All good things must come to an end

There are many people and things we will miss about Ghana.

President & Sister Cosgrave and us the night before our departure.

Well...we won't miss waiting at the Customs office for packages to be processed like these Elders...

But we will definitely miss most everything else.

Margaret & Charles Baptism

Two Missionaries that we have grown to love very much who are also good friends.  Elder Porritt who serves in Kumasi and Elder Antwi who is serving in the Accra West Mission.

Two Missionaries that were serving in the Agona Branch with us in October.  Elder Addo and Yates.

This is Margaret who was baptized just before we left to come home from our mission.  She is a single mother with two little boys.  She is handycapped and walks a great distance each day to work in the fields to support her boys.  She is very proud of her independence despite her challenges.

Elder Addo, Margaret, Charles and Elder Yates on Baptism day.

When there is a baptism, the whole branch comes to witness and support the investigators.  This is the inside view of a trotro full of our members who came to the baptism that day.  I personally counted 28 people get off that trotro.  They don't mind being close together, they're just happy to have a ride.

This is Lord.

This is Rudolf.

These two little guys just couldn't sit through another meeting so, I took them outside to run off some energy while they finished up the meeting inside.  They RAN almost the whole time!  Three year old's have a lot of energy!

WHAT A GREAT DAY!!!

Cultural Celebration

In October a special Cultural Celebration was held to celebrate the History and culture of the people of Ghana.  This special program was in conjunction with the forming of the new Asokwa Stake.  The area President came to this celebration as well as stake members and visitors.  There are now three Stakes in the Kumasi area.

The young adults take a turn dancing.  This dance was about courtship.

Meet the men responsible for the music, or should we say, drums.  Most of the time when we saw people dancing, it was to drum rhythms.

The Hostess for our the program.  She was very happy and did a great job.

This little cutie was in attending with her mother.  I asked if i could take her photo and she abliged.

Several uninvited goats decided to drop by and taste the bushes on the church property.  They were sent on their way in no time at all.  Goats are very common in Ghana and they all run freely about.

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!!!