Having fun in Ghana

The internet and power here are very sporadic so this may be a painful process today. We have been here almost 3 weeks! We have learned a lot and are getting accustomed to the culture here. Power seems to go off almost daily at some point. It seems often to correlate with 6AM or 6PM. The country sells their power to other countries to make money and cuts off their own people! The people of Ghana are very friendly. Not once have we ever felt unsafe or threatened. They are very poor here for the most part. We had stake conference today with 13 congregations coming for a meeting. There were maybe 20 cars in the parking lot. Families came in trotros....large vans packed like sardines that they hire like a taxi! Traffic is crazy here but Lynn is learning to maneuver quite well. He has been bumped in the back once but they just keep going. One morning someone was driving a bunch of cattle down the road. Cars just had to maneuver around just like when cars break down in the middle of the road. People carry everything on their head. It is amazing. Lynn saw someone carrying propane tanks, 50 gallon barrels and even a spare tire. When the traffic is stopped in traffic jams people are walking up and down the road and in between cars selling just about everything. You don't have to get out of your car to go shopping! There are market places along the roads too. Lynn lead some missionaries in morning exercises this last week. They were the newly arriving missionaries. He has managed to find someone playing ping pong and today played catch with a few children with oranges. :-) Most of the pictures we have taken have been in our early morning exercising out and about or from my car window. We have also tried a Ghanian meal of grilled Tilapia, banku (made from corn) and delicious fried plantains. The children are still beautiful and I love seeing how they are carried on their mother's or siblings backs.

Having fun in Ghana!

Well, we made it to Ghana! It was a long day and night and 17 hours of flying time but we arrived in Kumasi, Ghana on November 25. It is hard to believe we are in Africa. :-) We are getting over our jet lag... time difference from Washington is 8 hours. The first two mornings here we went for walks in the neighborhood. The children are beautiful here and Lynn enjoys giving everyone we see fist bumps! Some of the children don't quite know what to do when he walks up to them with a fist in front of them! He shows them though. We see lots of cement homes, most don't have electricity and water. There are also some beautiful homes in the area too. There are a lot of roaming goats, chickens, a few dogs. We have seen cattle and turkeys, lizards. It is quite hot here too for all of you who are cold right now! It is routinely in the 80's and cools to the 70's at night. People come out at night when it is a little bit cooler. Women carry all kinds of things on their heads. It is amazing. We also got a picture of a well that a young lady was getting here water. I also think we saw a couple hair salons!

Going Going Ghana

On November 9 we entered the MTC (missionary training Center) We spent a wonderful week there being temporally and spiritually fed, learning to communicate effectively with people and meeting some wonderful people from all over the country who will be going all over the world..... This week we just finished medical training, had classes on many different medical issues as well as getting a lot of resources we can use while on our mission. We were in class this week with nurses, doctors, mental health specialists and physician assistants. Some of the places people are going that we have met are Russia, Phillipines, Guatemala, Venuatu, Canada, Cape Verde, Michigan, Tennessee, North Dakota...... We have also met some great friends. In three days we will board the plane and head on our 18 month journey to Kuamsi, Ghana, Africa