African Adventures

(I actually never posted this blog entry publicly... but wanted to include in for our family journal.)

My sister Lisa is in Ghana, Africa right now. She is there for a month to serve and teach about dental hygiene. We recently got an email from her and I thought it may be interesting to hear what that part of the world is like and how the Church is there. I hope Lisa won't mind me sharing all this. We are sure proud of her. She is a wonderful "servant" and sure loves the people wherever she goes.

"… that night we stayed at “resort at Brenu beach” not a normal resort in American terms, but still more incredible than anything just because it was at a beautiful beach. WOW! [But, we couldn’t get one drip of water out of the sink or shower and the people running the place said that the water was coming in a truck. There was a lizard in there though. Wow! We are so blessed in America. Don’t forget to turn the water off.] and you might have thought that we were at a farm instead. There were lambs and goats and chickens everywhere... We really did enjoy the beach and spent some good time listening to the waves and trying to believe that it was for real. We watched a young boy easily climb up tall coconut trees and pick ripe coconuts and then cut them open for us. We ran down the beach a ways and saw Ghanian villages with very very poor people living their lives so unaware of the rest of the world. It was neat to see it and yet, hard because there is only so much that I can do and only so much that I am doing. I wish I could help all of them and give them all toothbrushes and clothes that fit and books of mormon!

I am back to doing laundry in the tub and showering in the dark. China prepared me well for this. Except in China I could usually wear something more than once before having to wash it. OH MY! Talk about sweat. It drips off of my nose, my back, it is everywhere and my clothes stick to me like nothing else. It is always fun when we have to sit real close to one another in a bus or a taxi or something and realize that we are all stuck together. Haha. Oh!! And Speaking of sitting close together… while we were traveling in cape coast there were 7 of us needing to get somewhere and we took 2 taxis… not long thereafter one of them stopped working. Of course! I think they ran out of gas. So then the all 7 of us plus three others (the other taxis drivers and friend) all got into one hatchback taxi. So that makes 10. Yes. Plus our backpacks packed full for the weekend and a gas tank. So… no the hatchback was not closed and no… not everyone fit…. But we pretended. And yes… almost all 20 of our legs were probably asleep -if not bruised- after that. Good times.

In cape coast the have one chapel with 2 wards and they are almost going to have 3. It is marvelous. Just last week they had a new stake presidency organized where one of the bishops was called into it, but they don’t have a new bishop yet. When we walked into the building I was overwhelmed with joy that I was almost in tears. The Church is true!! It is truly throughout the world. The people were soo happy to see us and were very welcoming to us. Their chapel has lots of windows and fans. Can you imagine? We heard lots of crazy things going on outside. There were only a few words that I could understand though throughout the meeting. It was hard to concentrate and try to get a lot out of the talks and lessons.

In regards to the language-yes, the language is supposed to be English… but it really isn’t. J Most people can speak English. Some are easy to understand and some are very very difficult. But everyone also speaks at least one or two other languages like Ga, Fanti, or Twe. Fanti and Twe are two kinds of the Akan language. It is so crazy because I will learn how to say something but then not everyone understands it. It depends on where they are from. It is so interesting."