Week 54 - Anniversary, Looking Back & Reflection

Well, it's hard to believe, but this past week on Jan 23rd, we hit our 1 year anniversary of when we started this crazy adventure - mission life!  Wowza!  Seems like an eternity but also yesterday. In one more week, we will have been in Ghana for 1 yearr!  Time truly flies!

LOOKING BACK & REFLECTION

I've been thinking about things I've learned so far while being on our mission in Africa.  Soooo many things come to mind, but here are a few...

1. You can acclimate to just about anything, including hot and humid weather, whether you believe it is possible or not!  I'm surprised at how we feel with the heat and humidity now, compared to 1 year ago. Getting off the plane, we thought we might die. The first few days, weeks and months felt so heavy and hot. Over time, our bodies gradually adjusted, and every day seems less brutal, even though conditions are essentially the same!

Reflection 

When we submitted our mission application, we requested all cold locations and no office assignments. Obviously, that did not happen. We came to the hottest place on earth and sit in an office all day. I cannot tell a lie, there are definitely difficult moments that can make you question your decision to leave everything behind and navigate a foreign land and experience. There are moments that test us to our limits. We miss our children and grandchildren dearly, but we know why we are here and our purpose for these 18 months. We press forward every day, doing the work we are called to do. Some days are easier than others. All in all, we feel we have acclimated quite well!!! We are also completely aware of and grateful for the many compensatory blessings our family has already received and continues to receive while we are on this mission.

P.S.  Harmattan (a very dry, dusty, northeasterly wind on the West African coast, occurring from December to March) is back with a vengeance!! AQI today was 334 = Hazardous. The air quality index doesn't lie. It was a hazy hazy day.

 

2. Don't be afraid to ask for what you want.. you may just get it!  We have noticed a trend here in Ghana. People will ask for what they want, with a clear hope that the request will be granted. They are not afraid to ask, even if the query is unreasonable and seemingly ridiculous. When you have very little food, shelter, clothing or money, any request is worth the ask. It is not uncommon to be asked for money or food here, several times a day. While driving, we encounter SO many people (adults and children) on the street, begging for anything. They wait on the sides of streets until the light turns red and the vehicles come to a standstill.  We carry crackers and snacks in the truck and where possible, hand them out. Sometimes it gets crazy though, with more than 20 kids surrounding your vehicle and hanging on every part of it. So we are judicious about which intersections we hand out food, and where we just roll down the windows and talk with them until the light turns green. They love feeling the air conditioning vents with their hot little hands. Life is not always FAIR! At times, it is hard to hold back tears when you see the conditions and level of poverty here.

Reflection

Be kind, be generous, be reasonable. It doesn't really help a young couple already struggling to pay their bills, to honor a reqeust for money to install an air conditioner on their rental shack, and then put them further in debt to now pay more in utility costs. Doing our best to teach them some skills that can bring in additional money seems like a better option. There are no easy answers. 

3. Patience is a virtue. Nothing, and I mean nothing is fast here in Africa. The road congestion leaves you sitting in traffic jams regularly. Shopping should only be attempted when you have sufficient time and energy to brave the crowds necessary to search for the items you want. Waiting for receipts at the check out counter can seem like an eternity. Trying to drive 36 miles out of town to see a new place can take 5 hrs. We have learned to sit back, relax, and listen to a podcast or good music while traveling. I mean really, why not take advantage of all that together time and have a little fun!  

Reflection

Learn to embrace the moment. Look around and enjoy the people and culture, find opportunities to learn. We certainly don't have the answer to many of life's dilemas, but embracing another culture and celebrating the differences makes us less anxious and more open for growth! 

 

The Power of Reflection

"Through self-reflection, we find calm amidst the chaos. It allows us to thoughtfully contemplate underlying issues and devise mindful resolutions. Self-reflection is like a mental sanctuary, engaging our logical minds when emotions threaten to overwhelm us. Yes, it might be painful at times – looking inward often is. But the clarity it brings is worth the discomfort. It's like cleaning a wound; it might sting initially, but ultimately it promotes healing."

More on Patience...

"There is also a dimension of patience which links it to a special reverence for life. Patience is a willingness, in a sense, to watch the unfolding purposes of God with a sense of wonder and awe, rather than pacing up and down within the cell of our circumstance. Put another way, too much anxious opening of the oven door and the cake falls instead of rising. So it is with us. If we are always selfishly taking our temperature to see if we are happy, we will not be.

