Week 30

Monday morning we left for Accra around 8:00 a.m. to do some shopping, have a tire with a screw in it and slow leak fixed, and go to senior missionary staff meeting which we attend once a month.  Not too long after we left, we got a text message with some pictures letting us know that Monroe Elizabeth Jenkins had been born to Katie and Parley in Virginia!  This takes the grandkid count to 41 now!!  Oh, how very blessed we are!!

Sweet Monroe Elizabeth, and Monroe being snuggled by her "big" sister, Hadley

 The biggest and smallest feet in the family!

The biggest feet belong to Caleb, Sara's son.  The smallest feet belong to Monroe.

We forgot to mention in last week's blog that Caleb, Sara's son, received his mission call and will be serving in the California Newport Beach Mission, Spanish speaking.  He is super excited and reports to the Missionary Training Center on October 7th.

Caleb was ordained an Elder today by Katie's husband, Parley.

Caleb, Sara, Katie, and Parley

Tuesday found us driving 3 hours to Oda to attend the missionary district council with the Oda District and then 3 hours home again.

Back:  Elders Anderson, Lusk, Heerdink, Lukhele, Tingey, Simbahon, and Gbedema

Front:  Judd's with Elders Abekah, Hill, and Saye

Wednesday was a very long day.  We left at 6:30 a.m. for the Asamankese Zone to do our usual Wednesday apartment inspections. 

Elders Rondon, Loubandzi, Chicaba, and Weeks at Asamanketewa

Elders Mufundisi, Maluku, Andrianampoina, and Kaufusi at Asamankese

Elders Onyango and Nwigwe at Adeiso

Elders Goffi and Mbuyi at Bawjiase

We finished the apartment inspections around 3:30 p.m. and then drove to Swedru.  We had made arrangements to train the newly called Gospel Literacy teacher in the Swedru 4th Branch.  We met the Swedru Stake Gospel Literacy specialist there and provided training to the teacher and the branch president.  This was a good start to our new responsibility to assist the Swedru Stake with their Gospel Literacy classes as well as the Winneba Stake.  We finally left for home a little after 6:00 p.m.  It was dark driving down Crystal Palace Road with its innumerable pot holes and washouts which made the drive home kind of interesting.  We finally arrived home around 7:30 p.m.  After a bite to eat, we were able to connect over FaceTime with Katie in Virginia and after that Bethany in Utah so we could have a chance to see how they were doing and to see the new babies--Monroe and McKay.  It made Sister Judd's heart happy to see these little ones that she misses snuggling and kissing their cheeks.

The next morning, we unloaded the truck and did our usual getting things straightened around and caught up from Wednesday's apartment inspection trip.  

We absolutely love our Thursday and Saturday afternoons when we are blessed to accompany the sister missionaries to teach lessons and visit with those they are teaching.  On Thursday, we met Sisters Kendrick and Marufu and Austin (a member who is preparing to serve a mission) in Ojobi and went with them to teach three lessons.  First, we visited and taught David who we would guess is in his late 20's.  Sister Kendrick asked David to say the opening prayer.  He did it in Twi, so we understood essentially nothing of what he said, and he prayed for a long time.  But, we could feel the sincerity and heartfelt expressions of his prayer.  He understands a limited amount of English, so we had to communicate in simple and plain terms that he could understand.  He and his family are extremely poor.  It will be a challenge for him to be able to afford to go to Awutu Breku to attend church meetings.  He is humble and receptive to the truths of the gospel.  An elderly neighbor came and sat in on the lesson.  He understood less English than David, but he sat attentively listening during the whole lesson.  The whole experience was very sweet.

Next, we visited a lady named Martha and her daughters, Vivian and Claudia.  There were also some neighbor kids and a neighbor lady who sat in on the visit and lesson.  Vivian has a baptismal date of September 8th.  Martha also wants to be baptized.  But, she and her husband are not married, and they can't afford the cost of a traditional Ghanaian marriage.  The missionaries taught about temples and the purpose of temples.  We told them that we were married and sealed in the temple so we can be together forever.  We then showed Martha and everyone our reunion picture in front of Sister Judd's praying tree with our seven children and their families and talked about how we are sealed to our children and our 41 grandchildren.  Martha was so enthralled with the idea of being sealed to her family and having her children forever.  It again was a very sweet experience.

Sister Marufu, Austin, and Sister Kendrick enjoying the shade of a tree waiting for everyone to gather for the lesson.  Some of the neighbor kids that were there when we got there and then joined in for the lesson.

Martha to the right of Sister Judd, Vivian to Martha's right, Claudia in the yellow shirt, Sisters Kendrick and Marufu, Austin, and the neighbor kids and neighbor lady.

The third visit was with Jonathan.  Sisters Kendrick and Marufu had given him a Book of Mormon and had taught him about Joseph Smith and the Restoration but had not been able to teach him again because he had been traveling for work.  When we met with him, he had a lot of questions.  We answered his questions and bore our testimonies.  He seemed to be interested but not necessarily sincere.

Neighbor kids to Jonathan chatting with Sister Judd while we waited for Jonathan to arrive.

