Before I begin, please note you can click on any photo and it will go to full screen size. Just click "back" to go back to the blog.After spending almost seven weeks recovering and "bonding" with family, friends and pets, we are happy to get back to the mission field and back to work.
After all the snow we saw in Utah, we were anxious to get back to the blue skies and sunshine of Ghana. It is very hot, but we haven't seen the sun yet. The Harmatten winds from the Sahara Desert are blowing sand dust across the area. This is "Pat's tree" near Tafo. It has very green mountains in the background when the skies are clear.
The hot dry weather has turned much of the area brown. Farmers have burned their fields to get ready for the wet growing season ahead. We keep hoping for some rain to cool things off, but not yet. Sometime in March the rains will start. We feel like those National Geographic movies with the elephants trudging through the dust and the hippos trying to find enough water to stay wet. Soon we will be complaining about the mud and rain, but for now it sounds good to us.
This is to give you an idea of the size of those beautiful trees. They have been cutting down quite a few in this area. If they try to cut my tree down, I'll go stand by it and refuse to let them do it. They can just cut the dead ones!
This lady is Sister Charlotte. She is such a sweet lady and a wonderful missionary in her branch. The elder is Elder Boateng. They were showing us where some new members lived.
Sister Charlotte has been a member for a year now, so she is making plans to go to the temple soon. We hope to be able to go with her.
We were expecting tall grass and weeds all over our yard. We found out "nothing grows" during the dry season. Our house was in one piece after having four sister missionaries living here.
I tried several times to explain some things about our house when we were in the USA. Pictures are worth thousands of words. So here goes: This is our water tank. It fills with water about once a week. We have to be careful to not use too much water or we will be without until the next time the city turns water into our line.
This is our bedroom. Note the dust on the door.....and everywhere else no matter how often I try to wipe it away.
This is our guest room with the never ending bed. We would probably sleep here, but there is no air-conditioning.
This is our dusty living room. You can see we have plenty of space. Note the interesting ceilings and the decorative cement floors.
I finally got to open my Christmas presents. I want to collect a few more of these dolls to represent the different occupations of the people here.
This is our kitchen. It is very adequate except for being hot. During the dry season the new cupboards the church put in have started to warp. Some of the cupboards won't close, so we just do our best with them. At least the ants are gone for now.
Kitchen again with my little stove/oven. Morgan, notice what is on my refrigerator.
This is the wedding we attended on Saturday. The Oyoko Relief Society President is on the left and the branch president on the right. Brides, grooms and children in the middle.
My good friend, Cecelia!
The Africa wedding party and one white guy on the back row.
The one branch president's car wouldn't start, so he got a ride home with another branch president. They do what they have to in order to make things work. We love these people.
