Week 50 - On the Move

Family,

This week we were on the move, traveling to Abomosu to the north of Accra and to Cape Coast to the west. 

Our trip to Abomosu was assisted by Elder and Sister Mintah. Elder Mintah has family in England and he is a diabetic like our son-in-law, Blade. Sister Mintah was a minister in the Methodist church, she joined the church 12 years ago and married Elder Mintah. Both of them lost their first spouses. They are Church Service missionaries and speak Twi a lot better than us, (haha!) so we engaged their services to come along and translate as we presented a My Path devotional to the members of Abomosu 1st and 2nd branch. I wish I had taken a picture of Samuel, the youngest participant at 14 years of age. He joined in, filling out the information and answering the questions on his level of self reliance. At the end of the evening he asked me if he could join a group and he wanted the Foundations book. I told him that the book cost money and he said he will get it and buy the book! The next morning I told his mom how impressed I was with him. She told me he is a good boy and has high aspirations of becoming a doctor. Another example of Goodness in Ghana!

While we were at Abomosu the missionary couple there; the Bingham's received the sad news that their young friend, Raymond (14) had died that very afternoon. We met Raymond on our first visit to this community. He was very sick then, spending time in and out of the hospital. The family said that on the day he died he had been playing with his little brother and had colored in a coloring book. He was happy. We are glad this was their final memory of their son. 

It is hard for us to understand some practices here. When death occurs, children are buried within hours of dying (as if their lives have little value? We don't know why), while older people are not buried for months after they die. (Yes, I said months), and at great expense to the family. The Bingham's helped purchase a little casket and Raymond was buried before nightfall. How grateful we are for the knowledge of life after death. Because the Savior's resurrection bought total victory over death, we too can have that hope. One church leader expressed it this way, "The Resurrection is brought to pass by the Atonement of Jesus Christ and is pivotal to the great plan of salvation. We are spirit children of heavenly parents. When we come to this earth life, our spirit is united with our body. We experience all the joys and challenges associated with mortal life. When a person dies, their spirit is separated from their body. Resurrection makes it possible for a person’s spirit and body to be united again, only this time that body will be immortal and perfect—not subject to pain, disease, or other problems." We have total confidence that this will be Raymond's experience.

At Cape Coast our favorite activity was to meet with 5 recently returned missionaries, and one had just gotten home the day before! Working with President Davies of the new Yamoransa stake, we oriented these RM's to various options for their futures and taught principles of SR. We love these young people and want so badly for them to be successful. Pres. Davies gave them some wonderful counsel on careers and education (he is a high school teacher) He also told them, "The time will come in Africa when all the leaders of the church will be returned missionaries." We have no doubt about this. The church is only 36 years old here in West Africa but already many of those in their 30's-40's are RM's and hold leadership positions.

It's a great time to be in Africa!

"Whatever our age or circumstance, let service be our “watchcry” Serve in your calling. Serve a mission. Serve your mother. Serve a stranger. Serve your neighbor. Just serve." Carl B Cook

Love you!

Elder and Sister Lambert

Pictures: The Mintahs

Cape Coast/Yamoransa RM's with Pres. Davies 

Week 49 - Dance in the Rain

EMAIL FROM SEPT. 25

Dearest Family,

This was a planning and preparation week as we anticipate getting really busy in the next few months. Our self reliance team is planning a big event for November entitled  "Self Reliance- A Week of Celebration" It will consist of a panel discussion, workshops and exhibitions, and everybody is invited so we are hopeful a large crowd will attend. Currently advertising is in progress and we are contacting potential exhibitors.

We understand Utah has had a wet week with rain and even some early snow! Accra has also had some good soaking rains which I love to watch because the weather is always hot and humid. Not that the rain cools the temperatures down, but it breaks up the "sameness" of the weather we experience every day and just makes my heart happy! (Elder Lambert will testify to this!)

