March 2019

January 2018

So glad to be back home in Awutu Breku for the New Year. This week we were back to business as unusual. I always say each day in Africa is filled with something unusual. Firstly, we may have solved the water problems. Elder and Sister Wood stayed with us. They are missionaries from Kamase mission in Ghana. Elder Wood showed me how to fill the polytank with water from the bore hole (well). It worked and now no more water tank truck!

Our Burduburam district meeting Wednesday got us back on track for teaching and finding. There are 4 baptisms this Saturday at the Breku branch. We also met with Linda and brought her food and clothes washing powder.

After the district meeting we took 4 missionaries out to Ghana Make A Difference for Elder Nimly to interview 2 for baptism. While there we learned Pres. Monson had passed on in an unusual way. During the interview with a sister Elder Nimly (district leader) asked if she believed that Pres. Monson was a living prophet and she said NO! He was surprised and then she explained he was dead!

A note in regards to an incident at GMAD, Elder and Sister Redlin from the welfare area office were on tour with the Hofmans. While they were there a puff adder snake was discovered on the school grounds. It was disposed of and I mentioned I knew Dr. Deberry, director of Hogle Zoo in the 60’s who died from a bite of a puff adder. Sister Redlin knew him. This was the third puff adder seen by missionaries this week.

A lot of time was spent in the Kasoa market buying supplies for the missionaries in the Winnaba stake. We also updated the apartment for the Kasoa 2 apartment for Elder Egessa and Elder Fash. We picked up a white board from them and today took it to Elders Zhoa and Lorilla in Brakwa some 200 K away. We stopped by to see Elder Briggs and Price in Asikuma and had lunch with them before driving on to Brakwa and Odoben. In Odoben we picked up mail for Elder Birtchell and replaced lights for Elder Davies.

The next stop was Aboso to repair a toilet and shower for the sister missionaries, plus we brought them many kitchen items. Then we got trapped in a “New Year’s” parade going to visit Swedru 2 missionaires, i.e. Elders Bates and Carter. We picked up their bicycles and dropped off an iron. The parade was most remarkable! There were hundreds if not a thousand marchers dressed up in elaborate costumes. There was even two on stilts.

After a long wait in the crowded streets of Swedru we drove to Winneba and stopped at Elder Beck and Keith’s to deliver dictionaries they requested. It is always enjoyable to visit with the elders. Finally in Wenneba 1&3 we brought the elders a cook top which I installed, along with a case of BofM and Restoration pamphlets. Elders McCrea, Afoso Hene, Akpan and Burnett were doing well. Elder Burnett has been out 3 weeks and adjusting well. (Some missionaries from the states have to get over the change in culture.)

The trip today took us from 7:30am to 5:00pm. We saw a parade, many children and wanderers along the roadway, a major truck accident and stopped at a roadside fruit stand to buy oranges, mangos and sweet potatoes. This is our Africa!! We love the people, the fruit and the missionaries.

The second week of January has been busy. We still have very hazy skies and now very dry. I had to water all the many flowers and plants around the property. Richard, our neighbor, came over to let me know that he put in all the plants on the property. He said the plants needed watering. Fortunately, we have bore hole water and I was able to put water on all the plants in and around the house as well as the sweet potatoes. The pump is working on the bore hole so we have water without having to have it brought by a truck.

We invited Gram and Gloria to dinner. He is the owner of a grade school in our area. He is the brother of Constance (the RS president) who died recently. He has a nice family of two children and a very nice home at the school. We want to repair the paint on the walls of his school and decorate with children’s art as a community project.

Our visit with Eric this week went well. He is learning to read quite proficiently. On our way out to the orphanage we dropped the missionaries off to teach the Alhaasn family in Ojobi near Awketsi near Breku where we live. We like to stop at the junction of the Cape Cost highway and Awketsi because we can get boiled corn and plantain bananas for lunch.

This week we made a couple of trips to Accra. We went down on Wednesday. Pres. Simpson wanted me to assist in a decision making with regards to an elder who was going home early. We stayed the night and came home Thursday. Then on Friday morning we went back to go to the temple with Elders Oldman and Kabeya.

