The highlight of the week was definitely our conference in Techiman. It was our third conference since they were formed into a district. Some really good things are happening. We arose early (5 am) on Saturday, September 24th and made the 2 hour 25 minute drive to Techiman. I dropped LaDawn off at the Couples apartment and made my way to the Kenten building where Joseph Asante (my second counselor) and I met with the District Presidency. It was a very productive meeting. We talked about growth in Akumadan and Kintampo, two towns where the Presidency would like to form new branches. Kintampo has long been a desire of ours to see something happen there. It is a town of about 75,000 people and just driving through it we can feel that the Church will do well there. We have about 11 members that we know of that live there and with that foundation, we think there is a future in Kintampo. Akumadan is a town about 45 minutes south of Techiman. We had 10-12 people from there come to conference on Sunday. A relatively new member of the Church (Kwame) is from a village not far from Akumadan and there is clearly interest to bring the Church there. We will see where this all goes. We also looked at the quarterly report and by doing so identified some areas of opportunity for the district. Of highest interest was the few number of prospective elders ordained in the last 12 months, the percentage of Aaronic Priesthood holders ordained to their age appropriate office, the number of ministering interviews, and the number of youth with a limited use recommend. It was good to agree on some key areas on which to focus.

At 10:00 am we started the priesthood leadership meeting. President Tony Adu spent 50 minutes speaking about Love, Share, and Invite as they relate to Temple and Family History Work; Missionary Work; and Ministering. He did a nice job. President Asante then spoke for 40 minutes following up on the missionary coordination meeting that we discussed at the conference 6 months ago. With the 20 minutes I had left I went through each of the branches asking each branch president about the number of youth they have and the presidencies of the quorums and classes (or lack thereof). We are really trying to focus on helping the branch presidents understand their first and foremost responsibility is to the youth of the Church. I also discussed the topic of how few callings exist in the branches compared to the people who attend sacrament meeting. Another area that we really need to improve in order to get more people involved in establishing the Church.

After the session, President Lesuno drove with President Asante and I over to the land (and buildings) that the Church has purchased for the Vatican City Branch. I was quite disappointed to see that we had someone living there (squatters?) and that no work had yet started. On Monday, I contacted Daniel Kabason in Accra to ask him what the status was. We have apparently had some problems with the original contractor (kept raising his bid after it was accepted) and the theft of some items, as well as the person living there uninvited. He assured me that in the next two weeks this would all be sorted and we will begin the project. The idea is to build an outdoor sacrament hall that will seat 300 so we can use it for district conference until the church is able to provide a district center. We will also be able to use the second building on the land for District and Branch offices, which will really help. The neighborhood is quiet and we are grateful for that as the Kenten building is on a very busy road. In the evening, we were able to watch the BYU – Kansas football game. We only had the iPad so not a big screen experience, but still fun to cheer on the alma mater (BYU lost).

The Sunday morning session was good. We had almost 300 in attendance. Topics covered: being an example, telling the truth, modesty, preparing for a mission, growing our faith, the importance of hearkening to the words of living prophets, building a firm foundation on Jesus Christ and repentance. We followed the same pattern as we did in Obuasi and held the adult meeting from 12:30 – 2:30 pm. We had almost 100 in attendance at that meeting. A very good showing and a significant improvement over holding it on a Saturday morning. Topics included Covenants, Scripture Study, Home centered gospel study, and the importance of focusing on individuals in need of ministering and love. LaDawn talked about loving God, and I spoke more about the connection between repentance and charity. I thought I would do something similar to what I did in Obuasi the previous week, but it turned out to be quite different – in a positive way. As soon as the meeting was over, we said our farewell’s and headed back to Kumasi, arriving home at 5:30 pm.

On Tuesday, we drove to Obuasi and did 4 interviews and then drove to Asonkore and did 4 more. We attended the district meeting of the Obuasi West district where Elder Fuller and Elder Kazadi (zone leaders) were leading. We had managed to do Dunkwa interviews at the District conference, so that saved us about 3 hours. We had also interviewed the two elders in Adansi Asokwa at zone conference so that saved us two more hours. All in all, it was a good day and the interviews went well. The district leader of that district went home for funeral leave and opted not to return. We were saddened by not having him and his companion (who was reassigned with us).

On Wednesday, we drove over to the mission office and interviewed the 6 missionaries in the Daban District. These are powerful missionaries and we are grateful for all they do to help the mission grow and progress.

Woven throughout the week were issues from missionary companionships, including one visit with a missionary and that missionary’s stake president. When a young missionary is struggling to work and stick to their purpose, a call to the stake president can often help them get back on track. The options are not good if a missionary chooses to not fulfill their purpose. They either have to change or go back home until they have repented and kindle a desire to serve with their hearts, might, mind, and strength. This is never the outcome we want, but accountability needs to be learned. It is not something that is endemic in the culture, and yet certainly something that is part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as evidenced by the final judgment. While it is not uncommon for trouble to spring up from time to time between companions, this week seemed full of them. In addition, we had two more missionaries go home due to medical issues. Sending a missionary home for any reason is not my decision, it is taken by the Missionary Department in Salt Lake. It does, however, require considerable time and effort on our part to make sure that priesthood leaders back home, the Area Presidency, and the Area Medical Advisor are all in agreement on the action to be recommended.

On both Thursday and Friday, I spent a significant amount of time working on the transfer board. Transfers are on the 28th and 29th of September and now that all of the interviews are complete, I can seek for and expect the necessary revelation to get missionaries to the right place with the right companion. It is always a revelatory process and takes time, effort, rework, prayer, pondering, reading of every letter from the missionaries, and action on my part. This transfer was especially difficult as I expect the next 3 to be as we send home many of our talented missionaries. We have already had to combine 13 areas as we now have only 169 missionaries.

I will mention one more thing. We have continued to struggle with water issues at the Mission Home. Lex and his helper came and spent another day working on the routing of the pipes. Even today (Tuesday, Sep 26th) they had to return because of a leak and a recycle of the water in the system. A backup value will hopefully solve the problem. The biggest issue for us is that the system worked well for 2+ years and now it is a mystery as to how and why that was the case. I guess just another mystery we may never understand.

This upcoming week marks our 20th transfer since arriving. We only have 6 more before we complete our mission. We have so much more we still want to accomplish – and the time is moving ever faster. We find it imperative that we use every available moment to love, teach, train, nurture, encourage, and inspire this incredible missionary force with which the the Lord has allowed us to serve, as we gather Israel, one last time, Together in Ghana.