 I think it's interesting how we often equate the trails and challenges of this life with rain. And it's true; "rainy days and Mondays" can get us down. But what if our blessings come from the rain and hard times? Maybe God is blessing us by not giving us those sunny days, because He knows rainy days will actually cause greater growth as we struggle, humble ourselves, and wait patiently upon the Lord for promised blessings. This week I randomly clicked on an app on our iPad and found a song our daughter Kristi had downloaded several years ago. It expresses beautifully the concept of the trials of this life being God's mercies in disguise. (something we rarely recognize until the storm clouds have passed by.) The song is titled "Blessings" by Laura Story. It's on Youtube. Listen carefully to the words and then go outside and dance in the rain! 

On Saturday we took the Munros to our favorite outdoor place in the city and introduced them to the botanical gardens. Sister Munro is just about the sweetest person I have ever met. She is without guile and 100% outwardly turned as she watches over the young missionaries, fixes food for the security guards at Coco Palms and has a kind word for everyone. On our walk through the gardens she even patiently taught me the name of one plant- bougainvillea. It's flowers come in all colors and it's found throughout Ghana ... and Brisbane, Australia. We also found some cool dragonflies and I was surprised that one held still long enough for a picture! 

Looking forward to attending some broadcasted sessions of General Conference next week  :)

Elder and Sister Lambert

Pictures of the Botanical Gardens

At the temple with the Binghams, and Elder Frempong from Abomosu.

Week 48 - Conference Messages

Dearest Family,

Isn't technology fantastic!

We were able to watch all of the General Conference broadcasts from Salt Lake City, minus the last hour of Sunday afternoon session (due to the time being 6 hours ahead and it was getting close to our bedtime!) This was the first time Ghanaians have had the opportunity to watch more than one session so it was a great blessing and was well supported with packed, standing-room only stake centers. Barring a few hicups the connection came in loud and  clear. Favorite talks? Elder Lambert said Jeffrey R Holland's talk on home teaching impressed him the most. I found words of wisdom and counsel for me personally in many of the messages. 

The other reason I say technology is fantastic is because in the last few weeks we have been using social media (WhatsApp) to keep various self reliance groups "in the loop" with what is going on, sharing ideas, posting committee meeting times, and giving small training reminders. We challenged each of our WhatsApp groups to find something related to self reliance in the General Conference talks, including any encouragement to take charge of our own temporal and spiritual lives and post it on their platforms. Here is our contribution: 

"Essential to the plan is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Without His atoning sacrifice, all would be lost. It is not enough, however, merely to believe in Him and His mission. We need to work and learn, search and pray, repent and improve. We need to know God’s laws and live them. … Only by doing so will we obtain true happiness." Pres. Monson 

And another one...

“The great beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the reality of eternal progression-we are not only allowed to change for the better but also encouraged, and even commanded, to continue in the pursuit of improvement and, ultimately, perfection.” ( Jean B. Bingham 1st Counselor in the Primary General Presidency).  

As we move through life we can remain as we are or each day choose to refine and perfect our nature. Only we can direct our lives to be more like the perfect example of the Son of God. 

Good things are happening here in Ghana! There is not time to share all the wonderful experiences we are having, but please know we are well. Together we testify of the reality of God and His Son, Jesus Christ. The restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ through the prophet, Joseph Smith and that God speaks to us through living prophets today. 

Love,

Elder and Sister Lambert 

Week 47 - Self Reliance Missionaries- Jack of All Trades

Family,

This week was transfers. For those of you who don’t know, transfers occur every six weeks when the mission president may choose to transfer missionaries to a new area and change their companionships. It is also the time when we say goodbye to those who have completed their mission and when a new intake of missionaries arrive. It is a busy time! 

So, on Monday Elder Lambert and I taught a self reliance lesson to the nine departing missionaries (three Americans and six Africans) We researched who they can contact in their home countries to receive SR services and explained the PEF loan available to them if they choose to continue their eduction. It was a productive meeting and gave hope to these sweet African brothers and sisters.  Over the next several days we also fixed numerous sack breakfasts and lunches for the new missionaries and their trainers. Just to make this transfer extra complicated the African missionaries arrived on Tuesday from the Ghana MTC in Tema (half hour from Accra),  and the Americans who came from the Provo, Utah MTC arrived on Wednesday. To add another element to the equation, Elder Gary E Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke to all 350 missionaries from Accra and Accra West missions two hours after the Americans plane had landed! 

