New African shirt and fun shots.

The African Look!

The shops where I bought the shirt...it's not a USA mall!

The alteration shop!

Kentucky fried African chicken!

Open storm gutters along many of the roadways...commonly used as  a  urinal as we drive by!!
I actually got too close and dropped my front right tire in one of these.  (yes, a big thump!)  Within seconds 5-6 locals were in front of the car and lifted us out!!  Great people here!!

It's amazing what a good woman can carry on her head!

Annette just gave me my first African haircut.

Wisdom the Wood Carver

We met this man, Wisdom,  who is a very talented wood carver.  He is standing next to  his version of Noah's Ark that he carved for  friends of ours.  We have commissioned him to do a nativity for us and look forward to him finishing it next month.

Wisdon's tools

Wisdom's shop is located at 12 o'clock in this photo.

Wisdom and us in front of his shop.  He wanted to change into his African shirt for this shot.  He kept it hanging on a nail in his shop.

Going to the Temple

Many of the Missionary Couples attend the temple every Friday at  5:30.  We
participate in a service that we believe provides for our deceased kindred to be with their families forever. This doctrine is unique to the LDS faith.

Children at the Osu Lobrary

Sister Pierce, Sister Eaton and I have been reading with these students at the Osu Library.
They are great kids and love reading and discussing the books.

This is another day at the library and a different group of children.
I helped them with writing their answers to the questions.

Meeting Bernice!

This is Bernice! I had heard about her before we left Louisville.  Several years ago a Sister

Missionary serving here became friends with Bernice. At the time Bernice was having difficulty

supporting herself. This Sister decided to teach Bernice how to sew. She taught her to sew beautiful bags,

which she turned into a business. She has been very successful and is well-known for her bags. She also sews

beautiful African dresses. The daughter of the woman who taught Bernice how to sew lives in Louisville. She is JJ Jones from the Louisville 3rd ward, a congregation of our Church. So we went to the Jones' home right before we left and found out more about Bernice. They showed us pictures of their visit here to see her and told us how wonderful she is.  Bernice has also started a Humanitarian Organization called Girls Days. It helps provide hygiene kits for girls and hasbeen a blessing to many girls here in Ghana. So, when I met Bernice and told her where I was from and that I was bringing greetings from the Jones family, she began to weep and grabbed me and hugged me and said, "They are my family!!"  "They are my family!" It was so wonderful to meet her! She is very well-known here and loved by so many. I was honored to be in her presence.

Nungua Community Library

This is the front entrance to the Nungua Community Library. It is a lovely facility, with a very inviting atmosphere.
I have been going there with some other Sisters to help adults with literacy. 

This is one of the areas for groups to sit.

This is another area with shelves of books.

This is Mavis and Latishia. They are the two librarians and they are very sweet.

Mavis and I have become fast friends. She has a beautiful smile!

Mavis brings her daughter with her sometimes. Today Ellie is not feeling well and she is taking a nap.  Mavis is showing me one of the books that the children enjoy.

This is where the children wash their hands. It is located right outside the entrance to the library, 

This is the neatly manicured path we follow to the entrance of the library.

These men have responsibility for the operation of the Ghana Temple.  They serve in  positions known in the Church  as a  "Temple Presidency".  Center is Stephen L. Graham, President, left is 1st Counselor Frederick Antwi,  and 2nd Counselor Phillippe C. Assard.

Young adult Sunday School Class

The two couples in this and next photo have just finished their 18-24 month church  missions in  W. Africa and the folks made the wall hangings you see.  The Andersons shown here are from Alaska.  He was the area physician and she assisted him and also worked in literacy.  We got to know them somewhat in the 2 weeks our paths crossed.  Dr. Anderson used to raise mushing dogs and twice completed the Iditarod race in Alaska.  That race covers about 350 miles and takes 8-15 days, frequently in horrible weather conditions.  Dr. Anderson served the young men of Ghana as their scoutmaster.  

