Week 46
After a slower Week 45, this week has been packed and busy.
It was transfer and departing missionaries week. Our dear neighbors, Sister Van der Beek and Sister Kendrick, were transferred to areas in Accra. They have been here in Awutu Breku for four transfers which is six months. They are dedicated, hard working, and caring missionaries. Their efforts in Awutu Breku over these past six months have resulted in a considerable number of baptisms, but more importantly, so many lives changed for the better.
Sister Van der Beek saying good-bye to Sister Appia, and Sister Kendrick saying good-bye
to Sister Lautaimi
Sisters Kendrick, Lautaimi, Van der Beek, and Appia
We left for the mission office early Tuesday morning to be there for transfers. We took Sisters Van der Beek and Kendrick and all their luggage with us. We stopped at the Odorkor meetinghouse on the way for Sister Kendrick to meet up with other missionaries and their luggage to go to her new area in Bortianor. When we arrive at Odorkor, the zone leaders there were trying to fit all the missionaries who needed to go to the mission office for transfers and their luggage in a Tro-tro. There was more than would fit!! So, after unloading Sister Kendrick's luggage, we completely stuffed the bed of the truck with as much luggage as we could so there was enough room in the Tro-tro for the elders. Even then, the luggage was hanging out the back of the Tro-tro so the tailgate wouldn't close. They went to leave and the Tro-tro wouldn't start, so a couple of the elders pushed it until the driver could start it by popping the clutch, and they were off.
We said our good-bye to Sister Kendrick.
Then, we loaded Sisters Van der Beek, Carter, Tavita, and Wilde into the back seat of our truck to go to the mission office for transfer activities there.
Sister Carter's guitar would not fit anywhere but on Sister Judd's lap!
At the mission office, we unloaded the sisters and all the luggage from Odorkor. Transfers at the mission office are a beehive of activity with Tro-tros and taxis bringing missionaries in where they reshuffle and go back out to their new areas on other Tro-tros and taxis. In the process, there are hugs and chatter as missionaries excitedly greet previous companions. Zone leaders are anxiously trying to get the missionaries going to their zone loaded in the Tro-tro with their luggage so they can leave. Sister Jacobsen is nervously walking around encouraging all to get gone so they can still proselyte when they get back. President Jacobsen calmly interacts with as many missionaries as he can to motivate and communicate encouragement. The AP's are in the mix getting missionaries and zone leaders to keep in motion so transfers are completed (at least at the mission office end) by noon. And, the tech elders are busy fixing phones and solving phone issues.
Sister Judd saying good-bye to Sister Van der Beek before she leaves for Medie.
The chaos of transfers and loading luggage on top of a Tro-tro
Another Tro-tro too full to close the tailgate and also needing to be pushed to start!
We had made an appointment for an endowment session at the temple, so we left the chaotic activity and enjoyed a wonderful few hours of peace, calm, spiritual fulfillment, and being together.
Elder and Sister Kaaen are the new office couple replacing Elder and Sister Divis. Sister Kaaen is the mission medical advisor and Elder Kaaen helps the missionaries with English Connect for those who are learning English, helps with BYU Pathways, and assists Sister Kaaen.
Tuesday evening is the dinner and devotional for the departing missionaries. Each time, one of the senior couples goes with the Jacobsen's to take the departing missionaries to dinner. This time, it was Elder and Sister Bertha's turn. So, we took Elder and Sister Kaaen to dinner and had a wonderful time visiting and getting acquainted.
Departing missionaries (with banners), AP's, and senior couples
Elder Chapman's shoe held together with duct tape (observed during departing missionary devotional)
Wednesday is when departing missionaries leave. Our main responsibility is taking the missionaries to the airport, and Sister Judd helping them get through the process of baggage weighing, checking in, passports, and headed through security and to their gate. For nearly all of those from countries other than the US, this is only the second time they have flown with the first being when they came to Ghana. So, it can be a little intimidating for them, and they are grateful to have Sister Judd there. This time, we had four trips to the airport starting with leaving the mission office at 6:15 a.m. Things usually go quite smoothly. However, this time was not like that. Things went fairly well for the first four missionaries but not with numbers five and six. Elder Mengesha's non-citizen card had expired five days before, and Sister Judd had to pay 300 Cedi to renew it for a month even though he was leaving the country and going home. Sister Bertha had allowed for this and had sent the money with Sister Judd. After paying, Sister Judd asked for a receipt to take back to the office. When the lady went to write the receipt, there were no more in that book. She told Sister Judd that "it is finished," meaning there are no more. It then took her 45 minutes to find another receipt book somewhere in the airport.
