Birthday party in the bush

 Elder Christensen's birthday dinner.  These guys are all so great, we are so lucky to have them living next door to us.  Nice missionary shirt Elder Nielson!

 Next morning at district meeting with left-over birthday cake.  Happy bunch!  We are so glad that we can have that meeting at our house.  The missionaries are serious at the meeting and take care of business, but they are also ready to have a little fun when its over.

 Bikes break down on a regular basis so we are trying to keep them running.    Parts are a bit hard to find but we can usually find what we need after a bit of looking.    Tools are also scarce but today I bought a set that I think will have everything I will need to keep the bikes in repair.   

There are little stores all over that only sell one thing.   This one is a plastic store.   Everything here is plastic and nothing else.   We bought a plastic chair here for our house.   

A little part of the bush which is typical of the houses all around.   Mud huts, tin roofs, cement walls.   They told us not to touch the tin roofs because the electrical wires sometimes touch the roofs where they enter the house and electrify the whole roof.    Zap you're gone.   Dirt everywhere and no cement sidewalks .  They sweep the ground with brooms made out of palm leaves and really keep the ground in front of some of the houses clean. 

 Bikes repaired and they are out for a day of tracting   The missionaries really work hard and take there mission duties serious.   In the background is a wardrobe that was in the house before it was remolded.  Nothing is hauled away just put outside till someone wants it and takes it.  
Yesterday we went up to Oda and Kade,  two towns deeper into the bush, and fixed some plumbing problems in the missionaries apartments .   A real challenge considering the lack of tools and parts.    Today we went to Accra and did the same thing there but it was sister missionaries.   We are staying at the ancillary apt by the temple again tonight.   It's kind of nice to come to the city once in a while, but the traffic is so wild and crazy it's nice to go back "home" to the bush.

 These vehicles are called tro tros and they are everywhere.   They are the main means of transportation here in Ghana.  They are loaded up with stuff and people till there is no room for anything more and off they go. I slow down for bumps and pot holes in the roads, they don't.   So I think that is the main reason that you see so many of them broke down along the road.   They just call for another one to come and pick up everyone who was on board.   The missionaries ride these frequently when they have to go somewhere.

Anyway things are getting a bit easier now.  The people are good and friendly here, like we've said before, so that's a plus.  Hope we can be of some help to them.