Christmas in Ghana

Alema Court missionaries wishing everyone a Merry Christmas

Sister Stoker made this Christmas Greeting for her family and shared the photo with us.  From left to right: Smiths, Taylors, Elmers, Walls and the Stokers.  We are missing the Bullocks who were unable to be there.  Elder and Sister Stoker live in the neighboring stake, Mount Olympus Stake, back home in Utah.  Sister Taylor and Sister Stoker are wearing clothes made from the beautiful African fabric they have here.  Most of the sisters get several items made for them while they are here.

Elder & Sister Taylor and Elder and sister Wall

We took these pictures just before leaving for an evening of singing Christmas Carols at the Area President's home on Sunday December 22nd.

Singing together is such fun!

President and Sister Curtis are sitting between the Stokers and Robert, who is at the keyboard.  Their grandchildren are on the couch.  We had some great singers there, even their youngest grandson, on the sofa, was quite a singer.  I will say they were all impressed with Elder Smith's piano skills.  We sang a lot of songs; many from the hymn book, some from our own song sheets and then several from the Children's Songbook.  We thoroughly enjoyed this.

Brother and Sister Kradolfer and Elder and Sister Elmer

Plilippe Kradolfer (his wife is wearing the red top) is the DTA (Director of Temporal Affairs) for the Africa West Area.  It was fun to be in a home with decorations and President and Sister Curtis were gracious hosts, very warm and welcoming.  We work with some very capable and fine people.

Sisters Smith and Stoker with Rebecca

Christmas Eve we were at the office until about 2 p.m.  We took this picture with Rebecca, a church employee, on our way out.  Many wore red today.

The Packs, the Walls and the Slaters

Christmas Eve all the missionaries ate dinner at the Hotel Alisa.  We had a delicious meal from their lovely buffet.  Elder and Sister Pack are PEF/Self Reliance missionaries.  Brother Slater is a Church employee in the legal department.  They are about half way through their four-year assignment.

Delicious food and fun visiting was enjoyed by all.

One of Robert's favorite dishes was the ground nut soup--peanut soup.  It was yummy.  I liked a potato and apple salad that had some sweet pickle in it.  I just liked the salad bar period!  This is not the way we usually spend Christmas but when you can't be with family, this is not a bad option.

Midnight Mass

About six couples went to the Midnight Mass at the Catholic Church after the dinner.  We arrived about 10 p.m. and enjoyed a little Christmas re-enactment of the nativity before the mass started.  The Archbishop kindly welcomed his Mormon friends.  We have not been to a midnight mass for a long time so it was interesting to see the procession, incense and pageantry.  We are not used to late nights now so we fell into bed when we got home.

Ghana Missionary Training Center

Ghana has its own MTC.  All the missionary couples went there Christmas morning for brunch (we all brought the food), games and singing.   President and Sister Graham will be returning home soon.  All the missionaries in Africa come here if they are going to French speaking countries.  There were only five missionaries there at the time.  Each of the missionary couples contributed an item or two

for a gift bag for each of them.  They were surprised and happy. 

Sisters Taylor, Fitzgerald, Cannon and Pack

People gathered for visiting and photos before the brunch.  The senior missionary couples become good friends while they are serving here.  Everyone is sad when someone leaves and happily welcomes the new missionaries.

This is Robert with Elder Call,  President Afful (Ghana Temple President) and Elder Assard a temple missionary.  The Assards are one of the couples who originally took the gospel to Cote d'Ivoire in the 1980's.  He met and married his wife in Germany when he attended school there.  They later returned to Cote d'Ivoire to help build up the church in that area.

Here Elder Cannon is visiting with Sister Assard and Sister Afful.  The dresses they are wearing are typical dresses worn here in Ghana.

Robert's music added to the Christmas spirit as we prepared to eat.  This is the first (only) real piano we have seen since coming to Africa.  Most of the buildings have electronic keyboards.  He also played for some group singing later.

Sister Bullock and Sister Elmer

We enjoyed breakfast casseroles, delicious fruit and a variety of yummy breads.  It was all delicious and there was plenty of food.  After eating, we went into another room for singing Christmas carols, several fun games directed by Sister Peterson, a white elephant exchange and a musical number.

The men were asked to draw a Christmas scene, per Sister Petersen's directions, on top of their head where they were unable to see.  Robert happened to win this game with his superb drawing of a fireplace with wreath, rug and a tree with decorations, gifts and a star.  The trick was, they had to go back and forth between the fireplace and the tree for each item.

Lots of presents for everyone!

The white elephant gift game is always fun and good for lots of laughs.  The Walls probably had to choose more gifts than anyone since theirs kept getting taken by others.

So a Merry Christmas was enjoyed by all.  We returned home, baked cookies, delivered gifts to our neighbors and enjoyed a DVD on the first Christmas.  We especially enjoyed reading emails from our children and getting some face time in with them.  It was wonderful to see and visit with loved ones.  We feel especially grateful for the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and  and the great gift He has given to all mankind.  We are truly blessed!