I offered to make chicken noodle soup. I love it, and so do the others. It took about two hours do cook, but it is really worth it. Just so everybody knows, I make really good homemade chicken noodle soup.

Stephen was going to go to the farm by the house where he grew up, so he offered to take us to the place. It sounded cool, so Monday morning Beverly and I trekked with Stephen out to the farm. It sure is a long walk. When we went to the farm last (it was a different farm, but almost as far away), we rode in the rhino and walked back, and walking back seemed to take forever. Today, the trip really did take forever. It took us three hours to get to his place, but the trip was really beautiful. We started in town, admiring the sunrise. Once out of town, we weaved through the acres of farmland, crossing temporary bridges, aweing at strange and beautiful plants and trees, and sweating out of every pore. Usually, in the mornings, it is overcast, although it hardly rains in the morning. This morning the sky decided to be clear, so the sun beat on us the whole trip. It was always nice when we found ourselves in a palm farm because the shade was really nice under the palm trees.

The place where Stephen was born and raised looks just like the houses in town, but it is not surrounded by other houses. It has a thatched roof with adobe walls, just like many Ghanaian houses. It really wasn’t anything special to see, except to see where Stephen came from. He started like any other Ghanaian, probably worse than most. Today, he is well known, well respected, and even well liked. He has one of the most advanced houses in Abomosu, complete with running water, electricity, a television, an oven (so rare!), sinks, toilets, a refrigerator, pretty much all of the basic commodities we so freely have back home. The contrast of the two places really shows Stephen’s work ethic and determination. He worked hard as a teacher and administrator, and still works hard as a farmer after retiring from education.

He showed us some of his cocoa piles, which were ‘uge, and took us to the end of his property, where the jungle begins. The government created a wildlife reserve with a small creek as the boarder, and that creek is finally where we turned around and walked back to town.

Sadly, I was not even close to prepared for the streneous trip. I had expected two hours, in and out, not three hours in and three hours out, so I did not bring sunscreen and I did not bring water. I drank a bag of water right before we left. I thought that would be enough, but I was wrong. I sweated out the sole bag of water within the first hour of walking.

Stephen took a different way home to check on other plots of land, so it felt like the walk back was significantly longer than the walk there. I was getting tired and a little sick, so I was getting desperate to get home. We stopped at a river crossing where it was shady so Stephen could check some traps a short ways off. Bev and I sat in the shade for a while, commiserating and regretting our lack of preparedness. I got some cool pics, though! Thank you, Elder Bay, for the quick camera lesson! Stephen returned and reported that he had caught a cobra in one trap and was glad we didn’t tag along. Snakes are really dangerous here, and it surprised Stephen to see the snake in his trap. It was still alive, so he left it to die so he could take care of it later. He said he had hoped for a grass cutter so we could have some bush meat, and I really wanted to try some bush meat, but we got a serpent.

We reached the main road, and I picked up the pace to get home. Stephen said he wanted to make one last stop to another farm to get some limes, but I really wanted to get home, so I kept going relying on my instincts to get there. When I arrived at a wood bridge we had crossed earlier, I found that two backhoes and a gaping hole in the road had taken its place. I noticed some chinese people in nice cars and directing the workers. There were some other farmers wanting to cross the bridge that were congregated in the shade. I stood by them for a bit, but realized that the work was not getting any closer to us being able to cross. I also felt I may or may not be in a little danger because the only reason obronis are out this farm in the bush is for gold, and with out Stephen, I may be targeted as somebody who was gold digging (goldies ruin the land and destroy the environment, and Ghanaians don’t especially appreciate others coming and ruining their land). I don’t think they would do anything, but this was the most insecure I felt even in Ghana. I turned around to find Stephen, and luckily he wasn’t that far behind.

The hike would have been bearable had the sun not scorched us all day, but with out the shade and sunscreen, I fried. I was so beat when I got home (Bev had to stop in town because she needed to rest, but I kept going). I drank two or three satchels of water, rinsed off in the shower, and took to bed without lunch. I woke up two hours later feeling much better, and Bev let me use some of her awesome salve for my sunburn. I don’t tan when I burn, but this time I did. I’m almost the color of an African! Maybe an albino African…….. But thankfully, the burn did not progress and was feeling good the next day.

Douglas paid a visit after not seeing him for a week, it seems. The Elders also came over after a FHE appointment fell through, and they shared a quick thought with us. We kind of like the Elders, and they like to have other obronis to hang out with. Elder Bay is from Riverton and is companions with Elder Murray, from Wellsville. Elder Rane is from Alabama and is companions with Elder Nyarko, who is from Cape Coast, Ghana. They are in charge of Abomosu and Sankubenase, respectively. Past Elders were Elder Jones (E. Bay’s first companion) and Elder Pearson and Elder John (the zone leaders before Rane and Nyarko). Other Elders we met are Elder Osumbo, from Nigeria, Elder Bills from Utah, Elder Metivier from New Hampshire, and Elder Bigley from Blackfoot, Idaho. We also live right down the road from Elder and Sister Dalton, the missionary couple for Abomosu. I’m just writing down the names so I can remember. Elder Bay has been here the whole time we have been, so we know him pretty well. He crashed on his bike in tore up his face; luckily, Beverly brought a bunch of bandage stuff so he was looking pretty good when he dropped by after his wreck.

