Combining another 2 weeks... 😁
Where does the time go?? It feels as though we just arrived back in Ghana after a whirlwind visit in the US. But it also seems as if it was all just a dream and we never left! Very strange indeed. Gratefully, I have pictures to keep me sane!
Getting right back to work in the AWA Office scenario was pretty easy. Head down and go for it, every minute of every day. We recently had to teach Family Home Evening for all the senior missionaries. That entails sharing our life story with them and a few highlights of what we do here in our mission assignment. Jordan said, "Just show a guy chained to a desk...that is my life right now!" I did in fact find and display a picture showing just that, but in reality, it is just a portion of our time in Africa. There is SO much more!
GARDENING FUN
Some of the pictures I showed of our life back home included one of Jordan's hobbies and passions, creating and maintaining a garden. It must have awoken something inside, because Saturday we spent running around finding patio pots, rich black soil, seeds and plants (another senior missionary grew the tomatoes from seeds and is now sharing them) to create a mini garden outside on our very hot and small patio. This will truly be a stress reliever for my man, the gardener extraordinaire! After finding all the supplies out and about in town, Jordan "borrowed" an old rickety wheel barrow from the parking garage and brought everything up from the truck in the elevator. Then he got to work. He now realizes he needs more pots and will spread things out! 5 tomato plants, basil & cilantro and cucumbers. What will be next??
A classic story told by Hugh B. Brown reminds us, The Gardener is truly in charge and places us in the exact position we need to learn and grow and become mighty along the way.
"You sometimes wonder whether the Lord really knows what He ought to do with you. You sometimes wonder if you know better than He does about what you ought to do and ought to become. I am wondering if I may tell you a story. It has to do with an incident in my life when God showed me that He knew best."
"Many of you are going to have very difficult experiences: disappointment, heartbreak, bereavement, defeat. You are going to be tested and tried. I just want you to know that if you don’t get what you think you ought to get, remember, God is the gardener here. He knows what He wants you to be. Submit yourselves to His will. Be worthy of His blessings, and you will get His blessings."
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2002/03/the-currant-bush?lang=eng
MANCALA
I've become somewhat obsessed with the game known as Mancala, while here in Africa.
Mancala is so old its precise origins are unknown, but the most reliable evidence exists for Mancala having been played 3,600 years ago in Ancient Sudan or Ghana. Many variations of the game are widely played in Africa and southern Asia, and in areas influenced by African or Asian cultures, that involve competition between two players in the distribution of pieces (as seeds or pebbles) into rows of holes or pockets (as in a board) under various rules that permit accumulation of pieces by capture.
Objective: To collect as many seeds in your pockets as possible. The player with the most seeds in their pockets at the end of the game wins.
These are the rules that came with one of the first boards we purchased. The game seems to be called Oware, a meaning you will discover after reading the Introduction.
The symbols on the top of this board are Adinkra. The seeds are from an ebony tree, used traditionally here in Ghana for the playing pieces.
Messages heard in our Trade Fair Ward every Sunday are inspiring and pure gospel prinicples. It is beautiful to hear the words of truth spoken in very plain and simple ways, yet so powerful.
Youth Speaker: Truth = doing what is right. Know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
2nd Speaker: God loves us. Learn to love others. Don't bring contention. Be a witness of the Savior in all we do.
Bishop Darkey-Collins: When we only consider the consequences of our actions, we become liars. Our minds can set us free when we choose to do what is right.
The light of the body - What do we SEE with our eyes? What do we talk about from what we see with our eyes? Share that which builds and brings light! Be careful of what the eyes see! Avoid darkness.
Luke 11:33-36: What do we SEE? Our brain will process what we see. It takes adequate TIME to really "SEE" before we can process fully. What we see will regulate what we say and do. Be careful of what we put in through our eyes. Likewise, whatever we put in our body should not reflect darkness.
We must represent Christ in all we do and say.
D&C 88:67-68: If your eye be single to His Glory... If the body is full of light, darkness has no space to dwell.
John 8:12: As we follow the Savior, He is the LIGHT in our path.
Conclusion: Light is good. Be careful of what you see. Take time to evaluate what you see. Take heed, we want light to come out of the process. Christ must always be the Light we follow.
💓💛💚
Much love from Ghana! Have a fantastic Sabbath!
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