Elder Kanga's flight was ticketed to leave at 1:00 p.m. We have the missionaries there around three hours before their flight to get them checked in and taken care of. However, Emirates Air had changed the flight time to 2:00 p.m. and did not open their ticket booth until 12:15 p.m. And then, Emirates Air wouldn't let Elder Kanga take a backpack on the plane, and he had to figure out how to fit it in his suitcases. Elder Judd had dropped off Sister Judd and Elder Loubanzi at 8:00 a.m. and then went back to the mission office to get Elders Pascual, Mengesha, and Kanga while she took care of Elder Loubanzi. So, with the delay from Emirates Air, Sister Judd was at the airport from 8:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. dealing with the associated frustrations! We then had to rush back to the mission office to get Elder Kamara and get him to the airport for his flight. It was a long and challenging day for Sister Judd.
We then needed to stop at West Hills Mall on the way home for major shopping we needed to do. We finally got home around 6:30 p.m.
On Thursday, we left early to do an apartment inspection in Apam.
Elders Petersen and Okopi in Apam
On the way back home, we stopped in Akoti and talked with Sister Ernestina. The branch president had assigned us to help some of the branch members prepare to go to the temple. We had a good visit with Sister Ernestina even though she was a little hesitant about going to the temple to receive her endowments. We finally were able to make arrangements to get with her one-on-one starting in January to teach her about the temple with the understanding that, as she learns about the temple, she will gain a desire to go.
Thursday afternoons are when we go with the missionaries to Ojobi, so we then went with Sisters Lautaimi and Najjuka. We accompanied them for a couple of visits. The first was with an older couple who have been members 8 or 9 years. We had a wonderful visit with them talking about consecrating olive oil and using it in performing priesthood blessings of healing as well as other things priesthood related. Their son, Patmos, was baptized about a month ago. He was also there. He plays "football" (soccer) professionally and is waiting to find out where (which country) he will go to. In answering his questions about gift of tongues, recognizing communications from the Holy Ghost, getting answers to prayers, and other gospel related questions, the discussion turned to him going on a mission after he has been a member of the Church for one year. We were amazed when Sister Lautaimi shared her story. She is from Tonga and plays rugby. Her two older brothers play professional rugby in Japan and Australia. The same day that she received her mission call to come to Ghana, she also received an offer to play professional rugby in New Zealand. She had a decision to make. After prayer and thoughtful consideration, she felt that she needed to serve a mission. She bore her witness of the rightness of that decision and encouraged Patmos to be willing to do the Lord's will. Then, Sister Najjuka (who is from Kenya) said that she was baptized in 2023 and came on her mission shortly after being a member for just one year and encouraged Patmos to prepare to do the same. It was a wonderful visit!
Patmos, Sister Judd with Princess, Rose, Morgan, Elder Judd, Sister Lautaimi, and Sister Najjuka
We then visited with David, who has been a member about two months or so. We shared with him about being a good example and teaching his son, mother, niece, and nephew what he has learned about the gospel. We encouraged him to say prayers with his son every day. He talked about his father and that his father was not a "holy" man before he died. His father was not a member of the Church. David felt that because his father was not "holy" then he is not "holy." We shared with him that he (David) is "holy" because he has accepted the gospel and is trying to keep his covenants and can repent and renew those covenants each Sunday through the Sacrament.
David and his son
Saturday morning was family work and other Saturday chores and catching up from being gone so much all week. Then, in the afternoon we went with Sisters Appia (from Ivory Coast) and Tavita (from Samoa) to do three visits. The first was to teach Rosena about the church Christ organized when we was on the earth, the apostasy with the death of Christ's apostles, and how Christ restored His church back to the earth through Joseph Smith.
