The title of this post does not match the picture, but they are related 😊. The picture is of the sun setting this past week. Harmattan has finally arrived in Ghana. It came a bit later this year because we had rain deeper into the month of December. The rain keeps the very fine dust blown in from the Sahara from collecting in the air. It is this very fine dust that provides beautiful red sunsets (albeit a bit muted). 

It was a fitting week for Harmattan sunsets given that our 22nd transfer here has had at least 5 iterations. Just like Harmattan arrives every December, we had missionaries arriving almost every other day. We received missionaries on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and the last of the group will arrive on Monday, December 18th. These last 8 are American Missionaries who attended the Provo MTC and have been staying in Accra over the weekend so they could get their medicals for their resident visa along with their non-Citizen Ghana cards. In addition, we sent a group of missionaries home on Wednesday, December 13th and then one missionary home on December 17th. I will explain more below. When the rain stops falling and the dust begins to permeate the air, it is a signal that the dry season is here. When 18 of your most powerful missionaries go home and are replaced by 22 new missionaries, it is a sign that it is time to focus on training up a new generation of missionaries.

On Monday afternoon, we held our mission transfer meeting. This is where we get the Office Elders, the Assistants, the Pack’s, the Loveland’s, Alex Cobbina (mission driver) and us together and go over the schedule for the week. We knew it would be an incredibly busy and long week because of the arrival and departure dates of 19 and 22 missionaries respectfully which continued into the next week. Planning the details of a week like this takes some effort. Fortunately, LaDawn has become very good at doing just that. Right before the transfer meeting, the missionary who was sent home for disobedience arrived in the mission home and I spent some time with him. Afterwards I spent a bit more time with him. The details are too painful to relate here.

On Tuesday morning, I spent much of the day reading and answering missionary emails from the Monday that came eight days before. We have been so busy the last couple of weeks that getting to these emails has been a struggle. I did manage to finish them on Tuesday before the departing missionaries arrived at the Mission Home. At 4:00 pm, we drove over to the Mission Home and met with a few of the departing missionaries who had asked to see me before they left. This was a powerful group of missionaries and we will miss them dearly! We enjoyed a wonderful dinner made by Hannah and then played two rounds of Preach My Gospel jeopardy before handing out the scarfs and pins. We have been counseled that we should discontinue the giving of both of these items. For some missionaries, this is going to be very difficult as it is their evidence of having served. What we really want is for their countenance to be their evidence. On Tuesday, there were 4 missionaries whose scarfs we did not have as all four had been moved up a transfer to accommodate attending school in January. Later in the evening we discovered that the office elders had the scarfs and when the four discovered this, I don’t think I have ever seen such joy! Clearly the scarf’s mean too much.

On Wednesday morning, these missionaries departed early morning and the rest of the day until 4:30 pm we spent preparing for the Mission Leadership Council on Friday. LaDawn worked on recording the information from the phone checks as I pulled together vision refresh and accountability slides for MLC. At 4:45 pm we left to go to the airport to pick up Elder De Guzman and Elder Naingue who flew in from the Philippines MTC. We asked missionary travel that they come on Wednesday so they would be available for the training on Thursday morning with those from the Ghana MTC. Wednesday evening I held our mission presidency meeting over Zoom, but had to push it back to 8 pm because the flight with the missionaries came in over 1 hour late and we barely made it home on time.

Thursday morning we were up early and at the airport to greet the 10 missionaries who arrived at 7 am from the Ghana MTC. Maybe it was because we are in the holiday season or maybe someone of importance was flying in, that there were loud drummers and a traditional dancer doing some sort of “song and dance”. It was so loud LaDawn and I could not hear each other. By the time our missionaries arrived, they had left and we were grateful.

After arriving back at the mission office, we were joined by Simon Jamboe, a “volunteer missionary” from the University stake. Elder Jamboe turned 26 before he could get his papers in and so the area presidency and I worked with the missionary department to bring him in as a volunteer missionary for at least 6 months. He is an amazing young man who speaks Twi, and we are grateful to have someone of his maturity, language ability, and desire, serving in the Kumasi Mission. These 13 missionaries represent 11 different countries (Ghana, Philippines, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Samoa, DR Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Madagascar, South Africa, and Cote d’Ivorie). We are a diverse mission for sure! We started the orientation by going over the mission vision and the contents of the Akwaaba (welcome) booklet. We finished before noon, and then had pizza from Piri Piri, always a hit with the new missionaries. We then gave them from about 12:30 – 4:00 pm to fill out paperwork, get some rest (they had been up since 2 am) and have an interview with LaDawn and me. By 4:30 pm we started our new missionary devotional on integrity and commitment (keys and bananas) and finished with plenty of time to spare for dinner which started about 5:45 pm.

We finished up with our ground nut soup and chicken dinner, took the four sisters to the bunkhouse at the mission home and then kept working on finalizing things for the MLC. It was a very long day.

On Friday, we were back to the Mission Office by 7:30 am to feed the new missionaries breakfast and then begin our ‘train the trainer’ meeting by 8:30 am. We spent most of the time talking about the new training program. We also talked about a new shorter version of Becoming a Finder of the Elect. We have boiled it down to four simple steps. We hope it will help bring clarity to the missionaries about how to find those who seeking for truth in their life and have been prepared by the Spirit of the Lord.

