19-25 September 2016

French sisters (except me) at the temple waiting to go in for a session.  

A cute couple from Cote d'Ivoire who
had just gone through the temple.

Selasi in her African outfit and
headdress that she had made.

She's been working at the MTC for
14 years as the head housekeeper
and does an incredible job.  She
also takes us to the Tema market
as we would get lost there without
her.

French companionship teaching an
investigator outside the MTC.

These "investigators" are usually volunteers from
the wards for the missionaries to practice on.
The missionaries often tell me that this is the
most helpful part of their MTC experience.

Two teachers at the MTC.

Another companionship waiting to teach and a
teacher who jumped in the picture.  This is one of
the two Americans in the MTC in this group, with
his African companion, of course.  We feel bad
for the Americans who come directly to Africa
from the Provo MTC - they have a real
culture shock when they arrive in Africa.  Being
in the Ghana MTC gives these Americans time
to adjust to the African culture, food, people,
weather, etc, and they are really grateful for
this experience of being here for their training
before heading into the field.  

Our hallway, going into our apartment.
When it's really hot, I can't wait to get
inside the apt after climbing up two
flights of stairs with no AC. There's
no AC in any of the hallways or
stairwells.

Loel and George, a teacher who loves
Loel and the feeling is mutual.
They have totally bonded. (Loel) George
is my buddy.  He's one of the teachers who
is also a temple ordinance worker. He's
a great help in the temple as he speaks
both English and French

Visiting in my office with Sister Stutz
and Sister Spackman who came to
help with family history.  We were
discussing what was on our bucket
lists for the rest of our lives. (Loel)
Hmm. So that's where they were

1-18 September 2016

Here is a good friend of the Tibbitts', Thom Reed, who happened to be in Accra at the temple site when we went to a Senior FHE there.  He's with a film crew working on the Freed Man project in Family Search, cataloging oral histories of African Americans and Africans.  It was really fun visiting with him and others on the crew and then the FHE was great, as always.  Driving home in the dark wasn't so fun, though.

The sister in the middle came one day
earlier than everyone else - we love the
Camaroons as they speak both French
and English.  The other sister is one of two
6 week missionaries learning French.
Notice my new blouse.

Of course I had to throw in a couple
pictures of sisters getting their dreaded
immunizations! Especially as I had
two female teachers taking pictures
and laughing hysterically as they
helped with the shots.

We've been looking at antique Kente
cloth again. We aren't buying but we
love the beauty of these old cloths.

This is another one. Can you see the birds and
the arrows in this one?

This is a new one made by our friend
Bob Dennis.

This is one by Bob that I'm trying to convince Paula that we "need".

When I visited Bob this past week he showed me
the construction he's doing. See the bamboo used
as supports?

When they do construction, they start at the basics.
When we arrived a Bob's there were huge piles
of dirt and gravel. On a concrete pad were these blocks
drying. Bob is making his own blocks to build his addition.
So if you remodel here, you do it all including making the
blocks.

This is his "show room". I took the picture because
I want to remember what his place looked like when
I first met him. This will be replaced with a block
building, too. He says by December. We'll see.
This building currently serves as his sewing room
and the show room.  Bob normally lectures at
universities in England in the spring and summer.
He missed it this year because of the large contract
they had with JeansWest.

Our current RS sisters today for our group picture. This current intake is smaller than we've had in a long time - 69.  It's actually kind of nice and doesn't feel quite so hectic; particularly as we get them checked in and processed.  We can hold up to 104 and often are close to that.

Here is one of my current journal entries (this is Paula):

"We were talking with the Brubakers on one of our drives recently about what changes we've seen in ourselves since serving in Africa.  I said that I feel like I'm learning to be still, to relax, to slow down, and just be able to sit quietly, think, etc.  I'm such a go go kind of person, always multi-tasking, etc. but here you learn to just relax as things are slower moving here.  Like in the temple, it's ok to just sit quietly in the temple lobby when we're not busy, read scriptures, smile at people, and talk to a few of them.  At home, it was hard for me to do, but in many ways, it's been good for me.  I keep thinking of that scripture, 'Be still and know that I am God.'  Africans know how to be still."