Sisters Tavita and Appia with Rosena and then some neighbor kids joining in for a picture
The second visit was with William and Esther who were baptized a couple of weeks ago. We taught them about the temple and preparing to receive their endowments in a year and then being sealed together to each other and to their children. We also talked about family history and suggested they start finding out information needed to be able to have temple work done for their grandparents and other family members. They are so excited about being members of the Church. They both read their Books of Mormon daily and are such a close family. They have four children.
Before they were taught by the missionaries, Esther had a dream wherein she saw the Book of Mormon. When the sisters met her and started teaching her, they had a copy of the Book of Mormon. She saw it and asked them what the book was. After they told her about the Book of Mormon, she told them that it is the book she saw in her dream.
The third visit was to Elizabeth (Lizzy) and her daughter, Bernice, and son, Benedict. We taught them about the priesthood and about serving others. They are so receptive and plan to be baptized in January.
That brings us to today, Sunday, December 15. Today, we went to Swedru and attended and helped with the Gospel Literacy classes in the Swedru 3 and Swedru 1 Wards. Swedru is a little over an hour drive to the northwest.
Helping with the Swedru 1 Ward Gospel Literacy class
When we were in the mission office on Friday, Elder Bertha asked us if we would take bikes to the elders in Odoben. So, after finishing in Swedru, we drove the additional hour further northwest to Odoben to take the missionaries there the bikes from Elder Bertha.
It has been a full week! This coming week will be the same!
Here are some things of interest from our doings this week.
Elder Judd built a much needed new ladder from left over wood from the roof over the generator. The old ladder next to it was definitely in need of being replaced! This is the "Home Depot" where Elder Judd went to buy the nails to build the new ladder.
It doesn't matter that this is the main highway between Accra and Cape Coast.
The cattle have got to cross somewhere!
Someone did an amazing job of stacking and tying these chairs on the truck so they don't fall off!
We see so many kids in Ghana enjoying the simple pleasures of life, like running and rolling a tire along. Kids here find enjoyment and fun in such simple ways.
It is common for a vehicle (large or small) to break down and stop in the roadway and stay there until it is repaired. We came upon this truck broke down as usual this morning on our way to Swedru.
Just after we got around the first truck, there was a second truck broke down as well!
For our spiritual message this week, we would like to share an entry by Sister Jacobsen in her journal:
"December 2023"
"On Friday night we got a call that our AP, Elder Patane, was driving and hit two policemen driving a police motorcycle around 9:30 pm. So, we immediately drove to the police station in Tesano. We saw the missionaries and the truck, which was in bad shape. The police chief told us to go to the hospital to make sure that those in the accident were still alive. So, we drove back to the Cantonments to the Police Hospital and saw the two officers who were on the motorcycle, as well as a woman bystander who had a head injury. When the motorcycle skidded out of control, it hit a sign on the sidewalk, and the sign fell on the head of the woman. She looked like she was in quite a bit of pain. One of the officers had broken his leg and the other one had his knee scraped up, but all three of them looked okay. Then we drove back to the Tesano police station. There, we got the details of what happened."
"Before Elder Patane was about to make a left-hand turn, two police officers on a motorcycle bulleted out of nowhere and hit the front left side of the truck. The elders said the motorcycle was racing so fast as evidenced by the extensive damage to the truck and had the force to send the two officers flying in the air. Elder Patane thought he had killed someone; he was terrified. We sat in the police/investigation room from 10 pm until 2:30 in the morning when they stood up and told us that they were going to have to keep Elder Patane in jail that night until they knew for sure if all the people in the accident lived. We told them we had already been to the hospital and none of them looked like they were in any danger of dying. We also told them there was no chance they were keeping our missionary. This wasn’t a holding cell; this was a full-on, dark, huge cell with 12 male criminals in it, some had been in for 8-10 months, we later learned. President called George, the area office security man repeatedly, but there was nothing anyone could do. The top police commander refused to let him leave. We told the jailers we would sit in the chairs all night and wait until the morning but we would not leave our missionary. They told us to leave immediately or we would never see him again. We both felt sick--so sick leaving him there. They took his phone, and his belt, and tried taking his missionary tag, which I protested heavily about. They allowed him to keep it on. We took Elder Hale, the office elder who had been with Elder Patane in the truck, to sleep and shower at the mission home. (Elder Bangura, the other AP, and Elder Mengesha, the other office elder, were not in the truck at the time of the accident. They were walking on the sidewalk nearby getting food while Elder Patane went looking for parking.)"