Elder Stevenson, Elder Soares and Elder Nash, plus the two mission Presidents taught from Preach My Gospel. It was an inspiring meeting!

On Thursday we were privileged to take a newly set apart missionary to the Ghana MTC. Elder Joel Frempong is from Abomosu District and will be serving in Sierra Leone. He is a delightful young man and it bought back a flood of memories of when we had delivered our missionary daughters to the Provo MTC. As we got to know this young man I felt all the feelings of a proud mama, without the roller coaster of emotions I experienced back home.

On Friday we were back at the MTC on a family history assignment and Elder Lambert helped Elder Frempong enter his family names onFamilySearch.org. We will also accompany him to the Temple next week. So, along with Lucy Acquah our African daughter serving in Liberia, we now feel like we have an African son too! Lucy is doing well and we stay in touch with her through email. We will do the same with Elder Frempong. Most African missionaries rarely receive mail of any kind so it's nice for them to open their inbox and find a personal message. 

On Saturday we were involved in a Self Reliance training for Church Service Missionaries and SR Specialists. It was thrilling to see representatives from 12 of the 14 stakes that were invited.  We are impressed by the sacrifices made by so many to attend! If we can train local Church Service Missionaries to do what we are doing then we will have worked ourselves out of a job and SR will function in this area without Obruni (white man) missionaries.... we are making small progress, but still have some challenges to overcome. 

At the conclusion of this training we slipped into the cultural hall to watch a music/ drama competition for Kaneshie stake.  Within a minute we were asked to join the judging panel and critic the various performances of each ward. What?!!! It took us back to the days of Gold and Green Balls and Roadshows, the completion was fierce back then and it was fierce on Saturday!! Each ward sang the same hymn; “Master the Tempest is Raging” with their own arrangements/adaptations. It was pretty fun to see their creativity. Then they presented various stories from the Book of Mormon, including Lehi’s dream of the Tree of Life, Wicked King Noah and Abinadi, Alma and Korihor, and Joseph Smith’s First Vision. The plays were great, with some humorous interpretations of some of the events, and we were not surprised by the memorization of lengthy passages of scripture which these people are so good at doing. When the winners were announced the audience resembled fans at a world cup soccer game. It was crazy!!!

So from teacher to sandwich makers to missionary ma and pa to family history consultants and "Africa's Got Talent" judges; we do it all!

Loving our mission...

Elder and Sister Lambert

Enthusiastic missionary- Elder Frempong

Pointing to Sierra Leone 

Levi borrowed my camera and took 20+ pictures at the activity on Saturday. This is one I took of him.

Week 46 - Village of Afgame

Family,

What a week! It started off with a great discussion in Sister Scripture Study as we compared Zion's Camp to our own challenging experiences, having unrealistic expectations and learning to be content with our circumstances. One sister put it this way, "If you can't scrub the floor and be happy with it, then you haven't learned anything from it. Even the small and simple things of life contribute to our experience. We need to find holiness in all we do." Another comment sent a wave of laughter through the room. Pres. Kimball once said, "One day you are a peacock, the next, a feather duster!" So I guess the message from that is not to take yourself too seriously! 

On Tuesday we did a business visit with Hans who works for an NGO. We took him to Christiana's shop and discussed her idea of putting toilets and showers on her property- there are none in the surrounding area and the government encourages these facilities to be built. Hans is helping her do the ground work for the project and will allocate the loan. We are hopeful this will be a profitable business for our sweet friend. 

For months we've been hearing about the Kente Festival; an African cultural event in the Volta region that showcases the kente weavers and traditions of the people of the Agotime Traditional area. Kente cloth is woven on a loam, in strips about 4-5" wide and then sewn together. The patterns and designs can be traditional or original. The master weavers are highly respected for their skill and expertise. So, on Thursday we travelled 3 hours to Ho and then on to Kpetoe. It was well worth the drive! At Kpetoe we witnessed the best Kente weavers compete in competitions consisting of speed weaving, quality, and creativity in weaving the kente strips. It was amazing to watch how fast they could weave, know when to change colors and see the pattern unfold before our eyes!

