Golden Tulip Hotel

This is just to let you know there are very nice places here in Accra. This is the Golden Tulip Hotel where we went to have dinner on Max's birthday. We ate outside by the pool. I took other photos, but this blogger account is not working well today. I'll try again later.

Grandpa

Even though we would like to be up in Koforidua in our house, we have enjoyed walking outside our building every morning and seeing the Ghana Accra Temple in our compound. It is such a beautiful building.

This is typical of the streets in Accra. It is always crowded and entertaining. We enjoy watching the hawkers selling their wares, but we don't buy.

It seems this is what you thought we would be living in when we got to Ghana. Max could even gather his own eggs and get some feathers to tie fishing flies.

Maybe you will all stop worrying about us when you realize this is where we will be living when the house is finished and furnished in a couple of days. It is very nice and sits up on a hill where we can see the beauty all around. You'll notice the angels on the gate. I'm not sure if they were already there before the church rented the house, but I suppose so.

So this is our house. (I took the photo through the hole in the wall, so it doesn't show all of it.) We will be living in the part you can see. The part on the right will just be closed off until someone really buys it and finishes the other two bedrooms. We will have a huge living room and dining room (great room), a big kitchen, two bedrooms, one bathroom, a laundry room and even a garage. That will be nice to get into a car that hasn't sat in the sun all day. You notice we said we have two bedrooms with very nice beds, so how about coming for a visit?

Long-Time Friends

Today was a great day for Max.
We learned two special friends were in the area and we spent some time with them on Saturday morning. They are the Marcovs (Alan and Joyce). They were teenagers of a special branch president back in Welland, Ontario when Max was on his mission.
Alan's wife volunteers at the MTC and Alan is a District President for the Italian missionaries. We ran into his wife on Wednesday and she set up this meeting. Joyce lives in Salt Lake and drove down to Orem today. It was fun to talk about old times.
We had gone to their parent's home in Canada several times when we lived in Michigan. Their parents were wonderful people! It is so touching to find that people you knew years ago are still strong in the gospel and doing so many good things in the world. I hope these are the kinds of reunions we'll have in heaven someday.
Photo: Alan Marcov, his sister, Joyce and Elder Max

I think we passed!

We just wanted to be sure you know where we are going!
No time for fishing or Battlefield. This is serious stuff.
The new elders coming in on Wednesday. And they did get their dork dots.
Our MTC district
The traditional thing to do when you come to the MTC.
The flowers are beautiful this time of year.
More beautiful flowers and a handsome elder.
I'll try to write more on the blog when we actually get to Ghana and have some experiences we want to share. The MTC has been a great learning experience. We think every church member should come for a week even if they never serve a mission. It will make them a better member.
Love to all!

On Our Way

We have been staying with Doug and Taunie for the last three days. The girls were happy to have us finally come and spend the night at their house.


We were set apart on Sunday, September 16th by President John Henry of the Roy Utah Central Stake. We were pleased to have Brother Swain, Bishop Mendoza and Brother Schuenman join with us. (President Henry is on the right.)

Two days to go

Yesterday we turned off the water in our house and closed everything up. We will go to our ward tomorrow and then leave for the MTC on Monday morning. We will be there for a week and then fly to Ghana the following Monday. We will be happy to be on our way and finally doing what we've planned for so long to do.

This is a test

This is a test to see if I can use my thumb drive to put things on our blog. Our bags are out and being used to store items we want to be sure not to forget.

Ten Weeks To Go

The time is quickly passing as we try to get things ready to leave for our mission. We have most of our shots, clothing and other supplies. Now we are just trying to get everything taken care of as far as our house is concerned. Much of that will be last minute work.

We have spent the last two months visiting with family and saying our good-byes. We had Mark's family here for Memorial Day. We went to Boise to help Greg and Sally move into their new home and to celebrate Ethan's birthday. We flew to Costa Rica with Brian and his family. We had a fun time in the tropical rain forests of the Quepos area. We helped Brad get his belongings packed and moved to the Wilkes Barre area of Pennsylvania. After he was moved in and settled, we flew on to Alabama to see Dave and his family. Brian and his family come today and will spend some time with us at the cabin. It is nice to make some memories that will help us when we are feeling a bit homesick in Ghana.

We heard on the radio while we were in Pennsylvania that oil had been discoverd offshore in Ghana. That could prove to be an interesting challenge for the country. The wealth could do so much good if they can find a way to not just line the pockets of political leaders. I hope they can use the money to build roads, power systems and phone grids. Giving all children the opportunity to attend school could be such a blessing for the whole country. It will be an interesting time to be there.

We learned that our new mission president is Joseph Wayne Brockbank. He is a business professor from Michigan State University. He is presently serving in Nigeria and will transfer over to the Ghana Accra Mission the first of July. We are looking forward to serving with him.