March 2015 Mission Blog

Lorna's Birthday Celebration

We can't believe that we have almost hit our half-way mark in our mission, but I was able to celebrate my birthday among these wonderful people.  The missionaries sang Happy Birthday to me in both English and French.  They do sing everything with gusto. These sweet sisters wanted to do something for me for my birthday, so each of them gave me a celebration balloon, and my office was full of them for a few days.  That was fun.  It was nice to hear birthday wishes from our dear family and a number of friends too.  What did we do before Facebook!

On my birthday, we went to the market, and there was a lady in line behind us whose husband was buying a fancy chocolate cake.  I smiled at her and mouthed the words, "Is it your birthday?"  She smiled big and said YES.  I told her it was mine too, and could I take her picture?  She said, "Of course".  Here it is.

Lorna's birthday meal

We went out for my birthday meal with our dear Robisons.  We ate at one of the nice hotel restaurants here.  They had an outstanding buffet, and that is always fun.  It is on the beach, so we walked around the pool area and out to the beach front.

 They have such beautiful wood and wood carvings here. I liked these elephant decorations in the hotel lobby. The next picture is of some of the wood carvers hard at work. Many people do hand work such as wood carving.  This is one of the many places we see the men working at their trade.

Incoming Missionaries

Most of our incoming missionaries are picked up at the airport.  But, if they are local, sometimes their families will bring them to the MTC.  It is a sweet moment to see them say their goodbyes, just as it is for us at home.  And we promise to take very good care of them, and we do.  These are twin brothers with their parents, then family members.

                                         Ready, set, go!!!!!!!!!!!


Elder Vinson of the Area Presidency and his wife spoke at our devotional.  They always are inspirational to our missionaries and to us as well.  Such dedication to serve the Lord.  Some of them have been away from home for many years at a time.  We shouldn't complain about a few months.

This is our early March group.

Temple Trip

It is always wonderful to go with our missionaries to the Accra Temple.  They love to see the temple and their day to go in is here.

It is so wonderful that it almost blows us away.

Goodbye Party

Before we know it, the time has come to say our goodbyes and send them off to the mission field. We come to love them, and they learn to love each other.  Often, they make friends but are going to different mission fields, so they may not see each other very soon.  It is bitter sweet.

 It is great to see their growth in every area in just a few weeks.  It is nothing less than a miracle that the language missionaries do so well.  I have been teaching them to say their "th's".  Dey(pun intended) try so hard and do surprisingly well in just a short time.  They even give their testimonies in their mission language.  What an inspiration they are to us.

When all is said and done, we cope in our own ways.

Area visit

We do see some interesting sights when we drive some places.  It is never boring, that's for sure.  We even see pregnant trees as well as goats.

These are what the skies near the temple look like when the fruit bats are flying around.  At first, they look like birds, but on closer look they are actually bats.

Close up picture of a fruit bat.  This one is for real.

They hang upside down to rest and then fly around the skies for exercise etc.  It is hard to identify them unless someone shows you what they are.

For President Robison's birthday outing, we went to another hotel for buffet.  It is called Labadi Beach and is along the Volta River.  On the way, we took some pictures, and then some while we were there.

Trip and visit to Senchi Resort along the Volta River

It's nice to see mountains and interesting rock formations.

The resort is a hotel and convention center and is quite nice.  It has thatched roofs, which we thought was interesting.  They have lovely pools for swimming, a gift shop and a beautiful view of the river.  We had a lot of fun getting away for a few hours.

Goodbye to our group of MTC missionaries

Before very long, we are back to work, but it was refreshing to be away for a few hours, to see the country side and visit with such good company.
Once again it is time to send off some of our missionaries into the field to harvest.  They never lack enthusiasm for what lies ahead, and we wish them well and pray for their success every day.

Our little Elder Johnson is an Idaho spud.  He is a super nice fellow, and we enjoyed sharing this time with him.
This cute little sister is from South Africa.  We love 'em, small and tall, that's for sure.

This Elder came from the Cape Coast Mission Home to pick up the missionaries who will be serving in their mission.  As we were visiting with him, we asked him where he was from and he said, "Seattle".  We told him we had lived in the Kent/Renton area for many years and said all our kids graduated from Kentridge High School.  He said, "So did I!".  He lives near our neighborhood of Fairwood.  It is a small world after all.

All in all, it has been a good month.  We are still healthy and happy and still love the Lord and our family and friends, now and forever!