The lighting is never very good at our little library. We recently read an African story about a lady who made her own pot to carry things on her head. So I had to try the ceramic pot on my head. They roll a piece of cloth into a donut shape to hold the pot and seem to have no problem keeping it on their heads. They also said their coarse hair keeps things from slipping off their head. Whereas our smooth hair won't hold anything on. I had to keep my hands on the pot, I just knew it would fall right off.

This past weekend we traveled 5 hours up to Kumasi with our neighbors the Youngbergs. They were going up to do financial audit training. They have a truck which is a must with the terrible roads everywhere you go. The roads are full of potholes and often half washed away. We jumped at the offer to tag along. We started out early on a Sunday and stopped at this little branch about an hour away. By the time church started every seat was filled. The four of us got to bear our testimonies. They were so sweet and kind to us. Many came up to meet us after church. It's so wonderful to go anywhere in the world and sing the same songs and share the exact same Sunday school lesson. They are vibrant singers and even had young women play the keyboard and lead the  music. If you can notice, the tin roof and walls don't even meet together. The louvered windows and fans were sufficient. I would love to hear the rain on this roof that has no insulation. 

These pictures are taken through the front truck window so they aren't very good. But, the scary thing about traveling on the terrible roads are all the huge trucks sharing the road. There are no weight limits nor any safety measures for trucks. We've seen trucks tipped over with their loads everywhere, many trucks stop in the middle of a lane or pull over with flat tires or engine problems. Often the drivers are trying to fix tires or problems with the full load. They drive on bald tires until they blow, we've seen a couple of blow-outs. You never want to drive at night because many trucks don't have lights, and people are crossing the unlit roads and of course they blend in with the dark night. 

This is our local mosque, just a mile away. It is the largest mosque in Africa. The call to prayer over the loudspeakers was very loud and went on for hours. So we decided to make this our morning walk today. The military was all over the place and the police said the President was coming but we were welcome to walk around. The dedication was held today, the last day of Hajj, this is the week when many Muslims go to Mecca, their holy city. The senior missionaries are going on a tour of the mosque next Saturday.

There were many of these bulls on the main road next to the mosque. They were selling them I suppose to sacrifice. 

You can't see it here but this bull just met his demise along side the road and mosque with a slit of the throat. I don't know if it was a sacrifice or for some other reason. But these fellows were busy working on him. It doesn't look like there's any meat on these scrawny animals.

Another windshield picture. There's a bull in the back of this mini pickup. He was alive because we saw him blink but he must have been sedated. I can't imagine he climbed in peacefully.

This cute family was sitting outside the mosque waiting to go in. I stopped and told the father he had a beautiful family and how beautiful the mosque was. He said they would give their hearts to Allah. He was also pleased when I asked if I could take their picture

We walked to the local barbershop again this morning. This fellow's name is David. He did an excellent job and Steve paid the 'European' price which is 25 Cedis or $5. I think the European cut is the white guys cut. The African's with American names or Bible names are all Christians. The Muslims have very different, hard to pronounce names. 

I finished my crocheted sleeping mat using plarn, plastic yarn made from plastic grocery bags. I used a very large crochet hook I brought from home, it is a size P from Walmart if you ever want to try this project. It's so easy and can be done in your spare time or watching TV. I'm just not sure who to give it too. I think a truly homeless person would not want to carry it around. Maybe the Bishop knows someone who could use it in their home that has dirt or cement floors.

We did pass this fellow sound asleep on the way to the Area offices one morning.

Here we have a beautiful view of a full moon from our front door view on the third floor. For several months when we first got here we never saw any moon because of the dusty Harmattan season.

On our drive to Kumasi, we came across this fellow making his own cement bricks. He had a pile of sand and cement, made the mixture and had a primitive form to mold them. He said he wanted to build a home for his family, a wife and child. Life is so primitive out in the bush. If you want something, you make it yourself.

We drove by these young men who were enjoying the lazy life under a tree. They saw me take their picture and chased the car to the next stop. They were laughing and happy with the 1 cedi I gave each of them them, about 20 cents.

A must read for your book club. It's an absolutely wonderful non-fiction story about wild elephants brought to a game reserve in South African.

This is the missionary training center. It has offices, classrooms, cafeteria, dorms, gym, exercise equipment, soccer field. Everything a missionary needs.

Every corner has a tire shop.

And the local gym. 

TIDBITS:

Occasionally I can hear roosters crow or goats bleating outside our complex. It's wonderful we can't hear them inside with the windows closed and AC on constantly. So different from Hawaii when the roosters would start crowing at 3am under our open window.

Through zoom we were able to watch the funeral of our sweet neighbor and ward member Carol Allen. Carol and Merle are an example to all for having served 4 senior missions.

The Durban Mission in South Africa is in lockdown because of all the government unrest. Our former Stake President, Tim Lines, is serving as mission president there. We pray for the safety of their missionaries and that civil turmoil will diminish.

South America is still in Covid lockdown where Steve has several counterparts. In fact they are still serving from home waiting to get into the country.

Where is my camera when I need it? On the drive to Kumasi we saw a goat in the backseat of a taxi. I would love to know the story behind that.

Remember in General Conference a Temple was announced for Kumasi. The nearer we got to Kumasi the more it looked like I imagined Tonga to look. Ross Youngberg, neighbor and missionary we rode with on this trip, served a mission in Tonga as a young man. He said the lush greenery and short palm trees along the road are exactly what Tonga looks like.

My sister and her husband, Florence and Greg Hatch just received a mission call to Tonga. I think we'll have to make a visit there next summer.

Steve has been teaching some classes in the Mission Training Center for the new missionaries about adjusting to missionary life. After a presentation there yesterday, we were invited to eat dinner with a senior couple assigned to the MTC. The young African Elder and Sister missionaries enjoy their stay at the MTC. They had fish (with the heads on), chicken, lots of rice, pasta, yams, and a banana for dessert. They are not into sweets like the Americans are. American sisters do not serve in Africa. There was a young Liberian missionary who had an appendicitis attack his second day in the MTC. It was a tender mercy he was there. He would not have survived in his home town. A mission experience is the first time most African missionaries have a nice apartment, three meals a day and medical care. Some come from circumstances where they only eat one meal a day, some are orphans, many have lost parents or siblings.

Most African homes in the bush don't look like what I imagined. I thought they would be thatched walls and roofs. The homes we have seen are homemade cement block with a tin roof. When we visited the Volta River region there were some thatched walls and roofs deep in the middle of nowhere.

We are enjoying our rainy/wet season (with no rain) with the lovely weather. Our temps hang around low 70's to low 80's. When we first came our weather was in the 90's with humidity of course. Our morning and evening walks are so delightful.

We only live about a mile from the Accra international airport. There are not not a lot of flights and we rarely hear overhead planes. On the rare occasion when I'm awake at 10:55 I'll hear a plane overhead. I know it's the one flight a day on Delta that flies directly to JFK. Some day we'll be on that flight.

We gave away our 5th pair of flip flops this week. This fellow looked homeless and he was shoeless. We keep the new shoes in the car for quick use. We hand them through the window and say "God bless you." I don't think they know English but they always say "thank you."

Every once in a while I start brushing my teeth with bathroom faucet water. I quickly remember that is a no, no. We miss clean tap water for use. Brigitta our German neighbor doesn't have filtered water in her apartment and must boil her water or use bottled water. The church owns our apartments and added the osmosis tank under the sink. We have wonderful, American furnishings.

Forgive me if I ever repeat some of this tidbits. This blog will be printed into a book and I just want to remember all these amazing scenes from typical daily life in the Africa West Area.