Week 62 - Palm Sunday, Marching Bands & Dancing feet

PALM SUNDAY

Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm branches waved by the crowd to greet and honor Jesus Christ as he entered the city.

Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem (1320) by Pietro Lorenzetti.

We arrived at church this morning and as we got out of the truck, we could hear a band coming from far off. I couldn't help but hang out for a couple of minutes to see what was happening. Within a short time, this amazing group came dancing by, waving palm fronds in their hands, celebrating Palm Sunday. It was SO awesome to see the joy in their faces and the dancing in their steps, all to celebrate Jesus Christ! 

This video captures the joy of the celebrations today!

Elder Gerrit W. Gong gave some beautiful thoughts in this message from 2020: Hosanna and Hallelujah—The Living Jesus Christ: The Heart of Restoration and Easter.

"Traditionally, palms are a sacred symbol to express joy in our Lord, as in Christ’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, where “much people … took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him.

The sacred events between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are the story of hosanna and hallelujah. Hosanna is our plea for God to save. Hallelujah expresses our praise to the Lord for the hope of salvation and exaltation.

With you, at this Easter season, I testify of God, our Eternal Father, and His Beloved Son, the living Jesus Christ. Mortal men were cruelly crucified and later resurrected. But only the living Jesus Christ in His perfect resurrected form still bears the marks of crucifixion in His hands, feet, and side. Only He can say, “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.” Only He can say: “I am he who was lifted up. I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of God.”

So grateful we can prepare to celebrate the Savior's life, His great sacrifice for all mankind, His infinite Atonement and eternal Love for us all.  

May your Holy Week leading up to Easter be incredibly beautiful!

Sending much love from Ghana! 💘💛💚

Week 60 & 61 - Major Disruption & Shade Trees

NEWS BULLETIN FROM AFRICA

Disruption to internet services for millions of users in Africa (that's us!) could take weeks or even months to fix (Argh! No!!!), following damage to undersea cables off the continent’s west coast. Eight West African countries are suffering major connectivity issues after damage to four sub-sea cables (Ghana was hit the hardest for some reason!!). The cause of the cable cutting was still not known, though a shifting of the seabed was among the likely possibilities.

Repairs can take weeks to months (😭😭), depending on where the damage is, what needs to be repaired, and local weather conditions. The assignment of repair ships depends on a number of factors, including ownership of the impacted cables. ACE and WACS have jointly initiated the repair process, and said that they would send a vessel to fix the damaged cables. Repair time is not yet known. This is a devastating blow to internet connectivity along the west coast of Africa, which will be operating in a degraded state for weeks to come. 

Red Sea

The cable faults off Ivory Coast come less than a month after three telecommunications cables were severed in the Red Sea, highlighting the vulnerability of critical communications infrastructure. The Red Sea is a critical telecommunications route, connecting Europe to Africa and Asia via Egypt. Together, the problems with cables on either side of the continent create a capacity crunch, with customers of those cables scrambling to find alternative routes.

Our input... everything (cellular, internet) went dead in the middle of the night on Wed, March 13, 2024. We awoke to no ability to communicate with anyone, anywhere, other than by good old fashioned walking and talking. Strange how "connected" we are to technology that allows us a wink, smile, laugh or Giff at just the touch of a finger. And then in an instant, it is all gone. Weirdly quiet. 

Missions are difficult. They are definitely made less difficult by being able to communicate with family and friends who are far far away! So the last 3-4 days of "silence" has been deafening! So much so, it has been difficult to think of anything else but being able to connect with family again. How quickly we take for granted being able to pick up the phone and share a thought or funny moment, congratulate a dear friend on wedding celebrations, see silly and wonderful videos and pictures of grandkids going about daily life, calling up a website to make an appointment for the temple, or to see what movies are playing! 

"Appreciate what you have, while you have it, or you'll learn what it meant to you after you lose it."
"Take not a minute for granted, because that minute can never be replaced."
"Life is full of blessings we take for granted. Yet so often we dwell on what we don't have."

A few ways I intend to stop taking things for granted...

Slow down - enjoy the journey, embrace the moment, see the individual.

Show gratitude daily - sincerely say "thank you" often, recount the day's blessings, find ways to be grateful in our present circumstances with faith, have meaningful prayers of appreciation and conversation with God.

Serve others - find ways to give meaningful service every day, look for the one who needs it most, ask God who that might be.

