August 18, 2019

We traveled this morning with the expectation that one of our little branches would be divided. However, in the Sacrament Meeting it was postponed for two weeks.  The new district presidency is still figuring out their roles and weren’t quite ready for today.  However, it was a wonderful meeting anyway with each of the district presidency speaking.  The theme turned out to be humility, and heeding God’s wisdom as opposed to the learning of men.  Pres. Sherman closed the meeting inviting everyone to come to the meeting on Sept 1 fasting and praying that the Lord will inspire the district presidency to chose the leaders that the He wants. 

Hibiscus - growing everywhere

 We mentioned last week that Elder Riehle was finishing his mission.   Wednesday  his family came for dinner.  Their oldest son served his mission in Ghana a couple of years ago and they were headed there after Côte d’Ivoire.  They told the story of two member families of Ghanaians who live in their ward in the D.C. area with whom they had become friends.  The families were flooded one night and the two sons had to wade through waist deep water to help them escape.  That was before any mission calls to Africa. When the first Elder Riehle arrived in Ghana, there were members who knew that he and his brother had saved two Ghanaian families from drowning.   These two returned missionaries and their recently graduated from high school sister will all be attending BYU in the next couple of weeks. They are  interesting people and it will be very fun to see what they become.

We had another episode of water being cut off this week.  At first we thought it must be universal, but no, the other missionary apartments had water.  Then we contacted our rental agent thinking perhaps the water company had cut it due to an unpaid bill.  (Aside: since there are not street names and no house identifiers by number, bills get delivered by courier to the owner or renter, usually.)  However, that was not the case.  After 3 1/2 days the rental agent came to the apartment and found that the tap on the water meter outside had been turned off.  We had no idea that there was a tap - it is hidden underneath the gauge and can’t be seen.  Apparently the owner had turned it off thinking it was for one of his other (new) properties next door.  There are three meters together by the corner of our lot and we never knew until yesterday which one was ours.  Obviously our owner didn’t either.  Fortunately we used the water in our big plastic barrel which is there for this very reason and were getting by with “spit showers” and our water-conserving sailing skills.  So now we’re back to living in the lap of luxury with our running water, electricity, internet, and food.

Our alarm bird as seen through the bathroom window screen.   Every morning at 6 AM - loud and persistent!  

We had stimulating conversations this week with a new branch president and a new group leader.  Their comments were similar —that it is relatively easy to understand the gospel and its principles compared to how to direct the local functioning of the church.  They are both members of twenty years, but have  had few opportunities to lead.  Most of their church work has been mission oriented and teaching the gospel.  I pointed out that they are pioneers in this part of Africa.  Neither had the luxury of being a counselor to a good bishop for 2 years to observe and learn.  However, those who come after them will be ever grateful for the things these two will learn and teach their own counselors and members.  In that light, with the mission president’s encouragement, I am embarking on a project to outline what orientation and training we can provide to new leaders - who have handbooks but aren’t sure how to make sense of them - to help their understanding of how to be a leader in the church.  It’s not enough to teach principles and motivate them - they need practical instructions in how to do the basics.

Threshing the rice