We went to the church early Saturday morning to clean and attend a baptism at 8:00am. The baptism was at 11:00 due to a delay in Kingsley getting to the branch. Then a branch party was scheduled for 2:00pm. Basically a dinner and church video and we ate at 5:30pm. Dawn and I provided rice with veggies. I mean an entire wash tub of cooked rice. There were about 100 people and most were children. We had rice, fufu and light soup (goat stew in very spicy broth). One thing happened while Dawn and I were waiting for the food,,she walked up the road to talk to a seamstress and there were a bunch of boys along the road calling to me, “white man”. I went over and talked to them. They wanted a bicycle from me but I just showed them how to make bird calls using my cupped hands and then a shrill whistle with a grass reed between my thumbs. Then it got interesting when I asked them to catch a chicken, which they did to my surprise. I then hypnotized the creature and they were fascinated.

I took the chicken down to the branch and showed the elders how to do the same with the chicken. When I took it back up the road and let it go it shot out of sight.

Good news, Bill and Binki Hill are coming to Ghana Africa to serve in the Accra West Mission. They will be staying with us for three weeks while their apartment is being renovated.

This week we are enjoying all the activities of the mission. Fresh pineapple, mangos, papaya, etc are the norm here. The food is basically African fufu, banku and wakwe. We still shop for American style meals. This week we fed the missionaries hot dogs and potato salad. Pres. Simpson and his wife were here for district meetings and interviews. Sister Simpson went with us to Ghana Make a Difference to meet with Eric, Raymond and Devine whom we teach English. She also went shopping with us to buy Rx for Linda who we care for each week.

This week something new happened at night at our home. The outside alarm went off (siren and flashing red lights) indicating a break in the electric protective fence. After I turned on the outside lights and looked around not seeing anyone in the compound, I started to inspect the fence. A flashing spark in one area indicated the reason for the alarm. It was a large spider trapped between wires going up in smoke. After some time I was able to stop the alarm by entering in code numbers until I hit the right one, thank heavens for tender mercies in getting the right sequence.

Elder and Sister Wood stayed with us for the last time until they go home in three weeks. They bought Eric at Ghana Make a Difference an ATV to travel around while they are gone. We also had the Kasao zone for dinner on Monday night. We had chicken BarBQ sandwiches with potato salad and pineapple. Ice cream and apple crisp was for dessert. There were 14 of them here for dinner.

This week we had a multi-zone conference at Kineshe stake building. Pres. Simpson called the conference on account of contention among the missionaries. Although the mission is baptizing almost 30 new members/week there is much concern over the difficulties between companions. At the end of this month we will have been in Africa for four months.

The days are getting longer but time is getting shorter. We had a busy week doing apartment inspections before the transfer date. Every six weeks we visit each facility and assist in the upkeep. This requires extensive travel through distant communities. We feel like the Fuller Brush Man coming with all kinds of supplies and products. Plus I am the Fix-It man as well. I have rebuilt beds, caulked sinks, plumber work, replaced cook tops, replaced propane regulators etc. and Dawn is really strict on apartment cleanliness.

Today we had scheduled a service project at Graham's School in our community. However, the head master did not show up with the paint so we scrapped off the old paint and went down and repaired the community bridge. Later we gathered at our place and built a Bar-B-Q pit and cooked foil dinners for 14 missionaries. I wanted to repay them because we did not have a chance to paint.

My thoughts are with my mother as she is turning 90 years old the end of January. I have great respect for her. She is such a wonderful person and a good friend. I hope she will continue to do well.

We called and talked with Julia. She was recoving from G.I. problems but in good spirits.

The last week of January here in Africa, it is still warm and dry, very dry. We have been busy as usual but in an unusual way. Four days we saw a lady sitting on the curb of an adjacent street. Then while walking in the morning on Tuesday she was sitting on a rock with three men nearby putting out a fire she had started. They said she was troubled and could have started a large fire and burn the crops. Dawn talked with her and then picked her up and we brought her home. She was extremely dirty and un-kempt. Dawn showered with her and washed her up. Her hair contained many grass awns and burrs. Here clothes were so worn and dirty so I washed them a couple of times and disposed of the rest of her belongings which were beyond repair or cleaning. Her name was Martha. We called Dr. Blackwell for advice and she put us in contact with a psychiatrist in Accra. Wednesday we took her to the mission home where she slept at the foot of our bed and the next day Dawn admitted her in at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital. The procedure started at 9:00am and ending at 3:00pm. Martha is a lost soul and deranged. She will spend one month there and hope to locate a relative or she will be back on the street. There were over 400 patients living at the institution. Mental illness is here to stay here in Africa.