This was a week primarily of interviews and the coming and going of off-transfer missionaries. Let me explain. I will come back to the title of this week’s blog at the end.

Early Monday afternoon, we met Jude Jonfiah (mission facilities manager) at the new apartment we are acquiring for the Samuelson’s. They are a new couple coming later this month to work on Human Rights Education in the schools here in Kumasi. We want to make sure the apartment is prepared so we went through it with Jude and highlighted the things that needed to be addressed. In particular we need to add an oven and a number of air conditioning units for each of the rooms. We also instructed Jude on the furniture we want to have either made or purchased. We think it should be a good apartment for them. Here are some pictures.

Later on Monday afternoon, Elder Crossley and Elder Standage came into the Mission Office. I hadn’t yet interviewed Elder Crossley, so I did that and they then both did a final check-out with Sister Pack. This allows them to receive all of the things (passports, vaccine cards, etc) that we keep in the office. We had a nice dinner of Aboude’s take-out at the Mission Home and then early Tuesday morning they were off to Accra where they attended a temple session at 10:30 am and then eventually made their way back to the airport that evening for their flight home. We will miss them both. Elder Crossley was serving in nearby Asokwa and Elder Standage came in from Abesim in Sunyani.

On Tuesday, we attended the District Council in the Dichemso building. With Elder Crossley’s departure (he was serving as a District Leader), Elder Shaw took on the responsibility of both districts. He did a great job. Someone had cleaned the white board with an oil based cleaner and it was almost impossible to write on it with a dry erase marker. We had an amazing discussion about Chapter 4 in the new Preach My Gospel. Unfortunately we ran out of time and did not get to finish reviewing the entire chapter, but what we did review was rich in content, doctrine, and spirit.

The purpose of the visit to the district was to interview the 11 missionaries who serve in the two districts. These were truly great interviews. The missionaries are working hard and doing their best to bring souls unto Jesus Christ.

I will also include a picture that the Loveland’s took the same morning. They drove to Konongo and participated in a multi-district meeting as well. As the Zone leaders joined the Domeabra and Konongo Districts for their meeting where Elder Kennedy led the meeting. Elder Kabonzo is the other district leader.

On Wednesday, we made the trip to the Bibiani Zone. Because we had been there on Sunday and interviewed the 6 elders who serve in Bibiani and Nyinahin, we drove directly to Sefwi Waiwso (just over 3 hours), interviewed the 4 missionaries there and then came back to Sefwi Bekwai (30 minutes apart) and interviewed the 4 elders there. It made for a really long day for us, but it kept the missionaries close to their areas so that we disturbed their work as little as possible. It was another great day of interviews. The Bibiani Zone is on fire right now with missionary work and we are grateful for the efforts of these amazing disciples of Jesus Christ.

As we drove back through Bibiani, we stopped and snapped a few pictures of the wall that is going up on the land where the new Bibiani District Center will be built. It is good to finally see some progress on this as it is something we have been working on since we arrived. We are grateful to have this particular piece of land which in logistically much better for the members of the district than the land we were looking at initially. It will not be completed before we leave, but we do expect that one of the early things the new mission president will do next year is to dedicate this building.

On Thursday, we received in another missionary. Elder Clariz from the Philippines arrived on a flight from Accra at 7 am. He had only been serving for two weeks in a temporary mission in the Philippines before receiving his visa. We asked that he come in early (he had arrived in the Accra the previous day and had completed his medical exam for his resident visa and had received his non citizen card) so that we could spend some time orienting him to the mission and still have time to do the previously scheduled interviews at the Asouyeboa building. He will be in a trio for 2 weeks with Elder Harnois and Elder Palelei and then Elder Palelei will become his solo trainer. It worked out well since both of those elders were coming to Asouyeboa for their interviews. In addition to Elder Clariz, we did 8 more interviews.

Following these interviews we returned to the mission home in time to receive Elder and Sister Thompson who needed to finish 3 months early so that they could attend to a family matter. They have done some amazing work in Techiman and the entire District will sorely miss them. Seldom have so few done so much for so many! We had a delicious meal of beef (hamburger) enchiladas, green salad, fruit salad, chips, and guacamole. The Loveland’s and Pack’s pitched in with the food and it was a wonderful evening together.

Thursday morning, we again had an early morning as we drove to Dunkwa, Obuasi, and Asonkore to interview the 16 remaining missionaries who serve in the Obuasi Zone. We had already interviewed Elder Lenge and Elder Halahingano who serve in Adansi Asokwa following the recent zone conference.

We made it back home by 5 pm, in time to enjoy a Friday night date along with the Loveland’s and the Pack’s at Piri Piri at 5:30 pm.

