25 February 2024
Dear Family and Friends,
This has been a busy and exciting week for us. It started Monday morning when we traveled east towards Accra to the Kasoa District Council meeting. We love meeting with these amazing young missionaries and learning with them. They are so focused on their missionary purpose of inviting others to come unto Christ and love the Ghanian people.
After the District Council we drove the rest of the way to Accra to the mission office to attend Senior Missionary Staff meeting with the office couples and President and Sister Jacobsen. During the meeting we received our assignments for Elder Bednar and Elder Kearon’s visit on Wednesday which also was transfer day for our mission. We were also given our assignments for helping with the departing and incoming missionaries on Thursday. After our meeting we walked down the street to Sister Felicia Mensah’s house to participate in some training for Gospel Literacy. We stayed at the Mission Office with the Topham’s on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
Tuesday morning we went to the temple. It was rather busy with young missionaries from the Ghana MTC (Missionary Training Center) and senior missionary sisters serving in the area office. While I was waiting my turn for initiatory, a beautiful sister came up to me, called me by name (I still had on my name tag) and asked where I was serving and what my assignment was. I told her I was a Member Leader Support missionary serving in the Ghana Accra West Mission, and she kindly thanked me for my service. I asked her what her name was and she said “Sister Kearon”, but with her accent it sounded like “Sister Karen” so it did not dawn on me that I had just had a sweet interaction with the newly called Apostle’s wife until after it was all over and I had wished her a wonderful day at the temple. What a tender mercy for me!
Frank had also gone to do initiatory. He had completed one name when the ordinance workers had to leave initiatory to help at the veil. So, he and the other patron were asked to just wait on a bench for the workers to return to initiatory. While they waited, Frank greeted the other brother who seemed to be in deep thought. The other brother apologized for being so preoccupied and then said that he was thinking about his wife because he had not seen her for two years. He went on to explain that he had met his wife-to-be online in 2020. She is African-American and lived in the US. They became best friends. She came to Ghana, and they were married in the Accra Temple in 2021. Then, she had to return to the US because she could not get a visa to stay in Ghana. He has been trying the last two years to get a visa to go to the US and has not been able to get one. Frank’s heart ached for this good, faithful brother who longed to be with his wife.
Frank had a “tender mercy” experience at the temple as well. While he was waiting for me in the foyer area at the end of his initiatory session, he started conversing with an elderly ordinance worker who is a sealer in the temple and happened to be sitting in the foyer area taking a break. As they talked, Frank learned that the brother, Emmanuel Ohene-Opare, was the first stake president of the first stake in Accra and was the first Area Seventy in Ghana. He was also a counselor in the first and the second area presidencies for the Africa West Area. Elder Glen Pace was the other counselor in the first area presidency and was the area president for the second area presidency. Given our assignment to write the history of the Church in Buduburam, it was a tender mercy for Frank to learn from Brother Opare about some individuals we will be able to talk with to learn more about the history of the Church Buduburam.
That afternoon we had more Gospel Literacy training with Sister Mensah and also joined a Zoom meeting for the Gospel Literacy missionaries in the Africa West Area and the two individuals located in the US responsible for implementing Gospel Literacy throughout the World. Our focus to start with will be on training Gospel Literacy teachers in the wards and branches in the Winneba Stake. After that, Sister Mensah would like us to start helping with Gospel Literacy in the other stakes in the Accra West Mission.
Wednesday morning we woke up early to be over to the stake center next to the temple by 7:30 a.m. to help with the transfering missionaries’ luggage. President Jacobsen told the missionaries to be at the stake center and seated for the devotional by 8:15. That meant that some of our missionaries had to get up at 2:30 am to catch a tro tro to Accra in order to be there by that time.
We stored the luggage in a room on the bottom floor of the stake center, then we went upstairs to the large chapel and cultural hall where the devotional with Elder Bednar and Elder Kearon was held. Looking out the windows of the chapel you can see the temple and area offices on the east and the Ghana MTC on the west. The devotional was amazing as Elder Bender interacted with the missionaries. He asked them to share what they learned from their study of his five talks over the last month and then followed up with clarifying questions and comments. He also let the missionaries ask the apostles questions. Several impressions I wrote down were these:
Go from saying prayers to sincerely praying. Express gratitude for blessings I receive.Don’t ask for what you want—ask what Heavenly Father wants for you.
Teaching is not talking—it is listening and observing and discerning. If not, you are just talking to yourself.
Don’t be foolish enough to think, “I got this”! It is not about me.
Towards the end, Elder Bednar asked all of us to write in 5 words or less what we had been prompted to act on during the devotional. We decided our 5 words would be “Keep going and doing joyfully!” All in all it was a powerful experience for everyone.
The other thing that was amazing was that at the end Elder Bednar asked the area presidency and their wives, Elder and Sister Godoy, Elder and Sister Kearon, and Sister Bednar to each share their testimony in 20 seconds or less. So, we heard 12 very powerful, heartfelt, spirit filled testimonies in about 5 minutes!
We also had 15 departing missionaries, 11 going home, and 4 elders waiting for their visas going to their original missions in Nigeria. We helped drive them back to the mission home and participated in the farewell dinner and devotional.
Thursday morning we were trained on and helped take the departing missionaries to the airport and picked up the new missionaries from the MTC.
After a whirlwind 3 days we drove back to Awutu Breku and spent Friday doing laundry and P-day stuff so we could drive back to Accra on Saturday to do some shopping and then celebrate Sister Jacobsen’s birthday which was the 22nd during transfers and new missionary orientation. We went to a very nice restaurant with the other senior missionary couples, the Jacobsens, President and Sister Jarvis (who are the mission leaders in Sierra Leone), and President and Sister Thomas (who are the mission leaders in Liberia). They had flown to Ghana for a meeting with Elder Bednar and Elder Kearon that was held Sunday morning. It was wonderful meeting them and hearing about their experiences in their respective missions. It was a delightful evening.
We spent the night again at the mission office with the Tophams, then left early Sunday morning to drive back home for our church meetings at 9:00 am.
Our internet went out last Monday. We thought it would be back on when we got home Thursday evening, but it wasn’t. It is now Monday afternoon a week later, and we just got internet service back!
We are so grateful for each of you and your support and prayer.s We sometimes feel overwhelmed with all our responsibilities, but pray daily that the Lord will guide us in prioritizing and give us the strengths we need to keep going. My mother used to say, “You take one day at a time and do your best. That is all the Lord expects you to do.” I have that on my mirror in our bedroom and it is wonderful to read every morning. I can almost hear her sweet voice encouraging me on everyday!
Love you all!
Elder and Sister Judd
Buying fresh fruits and vegetables
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