It was Elder Kpornu's 21st birthday this past week so we made him put on the birthday hat and we sung happy birthday to him.  He is just an absolute pleasure to work with.  He is one of our office Elders and so we get to see him and his companion, Elder Ison almost every day.  Elder Kpornu grew up mostly in Egypt but he is Ghanaian.  He has the best personality and testimony of the gospel.  We feel blessed to know him!

On Saturday, we traveled to Obuasi to hold a district training for the organizations there.  I had the task and privilege of training the Relief Society ladies. Sister Moomey trained the Young Women and Sister Kunz did the Primary.  I applaud these women for their devotion and dedication.  It just isn't that easy to do all that they are asked to do to carry out the Relief Society in these small branches.  But they do their best and do it with happy hearts. 

What would a blog post be without a cute picture of one of the darling children here?  This cute baby attended our meeting.  She is about 8 months old.  Do you see that little drop of milk on her lower lip????

After our meeting we went to dinner with The Moomeys and Sister Kunz.  We took this picture in the grounds at the hotel where the restaurant was mostly because of the fan palm tree in the background.  Aren't they just beautiful??

One thing that surprised me about life in Kumasi is the number of Chinese people that are here.  There are numerous Chinese casinos and a few hotels and markets.  It seems like such an unlikely place for them to live, but nevertheless, there are quite a few here in the area that we live in.

This is one way that we can purchase our toilet paper here.  While sitting in traffic!

This is a picture of  Hannah the mission cook and general housekeeper at the mission office and mission home with her darling family. She works so hard and is such a pleasure to work with.  She puts out meals for 30 or more a few times every transfer plus keeps all the bedding clean and the floors and offices clean.  We appreciate her so much!

Below are the "first day of school" photos of the grandkids this year!  As a former teacher, these pictures bring back so many memories.  A new  fresh beginning,  making new friends, football season....all things that I love and miss.  

Briggs will be in 4th grade and Eliza in 2nd grade.

La will be a senior! 😢

Max is in 8th grade!

Tayleigh is still in preschool, Trent in 2nd grade, Ty in 7th grade and Tad is in 5th grade! Oh how we love and adore these kids!  Just missing Chloe-college freshman this year, Claire will be in 9th grade and Gordon is still in preschool too.  Their pictures will come a little later!

August 13th was our 46th wedding anniversary!  This is the second anniversary in the last few years that we have been away on a mission during our anniversary.  I feel so blessed to be married to "Elder Garrison" as he has been the best "companion" throughout our lives together.  Not only does he keep me laughing with his quick wit, but he is so helpful and kind to me even when I am grumpy.  I couldn't ask for a better man to spend eternity with and I love him so much.  We celebrated by playing pickle ball in the morning and then doing our laundry and mopping our floors and doing meal prep for the week and then that evening the Moomey's had us over for a delicious dinner.....such good neighbors!!!

Life as senior office missionaries goes in cycles of 6 weeks it seems.  Every 6 weeks missionaries go home and new missionaries come in. The President does the Mission Leader Council that same week.  After the week they come in, there is usually a week until Zone Conferences start and then that goes for 2 weeks because our mission is so big that President and Sister Kunz have to do 5 Zone Conferences.  That includes 9 zones.  We just attend one of the Zone Conferences that is here in the Kumasi Area.  Then after Zone Conferences there is usually 2 weeks until we start the cycle all over again!  In the meantime, President Kunz has the task of interviewing each and every missionary in the mission during these 6 weeks.  My hat certainly goes out to mission leaders, they have a lot of their plates and even though the schedule seems pretty predictable, there are always curve balls thrown into the mix. That is why the missionaries and our mission leaders are always in our prayers!

This week in Come Follow Me (the curriculum that we use to study the gospel in our church), we have been studying the Psalms.  I have enjoyed so much reading them and taking notes.  I didn't realize how many of the Psalms have become songs....in fact I have read that they were once all sung. One of my favorites is: Psalms 24:3-4.  "He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully....."it goes on. I have such vivid and fond memories of my mom singing this song at so many funerals during my youth.  She had a beautiful soprano voice (unfortunately I didn't inherit the trait😑) and sang at so many funerals. If you haven't read the Psalms for a while, I urge you to pick up the Bible and read them, they will bring peace to your soul and joy to your heart as you read about  so many if the attributes of God. 

Well, that's a wrap for these two weeks.  Life in Ghana goes on.  I am amazed each day at the resourcefulness of the people here and it makes me even more thankful for all the blessings we have living in the United States of America. 

Have a great week and stay strong and steadfast.

Love,

The Garrisons