I snapped this picture of this beautiful woman at church because she had this dress on with my favorite Ashanti symbol.  It is the symbol of the majesty of God. I just love that they weave their symbols into their fabric and wear it with pride.  I also love how the women here wrap up their hair in wraps and they look so dignified.  

This is just a random guy walking on the side of the road with 10 rows of pillows on his head!   Honestly it is astounding the things that we see people carrying on their heads on a daily basis.

This lady has about 10 big bowls on her head and is also carrying one.  Their balance and strength is amazing. 

If you were to come to Ghana, you would see MANY buildings like this that are started but not finished.  It is just so common.  I do not know the exact reason that they are not finished but I have talked to a few Ghanians about this and they say that: if they have land and do not build on it, the King can take it back. So they just start what they can,  and then once they start it, many times they just cannot afford to finish it, so you would see literally hundreds of buildings like this everywhere.  

Most houses are made of cement blocks, like the blocks  in this picture.  People make them and stack them up getting ready to build.  There are piles of these everywhere also.  Probably because they are saving up for the next "phase" of the building. 

Once a cement pad is installed (if they install one)  and the beams are up, they literally put up bamboo poles up to hold up the second stories of buildings as they build.

Here is a building that is in Obuasi.  You can see that they are using some of the first and second floors of the building as they continue to build it.  Take a look at the spiral staircase going up the side of the building....again, there are bamboo poles holding  up parts of the building.  Luckily there doesn't seem to be any government  regulations to monitor the building!

The people are diligent about washing their clothes with water, soap and a bucket and a brush....and if there isn't room on the clothesline for all of the clothes, they will lay them out and dry them on rocks, fences or anywhere they can.  Do you see all the clothes and shoes on this big rock drying? This too is very common. 

One of the duties that I have as a secretary is to kind of "shepherd" the missionaries from the Districts here that have already received their calls.  I follow up making sure that they gather all the documents that they will need to get a visa for the country that they will serve in and make arrangements for them to get to the airport etc.,  It is always fun to meet the missionaries after I have been in touch with them for weeks.  Here is a picture of Elder Abeka with President Obeng.  President Obeng set him apart because President Kunz was up North interviewing missionaries when Elder Abeka was leaving on his mission to serve in the Nigeria Benin City Mission.  He was so very prepared and excited to serve.  It was a pleasure to finally  meet him. 

Nope, it isn't just Hobby Lobby that starts decorating for Christmas before we are even midway into October!  I saw this tree at the grocery store that we do some of our grocery shopping at.  Merry Christmas!

On Tuesday we had a wonderful  mission-wide devotional over zoom.  Brother and Sister Rawson talked to us about making the most of everyday and especially challenged the missionaries to make these two years that they serve, their best yet.  They talked about not wasting their time and working hard to get closer to Christ and carrying out the mission that they had been  called to do.   They talked about the term Carpe Diem....seize the day!  It was a great devotional for the entire mission.  

Friday night, we had dinner like we do most Friday nights at Pira Pira.  Elder Garrison had a double burger.......look at the size of that burger????  It was massive! (But not In and Out!)

Saturday morning our hubbies had to leave early to go to a District Priesthood meeting in Obuasi, so Sister Moomey and I played pickle ball by ourselves.  We played singles on the whole court.  We played 4 games. As you can see, my hair was dripping wet when we were done. It was quite the workout for us, but such good exercise and so much fun!  

Last weekend we had our churches Semi-Annual General Conference.  This happens in April and in October. The entire church gets a chance to listen to talks by our church leaders for two days.  It is a spiritual feast for sure.  I am so thankful for the opportunity that we had to watch and listen even being in Kumasi, Ghana!  

Today we had District Conference in Obusai.  So all the small branches (congregations) come together and have a meeting.  It was a 2 hours meeting.  We sat behind this mama and her little one and he was just so good!  Near the end of the meeting she put him on her back and he just snuggled down and laid his head down.....I LOVE how the mamas here carry their little ones on their backs.  It reminds me how Jesus carries us and gives us a place of rest if we will just come to Him....His arms are always outstretched for us; it is up to us to follow Him...

I am so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for His teachings.  I have enjoyed so much studying His word while serving this mission.  It is thrilling to see the African people embrace the gospel and see it change their lives. 

Thank you all for your love, prayers and support.  We feel it, we really do.  Stay strong and steadfast.

Love,

The Garrisons