These two little girls came to our primary class for the first time last Sunday.  We found out after our class that their mom has  7 children ranging from age 12 to about 6 month old and that her husband is deceased.  You couldn't meet any sweeter little girls....they were just so happy to be with us.  

Here is the rest of our class.  As you can see, we have every age there is in one class.  I love their smiles and happy spirits.

The seasoned missionaries going home.....

The new group of missionaries that came in on February 8th!

Tuesday was the day that I had kinda dreaded since we came. Simply because I wasn't sure that I could do all that needed to be done and that I would forget something important. We have the previous obvious couple, The Coombs to thank for getting us ready for this week!

 I knew that we had 11 missionaries leaving and potentially 24 missionaries coming on February 8th.  There is a lot to do in the office for all of this to happen.  Here is a list:  obtain tickets for each missionary going from either the travel office in Accra if they are from Africa or from the USA if they are from there.  For each missionary leaving, I print and laminate a certificate of completion that is signed by the President and his wife, along with letters to the parents, and Stake President.  I need to make sure that each missionary has their yellow fever cards and their passports,  and travel money (which is a whole other post, since many times the passports are in Accra at the Area Office, so I need to coordinate with them to make sure that they either send them to me, or meet them at the airport and hand them over.  Also, if they are not from Ghana, they need to take a Covid test and have the certificate with them when they travel.  So we finally get them off early on the morning that the new missionaries are coming in.....well this time there was one of the missionaries that missed his plane and another one that had an officer at the airport say that they needed to pay a fee  before they could go to the DRC.  So phone calls and arrangements had to be made to clear that up.......then.....this big group comes in and we need to gather paperwork from them:  their passports, ministerial cards, vaccination cards, etc.,  I need to make copies of their passports and laminate them, and then put the passport information on a spreadsheet that I have on my computer, and make copies for the passports that Accra keeps.  Usually I need to request the copies from Accra to make the copies....then after pictures are taken, I need to send emails with the pictures of the missionaries to their parents and priesthood leaders.  The day after they come, our trusty driver, Brother Cobbina takes them to get Non Citizen Cards and then I need to copy each one of those and keep the information on a spreadsheet in the office.... then I breathe.

In the meantime, Elder Garrison is making sure that each of the missionaries has a subsistence card and is clear on how to use it and how to pull the money out for their needs.  Even though he trains them during orientation, he still gets calls with problems that come up......he is getting pretty good at fixing the problems though.  

We are thankful for those that help along the way by taking pictures, cutting things out and just running things back and forth!

I am sure I missed something in there, because literally, my head is just spinning on that day.  I know it is nothing compared to what our Mission President has to do though....he has to interview each missionary before they go home and also each one that comes, then he and the Assistants decide who will train the new missionaries and where they will serve and all that goes with that.  He and his wife also do an orientation, a devotional and a training meeting....Because we had a net gain for missionaries this time, they had to open new areas and apartments too....so I won't complain, but just thought people might want to know what all goes on with these changes.   This all happens every 6 weeks.....so it is like groundhog day again and again.  But here is the thing:  it all works out!  Amid all the  commotion and comings and goings,  I see the Lord's hand in the details.  Sometimes I just shake my head and wonder how it can really come together, but it does. It is often astounding!  I am so thankful that I get to see this happen again and again.  

This is a little check off sheet that I created to keep track of all that needs to be done when a missionary returns home.  Our next group will go home on March 22nd.  

We live right across the street from the Hilltop School.  They are very good about keeping the grounds in front of the school clean.  (This is NOT true in most of Kumasi...there is liter everywhere!)  Look at the little broom that she is using to sweep!  It is about 2 feet long....I see people all over using these "brooms" to sweep.  

A tro-tro with a great sticker! 

This is a picture of some fabric I bought to have a table cloth made.  The fabric here is just so beautiful!  I bought this piece from a lady that lives right across from the mission office for 50ghs ( which is about $7.50 for 6 yards!) 

On Saturday, we ventured out with the Moomey's to have lunch at the Gold Bean Hotel.  We usually don't get our hopes up too high when we go "out" to eat, because so far we have been mostly disappointed, but today we were not!  We had their lunch buffet and it was really good!  Here is a picture of the salad and fruit plate, and then there was soup and main courses and desserts .  We will definitely go back!  Below is a picture that is in the back of the hotel by the pool, which we found out we can go use if we just pay them 50ghs (which is about $7.75)....we may just have to try that out!  

I loved the style of these statues that were by the pool at the Golden Bean Hotel.  If you look close you will see that they are African women with jewelry on and carrying goods on their heads, which is something that we see every single day here.  

In my studies this week, I seemed to listen to a few podcasts and read some talks and scriptures that talked about the times before the Second Coming.  It is no surprise that the world is in such turmoil right now as that event nears closer and closer.  We need not worry though because we know how it turns out.  I ran across this quote by President Jeffrey R. Holland that made me think a bit:

We want to be on the right team, the team that follows our Savior Jesus Christ.

Hope you all had a great week.  Thanks for your love and support.

Love,

The Garrisons