22-29 February 2016

One of our favorite restaurants in Accra
that has gelato! We got gelato before
dinner, which we had at the senior
couples FHE that night.  There were
60 people there!  We met more people
and had a great time visiting and eating.
For our assignment, we just ask Aba,
the MTC head cook, to prepare us what
we need and it's done!  So nice.

Loel insisted on adding this picture of the moon
since it's the first time we've seen it since arriving!
The Harmattan sands are starting to go away and
we're starting to see some blue sky.  Yet, without
the sandy air to block the sun's rays, now it's
getting a little hotter!!  Thank goodness for AC
in buildings and cars.

An extra nice fruit stand on our way to the temple.

 Pictures with some French elders at the temple.

I attended a session with the sister hugging me and
was able to help her a little.  Two of these cute
sisters have dresses on that we brought.

I got the biggest kick out of the taller
elder.  He speaks French and brought
his companion into my office and said,
"I am the chief.  This elder is sick."  I
knew instantly that he meant he was the
district leader!  

The next day Sis. Brubaker and I were escorts for these two sisters who went through for the first time.  They were so sweet and happy to be able to go.  

This is the new MTC being built right next to the temple.
It should be done in over a year so we'll miss it, but it can
hold from 300-500 missionaries. It's huge.

A cool picture of the Angel Moroni.
We never get tired of the Angel Moroni.

This is often how you see the sisters walking
around together; arm in arm, or holding hands.

Paula thought I put this picture in by mistake, She
didn't know what it was.  This is the first time we've
seen blue sky like this since we arrived.  This means
the dust storms in the Sahara are ending and the rain
will soon start.

Across the road from the MTC is a family business
owned by Prosper.  He's helped by his wife Evelyn,
his son Wisdom and others.  They make beautiful
batik fabrics that are purchased world-wide.

It starts with a plain white cloth and designs are drawn
or stamped with hot wax. He makes all his custom stamps
from foam with designs cut into it.

After the design is on the fabric, it's dyed in these
tubs. 

This is fabric after the first dye waiting for additional
design work, either freehand or stamped.

After the second or third dyeing, the fabric
is soaked in boiling water, removing all the wax.

It then goes to a cold water bath.

This is ready to dry after wringing out the water.

And the final products.

The only limitation is your imagination.

I got a haircut at the shop all the senior couple sisters
go to, Antionette's.  This is her with me here.  Sister Graham, the temple matron, was kind enough to
take me one day when we were at the temple.  It
was a French day and they didn't need me and it was
her day off.  

Holding up my finished skirt with Esther in her
shop.  She makes all her own fabrics.

The Brubakers and I took Selasi, our head
housekeeper, to the Tema market to buy a
few things.  We were so glad she was there
to help us.  We would have gotten lost and
she helped us bargain for better prices.  

Pres. Brubaker and Selasi - he bought some tuna
there. He was brave.

Huge, LIVE snails squirming around
in this basket for sale at the market!

Colorful vegetables.

This market was huge with little alleys
going everywhere, with anything you could
ever want to buy there.  Food, fabric, office
supplies, clothes, household supplies, fish,
bread, you name it, they had it.

I was trying to capture the crazy, colorful
booths at the market.  It was very hot.

I bought some office supplies at this booth.
On our way out, Selasi convinced me to
try a cookie thing we bought off a street
vendor!  I liked it! It came from a large
glass box she was carrying on her head.
We think the Africans have wonderful
posture because they carry everything
on their heads and have to stand up really
straight.

We needed something to brighten up our bedroom -
so had a very colorful bedspread made!  

Big white Egrets in a tree at the botanical gardens we
visited.

It was nice to see some color in the gardens!

Look at the size of this cool tree.

 I loved these flowers.

Pres and Sister Graham, the temple
president and his wife.  They came to
lunch at the MTC.  We gave Aba some
recipes and the sweet and sour chicken
and carrot cake was a real hit! This was
a fun trip back to the MTC as they had
served as presidents here two years ago.

Wearing my new skirt on Sunday.  Pres
Obeng saw me and said, "Sister Tibbitts
we are going to call you Sister Africa!"
They know how much I love the African
colors.

We tried a new family history kind of workshop
with most of the MTC, using about 20 computers
we had.  The Stutz' came out to run it and the
missionaries loved it and are getting very excited
to take family names to the temple this week.

Elder Stutz helping one of the missionaries. Loel is
really getting into it, too, and has missionaries
banging down our office door to get his help.