Week 5 - Blessings

How was everyone's Thanksgiving?

Alma 26:2 says  "And now I ask, what great blessings has He bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?" 

So let us tell you about this weeks blessings in Ghana....

Apples... 

Driving home one day we bought some apples. Then, at a stop light we gave some coins to a little beggar boy. He saw the apples on the back seat and said, "Apples, apples!" As my tender-hearted husband reached back for the apples the boy called his brother over. Their faces light up with pure joy as Elder Lambert handed them each an apple. Then they jumped up and down hardly believing they had received such a gift. The look on their faces was priceless! 

Pioneers.... 

We were privileged to meet two of the Church's pioneers in Ghana this week. Dr Kissi joined the Church in England while he was training to be a doctor. He returned to Ghana soon after the Church was newly organized here in the early 1980's. He wrote "Walking In The Sand",  a history of the LDS Church in Ghana. This book prepared me in many ways for our mission. I was thrilled to meet the author. We also had a surprise meeting with one of his peers, Emmanuel (Adu ?) while on our road trip to Cape Coast. These men impacted the growth of the Church considerably in West Africa. They are revered by the people here.

Mentors.... 

Alex Tandoh and Michael Odoom are gently teaching us about the SR program, their people, and the Ghanian culture. We spent three days with them at Cape Coast training Stake SR Committees, visiting schools and colleges and meeting individuals who have been through the program and have found success  growing their businesses. #1 Sister Coleman has found keeping her business expenses separate from her personal expenses an improvement. She sells African handbags and sandals. #2 Jacob and Barbara have a sewing business. Barbara can make dresses without a pattern! They know that better advertising/networking would grow their business more. #3 Francisca sells a high protein cereal product. She has returning customers because of the quality of the product. So fun to see people experience success!!!

Sobering experience.... 

We visited Cape Coast Castle where over the course of 200 years millions of African slaves were held before being shipped to the Americas (Brazil, Caribbean, and USA). The dungeons where they were held for up to three months had little light or air. Two hundred men would be crammed into one of five cells. They, nor their cells were ever cleaned, they were branded, and many went blind. The conditions were so inhuman its a wonder any of them survived. If they rebelled they were chained in a totally dark room with no food or water until they died. The slave trade is a sad reflection of man's inhumanity to man, where the evil we are capable of; our lust for greed and power overwhelms the child of God, and goodness that is within us. Slave trading and child trafficking still continues today.

Senior Couples ... 

Yesterday we had a pool party with the other missionaries in our apartment complex!!! They work in Welfare, Medical, Family History, Public Relations, as Legal Advisers and Auditors for the Church. 

All volunteering.... so much Goodness in Ghana!

Love to you all!