CASH IS KING

This was a good week and much calmer than we have been used to.  We are getting ready for a round of Zone Conferences next week, where there will be a day of teaching, training,  break-out sessions, messages from our Mission Leaders, and of course, good food.  The missionaries really love Zone Conferences as they get to renew friendships with old companions and friendships they have made earlier in their missions. We have eight Zones, so we will be doing multiple-zone conferences……over a three day period of time. 

On a sad note, we had our first “fraud” experience this week with an Elder’s bank account being drained.  I know there are sophisticated ways of doing that, but it still seems difficult when the card was never handled by anyone other than the missionary and his pin number was not given out.  When he went to get some money……he had none.  He called me, I called the Bank in the US, and they saw a withdrawal done an hour before the missionary went to the ATM.  His account was drained. Very sad.  We will get him a new card, but it does make me mad and I wonder why it could not happen more often.... if it is that easy? Be careful, I know they do that in America also.

Speaking of money, I thought I would share another experience I had this week in a country that still does a lot of business with cash.  We are trying to do more and more electronically, but it is a slow process as the banks are difficult to work with sometimes. They have a way of transferring money here in Ghana called MoMo.  It is like our Venmo, but no banks in involved. We had a situation where a utility bill was not paid, (because the missionaries did not get a bill or a notice that the bill was due), so the Power Company shut off their power.  They called me and this is how the problem was solved.....

The Power Company would not turn the power on until they got paid.  The apartment is over 3 hours away.  It is a Friday.  I decided the best way to do this would be thru MoMo.  I called a guy that works with us, who has a friend that runs a Momo shop.  They are all over the City.  I told him to call his friend and tell him I would come and deposit a large sum of money into his Momo account, if he would transfer the money right away from his personal Momo account to the guy who works for the Church and pays the utility bills.  He said he would.  The transaction was done in 5 minutes.  He paid our guy via his phone, who paid the Power Company using his phone, via Momo. In the next hour or so, I drove to this small, yellow box shop, that looks like a cage (see pictures below) and gave this guy 5,000 cedis.  He sent me a receipt via WhatsApp.  He had never met me.  He is not a member of our church. He had never met my church guy that pays the utility bills. He just trusted his friend that I would show up with the money he had already transferred out of his account to another guy he had never met.  Is this something we would do in the USA?  I don’t think so.  He took money from his personal account, without questioning whether or not he would get the money back, and transferred it to our church utility guy, so that the bill could be paid and the missionary’s power would be turned back on before the weekend. Crazy !!! But it is very effective.  I had the cash....and the way to get it to the Power Company was thru MoMo…..and the use of several mobile phones. 

The pictures below show that we did do some fun things this week with missionaries coming and going and even getting in some pickleball.  We attend a different church each Sunday and we like that because we see the diversity in the people, their financial circumstances, their places of worship, and their individual personalities.  We love them all.  I will never forget their beautiful smiles and the fact that I have never, ever seen such a friendlier group of people. Being around them makes me feel good inside and continually reminds me that heaven may very well be like this……a place where we are all the same…..happy, looking out for each other, enjoying one another’s company, not worrying about the things of the world.  It doesn’t matter how much money one has, it doesn’t matter the color of one’s skin, it doesn’t matter what political party one belongs to…..they all just enjoy each other.  There are different personalities and different points of view, for sure.…..but they still get along and enjoy the friendship and love learning from one another.  That is the Ghana way.  We could all learn from these people !!!

Let me close this week’s Blog with some more of President Hinckley’s wonderful counsel….

“I come……with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight.  I’m suggesting that we accentuate the positive.  I’m asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort.  May the real meaning of the gospel of Jesus Christ distill into our hearts that we may realize that our lives, given to us by God our Father, are to be used in the service of others.” 

The Sister Training Leaders

The Zone Leaders

Matilda -- Dress Maker and Zone Conference Luncheon Preparer

Members of the Ward we attended this week. The young lady on the far right was baptized.

So cute and beautiful Another week of the faces of Ghana.

When I heard this sound, I had to run upstairs and record their wonderful voices. They truley are the "army of Helaman".

Both of these men knew John Riding well. The one on the left was a security guard, maintenance man, and gardener of where the Ridings lived. The one on the left worked as the head of Family History in the Africa West Area for 20 years and worked closely with the Ridings.

It's nice to have this place only a 20-minute walk from where we live. I don't know why I would need to worry.....we have not felt unsafe for a single minute since living in Ghana.

Brett could so some business here......if only they could afford Invisalign braces.

My neck and head hurt just watching these people every day. The suitcase one is interesting.

The drive right before we get to the Chapel. Very humble circumstances, but the Wards are awesome.

I just wanted you to be able to see the congregation as the meeting ends.

Those that were baptized, along with the Sister Missionaries that taught them.

A beautiful young lady (age 23) who was baptized. She lives about an hour away and her "group" of members meet in a house and come once each month to meet with this Ward.

The Ward Mission Leader and our Sister Missionaries.

New missionaries and their Trainers

New Sister Missionaries helping make the pancakes.

I just wanted you to be able to feel and see what we get to witness every week.

This is Sister Bennett, from Florida, and was in Carissa Merrill's Ward. Carissa went as her escort to the Temple for her first time. Check out the photo on the phone

The excitement is very infectious.

Girls just want to have fun.

Intense.....and ready to strike

Nice form

Best bread ever !!!

Love these guys. They are hard workers and so obedient to the mission rules.

Felt like I was in the "mafia".....paying off some guy who helped me.

Thanks for your "MOMO"

It all worked out

My "GUY"

This woman wanted a little help from this white woman.....so I gave her a little money. (which is something I am not supposed to do)....but it is very difficult not to help them all.

She cuts up the Mango and Jill absolutely loves it. She wants to have it every day.

Trying to get him to come down in price.....but why would he.....this woman is from a place far, far away.....and she looks like she can afford anything he has.

Best friends and so sweet holding hands

And yes.....there is golf....if that is what we call it. Hitting a ball and chasing after it seems like a silly thing to do anyway. But I do love it and I do miss my main golfing partner, Doug Moore.....and my boys. I only hope Landon is still using my putting green.