Golf in Accra, Couples leaving and Gospel Literacy Training

Wayne Jones, John (his caddy), David (my caddy) after 18 holes.  Wayne was serving a mission here with his wife, Meg.  He did a lot of work with young missionary apartments and was completely hooked on golf!  We had many fun Saturdays walking 18 holes.











Erasmus Thompson and me.  Erasmus was a national service worker doing student teaching-type work at a middle school near the driving range.  Because of doing his national service, the driving range and golf course let him play for free.  He loves the game and enjoys discussing religion.  He has read part of the Book of Mormon that Wayne Jones gave him.









































Erasmus liked getting his country's flag in this selfie!  He sent me a Fathers Day note and expressed his kind feelings about getting to know me.



When Wayne Jones was here, he bought coconuts for everyone and instantly became the "coconut man".  Here, I am buying a round for friends I have made at the driving range through Wayne Jones.  Left to right:  Erasmus, Peres' two boys Papa and Nana, Coach Odium and Peres Osu and the salesman.  The coconuts are on a flatbed wagon that the guy pulls around the neighborhood.  He machetes off the end and you drink the liquid.  He then cuts a piece of the coconut for a spoon and you eat the meat.  One coconut costs about 50 cents USD.






Erasmus, Coach Odium, me, Peres Owusu and his boys Papa and Nana




Papa and Nana Owusu enjoying their coconut.




Range balls in Accra....dead as door nails!!  Never washed by man or machine!





We had to say goodbye to a few more couples that had finished their time here. This is Elder and Sister Moore receiving their Kente scarfs and recognition for their 18 months of service as Family History Missionaries.




This is Elder and Sister Pierce, who served as YSA Missionaries and filled in as the Executive Secretaries for about 5 months. We became very good friends with them. They lived in our apartment building for the last 4 months of their mission.




Elder and Sister Pierson served as Temple Missionaries. This is President and Sister Graham, the Temple President and Matron, giving their tribute to them.



Sister Graham thought it was appropriate to send them off with sparkling candles.















Our Area Presidency honoring Elder and Sister Vinson. The Vinson's served here in West Africa for 5 years, 3 of them as Area President. They were very beloved by the African people and the Vinson's loved it here. They were dedicated servants.




Elder Nash having a bit of fun with Elder Vinson.









































Elder and Sister Vinson



Our Area Presidency. Elder and Sister Nash, Elder and Sister Vinson and Elder and Sister Kacher.




Elder and Sister Vinson with Elder and Sister Wakild.




Over the past several months we have provided training for Gospel Literacy teachers and leaders. Sister Temus and I are explaining how to best use the Literacy books. This is a small group from the Tesano Stake.
















Our next training was in the Kaneshie Stake.











This is us training Gospel Literacy teachers in the Lartebiokorshie Stake. We met wonderful people during all our trainings. They are very dedicated to helping the people in their congregations learn to read and write in English.






I might add that Chris was at all these trainings, but he is the one taking the pictures.




This is the Gospel Literacy Class in the Burma Hills Ward. We enjoyed visiting their class and they were so excited to show us what they had learned.




I couldn't resist including the picture of this cute little girl.

Hand Surgery

I had to undergo hand surgery April 24th to repair a cut tendon at the knuckle in my right ring finger. Here are some pictures to document that event.




                                                         Here is the waiting room.




                             This operating room is not quite up to American standards!




                                        The Dr. marked where he would make the incision.




                                                     Preparing for the fun to begin!




Dr. Darko and Dr. Anan were very good hand surgeons. This is a teaching hospital, so there were students observing.




                    The bright lights were making me squint my eyes.





                        If you don't like the sight of blood, you may want to look away.



                                               You can see the tendon in this picture.




                                  A couple of hours post surgery.



                        The day I got the stitches removed two weeks later.



                                  Preparing to remove stitches.





                                              Removing stitches.







This is what my hand looks like today. The scar has healed nicely.

More of the White's visit

                                            We all enjoyed watching this monkey!












                             We also had a big turtle to observe.




                           All the guys sporting their African shirts.





We went to Cape Coast (90 miles from Accra) and one of the things we did was tour a the Cape Coast Castle. We are at the entrance of the castle.





                          This was a sobering place. Hard to believe the inhumanity!



                                                      Going down into the dungeon.




            This was our guide. he did a good job explaining the events.




                                   The sign reads: Door of no Return




                        Unfortunately, Brady got sick and had to miss part of the activities.





          We felt so sorry for him. Gratefully, he was back to normal the next day.




  Great picture of Kelly and Beau, on the wall of the slave castle, overlooking the Gulf of Guinea.




                                                  Chris and Linda at the Slave Castle




This is the site where the first baptism for our Church took place in Ghana. This is in Cape Coast. Brother Oto Ampiah was  the 15th member baptized. this was in 1978. He was kind enough to be our guide to show us the places that have historical significance in the Church.




             This was the first meetinghouse in Ghana. It is now owned by another church.
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This is the prison where Brother Ampiah, his wife and 6 other members were held for 24 hours during the "Freeze." The freeze was when the government shut down the Church in 1989. It lasted for 18 months. During the freeze, all church doors were locked and the members were forbidden to hold church meetings. However, they were told that they could hold church in their homes. So that's what the Ampiah family was doing when someone complained that the singing was too loud.




This is a picture of the Ampiah family taken in their home. Brother and Sister Ampiah and their son and daughter., with Brandon, Kelly and Beau.




                                                         Another picture of their family.




This is a fun rope bridge built up in the trees in Kakum National Forest near Cape Coast.
It took about 45 minutes to walk the entire bridge. It zig-zagged around in somewhat of a rectangle
                                   







 

We ended up running into a family we know from church. They are here with a job with the America Embassy. We are standing in front of a HUGE tree native to the forest and that area.




                                Our guide is explaining many things inherent to the forest.






All too quickly was time for them to leave. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed every minute.