From April 18, 2011: On Monday the apartment went to the Art Market. The market consists of what a person thinks of when they think Africa culture. I bought some bamboo bracelets and necklaces as well as a mask and a panting. The shop keepers drive up the prices. Thankfully we have been living in the African environment so we know what the prices should actually be and then negotiate down. There were some other white people there from Holland and some students and professors from Utah State and I'm sure they got ripped off. In the mind of a person still used to the cost of living in a first world country the prices at the market still sound like an okay deal, but because the standard of living is much lower here so are the cost of things so when we come across an item sold in the states with the inflated "American Quality" price, it gets expensive (25GHC for a bottle of face wash).
On Tuesday the McCarthy Zone (A Zone is comprised of a number of districts which is comprised of several areas each worked b attended the Temple so that was a refreshing experience. As a mission we used to go every three months, but now it has been changed to every six which is too bad.
On Wednesday Elder Gagnon and I visited some members, the Mensahs. They are an educated family with a son on a mission. I enjoy socializing with the members because we get more of the culture and it earns their trust which we need as missionaries.
Thursday we were notified that Elder Keeng and Elder Omale were released from prison after the judge of the retrial acknowledged that the original judge was biased and bribed to rule in favor of the prosecution.
Friday Elder Gagnon and I were visiting our investigator, Mercy. Mercy told us a dream she wanted us to interpret: she was in a field containing onions as far as she could see-- that's it. Elder Gagnon and I were expecting a bit more ourselves and were suprised that it was the end of the dream. In Ghana there is a lot of emphasis on dreams and what they mean.
On Saturday we met a man named Michael that called us wanting to meet with us. We found his house and he told us that he had met with missionaries from the church over a year ago and had some of the books we give out. He had been reading them frequently and decided it was time to get in contact again. It was a highlight to the week because it had gone downhill after the temple. From the experience I learned that while we won't baptize many of the people we teach here, there will be many people in their own time like Michael that will be more ready after they have let the message sit and develop over the course of their life. We extended a date to Michael and he came to church the next day where he said he felt at home.
On Sunday the power was still out from the previous night making the night hot and uncomfortable. It was a bit discouraging for us because we had rain last week and power outage this. The reason for this is when there is rain the people don't go out and if there is no light and something like church the attendance is lower because they are unable to iron their clothes and don't like to go to church with wrinkles. However the light was only out in our area so our investigators still came to church. After church we visited our investigators, Comfort and Emmanuela who were watching The Legend Of The Seeker. For some reason the people here really love the show, all of the movies here are pirated from China with 16 different movies on a single disk. Comfort and Emmaluela fed us before a short lesson. When we returned home the light came on, but went out again because of a big rain storm that brought a nice cool front in. The light came back on before we went to bed which was nice.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
From April 11, 2011: Getting hotter; cooking skills
From April 11, 2011: Well on Monday I checked my emails at night due to several power outages. Elder Gagnon and I spent time talking to the owner of the cafe, George. George is a fat middle 20s Ghanaian who has lived in several places in the states for periods of time. George gave us some snacks and we had fun talking to each other because he has a Western personality. On another note I got some exercise equipment from another missionary so it has motivated me to work out again. My goal is to be able to identify that I have lost some weight by the end of the month. I figure it will take a lot of effort and time, but I do have a year and a half left.
On Tuesday we met with the member, Isaac Ahenie and his muslim wife trying to convert to the church, Furella. Because of the Muslim culture to stay in the religion or face reproductions from the family such a separation, physical abuse, severance of body parts, or death we don't teach a Muslim unless there won't be problems. For the three months I have known Isaac I thought his Christian faith was known to his wife's parents. However he told us on Tuesday that when his wife's parents come to visit he goes to the Mosque pretending to be Muslim to keep his Christianity as a secret. It was eye opening to see Isaac go great lengths to protect his secret.
Wednesday was when I made a stew of some sort to eat with my Indomie (top ramen). The first apartment I was in didn't cook so I was use to eating out more. While I have been in the McCarthy Hills area I am working on developing more cooking skills. I figure it will pay off.
On Thursday it was really hot. It has been getting progressively hotter which hasn't been much fun. I felt the sun developed an agitated state that day so I wrote down in the journal how the locals treat us. The majority of people are friendly to us asking us various "white man questions" and speak Twi to us for them to get a response from us. There are some instances though where we are served last in a line or charged more for what is sold in a shop because we are white. It is an interesting form of racism I guess.
On Friday, like Thursday it was really hot. The only notable thing I wrote down is that Elder Gagnon and I passed a woman peeing in the road.
Saturday was Elder Gagnon's year mark in Ghana. We had a baptism for Samuel Aboagye (14) who is a member of the Aboagye family baptized earlier. After the baptism we went to Shoprite to buy some food to celebrate his year mark.
Sunday it rained before church so none of our investigators came to church. The Ghanaian people don't go outside when it rains so there was a significant lower number of people at the church. The bishop gave some inspiring remarks at the send of the service about how he compared the foundation of a bridge being build nearby to the church being build upon the apostles and revelation from Jesus Christ. He also talked about how the roof of the church protected us from the rain just like the priciples of the Gospel, but only if we use them.
On Tuesday we met with the member, Isaac Ahenie and his muslim wife trying to convert to the church, Furella. Because of the Muslim culture to stay in the religion or face reproductions from the family such a separation, physical abuse, severance of body parts, or death we don't teach a Muslim unless there won't be problems. For the three months I have known Isaac I thought his Christian faith was known to his wife's parents. However he told us on Tuesday that when his wife's parents come to visit he goes to the Mosque pretending to be Muslim to keep his Christianity as a secret. It was eye opening to see Isaac go great lengths to protect his secret.
Wednesday was when I made a stew of some sort to eat with my Indomie (top ramen). The first apartment I was in didn't cook so I was use to eating out more. While I have been in the McCarthy Hills area I am working on developing more cooking skills. I figure it will pay off.
On Thursday it was really hot. It has been getting progressively hotter which hasn't been much fun. I felt the sun developed an agitated state that day so I wrote down in the journal how the locals treat us. The majority of people are friendly to us asking us various "white man questions" and speak Twi to us for them to get a response from us. There are some instances though where we are served last in a line or charged more for what is sold in a shop because we are white. It is an interesting form of racism I guess.
On Friday, like Thursday it was really hot. The only notable thing I wrote down is that Elder Gagnon and I passed a woman peeing in the road.
Saturday was Elder Gagnon's year mark in Ghana. We had a baptism for Samuel Aboagye (14) who is a member of the Aboagye family baptized earlier. After the baptism we went to Shoprite to buy some food to celebrate his year mark.
Sunday it rained before church so none of our investigators came to church. The Ghanaian people don't go outside when it rains so there was a significant lower number of people at the church. The bishop gave some inspiring remarks at the send of the service about how he compared the foundation of a bridge being build nearby to the church being build upon the apostles and revelation from Jesus Christ. He also talked about how the roof of the church protected us from the rain just like the priciples of the Gospel, but only if we use them.
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