Ghana MTC Slideshow of 22 August 2014 Group

MTC Presidency Counselors Are From Local Wards

L to R:  President Obeng (1st counselor), President Robison, and President Acquaye (2nd Counselor)

President Martin A. Obeng, age 55, is from the Adenta 2nd Ward, Adenta Stake and has been serving in this calling for 2 1/2 years.  He was baptized in 1994 and was introduced to the Church by his wife.  She was baptized four years prior and had been a Muslim.  He is a professional teacher and social worker and grew up in Accra.  He and Sister Obeng have one son, Kojo, who is now 26.

President Michael A. Acquaye, age 51, is from the Dansoman Ward in the Kaneshie Stake and has been serving in this calling for a year.  He was baptized in 1997 and joined in the Dansoman Ward.  He was taught the gospel by a senior couple, Elder and Sister Page.  His wife was baptized a year later.  He is a builder in construction management and grew up in Accra as well.  However, he studied French in high school and then learned it well while living for 12 years in Cote D'Ivoire.  He and Sister Acquaye have three children - their oldest son is a returned missionary who served in Cote D'Ivoire, the middle child, a daughter is serving a mission now in Nigeria, and their youngest daughter attends MTC meetings with them.

Elder Yirenya-Tawiah Addresses Largest MTC Group This Year!

Here they are:  the August 22nd group, our largest group to-date.  They leave the MTC next Tuesday and they will be ready.  Today's speaker was Elder Yirenya-Tawiah, an Area Seventy, who is the Area Physical Facilities Manager for the Africa West Area.  He has been serving in his call as an Area Seventy for the past three years.

Pictured in the group with Elder Yirenya-Tawiah are MTC President and wife, President and Sister Robison, Sister Heidi Johnson from Utah, Elder and Sister Malmrose, from Washington State, Brother Eguko, the MTC Manager and 92 missionaries.  These missionaries are from Botswana, Congo, Cote D'Ivoire, DRC, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, United Kingdom and the United States.

"Please, I Will Try." (said the first person baptized in Accra)

  Pricilla Sampson-Davis talks about her seeing a vision in the middle of the day and what she was taught by it.

Priscilla Sampson-Davis, who received her copy of the Book of Mormon in the Netherlands and was the first person baptized in Accra in 1978, told a story that underscores this sense of love that permeates these Saints.

She explained a vision that she had, “One day after having my lunch, it seemed I was in the church in sacrament meeting. I looked and saw somebody in front of the pulpit dressed in white apparel who was beckoning to come. I came up and stood by him and looked at the faces in the congregation. He asked, ‘Do you think they are all happy?’ I said that I thought they were. 

“He asked me to look again, and asked me if now I thought they were all happy. I realized that many of them had their heads bent down. He said, ‘They are illiterate. Wouldn’t you like to help your brothers and sisters so they could join in singing the hymns?’ She answered, ‘Please I will try.”

The vision or dream closed and immediately she started to translate the hymn “Redeemer of Israel.” She showed her work to Brother Joseph W.B. Johnson, who founded congregations in Ghana long before the Church came, and he said her translation was good.She went on to translate the hymns into her native language.

Some time later she was sitting under a mango tree, when she read an article in the Ensign about somebody translating the Book of Mormon into Hawaiian. She thought, if I translated the hymns, couldn’t I also translate the Book of Mormon? She began her work that afternoon. Since then she has gone on to translate the Doctrine & Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, the missionary discussions, five missionary tracts and three film strips—all out of love. “Wouldn’t you like to help your brothers and sisters?” and she answered, “Please, I will try.”

Source:  Meridian Magazine http://ldsmag.com/ldsmag/articles/040112impressions2.html

What is this African Delicacy Called "Grasscutter?"

Our last visitor to the MTC from the US, Donny Dayton, was bold and ate a bite of "grasscutter" while he was in Ghana.

Our visitor from Utah, Heidi Johnson took an unclose look at grass cutters and saw how they are cooked.

As you can tell from the reaction, I do not think Heidi will be tasting a grasscutter.  We will save that for Donny's next visit.

Mothers!  I would suggest you not let your missionary sons eat grasscutter.

What does Wikipedia say about Grasscutters?  

Greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus) is one of two species of cane rats, a small family of African  rodents.^[ The cane rat lives by reed-beds and riverbanks in Africa.   Cane rats can grow to nearly 2 ft in length and weigh a little less than 19 lb. It has rounded ears, a short nose, and coarse bristly hair. Its forefeet are smaller than its hind feet, each with three toes.

Cane rats live in small groups led by a single male. They are nocturnal and make nests from grasses or burrow underground. Individuals of the species may live in excess of four years. If frightened, they grunt and run towards water.

However, the peoples of the region  utilize the cane rat as a food source as bushmeat, considering the meat a delicacy. Consequently, grasscutters (as they are often called in Ghana and other regions of West Africa) are beginning to be raised in cages for sale.

Why Did You Come On A Mission? "Because I Have Faith", She Said.

Sister Robison shared this report from Relief Society today:  "We just finished Relief Society here in the MTC. It's the first of two Sundays with this group of sisters - and I like to help them become unified. I invite them each to share a little bit about themselves.

It turned into a sob fest today. The stories were so touching. Many sisters are the first in the family to serve missions, or the only member. Some have wanted to serve and waited for this moment for years.

One Ghanian sister, Patience Kumedzro, caused us all to pause and think about sacrifice. 

Sister Patience Kumedzro, from Ghana, serving in Nigeria Port Harcourt Mission

She joined the church two years ago and her family is extremely anti. Her sister was a member for a while but decided to stop going because of the family. Sister Kumedzro decided to serve a mission and received her call and assignment. She had to push forward against opposition and discouragement.  

Two days before she was to leave, her family told her she absolutely cannot go on a mission. Her uncle came to the house and told her she would be disowned if she went on a mission - and that she would have to move out of the house.

Sister Kumedzro said her bags were already packed for the mission, but this uncle said she had to take everything out of the house - not even a pin that she touched could be left. So she called a friends and packed everything to leave. Her uncle took a big stick and beat her, told her she was wrong and that the church is evil. But she took her bags and left. She has now been disowned by her family."

When I interviewed Sister Kumedzro the day she arrived,  I asked her why she was serving a mission  She answered that it was because of her faith.   She said "I have found the truth in your Church and the answer to where I am going after this life.  God has healed me.  I am so happy."  

Ghana Is known For Chocolate!

 Heidi Johnson, our US visitor to the MTC reminds us of how much we love chocolate!

Cocoa is the chief agricultural export of  Ghana and the country's main cash crop. Behind  the Ivory Coast,  Ghana is the second largest cocoa exporter in the world. Cocoa cultivation is not native to the country; Ghana's cocoa cultivation, however, is noted within the developing world to be one of the most modeled commodities.  Cocoa has a long production cycle, far longer than many other tropical crops, and new hybrid varieties need over five years to come into production, and a further 10 to 15 years for the tree to reach its full bearing potential