June 26, 2021

We had the opportunity of having dinner with our friends Mike and Cindy Neider who are visiting in Africa West as Worldwide Directors for Human Rights missionaries from SLC for a few days. Our dinner was more traditional Ghanaian than what we've had in the past. The restaurant was outdoors which was somewhat problematic since it was pouring rain. We moved our table under the center of the awning covering the dining area just to stay dry. Rabbit stew was on the menu, along with a beef fillet served on a banana leaf, and fresh fruit smoothies. I ordered a banana, avacado, honey drink, which was surprisingly good!

After dinner we headed out to Teshie for a Gathering Place Launch. The address and map system here is such that Dale could see the church building on Building Locator, but there was no way to get the GPS to lead us there. Luckily, we found an old fashion paper map and charted the driving course. Together with the heavy rain, road construction, dirt roads, and a fording through an ever rising creek, we had an another new adventure. As luck would have it, after driving from landmark to landmark we finally got in touch with the stake president by phone. We learned that we were just a matter of minutes from the church, and that due to the rain, the event had been postponed until Sunday at 3:00 pm. Good grief! 

We decided to forge on to the chapel to take the guess work out of the drive on Sunday. When we arrived, the lights were on and doors of the small building were open with a few people mingling about. We met and had a good conversation with a stake presidency counselor. Dale asked some questions about the stake's launch preparations and the YSA's attitudes. With enthusiasm he told of how the group had made a 3D drawing of what they wanted in their Gathering Place, plus their excitement about getting jobs. He also expressed how disappointed everyone was that the budget would not be what they had originally been told, but with that they decided to move forward with faith and make it what they could using their own resources. They felt the one thing they could still ask for was a deep clean of their room, only to be told no by the FM people. So, they did it themselves. We love the can do attitude of these members.

The Ghana Missionary Training Center officially opened Thursday, June 24 after being closed for Covid. On Friday morning it is "all hands on deck" to welcome and complete the paper work for the newly arrived missionaries. Here is a picture of Dale taking the bloodpressure of an elder. At our station we also gave each elder and sister enough doxycycline to last them while they are at the MTC. The medication is taken by all missionaires (including seniors) to prevent milaria. Pretty nasty. We're glad, though, to take the pill to prevent the alternative!