Elder & Sister Cosgrave: GUNG HO!!!

1 Sept., 2013

We have had another great Ghana week. We have met so many wonderful people and seen so many things and learned so much. It has been a full, full week and there is never a lack of something to do.

We began by visiting apartments of the missionaries in this zone (the Kpong Zone) to do some inventory and we were requested by the Mission office to also inspect for cleanliness, etc. We tried not to be the white glove police, but Sister Cosgrave did share some tips about cleaning the sinks and around the faucets and mopping floors. The use of the word floor is euphemism as most of them are just cement or pieces of tile etc. They all do have 4 walls and a roof and indoor plumbing (most of which works) so they are better off than some elders in other parts like Micronesia. Moreover, they never complain and are faithful and obedient missionaries who teach well and are diligent in their service. There are 4 elders in each of the 2 branches in Ho, 2 in Tsito (pronounced like Chito), 4 in Senchi 4 in Kpong (K is silent) and 2 in Akuse

(A-kusay).

We did mention previously about our visit with Brother Kwesi Dugbatey when we went to Kpong. We did mention that we went to his home, but while we were there he fed us an African meal of Tilapia (Sister Cosgrave loved having the fish staring at her from the plate) and a stew of greens, beans, yam with plantain on the side to cut up into it. It was very tasty but no FuFu or Banku yet. It was prepared by his niece whose name is Happy. He has a daughter who is married and lives in Phoenix and a son who lives in Lubbock of all places and attends Texas Tech. Kwesi is working on getting the new Ensign School of Public Health accredited and up and running and that is a slow process anywhere.

The next day, we were invited by the Elder Jordan Jones from Alaska and Elder Jenkins from near Rupert (school at Declo) to go with them to teach a man named Joshua. Joshua is a teacher and very bright and sincere and eager to learn. He had been taught about the Apostasy and Restoration so our lesson was on the Plan of Salvation. As the lesson began, Elder Jones asked where he believed we were before we came to the earth. Joshua replied that in his tradition there are 3 worlds. The first is where we lived with God, but we did not have a body just our “soul” or spirit. The second is when we are here now to have the grace of Christ and the third is after we die. Well, that pretty much left us to add a few things like the Creation and Fall and then he asked what about all the people who lived before Christ came and was crucified. Will they be saved? How will they be baptized? He was given the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and he is to meet with the elders again this week as he was traveling the end of last week. As we left, he offered a beautiful prayer asking to know what is true And he continues to read the Book of Mormon.

Another teaching opportunity came as we talked to a young girl who sells from a fruit stand at the end of our road. Her name is Faith and she asked if she could come to our church. We asked if we could come meet her family who live down the road a ways and she set the time. The day that we were going to her house to take a Book of Mormon, the elders were passing by and went with us. We met her mother (named Bless) and her father. She brought out some wooden stools for us to sit outside their home and then their family was taught about the Restoration and given a Book of Mormon. She went to Church with us today and made some friends and stayed for the block and there was another baptism today after church.

She is a sweet girl, but their family circumstance is sad because the father is abusive when he drinks. Hopefully this will change with the Spirit of the Gospel in their lives.

We have spent some time with sweet Sister Anna we mentioned last time. When we went she had some material that she wanted to have made into a dress for Sister C and a shirt for Elder C. We took her to her friend (Elizabeth) who teaches Fashion Design at one of the local technical schools. (Anna had also done this in the past). Now we have another new friend who will do the sewing. Anna is such a kind soul. We will include pictures of her if we can do it.

Saturday we were invited to meet other mission couples in a place in the Eastern Region called Aburi (pronounced A-bree’) where there are some gardens. It was a beautiful 3 hour drive through the mountain region and some different villages. One of the highlights was stopping in Mampong at the School for the Deaf where Lyndsey spent the summer of 2009 teaching. We met a couple of men who do know the volunteers from the Signs of Hope organization Lyndsey went with, but were not there in 2009. When we returned, our neighbors (he is Evangelical Presbyterian pastor) came over and brought a basket of fruit and welcomed us. Their daughter is a dentist and her husband a Cardiology fellow in Bridgeport Connecticut

After church today was another baptism. The man who was baptized last week (Mawuli) baptized his wife (Patience) and after the baptism, their 12 year od son who was baptized last week stood an bore his testimony….. he will be a great missionary some day no doubt!

We did have a brief touch of home as we were able to pick up the BYU broadcast for a minute just as they went to the delay. We sent a Ghana greeting to Greg Wrubel which he apparently read on the air. We were off by then so missed it, but our mission president heard it and texted us about it. It sounds like the game went kind of like our internet.

We are still feeling our way, but having rich experiences and meeting wonderful people.