Ghana MTC

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Welcome Back President and Sister Graham

Ghana Accra Temple President and Matron - President and Sister Stephen L. Graham

Today our missionaries were welcomed to the Ghana Accra Temple by a new temple presidency. Stephen LaMar Graham, 71, Oak Hills 2nd Ward, Provo Utah Oak Hills Stake, was called to be the president of the Accra Ghana Temple, succeeding President George B. Afful. President Graham’s wife, Vanessa Jane Schofield Graham, now serves as temple matron, succeeding Sister Victoria B. Afful. He most recently served as a senior missionary couple chaplain at BYU-Hawaii. He has served as president of the Tahiti Papeete Mission, president of the Ghana Missionary Training Center, bishop and temple ordinance worker. Retired associate director of training at the Provo Missionary Training Center, he was born in Rigby, Idaho, to Leonard Everett and Evelyn Green Graham.

Sister Graham also just served as a senior missionary couple at BYU-Hawaii. And she served with her husband as he presided over the Tahiti Papeete Mission and over the Ghana Missionary Training Center. She has also served as stake and ward Young Women camp director, counselor in a ward Relief Society presidency, ward Primary president and temple ordinance worker. She was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, England, to John Armitage Schofield and Irene Plumtree.

President and Sister Fred Antwi, First Counselor and Assistant Matron of Ghana Accra Temple

President Antwi, 1st Counselor Ghana Accra Temple

President and Sister Fred Antwi were recently called to serve as the First Counselor and Assistant Matron in the Ghana Accra Temple. Their story is fascinating. This particular story is about making a "right turn" made the difference.

April 1986: Chief Nana Asomobore the 2nd – chief of a tribe in Ghana, passed away. Attending his brother’s funeral was Fred Antwi, who had a year prior been baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The burial would take place in six months and unknown to Fred, plans were being made by his sister, the queen mother, for Fred to take over the position of Chief of the tribe. Just prior to the evening of the burial, Fred’s younger sister came to inform him and said, “Do you know what plans the family has for you?”. He replied “No, not until I’m told.” She replied, “You are going to the next of kin (new Chief)”. Fred was surprised and said emphatically, “No! My religion will not permit me.”

Being a Chief in Ghana

To serve as a chief is an honor. A chief is respected in his villages and is the first contact man for the large extended family. The chief is the overall boss and when he speaks, the people will do as they are instructed. A chief receives financial support, and whatever he feels he needs, it will be provided to him.

Brother Antwi’s Decision – the ‘Right Turn’

Fred relates the following upon hearing his sister’s news. “That same evening, I took my car and drove to one of our elders in the village called Anyinamso, in the Ashanti Region near Kumasi, to inform him of what I had heard. He told me, “Kofi, I am part and parcel of the plans. I know what they are saying so there is nothing I can do to take you out from being a chief.” I said, “Well Nana, you know I am a Christian and my religion will not permit me to be a chief because there are a whole lot of things that we do in terms of pouring of libations, slaughtering of all animals and other things which to me might not all go well for me.” Nana replied, “Well, go back to your elder people and tell them that you are a Christian and from what you have said you can never be a chief.”

“I went back to inform the elders, but they ignored my message. The corpse was to be buried midnight so on our way, around 7:00 p.m. we were on our way from Mpesetia to bury my late brother in Kumasi, a place called Pankronu. I was driving along with all of the other family members in their own cars, and upon reaching Kwadaso, instead of turning left with the others,I turned right leading to Cape Coast and sped off.”

For the first six months there was no contact from the extended family. Fred later learned that had he gone to the burial, he would have been named as the next chief, putting him in a very difficult situation. He learned in time that his nephew, son of the queen mother, was named the next chief.

Conversion – The Gospel will Change Your Life For Good

What compelled Fred Antwi to give up this position of honor – one which many may esteem very desirable? Fred had found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Firm in his testimony of the principles and doctrines of the Gospel, Fred’s course in life was changed. Brother Antwi had received the priesthood and was fully engaged in his calling as Branch President, dedicated to the service of the Lord. Fred Antwi has continued to serve in District and Stake Presidencies and as a couple, he and Sister Antwi were the first full-time West African missionaries called to serve in the Ghana Temple. Currently, he serves as a historian in the Africa West Area.

Brother Antwi shares his testimony of the Priesthood

“It was in this church that I first heard about this word priesthood. I was baptized and confirmed the same day and the following week I was ordained a priest in the Aaronic priesthood. When I was ordained, I was given some assignments as a priest and I practiced this until I was interviewed and ordained as an elder three months later. This priesthood of which we are talking is a gift and to me it’s a privilege to have it….. this is the priesthood which our Father in Heaven had in creating all that we see here on earth. And the priesthood has helped my family. Whenever any of them gets sick, I lay my hands upon him or her, pray for him or her and he receives healing. This priesthood indeed is true and as we remain obedient and faithful, the priesthood is something that if we truly and worthily administer, will help us in our families.”

One does not have to be with Brother Fred Antwi for more than a few moments before his wonderful broad smile appears. His love for the Gospel and the lasting change it has brought to him and his family’s life is reflected in that smile. Truly, he made the ‘right’ decision.

