Very busy week

At zone conference this week we had to say good-bye to Elder Cook. He is one of the APs and probably the sharpest young man we've met here. He is from Capetown, South Africa. I've tried to figure out who he reminds me of with his "cocky" attitude. The other day I realized it was a young Robert Redford. When I told the other couples they all laughed and agreed.
He will really be missed in the office. He is the one President Smith relies on to come up with the training for zone conferences and interviews. He is a very creative teacher. Anyway, we will miss him and we know whatever he does in life he will do it well. (I told him I wanted the "cat just swallowed the canary" look of his. I'm not sure I really got it.)
Last week we were invited by a member of the Adweso Branch to come to his house and see his jewelry making business. His wife had gone to the bigger cities to sell his finished pieces but he showed us these pieces he was working on now. They have been processed once but still need to go through more processes to be finished jewelry.
The detail of the the work, all done by hand, was amazing. Click on the photos to see more of the detail. These were pieces I especially liked.
This young man was either the son who was home from boarding school or an apprentice. Both were there but I don't know which was which. He is sanding these very tiny pieces that will be linked together to make a chain.
This is Brother Martey's son.
And this is the artist, Brother Martey. He is also a wonderful church member. He joined the church about seventeen years ago and is the branch clerk for the Adweso Branch. He has done well in his business with a nice home and compound. Notice the bars, even on his porch. That is very necessary when you are dealing in gold and silver.
Elder Max put on his "salt" hat for a day last week. We traveled to Tema to visit with Princess Asie and some of the tribal leaders in the Ada area. This is Millicent Ocansey, Asie's mother.
Greetings outside the Ocansey home in Tema.
Enjoying the opportunity to share "old times" with the spokesman for the chiefs of the Ada area and their lawyer.
And of course we had to have the usual "all stand in a line" photo. It was nice to renew old friendships. Too bad we don't see each other more often, but this is not really what we came to Ghana to do. Maybe next time.
We decided we didn't want to go to Accra to get to Tema so we found a back road on the map and decided to try it. The drive was beautiful and the road actually wasn't too bad. It was narrow but oiled. This view as we came down off the mountain shows why my eyes are burning these days. Farmers everywhere are burning their fields. Smoke and the Harmattan dust are in the air. It will be this way for the rest of our time here. I miss the beautiful rainy season.

I tried to capture the bright red sun we see every night now. It doesn't come out red on the photo, but believe me! Sunrise is also red.
About ten days ago we came down our road and saw a huge "lake" here. A water pipe had broken under the road. I waited to see if someone would come fix it, but no one came. Last Monday I called my lady friend at the water company and told her about it. I gave her a stern warning if it wasn't fixed by Wednesday we would run out of water and be very unhappy. We were happy to see the next day someone had been here and put up the palm frond in the hole but we didn't know if they had fixed the pipe or merely marked it. We had been finding every way possible to conserve water for the previous week. We were thrilled on Thursday when we went for a walk and checked out our "small water leak up the road" where we can always know if water went to our tank that week. There was a small wet spot there and no big lake in the lower part of the road, so we were okay once again. (I can't believe no one ever calls to report anything. They just go without until somehow the problem gets discovered.) NOT ME!
Once in a while we forget we are in Africa. Then we run into a sign like this one on the way home from Accra. I've noticed it several times but never got to read the whole thing. Maybe we'll put a few dwarfs in our bags to bring home with us. (Enlarge photo to read the sign.)

President Atta Mills

The photos on this week's blog are more for our memory than for your interest or for the quality of the photos. Just look through them and see that when Ghana throws a party, they do it right. I took these off our TV which isn't very clear anyway. I'm sure someone could have told me how to take better shots of a television set, but I didn't have time to ask.