When we are impatient, we are neither reverential nor reflective because we are too self-centered. Whereas faith and patience are companions, so are selfishness and impatience. It is so easy to be confrontive without being informative; so easy to be indignant without being intelligent; so easy to be impulsive without being insightful. It is so easy to command others when we are not in control of ourselves." -- Neal A. Maxwell

Happy Anniversary to us!!!!  Sending much love from Ghana!! 💗💛💚

Week 53 - Beaufort & Bofrot - Dealing with Change

BEAUFORT

Over the past month, there has been talk of moving all senior missionaries from Beaufort (Bo-firt) to a new location.  The reason: Beaufort apartments are older, things are gradually falling apart, repairs need to be made, but the owners (each apartment is individually owned) aren't very excited about putting money into keeping their units up to par. This is frustrating for the senior missionary in charge of our housing, and for the church employee at the Area office that oversees our leases and troubleshoots these problems. It's a huge job no matter how you slice it.

Our personal apartment has been the source of many frustrations. First, it was not a previous senior missionary apartment. As such, it didn't have many of the necessary items already stocked up and inherited from a long line of previous senior missionaries rotating in and out of the apartment . However, it didn't take long to start purchasing items and setting it up for success! Another issue was dealing with many of the repairs the apartment needed in order to get updated and functioning properly.

Our front door was eaten by termites (front door replaced - with non treated and non cured wood - which then shrunk to the point that the locking mechanism would no longer reach the hole - but not to worry, a piece of wood was inserted under the lock plate to push it closer to the lock and we are back in business - albeit the large spaces that now exist on either side of the door so we can see daylight and feel the warm air flowing (as of yesterday, more wood added to door to fill in some of the gaps), the washer/dryer drum fell apart on the inside after we arrived (new washer/dryer unit purchased), the plastic shower floor pinched our feet and leaked quite a lot while showering (new tile floor installed, leak slowed down but still runs freely even though caulk is in place - it's a mystery), AC unit leaked for months, dumping water regularly all over the desk and floor (we finally got smart and moved the desk), until after several visits and about 1 month ago, a new technician moved the AC unit up about 4 inches and voilà (TaDa!), the water dumping stopped (who knew water couldn't run uphill to drain when the unit was placed too low for gravity to do it's magic?), the hard as rock double bed was impossible to sleep on even after purchasing a 3 inch foam pad to make it more bearable (new kingsize bed purchased and we've slept like babies ever since!), having 4 dining room chairs that you can't really sit on because the seat falls through the hole (Jordan found random scrap boards, cut them to fit the chairs, and installed L brackets to hold the boards in place - and voilà... we don't fall through anymore!). The list goes on, but the good news is, after almost one year, we are close to having the apartment in tip top shape! 

And now they want us to move?? What?? Well, since we only have 6 months and 3 days left on our mission, we asked/begged to stay! Please let us stay! Who knows what the bed situation will be in the next apartment? Or the AC? And thankfully.... we were granted our wish! We will be staying in Beaufort until our mission ends. Wahoo!! 

There are several senior missionaries that aren't so lucky, but the new location called Genesis has lots of new benefits: water filtration system on the roof that delivers filtered water right to your tap (whoa! revolutionary for here - at Beaufort we must use special filtered water from another tap for everything, including dish and vegetable/fruit washing, also brushing teeth), the apartments are only 2 yrs old so everything is still in good condition, large swimming pool and nice workout room, dishwasher in the kitchen, larger storage areas in 2nd bedroom, etc. So hopefully, the pain of moving mid mission will be swallowed up in the positive aspects of the new digs! We will miss them here with us.  

BOFROT 

Bofrot (Bo-froat) is an African street food, seen and heard around town every day and night. This tasty little deep fried donut dough ball is a regular staple across West Africa. It is called something different in each country, but the origin is the same. Bofrot’s actual hometown is in Holland. The Dutch colonists taught the Fantes (local tribe located in central Ghana) how to make Bofrot. The Dutch call it OLIEBOLLEN. Cute huh?  

How is it "heard" you may ask? Well, once the Bofrot are made fresh each morning, young men load them into glass cases (warmed by the sun), and the glass case is attached to a bike or push cart. The bike or push cart also has a small freezer box, which holds a small container of vanilla ice-cream, to be eaten with the hot Bofrot. This awesome little cart contraption has a small horn attached to the handlebars (or the young man holds it in his hand mostly). This horn is the old fashioned honker that is activated with a firm squeeze of the rubber bulb at the end of the horn. Young men walk or ride up and down the streets, honking their own little special rhythm, which is very identifiable to everyone within hearing distance. Like the familiar "ice-cream-truck-music" heard in other parts of the world, this sweet honking sound brings everyone running, especially around 10 pm as the Bofrot guy swings past the Highschool right next to us for one last honking call!  "Bedtime snack anyone?" They are a unique and tasty treat, one we aren't afraid to eat, from the street. So far, so good. Yum!