Kente Festival - Grand Durbar Day

On this day, the Paramount Chief of the Agotime Traditional Area and 37 traditional leaders (chiefs) of the towns and villages in the Agotime converge in the city of Kpetoe. An interesting sidelight is, a Caucasian who was a Church employee in Accra, is one of the chiefs. While living in Accra, he became very involved in the Ewe culture in this area and published two photo books on the people of Ghana and the Kente festival that have become standards in Ghana. He was later named a chief with all the powers of the other chiefs. He invited the Senior Missionaries to sit with him, with Elder and Sister Nash immediately beside him. 

This is a very colorful day with multitudes of Kente fabric, lots of gold (plated) jewelry, dancing,  bands and drumming.

As we drove to the festival site we passed many people
on the side of the road.

Everyone was happy and excited as they waited
for the festivities to begin.

Kente costumes of every kind,
for all sizes,

Some people watched from their balconies.

Elder and Sister Nash made friends with these boys selling Kente.

Phillipe Kradolfer, also known as
Nene Dunenyo I

Elder Nash with other chiefs.

How do they carry these things on
their heads.

Color, color and more color.

If you're a chief, you can have someone fan you.

Don't know the significance of the decoration,
but it's interesting.

The staff is very important to the chief.

Each one is different.

I don't know the significance of the various symbols.

I guess a chicken is significant.

A queen mother passing by.

And another.

Nene Nuer Keteku III, Principle Chief of
Agotime Traditional Area.

A procession of women in traditional
dress.

All ages participate. This may be a
queen in waiting.

These women were dancing earlier.

This little girl was sitting next to me.

Paula and Chief Nene Dunenyo I.

Kente Festival - Heroes and Heroines Day

We traveled to the town of Kpetoe (Pet-o-way), which is the center of the Agotime (Ah-go-tea-may) Traditional Area and home to the Kente (Ken-tay) Festival .  This is one of the largest festivals in Ghana and celebrates the Ewe (A-way) culture and especially Kente weaving which is huge to this area. This area is in extreme eastern Ghana and western Togo.

The festival is four days. On Friday, we attended the Heroes and Heroines Day celebration. This celebrates those who have fought in the many wars waged in this part of Africa.

This man is from Accra, but a native
of this area.  He is a former bishop
and acted as our guide for the days
we were there with eight other senior couples.
He gave us little of the history. One of the stories is that
raiders came to the villages, but the Ewe ran away and
hid. The dogs found their masters and betrayed them to
the enemies, so dogs are no longer welcome in the Ewe
society and there are no dogs.

These people are riding to the festival. They are
dressed in red and black because those are
fighting colors.

We didn't realize it, but this day of the celebration
took place in Togo. No check point, no passport or
 Visa check - which is a good thing as none of us
had either.

Typical villages as we drove an hour on very,
very rough dirt roads.

Very friendly.

It's really right through the jungle.

If you don't have a clothesline, use a bush.

We shared the road with the pedestrians.

Carrying plantains.

One of the cash sources is cutting wood and
making charcoal.

A big truck comes by, picks up the bags of charcoal
and takes them to the city where they are sold. A lot
of people still use charcoal for cooking.

Wearing red and black, walking to the festival.

Happy people.

Some of the royalty.

More royalty.

Some of the Queen Mothers

The players go into the center of the open field and recreate
a battle, complete with firing guns.

Our guide arranged for us to be seated in a VIP
area under a canopy, which was very nice because it was
so hot. We were invited to walk across the open
area and be greeted by the chiefs. It was kind of
cool and they were very gracious. One chief gave
me a little Ghanaian finger snap as we shook
hands and said, "You are my friend."

Then the chiefs walked around the square and
said hello to everyone.

There was a little drama as a chief from a neighboring
village showed up five hours late. The Paramount Chief
of this village sent a messenger and told him that he was
five hours late and he could enter, but not as a chief.
He was angry and went home after a lot of yelling
by his supporters.

Elder Nash, of the First Quorum of Seventies,
and Sister Nash were with us.

Then the Paramount Chief of this village took
his stroll around the square. He stopped in front
of us and did a little dance as the drums were
right next to us.

Driving back to Kpetoe.

They have a clothesline.

Drying corn (maize).

Our little caravan through the jungle. Another
hour on bone jarring roads.