The Peines served as Area Mental Health Advisors.
An interesting piece of life we never considered before we came here is that every few weeks some of your dear friends are completing their missions and returning to their various homes, just as these couples are doing.  We have quickly found that these good-byes can be emotional events as we develop bonds by serving W. Africa in many different ways and locations. 

This is LDS Mission Training Center (MTC) in Ghana.  Missionaries who are serving all across Africa come here for training before actually living among the people they hope to serve.  The building is getting replaced by a new building opening in a couple of weeks.

Youth playing soccer on field in front of the MTC building.  I included pic because this  demonstrates a common scene here; the basketball hoops in background go unused while soccer gets all the attention.

Local youth in some sort of class in a classroom in the MTC.

This is special picture for us.  Dr. Kissi, M.D. is a legend in LDS history in W. Africa.  He is a Ghanaian who did medical school in Ghana and general surgery residency in England, where he learned of the Church and joined in 1978.  He returned to Ghana in 1979 and was one of the original members when the Church sent missionaries here about the same time. He still sees patients but I think he is retired from surgery.

 Immigration here requires folks who are staying awhile to get a physical from a "local" doctor.  We had the privilege of having Dr. Kissi take our BP and then pronounce us healthy!  A more kind and gentle man we will never meet!

Accra Roadside Scenes

Yes, folks live here!

Near Ocean Front Accra....U.S. Does Ocean Front Better!

Near Ocean

Roadside Near Ocean

Shell Gasoline is Everywhere!

Man Carrying Tables

Fun Local Scenes

Two girls in their Sunday best!  We see local ladies and young ladies attending the local temple and they are always dressed in their finest.  Frequently young children or teens dress alike.

"Tro Tros" are everywhere every day, all day!  They are private buses (usually beat-up  vans) that transport people, goods and our friends have seen a live goat strapped to the back!!  Frequently, people are hanging out windows with one guy who  acts as a "barker" and hawks potential customers and also yells out the bus destination.  Driving here is an ABSOLUTE FREE FOR ALL!  More about this later but aggression is the only way to survive...so far Linda and I are doing well!

Every street corner brings the walking vendors.  The ladies carry all types of goods on their heads.  Many carry a lot of weight.  Here, it looks to have about 20 or so drinks.  They stand between traffic lanes and hawk each car or Tro Tro.  They dodge the cars and also the motorbikes that have no road rules whatsoever!  The bikes go between cars and ignore all road signs or signals!   We will have to tame our driving down big-time when we get home!

Selling on the streets everywhere!

Lady is walking next to our car (truck is in background in next lane) and pic is taken from inside our car..  The African drive-thru!

Our Apartment

  Red brick building is our "apartment".  Our balcony is visible just above palm tree.  We are 3 stories down on left end in this view.  We have nice 2 Bedroom 2 bath unit.  It is much nicer than we anticipated!  We actually have a small balcony on this side, which overlooks Accra High School.  One of their buildings is the white one in foreground.

Top picture is Linda standing on the inside hallway of apartment building.  Our apartment is actually behind from where photo was taken.

Second photo is view from outside our front door on the 3rd floor.  Note no stop or yield signs.  Building at left sells "talking drums" which have unique sound for various African tribes.  Kitty-corner has one of hundreds of local fruit and veggie stands.

  The LDS temples all have a statute of the Angel Moroni sounding a trumpet in place of a steeple.  It symbolizes the return of the Savior.   That statute is visible in distance at top of 2nd picture just left of center.  My office is next door to that temple.

Looking from our balcony onto Accra High School Buildings.  My understanding is that high schools are private and not supported by government funds. These buildings are as crude as they appear.

Looking off our balcony.  The German Embassy is behind the street barriers along the street.

Fruit and veggie stand kitty-corner from our street and shown from a distance in picture above.

Talking drums are seen on right with coconut sales on left.  We found that this type of shop is literally up and down almost every street and  all over Accra. 

Front of our apartment building.  Our front door is 3rd story from top and visible at palm tree  towards the back of the building.