DEALING WITH CHANGE

I don't know very many people who like change. Change can instill fear and anxiety in us because of the unkown. Change involves effort, sacrifice, giving up something comfortable for something possibly more difficult. We may see change as a problem instead of an opportunity for growth and learning.  

"We can respond appropriately to change by being prayerful, humble, and teachable; by accepting new opportunities or assignments with a positive attitude; and by being willing to try new approaches or methods with a sincere desire to improve."

Sending much love from Ghana! 💘💛💚

Week 52 - Constitution Day, Doing our Best & Personal Constitution

This past week we had another Ghana holiday - Constitution Day.  We are always excited to have a day off and sleep in!  It is quite a luxury these days and we love it!

Constitution Day is to commemorate the establishment of a new constitution for the fourth republic of Ghana in January 1993, popularly known as the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. After the first three constitutions were made meaningless by military coups, the fourth constitution was adopted after a referendum held on April 28, 1992, and established on 7 January 1993. This day is thus celebrated each year to celebrate the effort to maintain and sustain the fourth republic over the years and the birthing of the 1992 constitution of Ghana.

It is sometimes ridiculously easy to take for granted the rights and privileges we enjoy because of the blood, sweat and tears of many who have gone before us... paving the way for a better society and life, all around.  

Living abroad continues to open our eyes and improve our vision! These experiences make us really see and appreciate the many freedoms we have and hold on a regular basis, something others do not enjoy.  

Lessons we can learn from the creation of the US Constitution

“We the People”, one of the most important declarations ever written. Seldom has a phrase engendered so much positive feeling and emotion for so many people...

for people around the world. It begins a process of defining individual freedoms and liberty, over oppressive forms of power, which has defined governments."

It feels good to be part of a "people" who are doing something good in the world! Trying to support one another, love one another and do our best to understand each other.

One in Christ - Elder Christofferson

"Unity does not require sameness, but it does require harmony. We can have our hearts knit together in love, be one in faith and doctrine, and still cheer for different teams, disagree on various political issues, debate about goals and the right way to achieve them, and many other such things. But we can never disagree or contend with anger or contempt for one another."

"Lesson - there are times when just doing what is right, at the moment, given the circumstances, is far better than doing nothing or doing something for all the other reasons one could come up with, including being politically correct which was not a concept our founders were familiar with."

"Lesson - the creators of the constitution were aware that they were not designing a perfect or flawless document for all time. They would do their best with the knowledge, experience, intuition, and foresight they possessed at the time. Today, we have 20/20 hindsight and it is far too easy to criticize them for what they did or did not do."

Be Ye Therefore Perfect - Eventually - Elder Holland

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father … in heaven is perfect. With that concluding imperative, we want to go back to bed and pull the covers over our head. Such celestial goals seem beyond our reach. Yet surely the Lord would never give us a commandment He knew we could not keep.  Except for Jesus, there have been no flawless performances on this earthly journey we are pursuing, so while in mortality let’s strive for steady improvement without obsessing over what behavioral scientists call “toxic perfectionism."

I believe it is all too easy to beat ourselves up, discounting the good things we do, because we didn't do them perfectly. We are all trying and doing our best! We will make mistakes, but we just get back up and do better the next time! It is way easier to show grace, kindness and love than to criticize, blame and destroy. 

Personal Constitution

"Much like the Constitution helped shape the future of America, your personal constitution will help shape your future. Do for yourself what the founding fathers did for this country.

Personal Constitution - a pathway built on the values that you refuse to compromise on, and it moves you in the clear direction you’ve chosen.

To this day, the US Constitution is the one document that holds everything together. When other aspects of the law can’t figure something out, the Supreme Court will make their decision based on this foundational and hard-to-change document.

Imagine having something like this for your own life: A set of values and goals you hold yourself accountable to and cannot compromise on.

When you face the tough decisions we always run into as we manage our careers and develop our personal lives, you can always base your decisions on the contents of your personal constitution. Written well, it will help to guide you toward the right decision and ensure you don’t step off the right track."

