Baptism by fire...truck

Baptism day started out as usual but ended very far from usual.   Everyone arrived at the church at 9:00 in the morning for the service, but the water storage tank had run out of water the night before and no one knew.   We didn't want to change the date or time of the baptism because they might not have came back.   So we thought about going down to the river to do it but because of the poisonous green mamba snakes we ruled that out.   We decided to call the fire service to bring water to the rescue.    They arrived about 45 minutes later in a brand new American made fire truck.   I went out to greet them and give instructions.    I thought that for once we could have a really clean water baptism.     

They took a large 1 1/2 inch hose thru the front door of the chapel and down the hall to the font.  Everything was great till the water came.    I thought it looked a bit dirty when they started pumping it in and by the time the font was full it looked like a big mug of chocolate milk.   It was so muddy that you could not see the bottom of the font.  There were even things floating on the surface.  What they were I did not ask.   I think that they got the water right out of the river (less the snakes).

Everyone just stood there looking at this chocolate mixture for a few minutes then went on with the baptism.   Gods work must go on.   Elder Christensen went in with his white clothes on and baptized three people.   Needless to say they were a bit hesitant to get in but they all wanted to be baptized so bad that I don't think the color of the water mattered at all to them.      

After all was finished the firemen rolled up the hose, got their $75.00 that they charged us and left.   To top it all off there were some people in the chapel cleaning the tile floor.  They were putting down some kind of polish and mixing it with gasoline.   They had a jug of gas in the chapel and mixed the polish and then got an electric polisher and started to buff.    I thought that the whole building was going to explode so I opened all the windows and doors and tried to air the place out.   Needless to say church the next day was almost unbearable from gas fumes.   

God watched over us all and blessed us so that these people could be baptized, although in an unconventional and unusual way, things worked out and 3 more faithful members are now among us.   I think the church will smell like a gas station for a few more weeks, but all is well.

Trying new things

 Elder Nielson and Elder Jensen on a bike ride.  We went back to the apartment from the church and returned.   I didn't wreck or fall off so that was a good day indeed.  Helmets are not my cup of tea but one must conform.  

  The neighbor kids came by on their way to get water from the well.  I helped them get a few of their buckets full then decided to try it myself.  It was heavy!  Everyone here can carry almost anything and everything on their heads, but as you can see the 10 year old can do it much better than I can!   I don't think she spilled any, but I had it going down my back!  I need to practice that trick a bit more!

Last night our neighbor brought us this plate for our supper.   It was a surprise for us.   It is called bonku and it is really different.    It is another traditional Ghana dish and is a bit like fufu.  The dish on the right is a mixture of corn mill and cassava root, and is pounded with a large stick like the fufu.  The dish on the left is ground-nut soup which you pour over it.  It had a large piece of dried fish in it.   Very strong and spicy flavor.    We ate part of it but not much,  then Elder Smith stopped by and finished it off for us.   We can always count on the missionaries to clean up our leftovers!

Simple, but still a home

Elder Bakodie is Elder Jensen's companion and he is from Ghana.   It is nice to have someone with us that can speak twi.   He really knows the scriptures and is a very good teacher.   He liked this baby boy because he said that is what he looked like when he was a child.  He has helped us a lot with communicating with the people here and getting to know their customs.  

 The kids are drawn to Sister Nielson like a magnet, and she always has a bunch of them around her.  Sometimes they are scared of her, just because of the color of her skin and hair.   But it only takes a few seconds before she wins their trust.  This little kid is looking at her and thinking "what or who is holding me?"

This is the house where we were visiting a lady who was the mother of the baby.   Note the solar powered clothes dryer.  Very few of the people in this small village speak any English at all.   We just sit and listen and wonder what Elder Bakodie is saying to them.

Possible new church

 We went out deeper into the bush today and visited a couple who were investigating the church and helped the missionaries teach them.   They are very interested and have great faith in the Lord.   I think they will get baptized within the month.  The people here are very willing to listen to the gospel and they have studied the Bible all their lives.  

The man we visited with is building this building and wants to have the church use it as a chapel so that they can have a branch which is closer to their homes.   Now they have to travel about 40km to church and it is expensive for them to ride the tro tros.   It will be up to the mission president if it will be accepted or not as a church building.    This is one of the cleanest pieces of land around.   He really takes pride in his property.