Thankfully, after resting all Monday afternoon, Tuesday was a quiet day. Beverly and Allan had spent most of the weekend working on their business plans and occupying my computer to do so. Garrett and I were already almost finished before they even started, but we finally got to work on our plans on Tuesday. We had so many little things to do that it seemed to take forever. We hit a wall where we had to get more information before we could proceed, an annoying wall where we are so close to finishing we could taste it but couldn’t finish until we did some more investigating. Douglas came over again and helped us set up our Abomosu class loans, which we have been meaning to do for about a month now. We are pushing the timing of the loans because this is our last week here, Amy (our coordinator back home) is on vacation in India, and we want to fund all our classes!! I’m pretty sure we will get to fund them before we leave, but I am getting anxious!

On Wednesday, we finished the Abomosu loan requests and got them ready to send off. Garrett and Zandra held intramurals again, so I took some more pictures and film. The kids are so funny, and its cool to see how much Zandra and Garrett love them. We taught them the good ol’ Joseph Smith stick pull.

After reading our orientation packet again, I found that we have been neglecting our responsibility to mentor past and current recipients. I feel really bad about not doing it. I have tons of excuses for not doing it, the best one being that I never really realized it until I reread the packet, and the worst one being that I wasn’t sure how it would work because of the language barrier. I had an idea to meet with all of the villages as interns in a big meeting to have a lesson out of the Phase 3 manual and to talk about why paying back loans is so important to the growth of the program. Wednesday evening, we walked the familiar path at the familiar time of evening to host the mentoring class for Abomosu. We hadn’t taught for several weeks, and I was pretty excited to see everybody. I imagined that several rows would be full of people; when class was supposed to start, we had three. We had a few show up, them we started class late, then a few more showed up. I had a great time teaching, but I definitely took it over. It was my idea and my efforts, so I kind of made it my show. Everybody let me, too:). I had a really good time teaching, though. Olivia, our favorite seamstress, currently and has a loan with us, so she was there. We walked with her after the meeting, and she is just great.

The Elders had told me that the branch in Kwabeng was hosting an open house to celebrate their brand new building, so I decided that I would attend and see the building. The church building in Asunafo was built in 2004, and it is beautiful, so I was excited to see a brand new African church. I grabbed a tro tro to Kwabeng, forgetting that the ride takes almost an hour. I got a little car sick, but just enough for discomfort and not enough to throw up. I was grateful to get out of the car, though. I thought I knew where the branch building was, so I got off at the junction, but I had seen another sign for a church, so I was worried I really didn’t know where it was. I went to where I thought it was, discovered I was wrong, and had to walk another 15 minutes the same way I just came to get to the sign. I followed the direction of the sign and found the most beautiful church building I have seen in Africa (besides the temple). There was beautiful stonework and tile work, and the chapel even had pews! The woodwork was gorgeous, and even the courtyard was cool.

An open house under President Hill is a missionary occasion. President and Sister Hill, the mission president and wife for the Ghana Accra West Mission, coordinates with the district and branch presidents to set up a walk through of the meetinghouse for members of the community to walk through. The missionaries serving in areas close spread out in the community and invite people to go take the tour. The people leave with pamphlets and Books of Mormon, and hopefully some new investigators are found.

The meeting began with a short intro by President Hill and President Oppong, then the Kwabeng Elder (not missionary Elder but community Elder) addressed the congregation. He was very gracious and basically said he would be baptized, but Elder Dalton said that happens a lot. After the opening exercises, the members stayed to give the tours and the missionaries headed out into the community. I decided to help because I was a member, and I was paired with Elder Rane whose companion, Elder Nyarko, was stolen by President Hill because he is the only Ghanian Elder in the zone. It was super fun going out with Rane. He knows a lot of Twi, and it put to shame all of the Twi I thought I knew. He was very stubborn about bringing people, and probably had the most success out of all of the other Elders, even with the inexperienced intern who basically tagged along and almost got sun stroke again. He is super dedicated to the work, loves the people, and is just an awesome missionary. I rode back to Abomosu with Elder Bay and Elder Murray, but we got caught in a ‘uge rain storm walking back to our places. They made a contact in the rain, and when the storm let up, we hurried back before it started raining again. It was fun to be a missionary for a day.

The next most interesting thing that happened was Sunday during Sacrament meeting. Stephen asked us to sing for church, so we shamelessly picked a Christmas song to sing because we want to have a little Christmas with the people before we leave. We practiced once Saturday night, but Sunday morning, Zandra woke up sick and didn’t go to church. We adjusted our singing plans, but it only worked in our brains and not in the performance. WE SOUNDED TERRIBLE. It was only kind of embarrassing, but it was sad. We are going to sing next week, and I hope that it goes a lot better. It was a lesson for me that you should always practice before you perform. It never works out like you imagine it should, so you should do a pre-run especially with inexperienced performers.  The rest of Sunday was uneventful except that Ike Ferguson, the CEO or somebody of World Joy, arrived with some of his family and will be staying for a couple days. The boys were playing football with some local kids, and the girls were listening to Beverly gab. I hope they get a real Ghana experience and not a fabricated one, because it is easy to just stay in the safety of the house (they are staying in the World Joy building, and it is the most American house I’ve seen here). We’re supposed to be cleaning the health clinic tomorrow, but I also should be starting to film the dance shots for the music video!

I am so glad I realized I am going to miss this place; the past week has been reflective because I have been thinking about leaving. I have been appreciating everything we get to do while we are out here so I can leave fulfilled. The coming week is our last in Abomosu, then we spend our vacation time in Accra. I will definitely leave a part of my heart in Ghana, and especially Abomosu, but Stephen said we can visit anytime. And I think I will.