"We slept for 3 hours, got up, and went back to the hospital to check on the three people in the accident—the woman and driver were released in the night because they were fine, and the other policeman was still waiting for his leg to be cast. The poor man was still lying on a gurney with his leg wrapped in cardboard and gauze. We brought him food and a Book of Mormon and had a good conversation with him and then headed back to the jail cell. We had the feeling before we left, we needed to bring some Books of Mormon with us with some food and water for Elder Patane. We dropped the food and two Books of Mormon off when we got to the jail. The police handed the bag of food and books to him through the bars. He looked exhausted and dirty but okay."
"We were there all day long trying to get him out and were able to visit him through the bars from a distance at their visiting time from 12:45-1 pm. President was constantly on the phone with the area attorney and security team trying to get our missionary released. We finally got Elder Patane out at 3:00 pm on Saturday, just over 12 hours of him being in jail. However, he had to turn over his passport, and George had to hand over his Ghana Citizen card as proof Elder Patane wouldn’t flee. George eventually got his card back, but the Ghana Police held Elder Patane’s passport, driver’s license, and the mission truck for over a month. We ended up getting his passport back just three days before his flight back home."
"After we left the jail with Elder Patane on Saturday afternoon, we took him to the mission home, let him shower, and took him to eat. He apologized over and over, but honestly, I'm not sure anyone could have seen that speeding motorcycle coming from the sidewalk side of traffic two lanes away. Although this was a terrible nightmare, there were some enormous miracles as well. The first miracle is that no one was killed, or I’m quite certain Elder Patane would never have gotten out of jail. The second miracle is he only spent 12 hours in that awful jail cell with a few men who wanted to hurt him. I can’t even imagine how bad that would have been. The third miracle is that we got his passport back just in time for him to return home. The fourth and most beautiful miracle happened in that dark jail cell."
"When we left the jail cell around 2:45 am early Saturday morning, we saw Elder Patane lying down on a small mat on the floor by the jail bars. After we left, someone slapped or kicked him and got mad at him for not greeting them. They explained that that spot was a “VIP” spot, and since he was new, he needed to move to the back of the cell. He said it smelled so awful in there he kept breathing through his mouth. They gave him a hard time, but eventually, everyone fell asleep for a few hours. In the early morning, before we got there, two of them started getting more and more aggressive with him, and he heard them talking in Twi about how they wanted to beat and kick him. He said he was getting himself mentally prepared to fight but was scared fighting would keep him in jail longer. There was a lot of contention and arguing in the cell; most people don’t get fed in jail unless someone drops food off since the guards never feed them. When we dropped the food and Books of Mormon off for Elder Patane, he shared his food with the two hungriest in the cell. He said the miracle was right when things were getting more intense and aggressive. They were pushing him and wanting to fight right when we showed up. He said when those two Books of Mormon came through those bars, things began to change instantly. It was as if a light switch had turned on; it was so distinct. He said immediately peace came, one of the cellmates, who had been the most aggressive, asked him about what the books were, and Elder Patane began to teach them about what the Book of Mormon is and about the Restoration. He said the two most aggressive cellmates who wanted to fight apologized to him and began to ask sincere questions. They told him about their families, their lives, and how they ended up in jail. Soon, everyone in the cell was listening to him as he taught and answered questions. He couldn’t believe the change. He was a very humble boy testifying that he had never in his life seen such a tangible, powerful, spiritual change happen so immediately and that it was the power of that book simply passing through those bars that changed everything in that dark, filthy, stinky cell early that morning. He said the power of the Book of Mormon saved his life in that cell that day."
"So incredibly grateful for the power, light, spirit, and peace that miraculous book brings wherever it goes. If it can bring light and peace into a dark, awful place like that, it can and certainly does have the power to bring light and peace anywhere and everywhere it goes."
We add our witness to that of Elder Patane and Sister Jacobsen of the power of the Book of Mormon and the miracles that can happen in our lives as we sincerely study and embrace the truths in it, especially its testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and His Atonement.
Love,
Elder and Sister Judd
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