This is an example of a one room mud hut that we see out here in the bush.   They don't have anything so they don't need a very big house to store all the stuff they don't have.   We like coming out into the bush in this area because it is very pretty and quite deep into the jungle.  The only bad thing is the road which has no lack of pot-holes.  We even get to see some small mountains so it reminds us of home, (sort of).

Exercise Day or "p" day

 Elder Christensen's release papers and airline schedule came today.  He leaves for home in a couple of weeks.    He gets to see his brother for only one week before he leaves for his mission to the West Indies.   He wants to go home but he also wants to stay.  Elder Jensen wishes the papers were his.   He is just starting but the time will pass fast and before he knows it he will be the one getting the airline schedule.  

This barbell was made out of the gears out of an automobile transmission and weighed about 20 pounds.   Sister Nielson was first in line for the competition and did surprisingly well.  The facial expressions came on the last lift that you could make.   She was better on the jump rope competition than on the lifting.   I think she came in third on jump rope.

Elder Jensen was next and did about three times as many as Sister Nielson.    This was harder than it looks.    We had to do it with both arms and then added up the total.  

Elder Christensen gave a new meaning to the term "pump iron".   We wondered  if he would ever get tired.   But he did. 

 I think Elder Smith did the most but he also laughed his way through it. 

Elder Jensen resting on the well.

As you can see I didn't even break a sweat.   The younger elders were amazed at my performance.   However I came in third so I guess I'm not as good as I thought I was.  

 This is Esther, our neighbor in the backyard.  Baby Yaw (they call him that because he was born on Thursday) is having his first ride on his mama's back, he is only a few weeks old. She is also the mother of Nefia, who will be 2 in October.  They are really nice people.  Looks like Elder N. is watching from a distance.

Elder Bakodie seemed to go on and on and he thought he was going to win but he got mad when he lost to Elder Smith.   But When Sister Nielson brought out cookies his whole attitude changed.   

From good to bad

 We had a birthday party for Elder Smith the other day and it was a lot of fun.  These four elders will eat anything you put if front of them but the party food was great and not what they have everyday.   Sister Nielson fixed burritos and chocolate chip cookies and home made salsa with plantain banana chips.   We even had crystal light to drink.  It was a special dinner for a special missionary.

If you think that they really don't eat dogs here then maybe this will convince you otherwise.   The heads and paws were the only things left after supper at one of the investigators houses.  Two unnamed elders who are neighbors had dog stew and didn't know it till later in the evening.   They said it really wasn't that bad.    

Elder Smith and Elder Nielson walking to meet with a member who was not going to church.   The people here are real receptive to the gospel and want to be baptized but sometimes they need a little encouragement to keep them interested and attending church.   The Lords work here is being done by some awesome young missionaries.  They work very hard and spread the gospel wherever they go.  We are very privileged to be able to be among them and find it a pleasure to help them in anyway we can.    

Cement work

 We had a water leak and we had to break out quite a bit of the concrete to find the leak.   I got the leak fixed and then I had to replace the cement.   I bought a bag of cement powder and found some sand and mixed it up and poured about 25 buckets full in order to fill in all the holes.   This was a very crude way of pouring cement but it is the only way it could be done.   I finished it in two days of about 3 hours per day.   The bed in the background was burned up but the lady wanted to keep it for her very own.   So we couldn't get rid of it.   The neighbors were hanging their laundry on an old piece of iron gate which could have fallen on the kids.  I got rid of that and strung her a new clothesline.  

 I found this trowel under some junk in the yard and it was one of the best finds so far in Africa.   I have used it from everything to scraping  dried cement off of the floor tile to mixing cement.    I would mix one bucket of sand and cement powder on a piece of wood and then put it into the hole with the trowel and smooth it with a board.  Then when it was almost set I hit it with a broom and it really turned out pretty nice.   I felt like a pioneer.  

This little shack was in the yard of a lady that we were teaching with the missionaries and I thought it was kind of quaint.  Note the goat in the front of the shed.   There are goats everywhere.  At first glance this looks pretty bad but if you overlook the bad stuff and look at the trees and jungle it is really nice.   The picture can't capture how nice the jungle is here.    If you look close on the board on the top of the side of the shed you can see cell phone numbers written there.   People here have very little but they all have a cell phone.   

 This lady is our neighbor in the same compound as us.  She lives next to the missionaries, and you can see their apt in the background.   She is the grandmother of the little girl.  The grandmas name is Christie, She just had her 60th bday and all 4 of her kids came ti celebrate with her.  The little girl is Nefia, she is madelyn's age.  They are really nice and friendly.  We took a video of her pounding foo foo but we can't get it to download.  We will try it again or at least put a picture on of  them making it.

