This post is for the week of April 10th – 15th. This past Sunday was another hallmark day for the Bibiani District. A group in Nyinahin held their first meeting in a school. Br. Daniel Osei Bonsu has been called to serve as the Group Leader (the man holding the camera). There were 17 in attendance including Elder Griffin and Elder Tano, the Bibiani zone leaders. There were 7 members who bore their testimonies in the meeting.

We are grateful for the continued growth of our districts. Nyinahin is a significant city about 40 minutes on the Kumasi side of Bibiani. We believe the Church can grow quickly there as we have some solid members who live there, but have not been able to attend Church in Kuffour Camp (the closest branch) due to the distance. This was a great day for all. President Samuel Ewusie, the District President (holding the small boy in the lime green shirt) has been working tirelessly to make this happen. We are grateful for his leadership and these members who have been hungering and thirsting for the opportunity to worship together as members of the Lord’s Church.

We are looking forward to some great things from this new Group and hope to see it grow into a branch in the coming months.

This week was primarily a week of interviews. On Tuesday we were in the Suame Zone, on Wednesday and Thursday we were in University Zone and on Friday we were in Dichemso. Every one of these interviews was good. The missionaries are working hard to find those who are prepared, they are studying their scriptures every morning, and they are keeping the schedule. We are expecting great success this transfer from these missionaries. We have come to know that when we do our part, the Lord more than does His part.

On Monday, we held our Mission Health Council. This was Sister Moomey’s last Health Council as they will be leaving on the 21st of April to return home. Elder and Sister Davis, Elder Middleton, Elder Shane, and Elder and Sister Mellor make up an incredible team of medical professionals who help us so much in dealing with the infirmities that our missionaries run into as they serve.

On Thursday night I held my bi-weekly presidency meeting with President Edmund Obeng, President Joseph Asante, Eugene Gorman (clerk) and Elder Garrison (executive secretary). I say it often, but I am grateful for these men who help provide direction, guidance, and encouragement to our wonderful District Presidents. In addition, President Asante works with the Mission Branch up in Wa. We are working hard to help each of these districts grow and to do more in the area of ministering, gathering Israel, and blessing the lives of the Rising Generation.

On Friday we had our last Friday night date with the Garrison’s and Moomey’s at Piri Piri. If we are in town on Friday night, we meet with these two couples and have noodles, salads, kabobs, sandwiches, hummus and/or pizza. The setting is outside and even though the mosquitos often nip at our ankles, we really love being with these amazing friends and will miss these weekly “dates”.

On Saturday morning, I played my last game of Pickleball with the Moomey’s and the Garrison’s. This coupled with the Friday date night has been a mainstay of our “preparation day”. We seldom get much of Monday to prepare as there is more to do than we can get done, but participating in some good and fun exercise on the Saturday’s we are available has been great. LaDawn has not been able to play because of a sore Achilles, but we are hoping that she will soon be back.

On Sunday morning we drove to Konongo for their stake conference. They have been working on an expansion of the District Center for nearly a year. We thought it would be fully complete and that everyone who came to the conference would fit into the chapel and cultural hall. Unfortunately, that turned out not to be the case. I estimated that we had about 400 people in attendance. It was a great conference. One of the highlights of the conference was the very first talk by a primary aged young girl. She spoke on having Family Home Evening. She was absolutely amazing. Her name is Pearl Darfour. We also had talks on “Come to the Temple”, “Charity, the Pure Love of Christ”, “Establishing Zion”, “Enduring to the End”. The agenda was a bit over programmed, so LaDawn and I took 7 minutes together. LaDawn bore a testimony of the importance of being spiritually prepared for the Second Coming. I spoke about keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. President Oppong (the stake president) wrapped up the conference by summarizing the key messages and inviting the stake to be better.

One of the highlights for me was hearing the testimony of Brother and Sister Prosper Agwu. They have been through some hard times the last 5 years and Sunday was the first time during those years that they were able to stand at the pulpit and bear testimony of the Savior’s mercy. I was pleased to be a small part in helping them through these difficult experiences and so happy to see them filled with joy, testimony, spirit, and especially love for their Savior.

One of the things we really love about attending stake conferences is the opportunity to see all of our missionaries in attendance who work in that stake. Since our zones align with our districts and stakes, we get a chance to see the entire zone. While these are not all of the missionaries in the zone, these are the ones that greeted us when we arrived. How we love these young men!

On Sunday evening, I met with the Assistants and we put together the agenda for our upcoming zone conferences. I will need to wait until the Mission Leader Seminar next week to know exactly what I am going to speak about, but the rest of it we have figured out and preparations are underway. I would be lost without Elder Harnois and Elder Amoah who help the mission so much by their insights, their impressions, and their examples.

We feel the strength of these wonderful elders and sisters serving in this mission. We are all growing together and doing everything we can to gather Israel, one last time, Together in Ghana.