I decided to begin this update with a picture of us taken August 8, 2018, on our 48th wedding anniversary. We have celebrated 2 anniversaries here in Ghana.
On August 18, 2018 the Area Legal Department hosted a J Ruben Clark Cluster Meeting for West Africa. These were some of the participants.
This was a local African Attorney who was the keynote speaker.
Our Legal Secretary, Esther, celebrated her birthday with us and several friends in the office. She is the one in the middle.
The Legal Department also took Esther out for lunch on a separate day to continue the celebration. We are at a restaurant called "Lord of the wings." Yes, they do serve hot wings there, but many other good dishes too. We had fun celebrating with Esther.
Antionette is the gal that cuts Chris' hair.
This group of missionaries were just leaving the temple.
We had to say goodbye to another great couple. This is Charlie and Linda Redlin being presented their Kente scarfs by our Area President, Elder Nash.
We are going to miss Elder and Sister Redlin. Their office has been just around the corner from us. They are Welfare Missionaries and Chris has done all the legal contracts for them and the Humanitarian effort. Many people here in West Africa have been helped as a result of their efforts and hard work.
Every Friday is considered African Day and most people wear African print attire. These are a few of the ladies on our floor.
I was out of the office when this picture was taken on a different Friday. Some of these ladies were not in the first picture.
This young man is George Koomson and he is 10 years old. We met him at the Achimota Ward when we attended church there. He is a fantastic organist. He played the hymns and hardly looked at the music. He also added some wonderful embellishments. I was impressed!
Chris with Awudu Bawa. He is a very talented sculptor, who displays his items at the Goethe German Arts Market every 1st Saturday of the month. We have bought several pieces from him.
A group of us Senior Missionaries took a tour of a textile factory (GTS Fabrics) in Tema, which is about 45 minutes from here. They make most of the African print fabric that is sold here. I am standing beside a tall mannequin displaying one of their lovely fabrics.
This is our sweet Faustina. She gave her first talk in church last Sunday. Of course we went to hear and support her. She did a wonderful job. I helped her write the talk and helped her practice going over it. Her assignment was to choose something from the Sermon on the Mount in Chapter 5 of the book of Matthew. She chose verse 9 about being peacemakers and then verses 13-16 about being the salt of the earth and not hiding your light under a bushel. She initially had a hard time pronouncing the words trodden and bushel. She practiced and practiced saying those two words. She also didn't know what either one of them meant so I had to explain them. Besides reading the verses in her talk, she then explained what it meant to be a peacemaker and to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. She supported those scriptures with great examples. I was SO proud of her! I have been helping her with English and reading for almost a year now and she has made so much progress. This picture was taken right after the service.
This is a sweet sister named Mercy. She attends the same ward with Faustina. I had met her several months ago during a Literacy training and observation. She was one of the students. I was so happy to see her again and learn that she has progressed and is reading much better.
Beverly Winegarden, Lorinda Belnap and I sang for our Sister Scripture Class on Sept. 10. All three of our husbands are attorneys and make up the legal team here in the Area Office. We called ourselves the "Legal Sisters." We sang "Lord, I Would Follow Thee."
Big sister taking care of little sister and brother after church.
Two cute little sisters at church.
We took a selfie one day recently while walking around the temple grounds. It was so beautiful and we felt grateful that we get to see this every day. This is the view that is seen from the street. Our office is to the right of this picture.
We often see some interesting sights. This is the way this building handles their "no parking." They just put an item in the space where they don't want someone to park.
This is a different spot.
This Tro Tro has quite the load! I guess it's moving day for someone.
Part of this traffic light is just barely hanging there. A strong wind may blow it down. Who knows how long it will remain that way?! It's been that way for quite a while.
A load of sheep being hauled to the market. They were tied down in this truck, stacked on top of each other. I don't think this would pass PETA standards in the USA.
We passed these baboons on the side of the road about two hours north of here one Sunday on our way to church. They are not intimidated by passing vehicles.
These cattle were walking beside the road on the sidewalk.
This is Ben, a talented carver who carved these 2 giraffes. One of them is ours and the other belongs to another Missionary couple. They are 5 feet tall and about 60 pounds each.
Giraffes sitting in the foyer of the Graham's apartment, awaiting shipment to the US with President and Sister Graham's container shipment.
This woman sells these peanuts on the street. She is able to reach up and get handfuls and put them in bags without disturbing the rest of the peanuts. She stacks each peanut individually and it takes her at least an hour.
Reading with a sweet little boy at the Nungua Library.
Thought I'd show you some of the delicious fruit we enjoy here. The mangoes are my favorite.