Serving is good for your soul. Studies have shown that volunteering is so good for the mind and body that it can ease symptoms of stress and depression. Tapping into our gifts and passions builds self-confidence, energy, and strength. Serving others can also be the best distraction from our own worries.

SHADE TREES

The last couple of months have been soooo hot again. We are in the hottest portion of the dry season. We have had a couple of rain showers (2 to be exact) that have cleared the dust for at least 30 minutes. Then it is back to scorching. You'd be surprised how much the shade of one small tree can make a difference. I'm grateful every day for the shade of a tree when walking outside. 

I love this Greek proverb:  "A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit."  

I want to be that type of person. One who plants seeds and hopes to create a better tomorrow for those around us and that may come after us. It doesn't take much really. Selfless service is one of the greatest ways we have to give thanks to God who gives us everything!!!

So, I hope this will upload and publish. Can't guarantee anything! But no matter what, we are sending love and good wishes your way from Ghana! And don't forget... never take another moment or person or event for granted!!! Life is too short!!

Much love from Ghana! 💘💛💚 

Week 59 - Independence Day, Sourdough, Kenkey & other Cooking Classes

INDEPENDENCE DAY

Ghana Independence Day is celebrated every year on March 6th (see Week 9 for previous explanation). We look forward to a "sleep in" day!!!

A little more history: How did Ghana get it's name?

The name was drawn from an ancient African empire that was once famous for its significant power, land, and wealth. Ghana means ‘strong warrior’ or ‘war chief,’ which was the title given to the kings of this ancient kingdom located in some parts of modern-day Mauritania, Senegal, and Mali. The country was given this name on the eve of its independence in 1957. Prior to independence on March 6, 1957, Ghana was called the Gold Coast. The earliest Europeans to set foot on the land were the Portuguese in the 15th century (1471). On their arrival, they found so much gold between the rivers Ankobra and the Volta that they named the area “da Mina”, meaning “The Mine”.

SOURDOUGH SKILLS

We have been "so much grateful" (I hear this phrase several times a week and still love it!) to have the ability to make homemade sourdough bread while here in Ghana. All credit goes to Stephanie Powell who taught me to make sourdough during Covid lockdown. I hope to do her proud by passing on the skill to others here in Ghana. I have taught many senior missionaries and recently convinced a local couple to try it. (Side note: I've found that when a child (my grandkids) or Ghanaian hears "sour"dough, they immediately think it is too sour to eat and take a hard pass.)  By teaching this skill to Susie & Joseph Amoah, we hope it will help them have something to sell in the market and make a little side money. They were very grateful and were fast learners. 

It is always interesting to see where people live here in Ghana. The conditions are vastly different every time. After spending the day with Amoahs making bread in no AC and extremely hot conditions, I was a sweaty mess. However, it was wonderful to see a bit of their little neighborhood and community. Everyone works together in a central location, with small living quarters surrounding the "community" area. Here are some pictures of the neighborhood. The women were scaling and cleaning fish, making soups and stews, washing clothes in buckets, making many types of foods to sell on the streets, etc. 

MAKING KENKEY

Kenkey is a staple food similar to sourdough dumpling from various regions of West Africa, usually served with fried fish, soup or stew. Kenkey is produced by steeping grains of maize in water for about one week, before they are then milled and kneaded with water into a dough. The dough is allowed to ferment for four days to a week before part of the dough is cooked.

You can see these women hard at work making the dough balls and wrapping them in corn husks. They will then steam them and sell on the street. 

OTHER COOKING CLASSES

If you are an animal lover or squeamish at all.... please skip the next section altogether.  It is what it is... part of Ghana. It has taken me one year to decide to share this. :/ 

It is sometimes difficult to understand other cultures eating habits. I'm sure we have some that seem very strange to other nations as well. While many Ghanaians keep cats as domestic pets in their homes, some people largely eat cat meat with others disagreeing with the idea, believing that cats are domestic pets which should not be eaten because of their relationship to humans. 

Last year around Independence Day, this exact time of year, I received the following communication from a ward member: 

 

    

   

   

And there you have it. I listened carefully in church today to see if there will be another Quorum cooking class this holiday on Wednesday, but didn't hear one mentioned. Guess our Independence Day will be uneventful. 

Cat meat is also called Joseph. According to some Ghanaians, Joseph is usually used to prepare pepper soup and served with a chilled bottle of beer. Food is an integral part of Ghanaian culture.

And on that note.... I'm signing off.

Much love to everyone from Ghana! 💗💛💚