We finished with the ‘train the trainer’ shortly after 10 am and made our way with all but one of the new missionary companionships (they went direct to their area in a Bolt) over to the Bantama Stake Center. It didn’t take long to get everyone loaded up and on their way. I love these opportunities to visit with a few missionaries who are struggling. From one, I took his phone away for a few weeks. From another, he confessed he had a sim card after LaDawn saw the evidence on the phone and we pointed it out to him. To others, it is just a chance to spread some encouragement and gratitude for their willingness to go where they have been called to go. The time is short, less than an hour, but it is one of my favorite times of the entire transfer.

From there, we went back home, grabbed a quick lunch and then was back at the Mission Office at 1 pm to start the Mission Leadership Council. This has to be my favorite meeting of the transfer. This transfer, we called 5 new members of the Council: Elder Gboro, Elder Palelei, Elder Sandukira, Sister Awuku, and Sister Manico.

The centerpiece of the MLC was the presentation by the Assistants titled, “The Art of Conversation”. This was a masterful instruction on how to ask big questions and the use the gifts of silence and listening to be able to discern and hear the needs of people we are meeting and speaking with. I did a vision refresh on “Enduring to the End” and the ensuing discussion was wonderful. We also reviewed the numbers associated with the key indicators, talked about the Perfect Exchange, and discussed serving others on Christmas Day rather than proselyte. It was a great meeting.

On Saturday, we received in Sister Martin. She came to us from the New Zealand MTC and is a native of New Zealand. She arrived at noon, and we drove to the Mission Office where her trainer, Sister Lomboto, met her. We spent the next 3 hours going over the orientation and “train the trainer” training that we had done the two previous days with the other 13 missionaries and their trainers. Receiving in missionaries at different times really becomes a chore for us, but we do what needs to be done. We are grateful to have Sister Martin with us in the Ghana Kumasi Mission! We later learned that she is actually Sister Moemai’s cousin, another Samoan who serves in the mission.

As soon as we finished orienting and training Sister Martin and Sister Lomboto, we hurried home and began a two hour session with the last 8 missionaries coming to the mission for the transfer. We had 8 Americans who came in on Friday, but had to spend the weekend in Accra so they could get their resident visa’s started on Monday and then come to us on Monday evening. That meant that LaDawn and I along with the Assistants met with them on Saturday from 4 – 6 pm and on Sunday I and the Assistants met with them from 2-4 pm. This really helped us get a ahead of the curve when they arrived on Monday. I am grateful for Elder Mba and Elder Baldwin, as they carried a big portion of the load on these calls. We are also grateful for Eric Borteye Abuyeh in Accra, who cared for the missionaries over the weekend and got them on a flight late Monday afternoon to come to us. The ability to work virtually through Zoom and Teams is a huge blessing to us and allows us to move the work forward faster than otherwise possible.

We no sooner finished the meeting with the 8 Americans when Elder Riggs arrived at the Mission Office from Tamale. He went home a few days after the main group because his parents were not home at the time he would have arrived. That meant either he needed to leave a week early or a week late. We opted for a week late as he was serving as the branch president in the Kalpohin Branch. He served for just over 4 months and in that timeframe the branch flourished. It is amazing what a 20 year old who reads and applies the General Handbook of Instructions and follows the advice of priesthood leaders can make such a significant impact. We will miss this amazing young man. He has changed peoples’ lives, including most of the companions with whom he labored. After dinner and the awarding of the scarf and the pin, we had him stay at the bunkhouse here at the mission home. We agreed to take him to the Kokoben Ward for church the next day since that is the ward where he started his mission. Our policy is that missionaries do not return to prior areas before they go home, but since we wanted to go to church in that ward as well, we agreed to take him with us. It was a wonderful sacrament meeting and after the block, Elder Rawson and Elder Stormont had the baptism for a man named Isaac. This man is a future leader and it was wonderful to witness the ordinance.

After church, we drove out to where Mamma Jannet lives. Jannet is a woman that Elder Riggs and Elder Kampanga baptized in April of 2022. Her story is a miracle in itself and you can read about that here. She still lives in the same unfinished house. Her daughter Augustina (a non-member) and granddaughter Lilian (member) were both in church. After the baptism, we loaded them up and took them home so we could see Mamma Jannet. What a treat that was! She was so excited to see Elder Riggs and she also has a special love for LaDawn. Elder Riggs (as voice) and I gave her a priesthood blessing as she has not been feeling well of late. The visit wasn’t long, but one of those moments that defines what it means to minister to another.

We made it back home a little after 1 pm and the office elders came and picked up Elder Riggs at 1:45 pm and took him to the airport. As mentioned above, the Assistants and I then met for two hours with the new missionaries in Accra. That evening, I met with the Assistants face to face and we spent most of the time talking about how to improve their instruction on “The Art of Conversation”. What we have realized is that we have taught the missionaries to profile the people to identify barriers. But now, mostly to Elder Mba’s credit, we have come to know that what is most important is to profile them to identify their needs. These allows us to teach to those needs. Too many missionaries pick the need for the people and then pigeonhole them into that need. It works sometimes, but we believe there are many who never really feel heard. The evidence is that some of the people who show interest at least at first never come to church. It is something we hope to prepare thoroughly for the zone conferences coming in 2 weeks.

That brings a very busy week to a close. It actually continues thru Tuesday of next week once the 8 Americans and another Senior Couple arrive in the mission. You will need to read about that next week. We are grateful for the Holy Ghost that magnifies our efforts way beyond our own capabilities. We testify that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that this is His work, not ours, as we gather Israel one last time, Together in Ghana.