Week 16

 This week started off with driving to Swedru for the Swedru district council.  The district council itself was quite typical, but this week was transfers and half of these missionaries would be leaving this district on Wednesday.  So it was a bittersweet time for them. 

Swedru District Council

Our drive to Swedru did have an event of interest.  In Ghana, motorbikes are everywhere on the road.  They pretty much claim right of way no matter what and go wherever they want—against traffic, passing randomly on the right or the left, swerving in front of you, etc.  So, vehicle drivers have to always be on the lookout for motorbikes.  We were traveling on a dirt road that was rough with ruts and erosion as usual.  As Elder Judd approached a couple of ruts diagonal across the road, he slowed down (from not going very fast) and swerved slightly to the left.  As he got past the ruts, he glanced in his rear view mirror and saw a motorbike had crashed just behind him.  He stopped the truck, got out, and started back to the crash.  As he did so, six or seven guys came hurrying as well.  Even though they were excitedly arguing back and forth in Twi, he could tell from gestures, looks, occasional English, etc. that they were arguing as to if it was Elder Judd’s fault of not, and if it was, what he needed to do.  There was one of the Ghanaians who seemed more “friendly” and sympathetic to Elder Judd.  Elder Judd could see that the motorbike had some damage, so he wanted to give the bike rider some money to pay for the damage.  The friendly one said that 100 Cedis (about $8) would be fair, so Elder Judd gave the rider 100 Cedis.  Another man said that Elder Judd should give the rider another 50 Cedis.  Elder Judd  took out a 50 Cedi note and went to hand it to the rider when the man who said Elder Judd owed more grabbed the note and put it in his pocket!!  Then, the other men started yelling at that man, grabbed the note out of his pocket, and gave it to the rider.  The whole time Elder Judd was apologizing and saying he was sorry for what happened (even though he wasn't certain he had caused it).  He then asked the group if everything was okay and if he could leave, and they said yes.  What a start to the day!

Monday’s are also P-day for the young missionaries before and after district councils.  The Winneba Zone (which we are part of but do not participate in the zone activities) had a zone activity after district councils.  They had a pig roast!  The Buduburam district leader had purchased a live pig and then they gutted it, skinned it, got it ready, and put it in the district leader’s freezer.  They roasted the pig in the open area around the Buduburam chapel.  Elder Manakofua from Tonga and one of our neighbor missionaries was in charge of roasting the pig.  They all said it was delicious!

This last week was transfers and departing and incoming missionaries.  We went in to Accra on Wednesday morning.  We were able to do an endowment session in the temple before going to the mission office.  There was a lot of activity with missionaries coming, connecting with a new companion, and then going back out again.  Most of the incoming missionaries were picked up at the Ghana MTC on Thursday morning.  However, two incoming missionaries arrived on Wednesday afternoon.  One from the Philippines came from the Philippines MTC.  The other from Australia was originally assigned to go to Botswana but could not get a visa.  So, he was been serving in the Australia Adelaide Mission for five months waiting for a visa to Botswana.  He was then reassigned to our mission with a visa for Ghana and flew in from Australia.  Elder and Sister Topham, the outgoing AP’s, and us took these two new missionaries to dinner Wednesday evening.  Elder Judd ordered Tilapia expecting filets like usual.  When the tilapia came, it was the whole fish cooked!

Elders Tufuga and Rafi (new), Elders Dyfan and Criddle (out-going AP's), Topham's, and Judd's 

Our responsibility related to departing missonaries is to assist with taking them to the airport and making certain they get through security and on the plane.  This time, we had to leave the mission home at 4:30 a.m. to take Elder Ehelofun to the airport headed for his home in Nigeria.  Then mid-morning, we took Sister Mburinga going home to Zimbabwe and Elder Matondo going home to the Democratic Republic of Congo.  And finally, we took Sister Zogar going home to Liberia.

We love interacting with and serving these amazing and wonderful young men and women servants of the Lord!

This morning we attended Sacrament Meeting in the Dabanyin Branch so we could participate in the Gospel Literacy class being held in the branch.  The Church meetings for the Dabanyin Branch are held at the Ghana Make a Difference (GMAD) facilities.  GMAD is a shelter for abused, abandoned, and neglected children.  There are a lot of children who come to the Church meeting.  Many of them have a need to be recognized and feel loved, so they are quick to come and interact with us.

Our little friend, Kofi, likes to greet us and sit with us

Welfare and Self Reliance in the West Africa Area has a Child Nutrition initiative that is beginning to be implemented.  This involves an initial screening of children between the ages of six months and just under five years of age.  The screening involves getting the height and weight of each child and a MUAC (mid upper arm circumference) measurement.  These scores determine whether the child is malnourished or not and the degree of malnourishment.  If the child is malnourished, the mother or father is given a special nutrition supplement to give to the child on a daily basis.  On Friday, we went to the Winneba Stake Center to join in training in preparation for conducting screenings in the five wards/branches in the Winneba area.  These screenings were then held today in the Winneba Stake Center.  So, after the Gospel Literacy class in Dabanyin we went and helped with the Child Nutrition screenings.  Two things were evident we observed--that 2 and 3 year olds are excited, fun loving, energetic, and fun to watch no matter where in the world they live and the deep and amazing love mothers have for their children.

                          Waiting to be screened                                                     Screening being done

                                      Screening being done                                 Mother leaving with supplement

Nearly every morning there are two yellow birds who come and peck at our bathroom and bedroom windows.  Sister Judd has come to love these little creatures and calls them Yellow and Sunshine.  She is not sure which is which, but the first to come is called Yellow and the second is Sunshine.  They do not fly away when she gets close to the window and just seem to be that much more curious.  Sister Judd has come to love this part of her morning routine!

The highlight and tender mercy of the week was being a part of and witnessing our grandson, Seth's, baptism.  He turned 8 on March 1st, but was not able to be baptized because his father, Stephen, is deployed to Poland with the military.  What a blessing that Emily and Seth were able to fly to Poland to spend two weeks with Stephen.  Stephen had made arrangements with the branch president in the Gdansk Branch for Seth to be baptized in the Baltic Sea on Saturday, May 18th.  An interesting side note is that the branch president is Grant Dearden from Henefer.  He and Sharon are serving a senior couples mission in Poland.  Stephen did not know that when he started making the arrangements for Seth's baptism.  It was delightful to learn about Grant and Sharon.  Stephen asked us if we could arrange a Zoom video call for family members to be part of the baptism.  A tender mercy was that our internet was strong during the entire Zoom call.  It had not been like that for a very long time!  Elder Judd said the opening prayer.  Sister Judd shared some thoughts and her testimony on baptism.  We then watched as Stephen and Seth walked into the water accompanied by two wonderful sister missionaries who did not seem to mind getting wet in order to be witnesses for the ordinance.  The water was about 45 F, but Seth was a trooper as well as everyone else.  They returned to the branch meetinghouse for Seth's confirmation to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  We were so blessed to be a part of this special and sacred event.  The icing on the cake was that May 18th is Elder Judd's father's birthday.  Stephen was very close to his Grandpa Judd.  It just seemed fitting.  Again, the Lord knows the total picture and orchestrates blessings for our gain that we often do not even realize are happening.  

We love you all and are grateful for your continuing support and prayers.

Love,

Elder and Sister Judd