Sunday,
November 24, 2013
Attended
Grafton Branch today; one of our missionaries is acting as the branch
president and we wanted to offer our support. From there, we drove
back to the office to create some more documents to help the saints
for the Temple trip tomorrow; then back to Kissy for a 2:00 pm
meeting with the saints going on the trip. It is so exciting to be
part of this trip getting it organized and coming to fruition. The
planning started in July with making the reservation at the Accra
Temple. I am so proud of Scott who was the major player between the
two of us getting this trip organized and the saints ready to go.
Tomorrow we rise early to meet everyone at the Kissy Ferry and ride
over with them to Lungi in order to catch their flight to Accra.
Monday,
November 25, 2013
Today
was the day! Our beloved saints in the East flew to Accra, Ghana to
attend the temple this week. Yesterday, when we met with them for one
final meeting, Scott and I talked about the Parable of the 10 Virgins
and how the 5 were not prepared though they did have oil in their
lamps. We wanted these wonderful people to have everything ready by
dotting all i's and crossing all t's. Well, they came this morning
with their lamps full with extra oil. We were to meet at the Kissy
Ferry dock by 7:00 am. Scott and I were up at 5:00 am and out the
door by 6:00. By 7:00 am all 50 of them showed up on time with all
passports, yellow fever cards and any other identification they would
need! I can't describe how Scott and I felt seeing them all bright
eyed and bushy tailed ready to go. I thought about them last night –
this is not only a Temple trip, but a vacation for them. They get to
stay in temple housing with air conditioning, running filtered water,
real beds with sheets, showers/baths, 24/7 electricity – I am so
excited for them! This opportunity will likely never happen for them
again and I hope they enjoy every minute.
Mohamed Conteh and Sahr Kellie
The James Family.
We got home tonight at 5:30 pm and had yet to receive a phone call so we were pretty confident they got on the plane and were likely landing or had landed and were checking into housing. We kept our fingers crossed, sat down to dinner and just eating when Scott received a call from President Dessama – gulp. He just called to thank us for providing this opportunity for them and to let us know they had arrived safely. Today was payback to witness the results of a lot of prayers, hard work and perseverance.
Bai
Sesay and family were all together and I asked him the rest of the
story regarding his daughter Isha. He did in deed take his whole
family back to the school and asked one more time to have his
daughter excused from school for a week. The assistant principal
stated she had wanted to see how committed he really was to his
religion and consented to let Isha go after Bai had to go to all 13
of her teachers, arrange for them to test her upon her return, and of
course, had to pay them each a sum of money.
The
only downside to this day? While on the ferry, my cell phone was
stolen from a side pocket in my pack. Could have been a lot worse if
my tablet and money pouch were missing. It was actually kind of nice
to go a day without a missionary calling me about something.
Second
downside to the day – one of our African missionaries lost his mom
today. She had been sick for about 2 weeks and then was taken to the
hospital where she passed away. Sad day for this young man.
Tuesday,
November 26, 2013
Today
was a Christmas-like day around the apartment.
I
turned the water pump on yesterday morning, and then again last night
because I noticed very low pressure when I turned on the shower even
after pumping twice in one day. I went to bed concerned I had burned
up the pump motor thinking I was pumping water from an empty tank.
Yikes! I didn't sleep well, and when 6:30 am rolled around I made
Scott get up and go out to check on the tank and the pump.
Thankfully, the water tank was not empty and the pump was not
working. A plumber was called and he showed up and it was decided we
needed a bigger pump. He left to get that and returned; in the
meantime, Yah Yah calls and tells us he is almost at the door to
bring a new refrigerator. He shows up with it, takes it out of the
crate and come to find out, the freezer is on the bottom with pull
out drawers; I can now look in the fridge without bending over at a
90 degree angle. I couldn't ask for a better gift than a new fridge.
While the plumber is installing a new pump outside, we bring a leaky
sink to the attention of Yah Yah and that gets fixed as well.
One
of our branch missionaries needs to get his police clearance before
he can go on his mission to Nigeria, so we had him wash our car
inside and out to earn money. Additionally, he doesn't have a
suitcase for his mission, so we donated the suitcase we “borrowed”
from Randy and Carrie when we spent a few days with them prior to
going into the MTC. Oh the stories that suitcase will be able to tell
through the years if it lasts that long.
No
phone calls from any of the temple trip saints with any problems.
Great
day!
Wednesday,
November 27, 2013
I
saw Elder Mogotsi (from Botswana) who lost his mom earlier in the
week. I had gone over to the church building where Orientation was
taking place with 24 new missionaries and their trainers and he was
sitting towards the back of the room; he caught my eye and I got
close enough to him to take a hold of his hand, and express my
sympathy through my eyes for his loss. He came up to the office after
the meeting in order to find some privacy and call home to his
family. He saw Scott and took a hold of his hand and then Scott
reached out and took him into his bosom and held on to him. Tender
moment.
It
is 10:00 pm and we just got back from taking home two missionaries
returning to Ghana tomorrow – Sister Attiogbe and Elder Coffie
after completing their missions. We had the 3 assistants in the car
with us as well. I can't say enough about the wonderful young adults
who serve in Sierra Leone. Senior couples throughout the world, I am
sure say the same about their missionaries – I have come to love
them so deeply. We sang a hymn tonight at the fireside for the
returning missionaries – Each Life That Touches Ours for Good –
for the first time in 30 + years I didn't think of Barbara Stoddard
while singing it – I thought of Julie Labrie-Porter; I am so
grateful for her.
Sister Attiogbe
Thursday,
November 28, 2013
Spent
Thanksgiving afternoon with the Campbell's. We had a delightful meal
and enjoyed the company of our Embassy friends.
Friday,
November 29, 2013
Senior
couples after Thanksgiving day dinner with the Burns, Lewis' (eye
doctor from Gilbert, AZ here for a week teaching and training local
doctors), Lauritzen's, Schlehuber's (they return to Sun City, AZ
after 23 months), Ostler's and us. Good food and great company.
Saturday,
November 30, 2013
We
had a meeting scheduled in Kissy at 11:00 this morning so we left
before 10:00 to get there. We sat around for 2 hours and still
weren't invited in, so we gave up and came home. Frustrating to say
the least.
Berta
and Robert came over later, though, and installed a new printer we
purchased from them. Only our 3rd attempt at using a
printer from home, but this time it seems to be working and that
makes Scott very happy. I think the fact that Robert installed it
might be making the difference.
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