It's Not Kansas, Toto
From Salt Lake to Dallas, from Dallas to London and London to Accra the flights were long but without challenges. So fun to see Kristen, Alexis, Logan and Slade. They brought pizza, homemade cookies and Kristen brought peanut M & M’s for her dad, then on to London’s Heathrow Airport. Even with three hours of layover we did not get to do anything except walk from one end to another through lines and security. Next stop Accra.
We arrived in Accra at 8P.M. and had to
descend the stairs out of our 747 British Airways plane, no easy feat carrying
a bag in each hand. We were out of customs, including our infrared Ebola
screening, in a mere two hours. Elder and Sister Crisp, from Mesa, picked us
up. They are the Mission Office couple.
Outside the airport were accosted by
“helpers” who take over, helping you to your car with your suitcases. They are
seeking payment. I was afraid that I might lose one of our suitcases. Elder
Crisp paid them off with a couple of Books of Mormon and Sister Crisp gave them
a couple of cedes. There are, currently, about 3 cedes to the dollar.
We arrived at our apartment, a fourplex,
behind a wall, topped with barbwire and a double drive through gate. We have
only one 24/7 guardian of the gate, a Muslim man named Bubba. Yes, he has one
of the carport spaces, two plastic chairs a small table with a radio on it.
Some things were ready in our apartment
and the Crisps had bought us some milk, bread and cereal to go with the peanut
butter and jam that I brought from home. We were, however, greeted with a
typical power outage and when there is no electricity there is also no water.
We had a couple of bottles of water and a bed. Around midnight the power came
on in the complex and we could turn on the fan and air conditioner. We have
two, one in the bedroom and one in the living room. Around 3A.M. it was gone
again. MELTING.
Sunday morning we called the Crisp’s
and found out, surprisingly, that their power was still on. When they left for
church we hurried to their apartment with our four washcloths, we have no
towels, to use their shower. We brought a blow dryer and curling iron, but that
late at night and without electricity we hadn’t unpacked so we didn’t know
where the converters were but we patched ourselves together and were ready when
President and Sister Heid picked us up.
We drove out of town about two hours to
an Adenta Ward. We drove on the George Bush Memorial Motorway and on to many
red dirt roads and over many potholes that could swallow many tires. The church
buildings are fenced and are SUCH a contrast to the neighborhood. They are very
simple but a place of beauty in this very different land.
The members were nicely dressed and we
thoroughly enjoyed the Primary Sacrament Program; happy children, raising their
hands, answering question, their parts memorized and singing joyously. What a
marvelous spirit these young people bring. On the way home we had a chance to
see the Temple and a little of the area around.
Back at the ranch, still no power, so
we sat at the Crisp’s until around four when we left with them to enjoy a
delightful dinner at the Heid’s. It turned out to be Pres. Heid’s birthday so
that was a special treat. There at the Mission home we learned that the reason
we had no electricity was that the APs had not gotten around to paying the
bill. Guess they didn’t think to do it until too late on Saturday. Ahh, the youth.
You can imagine how warm our apt was
by now, Arizona plus humidity. We know those sad nights with no air and no
fans.
Monday morning took us back to the
Crisp’s. By now we were barely patched together. No false first impressions we. But we made it to our first meeting in the morning by 8 A.M.
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| Living Room |
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| Dining Room |
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| Bed (only) Room |
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| Lovely Bath |
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| Dream (Nightmare?) Shower |
