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.  ;)

Interesting signs that make us smile...

Hmmm....Ethical Hacking....

Crudeness sauce?  That's a first.

Study abroad.

Food for thought.

Wow...quail eggs...here?

Reverse side of the sign below.

Creative...

Galilee

Well....are you?

A visit to the Kumasi Cultural Center

I loved this elephant which is carved from Ebony wood.  

Never seen anything quite like these flip flops before...

These boys were on a school fieldtrip and wanted us to say hello and take their photo.

String Art

His and Hers masks.

Native drums carved by woodworkers at the cultural center.  Aren't they great!

Handmade earrings.

Beautiful hair clips.

I'm sure these two masks represent something....

Purses

These remind me of voodoo dolls....but I'm sure they depict ceremonial dancers.

Motorcycles made from pop cans.

Loved this mask...speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil.  

Our visit to KNUST Botanic Gardens

Lots of interesting things to see here....this looks like a little fairy house don't you think?  We saw several while visiting here in the gardens.  Sister Wardle thought they might be beehives?  

We had to do it.....

Sister Wardle is checking out the giant termite hill.  

These are bamboo trees.  They're extremely tall!  I had never seen one before and was astonished at its height.  Can you see the small benches at the base?  Those are for people to sit and relax and they're not small. 

Sisters Wardle and Cosgrave wandering down the path next to the bamboo trees.  Now you can see those benches better.

Someone taking advantage of the bench and the shade.

Four of the five of us.

This was an unusual looking fruit.  It was prickly all over the outside and the size of a basketball.

Another interesting looking seed pod.

Like the size of this crawly creature?  Me neither!!!

Now this I DID like....plumeria blossoms!

KNUST is a University located here in Kumasi.

Elder Wardle & Elder Halladay exploring and chatting as they go.

Sisters Cosgrave and Wardle examining  a vine being trained up a tree.  See the water bottle with the roots inside?...Ingenious.
All in all, it was a nice break in our week.