Missionaries

Missionaries come in all colors and sizes...so do their ties.  These happen to be woven and sewed to the wearers specifications right here in Ghana.

Zone Council meetings happen regularly but, Elder Halladay and I are usually doing the Banking on those days.  This was an exception.  So glad we got to attend!  These missionaries are an inspiration.

Elder Halladay sharing a bit of insight.

All missionaries LOVE it when they get mail from home!  This is Elder Cameron, he happens to be new here so getting a letter was great!

LOVE Sisters Awittor and Athieno!

The whole UST Zone together.  Great bunch of hard working Missionaries!

When its transfer time we always have to say goodbye to some missionaries who've completed their service here.  A special meal is in order and Veronica (in the hat), our Mission cook asks them what they want her to prepare.  Tonight its foufou, chicken and peanut soup with sobolo to drink.

Elders Gibson, Zulu and Udobor all served as Assistants at some point in their time here.  They were great Missionaries!  As you can see from the photo, the custom here is to eat with your fingers.  Hey...when in Ghana...

With their banners from the Mission.

With Elder Zulu.

Elder Udobor.  We sure will miss them!

Coloring in Primary

Primary is the BEST!  These kids love to color.

Notice Mabina is coloring her person the same color of skin as she has?  I love this!  Apparently orange is a favorite too.

  

Finished!

Who could resist this cute face?

...or this one...

....or this one....

Show Sister Halladay your pictures kids!  Whooops, where'd they go?

        They all rushed outside afterward to share their masterpieces with Sister     Cosgrave.

     With a bit of help from our Sister Cosgrave, we finally got a photo that shows their cute faces as well as their newly colored masterpieces!  CUTE KIDS!!!

To Market, to Market

Navigating the somewhat crowded isles.....umm...I think my cohorts are somewhere ahead of me...of course, if I should get separated from them somehow there's sure to be a person who can tell me which way they went because we kinda stick out here.

Women's items for as far as the eye can see...and then some.

Hmm...lets see....four lotions,  eight cocoa butter, slippers, new flipflops, etc, etc...maybe we can get help carrying it all out?  (Just kidding)

Hey...lets get some wigs!  There are plenty to choose from... if you like black.

Yep...we need all the support we can get here...

So, this man sees my name tag and grabs me by the arm and hauls me down the isle while yelling, "There is a member of your church here!"  He took us to this cute woman who is indeed a member in one of the Kumasi branches.  Don't you just love her happy smile!  She was so excited to meet us and gave me a big hug!

Hey, its never a successful trip without finding a fabric shop!  :)

Eeny, meeny, miney....

Remember that wig isle????

Well....when in Rome....  what can we say?  (music maestro...)  "How do you solve 3 problems like Sisters Wardle, Halladay and Cosgrave?"  You gotta live a little!!!

A Special day in Agona

Today was Linda's baptism day!  She told me last week that she would be baptized this week and that I should arrange a dinner party for her... She has a great sense of humor!  She is going to be a really great addition to our Branch and a strong member.  Elder Adjei on the left and Elder Yates on the right.  Elder Adjei is from Ghana and Elder Yates is from Hawaii.  She was also taught the gospel by Elder Porritt who has since been transferred to Konongo.  When we asked Linda how she was introduced to the church she said that a very small girl saw the missionaries on the street, came to Linda's home and asked her to come to church with her, then invited the missionaries inside to visit with Linda.  Amazing...."and a little child shall lead them."

The Agona Branch members that came to support Linda during her baptism.  Our Branch members are so great at supporting one another!  They all came together in one trotro. Our branch does not have a working baptismal font so we all travel about 7 miles to Asamang to do the baptisms.

Thomas sat on my lap during the meeting.  He wanted to hold the songbook and sing!

This is Thomas' older brother, Junior.

Ha Ha!  I was taking photos of the Baptism candidate and Stephanie crept up behind me so I quicky reversed my photo screen and got a shot of her!  She's pretty quick...note the tongue sticking out of her mouth?

Precious was baptized last week and confirmed today.  She is almost YW age.

Clarissa was my meeting buddy today.  Isn't she a cutie?!  Her mom was making her smile.

Clarissa is 5 months old.  Don't you just love her chubby little cheeks and that curly hair?!

Clarissa and I stood at the back of the room....I nabbed her when Sunday school began.  Don't you just love her little outfit?  She was such a good baby all through the meetings.   It's been such a great day!

Elvis Antwi is on his way!

Elvis Antwi (on the right) is the first missionary from our branch to go on a mission.  On the left is his older bother and his older sister is in the center.  Three of his cousins also came which made him so happy.

This picture was taken right after his farewell meeting.  Albert (Elvis' brother), myself, Elvis and Elder Halladay.

Elvis is in the center and is surrounded by many of his Agona branch family members.

These little cuties helped him carry his belongings out to our vehicle so that we could take him to the Mission home.  They kept asking where he was going...I bet he's gonna miss them.

Elvis asked me to help him organize his suitcase before he left.  It made me a bit teary eyed and brought back lots of memories of helping my own boys to pack for their missions.  He refers to Elder Halladay and I as dad and mum.

Packing everthing!

He's been set apart by the Mission President.  He and the Elder next to him are both headed to the Accra Ghana MTC and then off to Nigeria.  It was a very quiet car ride to the airport.  I think there were lots of butterflies in their bellies!

Just arriving at the Kumasi airport and waiting for their airplane to depart.  Neither of them had ever flown on an airplane.  It's just a start to many adventures to come!  We are sure gonna miss Elvis.  I waited in the car so I wouldn't cry in front of him.  Don't know if I will ever see him again in my time on this earth, but we are for sure going to keep in contact and I know I will see him in the life after this.  Gonna miss that young man something awful!  He's off to do great things for the Lord in Benin City, Nigeria.

Cooking Ghanain style

Shopping at the market for veggies can be a fun experience!

Just look at all of that vibrant healthy food!  The green long things in the center are unripened plantain, the red are tomatoes, the yellow are garden eggs (small squash).

The colors beautiful and the setting is fascinating!  This place is a feast for the artist eye with color and movement everywhere!!  On the far left you can see avocados, hot peppers, in the center, okra, cauliflower, green beans, and on the right are potatoes, green peppers and carrots.  

We're going to find out how to cook all of those yummy things up now...Veronica is teaching us to cook Red Red with fried plantains and Light soup.

Sister Wardle keeping a close eye on the recipe details so that we can do things right when we try it on our own at home.

Fresh ripe plantain.

The plantain after we fried it.  It goes with the Red Red we will make.  Red Red is also served with rice and sometimes foufou.

These are Ghanain peas.  They're larger and harder than our US peas and they grow in bushes.  We will cook these with garden eggs (small squash) then puree the two together to make Light Soup.  Light soup is also served with foufou or bonku and sometimes rice.

See the garden eggs?  We boiled them with the peas for the Light soup.

These beans have been already cooked and will be added to our Red Red stew.

This is the Red Red stew with all of the other ingredients added.  Red Red is a favorite of ours.  Hopefully we will be able to reproduce the recipe on our own now.  ;)