Looking for a chapel

We spent part of our P-day last week taking four BIG men in the back seat of our car to look for a building that might work as a chapel for the new branch when it is approved.
This was the second place we visited. It had possibilities, but was on a very rough, muddy road and far from the center of the new branch.
The next house had more possibilities. It was very nice and new. It had nine usable rooms and a fairly good-sized living room.
We tried to decide if it would be big enough to be used as the chapel. Maybe, maybe not.
The outside was nice but there would be quite a lot of upkeep for the landscaping. I thought it had the look of a chapel.
It even had another building for the caretaker to live. That could be a great branch president's office and clerk's office.
The front door even had the look of a church.
It was on a "better" road than the other house, but it also was too far from the center of the branch to be considered. I backed up into the driveway across the street to get a shot of the gate and the guardhouse. As I did, the people living in the little shack behind me started to call out to me.

They called me over to see what I was doing. When they saw I was taking photos they wanted to have their photo taken too. They insisted on going to find "Mama" so she could be included. After I finished and showed them the photo they about tore my camera apart trying to get a good look at themselves. They would laugh and slap their knees. I promised if I ever got out that way again I would bring them a copy of the photo. I have it sitting here ready. We just have to see if we can remember how to get there.

Welcome to the neighborhood

When someone mentions homes in Africa many think of the typical house above. Such a house is very common, especially in the villages.
There are also many, many houses that have been started by someone with big plans. They either run out of money or are simply building "pay as you go." They have to be careful or the "bush" will overtake their whole project.

The other morning I carried my camera along as we went on our morning walk. The mornings now are rainy or foggy. The sacred mountain above Koforidua is barely visible.
This is one place I want to visit before we leave. Just looking over the wall, the plants here are beautiful. Maybe one of these days we will just knock on the gate and ask for a tour.
This is a house being built close to us. I haven't seen a lot of progress since we got here. It is huge.
This house just got painted the other day. We've watched it being built. The owner is now building the wall and some sort of building in the front.
This house is lived in even though it still doesn't have windows or doors. That is also very common. As soon as the roof is on, the family moves inside.
We've also watched this house get finished. We give encouraging words to the builders every morning as we walk past. I'm not sure if it is for one family or for several. They are also just finishing their wall and gate.
Another nice house in the neighborhood.
And one more. I took these photos to show that Africa (Ghana) has some prosperous people as well as those who are very poor. There just isn't much of a middle class as we have in America.

Odds and ends

We attended the branch conference at Tafo this Sunday. I handed out more bracelets from the Special Needs Mutual, but this little branch only had four Primary children. Here are two of them showing off their bracelets.
If you ever think the benches at your church are uncomfortable for three hours, just check out what these dear saints sit on in the building they use on Sunday. If they are lucky they get a desk with a full seat. If not, this is what they get. I wasn't lucky today.
We've mentioned palm oil and the big crop it is here is Ghana. These are the palm nuts as they have been cut from the palm tree. (Trees with coconuts on them are NOT palm trees, according to these folks. Only trees that grow palm nuts can be considered palm trees.) They boil the nuts to extract the oil in what looks like a very hot and dirty process.
We made a trip to Oda the other day for interviews. On the way home we headed right into a big rainstorm.
We knew the road was bad between there and home, but we actually got through easier than we might have imagined. Sometimes the edge of the road is better than the middle.
I was asked about shopping in my area. Here is a typical "store." If I were to do all my shopping here I could probably find most things, but I would have to go from shop to shop and hope they could understand what I was trying to find. This store seems to be selling rice, corn beef, tomato paste and the yellow bars are soap for washing clothes. Now you see why we wait and just go to a grocery store in Accra.

Teaching Piano and Crocheting

Just a photo of the fowl as they gather outside our gate. The other day the guinea hen saw all our green grass when I opened the gate. She headed right for it until she saw me and then went the other way.
It is T minus 7 and counting for the Oyoko font. This is Brother Jonahus who is not only constructing the font but will be the first person baptized in it on July 27th. These elders have been good supervisors for the project. We will all be glad when it gets finished. It should be tiled on Monday and ready to be filled with water next Sunday.
I've been teaching Sister Ohene keyboard lessons for some time now. She is starting to feel more comfortable with playing. She knows how to sing every verse of every song in the hymnal so it is hard to find a piece of music for her to sight read. We use the church's piano teaching booklets, so she knows immediately if she has hit a wrong note.
The one promise she made to me was she would learn and then teach others to play when I am gone. I'm sure she will start with her own children. She is the district music chairman so she can do much good here.
Elder Max is always saying "Every job needs a supervisor." In this case it seems every Relief Society project needs a little helper to get into everything and slam her fingers into the door several times. Oh well, she was so cute you couldn't help but be glad she was there.
On Saturday I taught a group of women to crochet. Some caught on much easier than others. The sister on the right just had me show her the basics and she just took off. You can see how much she got done in a short amount of time. The lady next to her struggled for the whole three hours. I'll have to meet with her one-on-one.
They want to crochet plastic bag purses for the exhibition they have in October. I don't know what that is, but it seemed very important to them. I think all the Relief Societies in the district get together and show what they have done this year.
We have a long way to go from simple stitches to purses, but they all wanted to be back next Saturday to learn more. We had about a dozen women there so I hope they will all come back...with my crochet hooks. :-)

