We finally made it–Ghana!

Well, we finally made it to Accra! To bring you up to date since our last entry we started packing our household goods shortly after Christmas so that we could do it a little at a time in order to not get too tired. It was good we did but as we neared Jan 7th we were living with very few things since most everything else was boxed, given away or thrown out. Jan 7th our movers arrived and after 5 hours we were living in an empty house.

Monday morning, Jan 10th, Bishop Kershaw came over with his scales as we were concerned we were over weight. We were not as bad as I thought and after some minor adjustments we were within a pound or two of our weight limit. He then followed me to CarMax where I sold my Cadillac and he brought me home. About two hours later Sister Marr picked us up and drove us to DFW airport. The snow and cold on Sunday did have us a little concerned but Monday the roads were clear. Everything went very well the last couple months as we made the necessary arrangements for leasing our house with a Property Manager, shipping our HHGs to Crystal's, changing banks and taking care of financial matters. The last item I had was canceling our auto insurance and changing our home owners policy which took some time and was completed while we were driving to the airport.

Our trip to London was very nice and we arrived pretty much on time. We spent 5 hours in the Heathrow Airport which was challenging at times since we didn't really get any sleep on the plane.

Our trip to Ghana was likewise very nice and uneventful arriving around 9:30 pm Tuesday. This picture is the sunset over North Africa.

There was not jetway to unload; we went down a mobile staircase and got on a bus that took us to the terminal and immigration.

After getting through customs we were greeted by the Petersens whom we are replacing and Cardons, the Africa West Area President.

We rode back to the Temple complex with the Petersens and they took us to our apartment where we made it to bed by around 1 am Wednesday Ghana time. We had been traveling for 29 hours and we felt like it.

The first few days have been spent at the office being trained to take over the many responsibilities of the Africa West Area Executive Secretary couple. During that time we went to the bank where we cashed a check since Ghana is basically a cash only economy. We went to a couple stores to buy food and learn where to shop.So far we have been driven everywhere while we learn how to get from place to place. This is a challenge since few streets have signs. Although they have traffic laws much like ours they don't seem to follow them very well. For example motorcycles dip and weave between cars and travel in between the lanes and do not stop for traffic lights. Hawkers peddle their wares at the intersections when traffic is either stopped or moving very slowly. If they are making a sale and traffic begins to move, they run along side the vehicle until the sale is completed.

Saturday was a work day as it was the quarterly Coordinating Council meeting. This was an all day meeting with the Area Presidency and six Area Authority Seventies. Most of the work we did Wednesday through Friday was preparing for this meeting. This was very much like the annual NSO planning meeting we held in the fall at Verizon.

Saturday evening several missionary couples went for pizza at a popular pizza house - Mama Mia's. We are told it is the closet to American pizza as it gets. It reminded me of pizza in the UK - not much sauce and very thin crust. We met the Bordens who are on their 4th mission to Ghana and who knew Stephaney’s father very well and know Leda and Russ. We also met the Pages who are from Kamas and learned that they know my brother Antoine and his wife Mona. Once again we see evidence of how small the world really can be.

This morning the Petersens drove us to the Ward where we are assigned and will be attending church. Even though there is a chapel about 100 yards away from our apartment we will be traveling about 20 Km taking us about 45 minutes over mostly paved but some dirt roads. There are speed bumps, hawkers and crazy traffic everywhere. We even passed a trotro (minibus commonly jammed with people) filled with goats.There are many roadside stands where everything and anything can be found for sale.

The people we have encountered or associated with are warm, kind, beautiful and very friendly. On page 218 of the Gospel Principles manual you will see a picture of an area Authority Seventy and his wife who are members of the ward we attend.

We are excited to be here and feel it a pleasure to serve in Ghana. We are almost over our fatigue from the 6 hours time change. The one thing we have found that is the same as home is that when you turn on a water tap the water flows downward. But for Americans it is not safe to drink. All our drinking water is from bottled or dispensed water. This one is in our apartment. Reminds us of our trip to Guatemala.

A big thank you to our friends in Texas for a wonderful send-off. More to come.