In the afternoon about 70 of the local women participated in the traditional 'fetching of the water." Dressed in beautiful kente clothing they walked to the riverside to fetch water, then in a single file carried the water in bottles and clay pots to the forecourt of the Paramount Chief where the water was poured into a traditional pot. It was an amazing sight!

On Friday we caravanned with several other missionary couples to another village, this time crossing the boarder into Togo! The village of Afgame was 30 km down a dirt road. Here we watched a ceremony remembering the ancestors who fought in wars between the people of Agotime and the Ashanti region. In the olden times invading other lands showed your strength as a tribe, and captured villagers were sold as slaves. Dressed in red and black the various clans acted out battle scenes. Gunfire, drums, music and dance kept us mesmerized. 

On Saturday we attended the grand finale in which the Paramount Chief and 37 traditional leaders from surrounding towns and villages of the area converge in procession at the "Durbar" grounds. The kente regalia with entourages in tow was quite a fantastic sight. I am so grateful we had the chance to go and see some truly authentic African culture. I took so many pictures I hope you will indulge me if I share them in several emails. It was so fun to photograph such a colorful event!

 

Back to reality now, and refocusing on the work....

Love, 

Elder and Sister Lambert

Pictures: Kente weaving. 

Week 45 - Asamankese

**This letter was sent the end of August**

Dearest Family and Friends,

Another great week in Ghana! 

It all started with a mission Couples Conference hosted by President and Sister Simpson, with the Munros- office, Binghams-MLS, Herrs- MLS and us in attendance. We began with Family Home Evening which included a scrumptious meal (Sister Simpson is from Samoa and loves to prepare BIG meals), a lesson, and much laughter as we played games. The laughter was a needed tonic in a place that can sometimes get so serious that we forget to relax and have fun. On Tuesday morning we studied Preach My Gospel, reading scriptures and discussing the unity of the Godhead- how each of them bear testimony of the others. We focused on the Savior's teaching to the Nephites, that His doctrine was not only understood, but taught so it could not be misunderstood. Next, President Simpson shared his vision for the mission with us. We love him. He has that great easy-going Aussie way of dealing with life and it's challenges. Interesting fact for my family: the Simpsons served in a church assignment in Orange, NSW for sometime, so we have talked about that beautiful part of the world on a couple of occasions and it reminds me of the time we went to church there when we visited Jules and the boys in Canowindra. In the afternoon the three other couples took turns to explain their missionary purpose. Elder Lambert and I took our turn on Wednesday morning before concluding the event with testimonies and pictures. This conference was just what we all needed as we supported each other and were re-energized for the work each of us are engaged in.

On Friday we traveled to Asamankese, another town in the bush. Here we met with President Adu, the new District President. He told us how he had been up since 3:00am gathering the youth so they could board a bus to attend an activity at Cape Coast (many of them have never seen the ocean). He said, "As long as my people are OK, I don't worry about me so much."  He told us about the first few weeks after he was called and how he could not sleep because of the responsibility he felt and all the new things he had to learn. We had a successful training with him concerning self reliance, then at the end of the meeting he offered the sweetest prayer in our behalf and in behalf of our family; asking God to bless and protect our family at home while we are away from them. We were touched, we have never had someone here pray for us in that way. 

On Saturday morning we were awoken at 5:30am by the call to prayer from the local Mosque which is a block away, but sounded like it was coming from the living room! We were staying at a vacant missionary apartment. For the next several hours we heard music, prayers, and recitations from the Quran (we are guessing) over the loud-speaker system. It was quite the experience! FYI in Ghana the Muslims and Christians get along peacefully with one another- something the rest of the world could take a lesson from.....

Our morning run on the back streets of Asamankese drew quite a bit of attention with calls of "Obruni! Obruni!" The children were delightful as always :)  Later that morning we attended a baptismal service for six people before our next training meeting with Branch Presidents and SR specialists. We never know how many of the leadership will show up, especially out in the bush, because some members must travel long distances and it can be a financial burden for them. However we were pleased that every branch was represented by at least two people and we are hopeful that SR will move forward in this district, The leaders understood the analogy of helping a child learn to walk and as often as they fall down, we encourage them to stand up and lovingly reach out as they take those first steps, but if we carry them on our backs they will never develop the strength or capacity to walk alone. Self reliance is like that, we teach correct principles and let them govern themselves....

ye ja me yaa missionary -you can call me missionary

Elder and Sister Lambert

Pictures: Seriously?!!!!

stirring banku

Couples Conference Munros, Herrs, Simpsons, Binghams, Lamberts

Week 44 - On The Run

Dearest Family, 

Let us share some of this week's highlights with you, because even though we had no trainings, teachings or meetings with self reliance we kept pretty busy.

