I once was lost...

After getting so badly lost last Sunday, and then not finding the building for this Sunday listed on the meetinghouse locator, I send Chuck over to the area office Friday afternoon to get the GPS coordinates. We go to a different building every Sunday and there seriously are not addresses here.  He walked into an empty office, not a soul around to help him out.  

After standing there for a few moments, a man came in the main door and went to use the copy machine. Chuck approached and asked if he might know where the Weija Branch could be located. He pulled out his phone and said, "that's one that I know" and pointed to a spot on the map and said, "I am the branch president."  We couldn't believe it, there are literally hundreds of wards and branches around Accra, and HE is the branch president of the one we needed to locate!! Love it when this happens, not by chance!!

On Sunday, he stepped in to visit the literacy class while we were teaching since they have a new teacher and found us discussing James 1:5 "If any of ye lack wisdom, let him ask of God..."  We were talking about how the Lord answers prayers to give us wisdom to help find solutions to our problems, (with some translation help of course.) It was perfect timing as he explained our meeting on Friday and how the spirit prompted him to go to the room we were in to get his copies made and not where he would normally have gone. They also learned/reviewed 3 letters to make the words "I am." And the word "ask" which goes with A of course. It doesn't get any better! 

We forgot to get a picture of the class, but this darling little girl hopped up next to me during Relief Society and for the next hour played with paper, pens, pencils and a pink nail file from my purse all through class.  It was like the good ole' grandma days!!

We found someone to help us with our WhatsApp problems and some of the learners at the library were excited to become official "friends."



 Ayisha tried it out and gave us a call on Saturday.

We met twice with Elder Nash and then sent our (final, we hope?) drafts of the Area Literacy Plan, Notice Letter and Organizational Chart to him.

We bought a stationary bike for the apartment. 

On Friday evenings we meet with other Senior Missionaries for a "sealing session" at the temple where we do proxy sealings of couples and families for those who did not have the opportunity while they lived on earth. Then we go to dinner. 
We look forward to Friday night all week long.

To TOGO

The week started off with another literacy class ranging from the old to the young. It's never too late to learn, right? This class is held in the Bishop's office. 

The building wasn't where it was shown on the map, so we couldn't find it after searching in the craziest places. (The best/worst pictures never get taken.) We had to call Whitley on the left, the Stake Literacy Specialist for directions. She and the Sunday School President took a cab over to meet us and directed us to the church. 

Just to the East of Ghana lies the country of Togo. 

It is a French speaking country and we drove there on Monday to bring a French speaking Sr. missionary couple over for a humanitarian conference in Accra.

It took 3+ hours for them to get across the border, but we saw some new scenery and there are always interesting people to meet.

This man latched onto us and really enjoyed our brownies that we had planned to share at a dinner that night. But when it became clear that we weren't going to make it for the dinner, he and several others enjoyed them even more than we would have. 

He gave us quite the history of the area, the tires are on the border.

Chuck loves the musical "Oklahoma" and although we don't see a lot of tall corn, the anthills are pretty impressive.

A miniature Mosque

And a few quick drive-by photos of the countryside.

A grass roofed home on the left and shoe shop on the right.

A kiln for making pottery

We had to wonder what his exit plan will be 

when this load shifts or the truck tips over, which also happens.

People working in fields with hand tools.

We arrived back in  town late, and got trapped behind a large, overloaded truck that had tipped over in the road after it's tires broke through the ditch covers.  On the other side of the road was a broken down vehicle. It was total chaos AND mayhem!!

We didn't get pictures of it, once again, the best/worst pictures never get taken. But this was a couple days later when we went by there. 

Two nights this week we were invited to sit in on coordinating council meetings with about 16 of the Stake Presidents in the area and discuss the Gospel Literacy Program.  These leaders are so busy, but also committed and incredible! We are looking forward to helping them get classes started in their areas.

On Saturday we went with the Hunts to take a look at a very old slave fort not far from us called Ussher Fort built by the Dutch in 1649, and later used as a prison. 

Such a sad part of history for many nations and still continues, human slavery!

"Ama is a bosschic" or The ABCs of Grandchildren and Grownups

We became grandparents for the first time at 60. That's a long time to wait for the experience that is talked about as the reason why you have children in the first place. 

Charlie, now 7, but pictured here with a family of dinosaurs a few years ago, was the one to give me the name of "Ama." It rocked my world just to hear him say it. The grandchildren who followed thereafter continued the name and I was not about to change it. 

 Once in a while people look a bit puzzled by the name, but I have met other Amas who keep the name for the same reason that I do, and they aren't about to change it either. 

In Ghana, however, it appears it's not unusual.

In fact, Ama is very smart and Ama is a bosschic!!

We often think about our little grandchildren as we work with adults who are learning their letters, reading and writing, and reading Dr. Seuss books. It creates lots of tender feelings about literacy.

My heart goes all soft each time we pass children on the street who are in their uniforms heading to school. (There is a tiny baby on this mother's back, under the veil.) The mothers seem to take turns walking groups of children to school.

Their parents make great sacrifices for their children to get an education which varies tremendously!

Charlie can't imagine a world without books.

C is for "Charlie." 

 We have 3, 4 year old grandchildren, each learning to write and sound out their letters. We have a whole choir that sings the ABCs.

I love how Ben has extended the E to be longer.

B is for "Ben."

And B is for "Ben Bear," how he currently signs his name.

 G is for "Grant." 

J is for "Jane."

Jane saw a picture of our new friends at the library and told her mother that she wants to be friends with them also.  We decided they could be Pen Pals. Ayisha asked about Jane a bit later and I told her that she had the flu. Ayisha and Samira carefully wrote her a get well letter. 

Cooper and Hannah watch their older siblings and won't be left behind.  

C is for "Cooper."

 H is for "Hannah." 

And brand new this week, Lucy Jo born to daughter Liz and husband Cory.

                     L is for "Lucy" and "Love," and J is for "Joy."

B will always be for "Brooke" and "Blessings" of Eternal Families.

And W is for the "Wonder" of it all!!!

On the other side of the world, adult learners are working even harder.  The Bortianor Branch met with their new Gospel Literacy class this past Sunday. 

Many of their leaders were at a recent stake training and they have started a class with 9 students. They were absolutely the BEST!!  On the left is the Branch President who stepped in to see how things were going.  He eventually took the baby you see on the back of the young mother in red because he was fussing, others there would have done the same. On the far right in orange and pink are the Relief Society President and the Stake Literacy Specialist. The teacher taught his first class the day after the training so this was his second lesson and they completed a gospel discussion as well as 3 more letters to add to last week's. It was soo awesome, we were dancing a jig as we left this amazing group! It was so great to see how well it can work as everyone pulls together and takes part in the learner's success.

We were smiling all the way home.  All for the love of good leaders!

  "And if any man among you be strong in the Spirit, let him take with him him that is weak, that he may be edified in all meekness, that he may become strong also." Doctrine and Covenants 84:106

This is what we witnessed with this group of saints. 

And what should we strive to do as adults? 

"become as little children." Matthew 18:3