It was a week filled with interviews. 50 to be exact. We have learned to take advantage of the first week of transfers by doing as many interviews as possible that are close to Kumasi. This past week was no exception. Monday evening we went to Asouyeboa, Tuesday we were in Dichemso, Wednesday was University (southwest), Thursday was Suame, and Friday was University (northeast). I realized after I named this post, that I had two other posts with the same title. So I went back and added I, II, III to each one to provide a small amount of differentiation.

This is a short 5 week transfer because of the Christmas blackout dates for missionary travel and so we are working very hard to get everyone scheduled and interviewed. This includes using the 4 – 7 pm period on Monday evenings as well.

On Monday late afternoon we drove to Asouyeboa and interviewed the 6 missionaries serving in the Abuakwa District where Elder Palelei is the new District Leader. These missionaries are all doing great.

Monday night I went back over to the Mission Office and set apart Alfred Kusi. He will be serving in the Nigeria Benin City Mission presided over by President and Sister Baidoo from Ghana. He is a great young man from the Nkwabeng branch in Sunyani. It is such a privilege to place my hands on the head of these new young missionaries and hear/feel the impressions of the spirit promise them great gifts and blessings.

On Tuesday we were in Dichemso zone and interviewed the 10 missionaries there before and after their excellent District Council. We are so blessed with young men and young women who are committed to their purpose as missionaries. We are grateful!

On Wednesday, we changed our schedule in order to accommodate a 1 pm meeting with our IFR (In-field representative), Elder Wayne Thomas Watson. To make that work, we decided to interview the missionaries on the southwest end of the University Zone on Wednesday instead of driving to Effiduase and Kwamo.

As part of my interview with Elder Tapatuetoa, he again brought his guitar and sang me a beautiful rendition of “Love at Home”. I videoed it so you could enjoy it as well.

We made it back to the Mission Home by 12:30 pm and our meeting with Elder Watson and the other mission presidents who joined this particular session started about 15 minutes late due to another meeting that Elder Watson was attending. Here is a list of the items that we covered.

• Service Missions for missionaries returning home early to areas where service missions exist.
• Medical releases and opportunities for service mission work while recuperating.
• Elder Watson will be completing his service in December and there will be two new IFRs to cover Africa. Ours will be Elder Sackey and he will just cover West Africa Area.
• Discussed concerns where an IFR is to be contacted immediately.
• Importance in involving stake presidents early in a missionaries service if they are having struggles with obedience or getting acclimated.
• Missions need to have updated Emergency Plans and they should be sent to the area security team.
• We need to know the handbooks and then act according to the guidelines therein.
• Importance of making sure missionaries are staying within sight / sound of each other.
• Missionaries (including senior missionaries) should NEVER hold children.
• Every companionship is to have a senior and a junior companion.
• We are encouraged to change the 90 day expiration day in outlook for emails.
• Changes to the assignment of a senior couple other than MLS, Office, or YSA requires approval of the missionary department.
• Important to teach the doctrine associated with inspired mission dates. This is especially an issue with school starts in January and August.

We will miss Elder Watson. His service has been exemplary.

On Wednesday evening we held our mission presidency meeting over Zoom. I say it often, and I will say it again. I am so grateful for these brethren who serve with me. Managing the growth of the districts and matching that growth to the missionaries we have been given is a constant challenge for us.

On Thursday, we did the majority of the interviews for the Suame Zone starting in Atafoa and then moving to the Suame Stake Center. Two of our sisters were at the dentist so will have to interview them after zone conference. These were great interviews with great missionaries!

On Thursday night we had Elder Stephen come into the Mission Office at 5 pm. He left early Friday morning to return home to Lagos. We enjoyed a nice meal together at Aboude’s. He will be sitting for an interview at the US Embassy in Lagos next week to be able to attend BYU-Idaho in January. Such a fine young man!

On Friday, we drove out to Effiduase and Kwamo and interviewed the missionaries in the northeast part of the University Zone. We meet at the Kwamo 1 ward building which is right on the road and perhaps the noisiest building we visit. The good news is that there is a back room used for the primary where a breeze can blow thru the open windows on two sides of the room. Still noisy, but manageable. We had originally planned to do these interviews on Wednesday, but changed them to Friday because of the meeting with Elder Watson. Coming home from Kwamo (it is the road that goes between Accra and Kumasi) on a Friday afternoon at 3:00 pm required some patience. That trip is normally less than 30 minutes but on Friday it took us 90 minutes. We made it back home in time to join the other couples at Piri Piri for a Friday date night.

Saturday was a pure catchup day. I hadn’t had time to touch the weekly missionary letters and on Saturday was able to respond to over 50 of them (about 4 hours). I also prepared the weekly letter to the missionaries titled “Begin with the end in Mind“. I had planned for a different topic, and then a series of spiritual impressions and “coincidences” caused me to change. I am grateful for the gentle nudges that sent me in this direction.

We had a rare treat on Saturday evening. BYU played a game in the morning (Utah time) that we were able to watch in its entirety without losing sleep. It was a great game, one BYU should have won. Fun to watch AND painful to watch, but a nice changeup from our normal routine.

On Sunday, we drove out to Konongo to attend their Stake Conference. Elder Tonga Sai was the visiting authority, he is an Area Seventy from Cote d’Ivorie. Such a good humble man who served his mission in Birmingham (and we think that means Alabama). His english was excellent. Elder Sai spoke about what he has learned from President Nelson (the power of Christ’s doctrine and the power of forgiveness); The importance of serving the Lord; The importance of being kind and loving to our friends so we can invite them to “Come and See”; The meaning of Living Water; The blessings of baptism and laboring all our days and saving one soul. Most of the other talks were in Twi and so I can’t say much about those. President Stephen Obeng spoke about the Prodigal Son and though it was in Twi, it was easy to figure out his topic as he intertwined English words in his talk. LaDawn spoke about building a firm foundation and I spoke about repentance. Since the Ashanti King’s palace is in the stake boundaries he was apparently invited and he sent one of his “sub chiefs” to attend.

We had a chance to meet some of the investigators who came with missionaries after the conference. We always love the opportunity to talk to them about their experience. The stake choir did a great job singing hymns of the restoration. This was a big improvement over the last stake conference we attended in Dichemso where the hymns were from other faiths. Overall, it was a conference with a wonderful spirit and we were grateful to be in attendance with the 12 missionaries of the zone and 400+ members and leaders.

Interviewing missionaries is at times easy, and at times difficult, but it is always rewarding. So many of our missionaries are working hard to bring souls to Christ. They bring powerful memorized scriptures to the interviews and we have wonderful gospel discussions. This transfer, my scripture is on Judgment and is found in Mormon 3:20. The Spirit has taught me so many things about this scripture as I have already shared it 50 times. I hope to learn even more. This is such a magnificent opportunity as we labor as Mission Leaders in the Ghana Kumasi Mission, gathering Israel one last time, Together in Ghana.