10-16 October 2016

On our last break, we set up a potluck dinner night in Accra at the apt. complex where lots of senior couples live.  Here we all are - we had such a nice evening and then we spent the night with one couple and the Brubakers spent it with another couple in the same complex.  They have very large three bedroom, two bath apts, with a nice pool, too!  We had a great time.  Dr. Anderson is the tall one on the left - he's planted a huge garden and often brings us fresh basil and vegetables, which we love.  The man next to Loel is here on a humanitarian mission digging wells!  Fascinating.

We now have our own number
we sing at our farewell devotional.
The Brubakers adapted a hymn with
words that related to the MTC
and what the missionaries have learned.  It was
a huge hit!  The applause was
deafening.  You would have
thought we were famous singers.

This is Sahoui, one of our favorite teachers.  He's learning
English and he's a voracious learner.  He
loves to talk to us so he can learn new words.
I taught him the word "bagel", which he had
never heard of so I toasted him one with
cream cheese - he loved it.  He later gave us
some very sad news that his mother had died;
very suddenly.  He's French speaking from Benin.

We had a bunch of purses made from some Kente cloth we had purchased.  Aren't they colorful?

We've been spending a lot of time at the temple recently!

Angel Moroni was especially nice against
the sky today.

We like this Turkish restaurant we've been to after the temple, for lunch.  Pres Brubaker took this picture and sent it to us with the caption, "A couple of turkeys."

A basket weaver we found in Tema.
When you see the conditions they work in
and  consider the beautiful end product,
it's kind of amazing.

He had woven these hats.

We had attended the Friday night sealings session
that many senior couples go to and then went out
to dinner with some afterwards.  These are the
women.  They're all from New Zealand or Australia
so I was surrounded by cool accents. 

Here are the men.  We spent the night with friends in Accra and then took two of the New Zealander couples to several craft places around Accra.  The Woods are the couple serving way up north who we got to know when they were at the MTC 6 months ago.  We love them.  Their friends were visiting from New Zealand.

This is our favorite basket place - her name is
Florence.  Rosely is a senior missionary serving
with her husband as Executive Secretaries for
the Area presidency.  They live in Australia now but
she was born in New Zealand.

This cute little girl was at the Florence's
basket shop.

Look at the colors of these baskets!  We grabbed
some of her fans to use while shopping for baskets.
It's getting hotter here - no more cool weather.

Again. Look at the end product and consider the
conditions they are made in.

Rosely took us to another basket shop and I
bought these two cute ones.

They sell everything on the street - ironing boards,
brooms,  laundry baskets, etc.

It's a virtual housewares store on the side of the
road. Dustpans displayed in a tree.

This is a furniture store - the sign even says it.
Right on the street.

We attended a stake cultural festival where each of the 11 wards put on a 10 min. skit representing one of the regions of Ghana.  It was really colorful with singing, dancing, drums, costumes, food, etc.

A drummer at the festival.

James, our pharmacy rep and Aba's
husband, was in one of the productions.
He's a counselor in the bishopric of a new ward.

This is Patrick, our MTC manager, and a
bishop of the winning ward.  The cheering,
yelling, dancing and celebrating was
hilarious to watch when they won first
place (they always win!)  You would have
thought they had won the World Cup.

Everyone always treats us like royalty
here.  They invited all the senior couples
back for a special reception and this is
the little plate of food they gave us.  A
meat pie, a piece of fried chicken, a
cupcake and a little donut, not very sweet,
and fresh watermelon or pineapple juice.

Sister Spackman and her husband work in the temple for their mission.  They come out periodically to the MTC to help with family history.  She's a great friend.  This is a new
blouse I bought at a fabric shop that was already made and fit great.  I didn't even have
to find a seamstress to make it for me!

Loel and I are both English speaking partners for two of our teachers.  We really enjoy it.  We meet for 30 mins once a week.  This past week Brother Zolo and I were discussing questions the lesson asked about how we gained our testimonies.  I was able to share the story of when I was at BYU and Dad came to visit and we attended a devotional together where Elder Loren C. Dunn, the speaker, answered all my questions and concerns.  Dad encouraged me to write him a letter, thanking him, which I did, and he wrote me back.  He said the thing he was most impressed with was the relationship I had with my father.  I was sharing this story with Brother Zolo, and got a little emotional.  He was touched and thanked me.  I realized that he has no father, his died when he was 2, and so the examples we can be to these teachers as we share our stories is more than just being their English speaking partners.