Saturday was a catch-up day. Missionary letters, preparing the weekly letter to the mission, making a few mission Facebook posts, getting some exercise after a week of early mornings, and having a full hour to study the new Preach My Gospel. We also celebrated the birthdays of our twin grandsons, Logan and Carter, albeit over Facetime. It was a great day!

On Sunday we attended church at Breman (pronounced bray-mine) in the Suame Stake. This is where Sister Kakou and Sister Manico serve. Sister Manico is one of two Portuguese speaking sisters in the mission and Sister Kakou is a French speaker and will be going home this month. Both are delightful, hardworking, and obedient sisters and it was a privilege to be with them today. We took Sister Manico a pair of reading glasses in hopes of it helping her during her personal studies. At the start of Sacrament Meeting there were only 17 people in attendance. By the end, there were 40. This is a ward and they have a lot of work to do to minister to the many members who are currently not attending.

Now, back. to the title of this post….The Details

While there is a gentle rhythm to the work of a mission including receiving new missionaries in and sending missionaries who have completed their missions home, interviews, zone conferences, district councils, Couples’ Council, and Mission Leadership Councils there is so much more that goes on behind the scenes. We thought we might take advantage of a picture taken at Asonkore of the ground in front of the chapel to talk about the details of the operations of a mission. The picture reminded us of the intricacies of all that needs to happen to keep things moving. Just as in the picture there are rocks (various colors), cement, cracks, holes, moss (algae?), sand, pebbles, trash, leaves, sticks, a plastic washer?, and more; the same is true with the detailed operations of a mission. There are a kaleidoscope of activities that add variety to the work. Some of these are quick hitters, and some can be quite time consuming. Here is a list of most of the significant items on which we consistently spend time. As a couple we have become pretty good at segregating the tasks and supporting each other to accomplish all that needs to get done. This is purely for our own historical record (we print a book each year from this blog for our our history).

• Reading and responding to weekly missionary letters and posting miracles from those letters to the missionary portal for the entire mission
• Regular financial statement reviews of the mission branch and districts
• Audit reviews and sign-offs and communication with the Area Controller when needed
• Signing of ALL mission checks including sign-off of all apartment rentals
• Apartment issues that need immediate attention or which have languished too long in the cue
• Reviewing the acquisition of new apartments
• Purchasing printers, kitchen supplies, bedding, drying racks, irons, ironing boards, and lamps (and other small items) for new couples arriving in the mission when we open a new apartment
• Presidency meeting every two weeks
• Planning and formation of new Groups and Branches
• 10 DIstrict Conferences a year (planning, speaking at, and/or presiding)
• Annual mission branch conference (Wa)
• Counseling with District Presidents (most of this is done by my counselors)
• Taking calls for “special interviews” of those being baptized who require an interview with the mission president
• Speaking and following up with missionaries who are struggling with a variety of issues
• Updating the Welcome Booklet (Akwaaba Booklet) that we present to all new missionaries
• Updating the Mission Toolbox as we continue to learn
• Signing off on all Temple Patron Assistance Fund requests and sending them to the area and then back to the districts once approved
• Updating the calendar of all major mission activities including interviews
• Maintaining the structure of Mission Leadership Council’s tracking spreadsheet and reviewing the progress on key indicators by companionship
• Reviewing monthly mission operating, financial, and performance reports
• Membership councils where Mission President involvement or approval is required
• Approving new buildings and meeting places for new Groups and Branches
• Monthly review of facility maintenance issues with the two Facilities Managers that support the Mission (North and South)
• Attending Stake Conferences
• Missionary travel issues when a problem arises and something unusual occurs
• Approval for use of charitable funds to replace worn out shoes or clothing for a missionary when they have no personal money
• Approval of all dental work that falls under charitable funds
• Update the mission Facebook page (we are way behind)
• Scheduling Missionary Interviews
• Organizing and inputting phone check information into Google Sheets
• Communicating with Stake Presidents, especially when missionaries request going home a transfer early
• Organizing and arranging meals for incoming and outgoing missionaries, zone conferences, and the Mission Leadership Council

Of all of the details required to keep a mission running, they pale in comparison to the detailed involvement we see by the miraculous hand of the Lord. We see His hand in this work every single day. For example, we have over 200 pages of “snippets” from weekly letters of miracles missionaries are experiencing as they love, serve, find, teach, bless, and encourage the people of Ghana. We see His hand in our efforts as He magnifies us far beyond our own capabilities. We see His hand in the conversion of missionaries who are assigned to labor here with us. We see His hand in the calling and sustaining of leaders in the mission and in the Districts. We see His hand in transfers and in working through missionary health challenges. In essence, we see it everywhere, everyday. We are so grateful to be engaged in this great work with 190 missionaries who have been called to serve with their hearts, might, minds, and strength, Together in Ghana.