Asuom, Our Garden and some Bugs

Last Sunday we drove to Asuom which is about 2 1/2 hours from home. We arrived early and were met by these two cute little boys. They were at church with their dad. They didn't speak English but we had a great time as I taught them to play "Peas porridge hot...." The older boy on the right was a bit shy but his little brother was full of smiles and had a great time.
The chapel is the third floor of an apartment building. In every direction there is beautiful scenery. The people walk for a long distance to get here. This makes me appreciate having a chapel two blocks from my house in America. The Young Women's President and her counselor served us bread and mineral (soft drink) after the meetings so we wouldn't get hungry on the way home. They were very thoughtful to do that. Notice their hair. Once women reach adulthood, they spend a lot of time and money on having extensions woven into their hair. One week you see them with short hair and the next week with long. It is hard for me to keep up with who is who. Sometimes the process takes four hours or more so you can be sure I won't be trying it while I'm here.

Now to our garden. This is what is happening to our zuchinni every time they get about ten inches long. The snails eat a hole and then the bugs invade. We're hoping getting rid of 700 plus snails in our yard will cut down on the damage.
Snails must not like cucumbers. Still we prop them up to keep them away from the soil and bugs. They seem to grow just fine.
And then there is our lone pumpkin. It was doing so nicely but when we picked it up we realized it was hollow inside. The bugs had a feast here too.
One day while in the backyard Elder Max happened to look up, instead of searching for snails. What did he find but avacados growing on our tree. They are still fairly small but we will have plenty when they get ripe.
The tree didn't flower, at least we didn't notice anything, so we were very surprised. The avacados here are very big and so good. I like to take slices and put them onto a sandwich for my lunch.

Now for bugs for the grandsons. I was waiting for a long time at a church building. As I walked around outside I saw these huge ants. They were so much bigger than the normal sized ants. They wouldn't hold still for a photo, so I just got this one on the run.
This bug was on the side of the building. He was also very big, but doesn't look like it in the photo. I'd say he was at least two or three inches long. I'm glad he doesn't live in my garden.
The other day we walked out by our garage and this beautiful moth was on the ground. Elder Max carefully picked it up and put it on some bushes. I looked later and it was gone. Notice how the dots on the wings make it look like a bird with eyes and a beak. (An owl, maybe?)

The font and District Sports Day

I finally took a photo of the baptismal font being built in back of the Oyoko chapel. When it is finished it will have tile on the inside and stucco on the outside. The area around it will also be a cement pad. We were setting up the steps so the builder would be sure to get them in the right place.

What a beautiful setting for a baptism. Now the members will be able to attend when someone gets baptized. Before only the one being baptized and the missionaries traveled to somewhere for the service.

The man building it wants to be the first to be baptized in it. I hope he will be.

Someone asked us about cows and if we eat beef here. Yes they do have cows. They wander along the roads with their herd boy.

More cattle along the roadside. Seems there would be plenty for them to eat. We eat mostly chicken, but do get beef sometimes. (Probably not from Ghana.)

As I walked outside the other day this flowering plant was covered with butterflies. I got my camera and took a lot of photos, but seemed to miss the butterflies in most of the shots. This is one of my better attempts. The next day I went out and white butterflies were all over it.
This is our groundnut (peanut) crop. Things that are native to the area grow very well and the snails don't seem to bother them.
Here is a flower on the groundnut plant. The nuts grow under the ground but the flowers are a natural part of the process. We'll let you know when we actually dig up some peanuts.

I saw this mushroom in the back yard while we were searching for snails. I still would never dare try to eat one.

This cute little girl was all dressed and ready for the Koforidual Sports Day. She saw I had a camera and wanted to see her photo. She posed several ways. We liked this one best.

The Sports Day was full of football (soccer), volleyball and
...basketball. They did seem to stretch some of the rules here a bit, but they had a lot of fun. The Koforidua church grounds are very nice with lots of room for such a program.
The Tafo Branch rented a bus to come in full force to defend their honor in the district. They won the men's volleyball game which is good for the smallest branch in the district.

This little boy had fun playing catch with "Oboroni" Grandpa. He even showed off his dribbling skills for us.


No Sports Day would be complete without a blaring sound system. I suggested several times the money spent to rent the equipment would have been better used to buy water for the thirsty players. Everyone else enjoyed the music, but it was way too loud for us.

I brought a game kit I had at home. The children weren't sure how to play the games but had fun with all the pieces. They liked Jacks and pick-up-sticks the best.
It was amazing that I got all the pieces back when they were finished. I'll have to see about letting them use it for a Primary activity day sometime.
One of the dads was showing them how to play chess.

This kept the children occupied for some time so they weren't just running around in the church.

Those too old to play the field sports tried their hand at my Oware board. I didn't bring my seed playing pieces so they just picked up gravel from the parking lot to use instead. If these men were candidates for chief in olden times, the winner would become the chief.