Sister Moomey and I saw these three kids carrying water on their heads about 7am one morning when we were walking.  It made be think about how very blessed we are to turn on the tap in our apartment and have water......it is things like that that are easily taken for granted.  I hope I won't forget to be thankful for CLEAN water that comes right out of the tap in our homes. 

You might be wondering why I am posting a picture of a Kirkland bag of Chocolate Chips?  Well in these parts of the world, this is like gold! I happened on them last week at a little store that often carries things from home and it was like I had won the lottery!  I am wondering how much this costs in the states these days because here they cost me $43.13 depending on the value of the money here.  But it is worth every cedi!  

On Christmas Eve  we all met at the Mission Office for pickle ball.  We had a great morning playing, it was especially nice that it was cloudy, so we didn't have the hot sun beating down on us.  Pictured is Elder Thomspon, Elder Garrison, Elder Moomey, Sister Moomey, me and President Kunz.  BEST way to start off the Christmas weekend.

At 4pm, we met all the senior missionaries at our old standby: Piri piri.....it is nothing fancy, but the food is good and we eat outside. After we ate, we went back to the Kunz's home and had dessert and a Christmas Program where we shared our favorite Christmas memories and sang some songs and played a game.  It was a nice Christmas Eve....where we could reflect on Christ and all that He is to each of us.  I am so thankful for Him and have had so many experiences in my life where He has carried me...so many that I cannot deny of the reality of His matchless life.  

On Christmas Day, our dear driver, Alex, sent me a Christmas message along with a darling picture of his 3 cute little boys!  Look at the tie on the little one?  It goes down to his knees!  

Also on the day before  Christmas Eve President Obeng (he serves in the mission presidency with President Kunz) stopped by the office so we could meet his darling children.  I told him that I thought his wife was probably so very appreciative of him "entertaining" the kids for a few hours.  Honestly, the people here are pure joy!

On Christmas Eve we  took a trip to the "Cultural Center" here in Kumasi with the Thompsons, the Steinmetzes, Sister Kunz and Sister Moomey. I saw this Calabash tree for the first time ever.  Look at the gords that grow from thee trees?  They are as big as watermelon!

You may wonder what they do with these?  So I looked it up:  Hollowed-out and dried calabashes are a very typical utensil in households across West Africa. They are used to clean rice, carry water, and as food containers. Smaller sizes are used as bowls to drink palm wine.  So there you go!  They are very hard after they dry out.  The man in this picture, makes wooden bowls and paints them for his occupation.  He also makes little wooden ashanti signs and mounts them on wood to sell. 

On the way to the Cultural Center I snapped a 2 for 1 bonus picture!  The ram on the top of the tro-tro and the sticker in the window:  God is One.  

The above picture is from the Senior Missionaries in Western Africa's blog.  It shows a senior missionary processing a new sister missionary at the MTC in Accra.  This past week there was an intake of missionaries from all over the world coming to Accra.  We are going to get 15 new missionaries on the 10th of January and they are from Nigeria, Liberia, DRC, Tonga, and the Phillipines.  In the paragraph below one of the senior missionaries wrote about a conversation he had with one of the incoming missioniaries.  I just loved reading this as it is very typical: 

"An Elder told me he was only seven when he met missionaries on the street and asked them what they were doing. They tried to brush him aside, but he persisted until they told him they were missionaries and he immediately knew for himself and told them, "I want to be a missionary!" They invited him to church and were surprised when he began to regularly attend. He wanted to be baptized, but was too young, and had to wait until he reached the age of accountability. As he waited, he began to bring his siblings and friends to church with him. All of those friends and his brother and sister have already served, or are currently in the mission field. "

"I'm the last one!" he said, "I've been waiting for this for 10 years!"

Don't you love that???  

The Office Elders showed me this picture.....I thought it would be fun to do a little contest and ask the readers of this post what animal you think this is???  Sorry to say, it was dinner for someone....not the Elders though!  

Some of you know that I was born on Christmas....it hasn't always been my favorite thing!  I felt I was gypped  out of  presents and parties but not this year! Sister Moomey and the other senior missionaries went the extra mile to celebrate my BIG 7-0! They made great food, decorations (my hat and balloons) and a wonderful CHOCOLATE CAKE!  I felt loved......it was a great Christmas AND Birthday! 

One thing that I kept noticing last year around this time were these huge posters all over advertising "Cross Over Service".  I had no idea what they were, just noticed that this one went  from 9pm to 5am on New Year's Eve! I had a pretty lengthy conversation about "The Crossover Rituals" here in Ghana with our driver, Alex.  He told me that it is a belief that they need to ward off all influences of Satan or the devil at the end of the year in order to have happiness and prosperity for the New Year.  It is very common in Western Africa for Christian churches to have these services......I asked him what they did at these services and he said that there is a lot of yelling and shouting, drums playing music going....warding off the evil spirits for the upcoming year......we didn't go. 

In the Ghana Kumasi Mission President and Sister Kunz have worked tirelessly to teach the missionaries to be consecrated and obedient in their work.  Along with the missionary leadership council they came up with 17 points of "consecrated missionaries".  Elder Thompson (a talented senior missionary) drew this depiction of 3 missionaries carrying a flag with the number 17 on it as a symbol of this.  I love that the missionaries all look happy and excited!  It's no secret that successful and happy missionaries love each other and are obedient.   It is our hope that the missionaries will follow these guidelines and see the fruits of their labors.  

Yesterday Sister Moomey and I traveled to Obuasi to attend a District Relief Society Meeting.  This is a picture of the Relief Society District Presidency.  They did a great job with their meeting.  The theme of the meeting was:  How Can We Deepen our Conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  I appreciate the faithfulness and diligence of the women in the church here.  It isn't easy for them, they have to work so hard just to survive and feed their families, yet they serve diligently and their spirits just shine through.  Notice the fabric in the dress of the sister on the right.....it has the Relief Society ensigna in it!  Don't you love it??

As the year 2023 begins I cannot help but reflect back on the year 2022.  It has been a year of shifting values as I have witnessed first hand how happy people are here with literally nothing.  We have so much to be thankful for and I hope that I will never take the blessings that I have for granted.  I want others to know how much I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and how thankful I am for the church that supports His gospel.  I know it isn't perfect, but it gives us a chance to serve others and puts us in communities of people that would not necessarily be people that we would naturally associate with.  Because of this we learn to love people who have different backgrounds, interests, political views and are at different places in their conversion.  We learn to serve with and serve others and I think that is a beautiful thing.  It is through service to others that we serve God, because we are His hands.  I am thankful for our Savior and for His life and atonement.  So blessed.

May you all have a wonderful New Year. Stay strong and steadfast.

Love,

The Garrisons