People gathering at Independence Square in Accra.
Traditional chief and leaders from many of the areas of Ghana were in attendance.
So were the common people.
Even though the traditional and religious leaders do not have political power, they carry a lot of influence with the government.
There were dancers to entertain the crowd while they waited.
There were military marching bands.
More tribal chiefs with their escorts.
A broad view of the square with everything set up and dignitaries arriving.
Members of the Supreme Court arriving for the swearing in ceremony.
The new head of parliment is a woman but I'm not sure if this is the right person or someone else.
More traditional leaders.
And more.
And even more.
If you look in the backgrounds of the photos you see the variety of clothing depending on the tribe and the region of the country.
The is the out-going president John Kofour.
I wanted to get a photo of the man with the hat. That is typical of the northern part of Ghana.
Notice someone is always holding a colorful shade over the dignitaries.
These men had interesting headwear.
More chiefs and leaders.
Another view.
Finally the new president, John Adda Mills.
Brian should be pleased that he is a fellow Standford University graduate. He is a lawyer and a college professor. I hope he will do what will be best for Ghana in the next four years.
Now to a family we went to see this week. This little girl was very afraid of me last time we saw her at church. I decided I was going to try to make friends with her.
She wasn't quite sure she would do that. But she loved my camera and enjoyed seeing herself.
The mother also wanted a photo of the baby. I think it is a boy since I can't see any earrings. The father is the unit leader for Tafo. Elder Max was meeting with him while I tried to entertain the rest of the family and keep them from bothering him.
The brother and sister were not shy. They hammed it up for the camera. And little sister got a bit more brave.
Then this other lady wanted her photo with the baby. I was shocked to see her just hang the baby by his arms. I quickly took the photo before the poor little guy let out a scream.
Last night Elder Max decided to try his luck at photographing the full moon. It was supposed to be the biggest moon of the year. It doesn't look so large there but the effect is nice as it peeks through the palm tree. When we first met our neighbors across the street I told the lady what a nice view she had. She said "Yes. And at night it is lit up just like America." Maybe not just like America but the lights from the city below are nice to see. (We watch for them when we have a power outage because they always get power back before we do.)

The week after the election

We were very proud of the people of Ghana as they went to the polls and voted for a new president. Many outsiders were worried about violence but the people kept telling us, "No, our people are peace-loving. All will be fine." And it was. We wish them well with their new government as it takes over on January 7th.

We had a pleasant surprise on Friday as we were at the temple site in Accra. We met a group of great people from the Roy/Fruit Heights area who were here with the LIA group started by Marie and others. This young lady is Blessing. She was the guide for this group. She picked up this baby from a young woman tending her while her parents were in the temple. Blessing didn't want to put her down.

Here is the group. The two on the front left are teachers at Roy High. The others are students and teachers from the area. Several of them have made multiple trips here and love the country like we do. They came here to finish setting up a library in the Ada area. They were having a great time. We were very happy to see them. When they told us about the blizzard on the morning they left Salt Lake, our heat didn't seem quite so bad anymore.
This is Elder Opoku from the Koforidua Branch with the MTC President and his wife. (President and Sister Harmon.) After taking six sons to the MTC in Provo, I still have feelings of not wanting to walk out the door when I bring these great elders to leave on their missions.
Elder Opoku told us his parents are not members of our church, but his grandmother is a member and introduced him to the gospel about ten years ago. He is going to Nigeria and will be a great asset to his mission.
On Sunday we had a training meeting in Oda. We took the branch presidency from Kade back to their village. Getting all four of these good-sized men in the back of our little car was a bit of a challenge. The trip took about an hour and they jabbered in Twi all the way. I guess that is about as close to riding in a tro tro as I will get while I am here. (That is especially true since even though we had the air-conditioning going full blast they wanted to ride with the windows open so they would be cooler. I don't think they had ever been in an air-conditioned car before. So we tried to be cool in the front while they enjoyed the breeze and the hot air coming in the back.) The branch president on the left is a very strong leader and has developed a strong branch in only the last two years.
While attending the Kade Primary today Sister Moody and I taught the children some of the new songs for next year. There were about three times this many children in the Primary. I just caught a photo of the ones who stayed behind after we gave them each a bracelets.
I tried to capture some of the scenery around Kade. It is hard to do that without video. This is a palm oil plantation in the background. Palm oil is a big export product here in Ghana.
This area is also covered with orange groves. The oranges are ripe now. They make the most wonderful fresh squeezed juice but have a few too many seed to make them easy to eat. We have fresh juice once in a while.
Last of all I had to prove to my companion I have a frog who likes to shower with me. I don't know where he hides out the rest of the time, but he gets me a bit unsettled when I spot him clinging to the shower wall. As long as he stays out of the water and off me he is welcome.