President Phillipe & Sister Annelies Assard - New Ghana Accra Temple President 2nd Counselor & Assistant Matron

President Phillipe and Sister Annelies Assard - Ghana Accra Temple Presidency and Assistant Matron

Recently called to serve with President and Sister Graham in the Ghana Accra Templ, the Assards have sacrificed much to build up the kingdom of the Lord in Ivory Coast. Here is their story" Ivory Coast citizens who have the means often leave their country to obtain an education in European universities. In the 1970s and 1980s a number of such Ivorian students were introduced to the gospel in Europe. Upon returning to their native land, these Latter-day Saints helped the gospel take root and grow.

One such Ivorian was Phillipe Assard. Phillipe left Ivory Coast for Germany in 1971 to attend engineering school in Cologne. While earning his degree, he met Annelies Margitta at a dance in her hometown of Remscheid. Before long, they married, Phillipe found employment, and the couple started a family.

In 1980 two full-time missionaries knocked on their door and presented the message of the Restoration, and the Assards quickly embraced the gospel. They were soon baptized and, in Brother Assard’s words, “overwhelmed with blessings.” Phillipe and Annelies were married in the Swiss Temple, and Phillipe found a new job that allowed him to better meet the needs of his growing family, by then consisting of a son, Alexandre Joseph, and a daughter, Dorothée Anne.

Yet despite the family’s improved economic conditions and increasingly comfortable life in Germany, Brother Assard began to feel drawn back to his native Ivory Coast. He realized the development his country needed most would come only through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he was determined to play a part in introducing the gospel to his country. An application to a company looking for engineers in Ivory Coast bore no fruit, but Brother Assard decided in 1984 to return to his homeland anyway during a vacation and assess employment opportunities. He was disappointed to learn that the company he had sent an application to was having financial problems. No other work opportunities materialized.

“I returned to Cologne, but I had total faith in the Lord because I had this dream that the gospel must be established in Ivory Coast,” Brother Assard recalls. “So in 1986, after many prayers and fasting with my wife, I decided to return to Ivory Coast to give what I had received, to improve the lot of my family and my people.”

Before leaving Germany, the Assards received their patriarchal blessings, returned to the Swiss Temple, and traveled to Frankfurt, where they met with members of the Europe Area Presidency—Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, now of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Elder Russell C. Taylor, now an emeritus member of the Seventy. After explaining their desires to go to Ivory Coast, the Assards “received blessings and encouragement from them,” Brother Assard says, “and Elder Wirthlin gave me a list of all known members in the country, which was only a handful.”

Brother Assard quit his job, and the family sold their house and belongings. On 10 April 1986 the Assards left for Ivory Coast. They moved in with his parents in a small village near Abidjan—the nation’s largest city and its industrial center, with a population of about two million inhabitants. Neither Sister Assard nor her children could speak any French. Nevertheless, Alexandre and Dorothée were placed in school while Sister Assard learned French from her in-laws and Brother Assard looked for work.

For an entire year Brother Assard fruitlessly sought employment while the strain of providing for his family weighed heavily upon him. He did not, however, let the difficulty of finding a job prevent him from moving the work of the Lord forward. He and Sister Assard sent letters to members on the list they had received in Germany. The Lucien Affoué family of Abidjan was the first to respond. The families rejoiced to know they were not alone. Other members in Ivory Coast also responded but were too remote to meet with them.

Brother Assard directed the growing branch until Elder Marvin J. Ashton of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Alexander B. Morrison of the Seventy visited the country in 1987. At that time, United States Embassy worker Terry Broadhead was set apart as the first branch president with Brother Assard as his counselor. When Elder Ashton dedicated the land for the preaching of the gospel in September 1987, the country had 16 Church members.

President Assard later became the first native branch president in Ivory Coast. Today he serves as a district president. Sister Assard has been a branch Relief Society president and Young Women president and currently serves as a district Relief Society president. Her musical talent has proven invaluable in helping people learn Church hymns.

Temporal blessings soon followed the spiritual blessings. After being unemployed for a year, Brother Assard was hired by a European automobile manufacturer in Abidjan. His knowledge of French and German, along with his engineering degree, made a perfect match. Today he serves as assistant technical director for the company.

The Assards are eternally grateful for their blessings and for the guiding influence that directed them to Ivory Coast. Thanks to that influence, President Assard has seen the fulfillment of his dream that the gospel would be established among his people.

Monday, November 2, 2015

Interact to edify

Prepare to Learn

Interact to Edify

Invite to Act

How is this done in the MTC? We practice teaching....alot.

Looking at Ghana Everyday Life

Many of you are concerned about have a son or daughter called to Africa. This is the most Christian area of the world. Ghana, for example, is very safe and as you can imagine, the people are receptive to the message of the restored gospel.

Our former Director of Temporal Affairs in the Africa West Area was Philippe J. Kradolfer of Swiss nationality. He and his wife have lived in 10 countries and photography has been his passion for many years. While traveling throughout Ghana he captured the beauty of the people in his photos and has even authored a book called "Ghana Everyday Life." These were some of those photos.