Good Times!

This is Elvis Antwi, a soon to be departing missionary from our Branch in Agona.

This is Brian, my little shadow when his mother brings him to the Mission home. Veronica is the cook for the Mission home and this is one of her twins, Brian. His sister is Briana. They are about two and a half years old.

Our missionaries Elder Bonku and Elder Motloung on the right, with Ransford, our newest member of the Agona Branch. Left of Ransford are two new members of the Asamang Branch, and Elder Halladay.... the younger! A distant cousin I am sure, from Brigham City Utah.

It's a long walk or taxi ride for some to get to Church and back, so refreshments are in order.

We have one primary class with 10-20 children on any given day.

Package is the brown envelope on the left. If parents send anything other than the flat rate white plastic USPS envelopes, customs nabs them. We have to open every package, and every package inside every package. Its Christmas morning for me every week! Sadly Customs also charges for everything in the packages that are opened, all because they come in the wrong type of package.

Sister Halladay keeping the primary children happy with her balloons.

And yes, we DID clean up after dinner.

Lets eat already. The turkey is getting cold!

Licking their own beaters, er fingers. Funny the men didn't get invited for this part of making thanksgiving pies. (It was a peanut butter pie TOO!)

Typical friendly and happy faces in Ghana.

A chopped Hummer! Not sure it makes sense to chop a Hummer......

Christmas time! The postal folks felt sorry for me with so many packages and so much weight. We average about 5-7 packages a week. I thought we had a lot this week with 20. Not even. We had 46 the week of Thanksgiving, that's four large bags at 50-80 lbs a bag. And 54 last week! We are going twice a week this week because my truck wont hold any more in one load.

I decided to get out and push a stranded car off the road and one of the road side ladies selling things decided to run out and help. She forgot to take her load off her head! Didn't matter she just pushed and balanced like it was old hat.

Our Christmas tree is up and we are listening to Christmas music! No snow yet.....

For all the foodies out there...

Pepes

These are ripe plantain which is a staple here in Ghana.  The people here make foufu, bonku and plaintain chips from these.  If they're making foufu, they will mix in casava with the plantain or sometimes yam with casava insteaad of plantain.  Plantain has a rather bland taste.  The yam is not like the yams in the US, they're more like a potatoe.  They like to deep fry the yams in chunks and dip them in pepe' which is made from hot peppers with a mortar and pestal.

Veronica, the mission cook is shown here making bonku for all the missionaries headed home the next day.

These are tilapia.  Veronica cooked them over a grill after she had marinated them with onion, garlic and ginger.

These giant snails were being sold in the market place.  This is a normal size bucket.  These were as big as my fist if not bigger.  I guess some people here do eat these.  And no, I did not buy them.    

KFC?  hmmm...

Macdonads too...

I,ve not tried Holy Mary's yet but is sure to be Ghanain food which is fish or chicken, rice and plantain.

Burger Queen anyone?  Yes, they do burgers here.

I cannot say enough about the fresh produce that is available here in Ghana.  The apples come from South Africa but I believe a lot of the other fruits and veggies in this picture are grown in Ghana.  The second largest export food in Ghana is cacao beans.  They make a drink here called milo that is from the cacao.  Its a staple in their diet.  

The giant Macaroons here are to die for!

These are called ball floats because they're shape is round and they deep fry them in oil.  YUM!

A Ghanain apple.  Or as Harry Potter claimed, dragon ears...

A Ghanaian meal consisting of chicken stew, coleslaw and jolof rice. (spicy rice)  The little little container above is a VERY hot sauce that they love to eat with their meals.  I like it if its not with a fish base.

Oops,  how'd that photo get in here?  Ok, ok, so were typical Americans.... nobody is perfect.  :-)

Agona & Asamong

                                      There were Several baptisms on this day.

   The members here in Asamong and Agona love to come out and support the new members that are being baptized.  Everyone is eager to witness the baptism.   The bapismal font is next to the white brick wall in the first picture.  Its outdoors. The sister in the second picture is Charity.  She and her son Prince were baptized at end of October by Elder Onen with Elder Bonku conducting the meeting.

               See the look of anticipation on these little faces?  So cute!

      This cutie was mopping up after her big brother was baptized by the elders.
                         She must've had some practice somewhere before.  ;)

                                       Aren't these little girls precious?

This is Elder Agbeko.  He us serving in Asamong.  I love this photo of everyone crowded around him as he fills out the baptismal papers.  You can tell these people are very comfortable with him.  He's just one of our great missionaries here teaching of our Saviors atonement and love for all.

  These two little ones are twins.  They belong to Veronica who is the Mission home's cook.  She makes really great Ghanaian dishes for us.
  Have I mentioned how much I love the people of Ghana?  I love them because for the most part, they are Christlike and humble, teachable and very kind. Ghana is one of the most religious countries in the world.  Everyone worships their God regularly.  They are committed to their beliefs and practice their religion.

                             Ghana is a wonderful place to feel God's love.

Missionary life

This is a photo of the Mission home where we go to work each day.  There are many office responsibilities as the office couple. Every day is a new adventure and there's never a dull moment. Maybe as I become more adept to the work expected of me, it'll smooth out bit. One can hope anyway. Elder Halladay on the other hand has been worth his weight in gold in keeping all the computers up and running among other things. He's very good at what he does.

We have Missionaries coming and going most any day of the week. Some are there for meetings and others are arriving for the first time or leaving to go home.  

These two are companions. Aren't they lovely girls?

Can you see the light in their eyes?

These two Sisters were helping in the kitchen and the office while waiting for their flights to depart for home.  We so appreciated their help.

Elders Bishop, Lund, Robinson, Mathebe and Zulu.  This was a celebration dinner at the Nobel House restaurant for Elder Mathebe who was going home, Elder Lund who was being transferred and Elder Zulu who was just called as an AP.  They all ate until the food was gone.  Missionaries never turn down a good meal!

 

Sister Cosgrave with Sister Patrick and Sister Miselo on transfer day.

 How many men does it take to hang a heavy wood shelf?....Many hands make lighter the load.  Elder Lund got tired of holding his arms up so decided to hold up his end on his head.  True to Ghanaian form.  :)

                         The Mission Home parking area on travel days.

This is Elder and Sister Barney who left us last month to return home from their mission after serving as the Nurse and housing coordinator.  Elder Udoh and Elder Botha trained us in our office duties.  

Now that all the guests are gone, we can kick back and lick the beaters!  Wish you were here Elder Mathebe!

Unusual sights along the way

Ever seen anyone change a billboard sign like this?  Amazing.

Do it yourself exercise weights. Talk about creativity!

 We thought this was a bit unusual, turns out 'zoomlion' is the local trash pick up for smaller items.
Looks like it never made it to the dump location. The bicycle part is rusted so you know it's been there a while......

The writings on the wall......These people work hard.

She's carrying her umbrella and items for her fruit stand on her head after a long days work.

Cattle drive down the middle of the road. Good thing they weren't spooked by the passing cars.

This one is my favorite!