On Saturday afternoon, we were just getting ready to leave and meet Sisters Van der Beek and Tanui to go with them to teach, when Elder Divis, the mission nurse, called and asked us to take some medicine and a new first aid kit to the elders in Buduburam who were sick.  This meant that the Sisters had to walk the 2.5 miles to the teaching appointment, and we had to fight the Buduburam traffic to drive an hour to go 3.5 miles to the Buduburam elders' apartment to deliver the medicine and drive back to where the Sisters were teaching.  They were teaching Martha (different than the Martha with Vivian and Claudia).  She is in her early 20's, and we wrote about her in last week's blog.  She is the Martha that we had invited to come to church several times, but she has an obligation and commitment to teach a group of children in the church she attends and help them prepare for a program scheduled for September 22.  We had invited her last Saturday to pray about being baptized.  She told us yesterday that she does want to be baptized, but she feels a strong obligation to finish her commitment with the children she is teaching in the other church, and the baptism would need to be after she has fulfilled this commitment.  She had read 3 Nephi 11 that the Sisters had invited her to read during the week.  She has a very good understanding of the Bible.  She asks good, thoughtful questions.  She is very interested in learning everything we teach her.  We will continue to teach her and prepare her for baptism.

We and the Sisters then went to visit Precious, who was progressing with the lessons and had attended church six times.  Then, her mother told her she did not want her to go to church any more.  So, the missionaries have not been able to teach her since then.  They happened to see the mother on the street in Awutu Breku, and she told the missionaries to come and see Precious again.  There is no way to drive to her house, so we had to walk.  

On the trail with Sisters Van der Beek and Tanui.                       At Precious' house.        

The Sisters had called Precious when we left from Martha's place to see if she was home so we could visit her.  She said she was.  However, when we got there, no one answered our knocking and Precious did not answer the phone.  So, we left and walked back to the truck to go to the next appointment.  

We had never kissed before on this board bridge, so we thought we should fix that!

Two weeks ago, Sisters Van der Beek and Tanui were walking down the street and a group of men in their twenties started to "cat call" and heckle them.  Another man (age 21), who was with the group but not heckling and was sitting on the ground, called out and asked them what the book was that they were carrying (the Book of Mormon).  They approached this man and explained about the Book of Mormon.  Sister Tanui told him that they would give him the book if he would read it.  He said he would.  Sister Tanui gave it to him and told him that if he did not read it he should give it back next time they saw him.  He agreed.  This week, Sisters Van der Beek and Tanui happened to run into him again.  He ignored them to start with because he was afraid they would take the Book of Mormon away from him, and he did not want that.  They talked to him and found out that he had been reading it!  They made an appointment with him for Saturday when we would be with them.

As we talked with him, we could readily tell that he was sincere and felt the Spirit.  He said that he is from Nigeria and is a musician.  He came to Ghana for work and his musical career.  He was very religious in Nigeria and had served a mission for his church.  When he came to Ghana, he started hanging out with guys who had bad habits and were doing things he knew were wrong.  The day he saw the Sisters, he was sitting on the ground thinking about how he was not doing what he knew he should and was wanting to change.  When he saw them, he felt that they had something he needed.  That is when he saw the Book of Mormon they were carrying and asked them about it.  

We had a wonderful discussion and lesson on the Book of Mormon, what it contains, the appearance of Christ in America recorded in it, and the invitation to read it, ponder about its teachings, and pray and ask God if the book is true and the Holy Ghost will witness that it is.  They invited him to come to church.  He accepted and was at church this morning. 

Another sweet experience!

There were a lot of members, investigators, and visitors at church today.  It was wonderful to see.  Every Sunday after the two hour meeting block, the members just want to stay and visit and socialize with one another.  Today, after the meeting block, several of the sisters started practicing traditional Ghanaian dances in preparation for a Relief Society cultural event at the end of November.  Here is a video of one.

This week as we traveled we listened to a BYU-Idaho forum address by one of our favorite speakers,  Elder Lawrence Corbridge, Emeritus General Authority Seventy.  We want to share this quote from his talk:

"The essential problem in life is separation from God our Father who alone can bless us.  His supreme blessings are His Son, His Spirit, and His life.  Without Him, chaos, darkness, and death prevail.

Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; He alone bridges the gap if we will believe and follow him to the end and help others do the same.  God will bless us, especially with His Spirit and His life if we receive the gift of His Son.

Therefore, cross the bridge and close the gap.  Believe and follow Christ to the end and help others do the same.

. . .

Don't lose sight of the big picture.  Look beyond the worries of the day.  See where you should go and deliberately move in that direction.  Focus on better things than only problems.  Lift your sights and want more, much more than merely freedom from problems.

Look to the destination, reunion with God, receiving the gift of God's Son, His Spirit, and His life, and help others do the same and in that process realize your divine potential.

The course is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Stay on course, keep going, don't quit, and that's enough---you will make it.  Finish the course and keep the faith.  It's that simple."

We love you all and are so grateful for your prayers,

Elder and Sister Judd