 Here is an example of one of the small stores which are all over Ghana.  This one we thought was interesting because of the name.  Berlmen's Supermarket.  It does not include the big building behind it just the small 10 foot by 15 foot building is the supermarket.  They don't have much variety just a few items so you have to go all around town to each shop to fill your shopping list.   

 I found this old hit and miss motor out in the bush one day and they haven't been using it for a long time.   I think they used it to power a grinder.   It would have been connected to the grinder with a 4 inch belt.   I really wish I could fit this in my suit case because I could restore it and it would be worth a considerable amount of money.   But with a 50 lb weight limit per suitcase there is no way.  

These kids also live by us with Christie.  Nefia, Madelyn's age,Akria, Presley's age, and Roland, Parker's age.  Roland is a grandson to Christie, but his mother doesn't live here, and Akria is Christie's brother's girl.  They always ask if you kids will be coming over to play with them.  Sometimes I read with them, they love it.  I have the illustrated Book Of Mormon and they are really interested in it.  They belong to the Pentecost church.  They also love to play "pease porridge hot" and anything else I can come up with.   There is also the grandpa, Daniel, and the son Emmanuel and his wife Esther, they are the parents of Nefia and a baby boy Kaleb who is about 2 months old.

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.

Leaving to teach

 Our road leaving our house, you can see the road maintenance worker cleaning up.   There are a group of school kids in the background going to school.  They all wear the same uniform everyday to school.  

 This view is the other direction leaving our house.  The picture really does the place justice.  Things are not as clean as the picture would have you believe.   You have to watch where your step every minute because of the things that the road maintenance workers leave behind. 

 We went out to this little village with the missionaries today and visited with a few investigators.  Everyone carries things on top of their heads.  I have never seen anyone drop what they were carrying.   The missionaries said that they saw a man with a refrigerator on his head one day.   He was one cool dude.  

 This is the members house that made us fufu a couple of weeks ago.   They didn't feed us this time because we were running late, but they promised to feed us next week.   I can't wait.  They have about 8 children and one set of twins.   A lot of mouths to feed but they are willing to share with us.  The wife doesn't speak English but the husband does pretty well.  

We thought this was a cool picture of Elder Jensen and Elder Bakodie walking to their next appointment. 

learning to play the piano

I wish I could play the piano!  They really need a piano player here!  All the singing is done acapella, which sounds pretty good, but they would like someone to play. I am practicing at the church, we need to send a picture of the inside of the chapel, it is pretty nice in here.
Things are going quite well, except for our water pump, it's off now, but the plumber is supposed to come in the morning so we hope that happens.
We just returned from the market, we need to get a pic of that,  Everytime I'm there I feel like I'm in a movie, maybe an Indiana Jones one.  It's really crazy there.
Tomorrow we need to take a bike up to kada for a missionary.  But first we will have the district meeting at our house.  The missionaries like it there because I fix a treat for them.
Today is our neighbor Elder Christtensen's birthday, so we are going to have them for dinner in just a little while.  I even made a white cake and we will put mango and banana and pineapple on top, I wish I had some cool whip!
 Hope you are all well, we are so lucky to have you for our family and friends.

Our Humble Abode

 Our house is nice and comfortable but I feel like I am in jail.   We have bars on all the windows and doors.  When we leave the house we lock up 2 padlocks and the lock on the door itself.    But at least we are secure.  (we hope).  A little different than Monroe where we didn't have to lock anything!

 This is a picture of our front room, pretty nice, don't you think?

 Kitchen is also quite nice, microwave doesn't work well though.  We brought some microwave popcorn from home and popped it in a pan on top of the stove, and it was delicious!

Our water has a 3 filter system on it so it is what we drink.  Tastes pretty good and looks clean.

 This is a way nice bathroom.  No plugin for my hair dryer, which doesn't matter cause my hair is just bad.  We have to be careful in the shower not to get water in our mouths or we could get sick.  hmm

 Bedroom is nice and big.  The fan goes all night in case of mosquitoes, and to keep us cooler.  We have a mosquito net but haven't set it up yet.  The Elders all sleep with a net.

Washroom, again with the bars on the windows.  We have a washer and dryer as you can see, but the water isn't too great to wash in.