Can you even stand the cuteness of this little boy?  I wish you could feel how soft his hair is!  Baby Jared was born a few weeks after we arrived and we see him once a week when we travel to Obuasi for church, so he is literally growing before our eyes.  I will try to remember to take a picture of him in about a year so everyone can see how cute he will be as a toddler!

The pickle ball community is growing in our mission!  Last Monday, the office elders had their district come and play.  Elder Brima and Elder Mordy had never even heard of pickle ball but they did great! Elder Crane and Elder Thompson had played before.  Elder Ferry (second from the left) and  Elder Mubu, the one at the far right have improved soooooo much! Elder Mubu's  mission will be complete on March 22nd and he will return to Botswana .  We are really going to miss him.....I LOVE his accent!

Here is Elder Mubu with his Ghanaian Smock on!  This piece of clothing was so heavy, no idea how one would stand wearing it in this heat!

Thy Grace.....

Possible to Him.....

The Blood of Jesus..... the above pictures just represent how open the people are here to showing what they believe in.  They believe and follow Jesus Christ. They are a Christian nation and it shows in their bright smiles and countenances.  I love that they are not shy about outwardly showing that devotion.  I just think how different it is here as opposed to how it is in most of the United States.  I know we see it a bit there, but here it is very common and we see it everywhere, on stores, on cars and on billboards.....

On Friday, the Moomey's and the office elders were invited by the son of the founder of the school that is across from where we live to do a presentation about our church and why they are here in Ghana and what they do.  They did such a great job!  The students were very attentive and polite and asked great questions after the presentation.  I went as the photographer!

   

After the presentation, I had a delightful conversation with these three darling girls:  Michelle (from England), Mary (from New York) and Nina from Kumasi.  Obviously Michelle and Mary are boarding here, as their families do not live here.  I quizzed them about that.  Their parents want them to learn about their heritage and their Ghanaian roots, so they send them here to school.  They were in 5th and 6th grade....Just darling and full of personality! The uniforms they were wearing on Friday are their PE uniforms; they wear them on Fridays, and the different colors are the group they are in for PE.  On most days, they wear a more traditional uniform....dresses made out of the same material and the boys wear shirts of the same fabric.  

On Saturday and Sunday we got to attend the District Conference in Obuasi.  The visiting authority was Elder Appiante.  He is from Ghana and is only 37 years old but has already been a mission president in Nigeria and is now an area authority.  He definitely was an impressive speaker and teacher.  I think he might have a photographic memory too, as he quoted scriptures, paragraphs from Preach My Gospel and quotes for various talks as he taught.  What a privilege  it was to see him teach his own people and do such an outstanding job.  

As we left town on Sunday, we noticed that the cost of diesel fuel was 11.09 ghs for a liter.  If you translate that to dollars per gallon, that would be about $5.75 a gallon.  Obviously, the cost of fuel is going up EVERYWHERE and this affects the cost of food and water and transportation and everything.  In a country that is so poor anyway, this is a huge hardship on the people.  

We said goodbye to 8 missionaries this week (and I didn't get a group picture) and said hello to 11 new missionaries!  It is always great to see their enthusiasm and feel of their excitement to get started on this journey that will undoubtedly change their lives!  

We did manage to get a picture with Elder Mubu who has been with us from the start!  We will certainly miss his help and his humour, he kept us laughing quite a bit with his sarcastic one-liners.  We wish him all the best as he starts this next chapter of his life. 

During transfers this week, we finally got to meet Elder Donahoe. Our youngest son, Grant and his family knew his family in Florida.  He has been living in the northern part of our mission since we arrived, so it was wonderful to finally meet him! As you can see, he has embraced the Ghanaian dress attire!

I saw this quote on a friend's instagram page this week and just loved it so much.  I think this is what we all need to remember.  We are going to have setbacks and trials in life, but if we rely on the Savior, He will always help get us through those trials and disappointments.  I am so thankful for that.

Well, that's a wrap.  It has been a very busy few days with missionaries coming and going and things happening that were not planned at all, but in the end things always work out and for that I am thankful.  The Lord really does bless us in so many ways.  

Thanks for all your prayers and messages and support.  Stay strong and steadfast.

Love,

The Garrisons