Ghana MTC

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Elder Daniel Yirenya-Tawiah Addresses Area Devotional

Our Area Devotional speaker today was Elder Yirenya-Tawiah, Area 70 who is the physical facilities manager for the Africa West Area. He was born in 1966, so that means he is 49 years old. He joined the Church in 1988 at the age of 22 and had been invited to hear the discussions by a friend who was being taught by the missionaries. He studied the Church for a year and duirng that time fell in love with the Book of Mormon. Throughout the year, many teams of missionaries taught him but it was not until one team challenged him to pray and fast that his conversion went from an intellectual one where he was not preparing for baptism to a spiritual one in which he asked the missionaries to set up his baptism. It is not enought to have good discussions but rather missionaries must see that the investigator has a spiritual connection.

When he was about 8 years old his grandparents, who lived in a small village, asked his parents to send him to live with them. However, they left him alone every day very early and did not return until late at night. As such he had to fend for himself...cook his meals and work out his schedule for the days. He was very angry about this for years, in fact until just a few years ago, when he realized that this experience had made him very independent and self confident.

Just a note about this group. These 84 missionaries represent our 37th group since coming to the MTC 18 months ago. They are from 17 different countries including Malawi and Namibia, two countries we have not seen often. Twenty of these missionaries have been with us for six weeks learning French or English. That in itself is remarkable because they now teach in their new language and do so quite well. Twenty-nine of our missionaries are sisters, as pictured here and prior to coming to the MTC, 48 or fifty-seven percent of them had never been to the temple. Now they all have.

Which MTC Had Bats As Reported in a Newspaper Headline Yesterday? Was it Ghana or Provo?

It was Provo!

We have shown pictures of bats on this blog. Every week on the way to the temple we drive past bats. So you would think it is possible to find bats in the Ghana MTC. Wrong. This happened in Provo, Utah yesterday.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Honoring Ghana's Independence

For you parents of missionaries or missionaries preparing to come to Ghana, please know that Ghana is Africa for beginners. Ghana is 53 years old today. It gained its independence on this that day long ago from England. It is located along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa. Tema, where the MTC is located, is the closest city to the center of the earth...that point were the longitude line crosses the latitude line.

It is 238, 535 square kilometers and is bordered by the Ivory Coast in the West, Bukina Faso in the North, Togo in the East and the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean in the South. The word Ghana means "Warrior King" in the local dialects. It has a population about half the size of France, exceeding 27 million people. The people come from a variety of ethnic and religious groups but it is the most Christian country in the world.

Ghana's economy is the ninth largest in Africa and is a major producer of petroleum and natural gas. It also is one of the largest gold and diamond producers in the world and the largest producer of cocoa.

This country does an excellent job of honoring its past while celebrating its future. It has a temple, 4 missions, and together with the other countries in Western Africa: Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, is the fastest growing area in the Church for convert baptisms. Your missionary will have a wonderful experience in Ghana!

Transferring of the Keys

Throughout the world today, mission president couples who had served for three years left for home and their replacement couples arrived. This picture is typical of what the "changing of the guard" scene looked like. It was taken in the DRC Kinshasa, where my good friend from my France Mission days, President Bryce Cook is turning over the reins to President Herve Haehrel.

Any Progress on the New MTC Construction?

You decide. To the right is the 6 story building that will house the missionaries. To the left are the office building including classrooms.

Today is a public holiday in Ghana. On 1st July, 1960, Ghana became a Republic and totally weaned itself off British colonial rule. It is also the day we took the English-speaking missionaries to the temple. In what normally takes one hour for the drive, today took a little over 30 minutes.