Have I told you about Halima? She is Christiana's friend and loves to visit with us on Monday afternoons at Christiana's shop after she gets off work. She was Muslim, and converted to the church in June. As a Young Single Adult she is discovering all the opportunities available for a social life with other YSA's in the Gospel. She attends Institute, and is a facilitator in a self reliance group. Last Monday she was on fire as she expressed her profound joy in learning about Jesus Christ and the church. We tried to capture her emotion on the i-pad because it truly was one of the sweetest things we have experienced. She was so happy she could barely contain herself! She is a gem!

On Tuesday we attended a zone meeting for all Area missionary couples. Although we are assigned to the Accra West mission we work outside the mission so we are included in Area events too. Elder Vinson shared some of the latest news concerning the growth of the church in West Africa. There is a new branch of the church in Senegal and groups in three other countries. Sister Vinson shared the story of how her mother joined the church in Australia and how that decision has influenced generations. I was given the assignment to teach from the scriptures for 5 minutes. I used the scripture "he received not the fulness at first, but received grace for grace; and he received not the fulness at first but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fullness." Grace is divine help given through the love and mercy of Jesus Christ. "Continuing from grace to grace" suggests upward progress, improvement, commitment to live our covenants and experiencing growth as we walk the gospel path. "Receiving grace for grace happens as we understand that God loves us with all His heart, might, mind and strength. When we feel God's love in us we want to extend that grace to others. We willingly show love and acceptance, we are kind and friendly, we smile, we don't judge, criticize, or condemn, we show patience and gentleness to those around us, and we try every day to give love away. In doing so we become more graceful and our ability to love as Christ loves increases. 

I love what we can learn from just a verse or two from the scriptures!

On Wednesday I went on a field trip to Ghana Textile Printing (GTP) with 16 other sisters. We saw the process of raw fabric being cleaned, and printed on with designs, using different dyes and chemical processes to "marry" the colors. As our guide talked about the colors "dating" and the steps it takes to get them "married, so they will never separate" we all laughed and said "Oh, that's a Temple marriage. We believe in marriage for eternity!" So the next time she referred to the process she used the expression "a Temple marriage."  Talking of the Temple, we went there on Thursday and Friday. It was a place of refuge; quiet, and peaceful. The craziness of city living, and the traffic gets to me sometimes. It was a welcome respite.

Back in June we saw advertisements announcing the Millennium Marathon. Actually it is a 21K and 5K race. Why not, right? So, we signed up and have been training for the 5K ever since.  Saturday was race day! It was a little intimidating because these Africans are fast, not that they have anything to worry form us. In fact sometimes when we see them running it reminds us of graceful Gazelles; they run so effortlessly. When we picked up our bib numbers on Thursday we learned they were expecting 10,000 runners! The 21K draws an International crowd and last years winner was from Ethiopia, finishing in a time of 1:05.00  Well, we don't think there were 10,000 but it was definitely more than Oakley's 4th July, Kamas Fiesta Days fun run, Frontier Days in Francis and Woodlands Chokecherry Festival races combined. As the 21K got under way the 5K runners spread out on Independence Square (about the size of the parking lot at Lavell Edwards Stadium) and did aerobics and warm ups for 15 minutes. Then we approached the starting line and the race was on! Let's just say it wasn't our best time, but we finished and had a good time in the process. The first picture shows us with a church member, Evans Tetteh who we met last month at Ofankor. Don't know how he managed to pick us out of the crowd..haha!

"Remember that we do not run alone in this great race of life; we are entitled to the help of the Lord." Pres. Monson

Keep on running the race of life!

Elder and Sister Lambert