I have written and re-written my own Personal Mission Statement. It will always be a growing, changing statement. There are some elements that will remain very constant, and other elements that will be improved upon, as I grow, change and hopefully improve myself every day. Thank you for the grace you show me, I as learn to do and be better a better me!!

Much love and appreciation for your influence in my life!! 💗💛💚

Photo Dump...

Week 51 - New Year, Seniors & Resolutions

Happy New Year!

It is hard to believe we are now in 2024!  It feels something akin to our final year in highschool, finally seniors!  And actually, we are seniors!  Senior Missionaries is what we are called. And this is what we are all about...  

SENIOR MISSIONARIES

"As a mature member of the Church, you likely have experience serving, teaching, and leading others and working to accomplish the Church's divinely appointed responsibilities of living the gospel of Jesus Christ, caring for those in need, inviting all to receive the gospel, and uniting families for eternity. You now have the opportunity to build on that experience as a senior missionary.

Regardless of your specific assignment, as a missionary you will be called to represent the Lord and His Church."

Assignments TO CONSIDER:

TEACH AND FELLOWSHIP, INTERACT WITH THE PUBLIC, PRESERVE AND SHARE CHURCH HISTORY, HELP PEOPLE FIND THEIR ANCESTORS, PRESERVE FAMILY HISTORY RECORDS, PROVIDE HUMANITARIAN AID, FEED THE HUNGRY, HELP PEOPLE BECOME SELF-RELIANT, SUPPORT CHURCH OPERATIONS, SERVE IN A TEMPLE, SUPPORT YOUNG ADULTS, MANAGE AND MAINTAIN CHURCH PROPERTIES AND FACILITIES, USE YOUR PROFESSIONAL SKILLS.

Discover Opportunities here!!!

So, as seniors with only 7 months left on our mission, I think we need a slogan for the year 2024!  Which is your favorite?

1. SCORE! We’re the Seniors of ‘24 
2. Hear Us Roar, We’re the Seniors of 2024 
3. ‘24 Karat Seniors
4. What’s the world waiting for? The seniors of 2024! 
5. Always Looking Forward: Seniors 2024
6. Seniors of 2024ever
7. Seniors of 2024: Awesome to the Core! 
8. Twenty-Fourward Bound: Seniors 2024
9. Together We Soar: The Seniors of 2024
10. Seniors...Let's do More in 2024!

RESOLUTIONS OR NOT?  (good article)

"If the idea of making New Year’s resolutions fills you with dread, consider ditching the tradition. Science suggests most people who set resolutions each year don’t stick with them, and mental health experts say other strategies for adopting healthier habits work better.

A frequently cited study from 1988 that followed 200 people found that 77 percent of them stuck with their resolutions after one week, 43 percent stuck with them three months out, and 19 percent stuck with them for two years, with many citing a lack of willpower. Another study found only 46 percent of resolvers reported success at sticking to their resolutions six months after the new year. 

The problem is that we often set unrealistic goals.

For example, thinking we can suddenly completely overhaul our eating habits on January 1 — when we ate whatever we wanted up until the day before — is probably a goal that’s going to fail.

The social pressure around New Year’s resolutions doesn’t help either. You may not be wanting to make a change for the right reasons.

But the good news is that setting a goal for healthier behavior and sticking with it is possible. To boost your chances for success in adopting healthier habits, choose small steps rather than grand leaps and gestures, and be strategic with each of those steps along the way."

A Better Way...

In 2022, our dear prohpet Russell M. Nelson encouraged us:

"I’m sure many of you are setting aside time today to write down your resolutions for the coming year. May I make a few suggestions?

First, resolve to strengthen your spiritual foundation. This may involve setting a specific time and place to study the scriptures, praying more often, making temple worship a bigger priority, and letting God prevail in all aspects of your life.

Second, resolve to be kind to others. When the Savior Jesus Christ visited the Americas, as recorded in the Book of Mormon, one of the first things He taught was the need to eliminate contention in our lives. So, please be compassionate, be understanding, be slow to judge, and be quick to forgive.

Third, resolve to be resolute. The Lord loves effort. The Lord loves consistency. The Lord loves steadfastness. While we surely will come up short from time to time, our persistent efforts to hear Him and follow the inspiration He gives us will help us to “wax strong in the Spirit” (Mosiah 18:26)."

May God bless you, my dear friends, and may this be a wonderful year of purpose and possibilities for all of us."

We are looking forward to a bright New Year in 2024!  One of our goals... to make it home in July!  We wish you a joyous and prosperous New Year and look forward to connecting with you along the way!

Much love from Ghana! 💘💛💚