Mother’s Day Away

Today was Mother’s Day and I miss my wife and my own mom. I love them very much!

 We had a massive group of kids follow us home because Nate decided to share his candy with them. We learned that was a BIG mistake. It all started with us looking for some flowers to give to Margaret, Chloee, Maddie, and the BYU girls next door. We printed a quote from Sheri Dew off about every woman being a mother and were going to give it to them all. Well, the kids were quite anxious to get the flowers for us but wanted to charge us. We told them we would not pay but we had some candy at home. Once the candy came out…chaos began! We were able to get a large group of them to share a message for Mother’s Day though:

The branch is quite big and I guess in one year they will be turned into a stake and wards. That is very exciting! I love to see that the church is growing in all parts of the world. During church I decided to go to primary. They do not break into individual classes, they only have senior and junior. I went to senior primary where there were only 2 teachers and 42 kids. It was amazing to me how well behaved the kids were. The church in many ways is still in its infancy out here, but we sure could learn a thing or two from the people I am sure! We spoke with the the Dalton’s who are the senior missionary couple here in Abomosu (daltonwinger.blogspot.com). Elder Dalton said that some missionaries go home with 300 baptisms under their belt. The gospel spreads like wildfire. They need help doing things the correct way though. For example when the Dalton’s arrived they had to update all the records which were not updated since 1983 I believe. Besides just being out of date, they had young girls who were ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood. The biggest problem with the record keeping is people do not really know how to use a computer. Good thing for great missionaries! Another interesting thing which stood out to me was when I was meeting some of the kids. There was a set of twin girls who had the same name and were called #1 and #2. I guess that happens a lot out here.

 We experienced our very first rainstorm. It was quite impressive. The rain falls as if being poured out of a bucket, not quite what I am used to happening on a regular basis. I love it though!

The last tidbit of the day is a startling fact I discovered. Elder Dalton told us the average income for a family in this area is 600 Ghana Cedis, which is approximately $300 each YEAR! I have learned that over 2 billion people in the world live on under a dollar a day, but now I am actually experiencing it. Even though they live in such poverty, people seem to be genuinely happy. I know that I have so much I can and will learn out here. I find it a sacred opportunity to come serve the Lord’s children and to help people become self-sufficient and better their lives.