Happy New Year

We had a most amazing, wonderful Christmas here in Sunyani.  I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it being back to just Louie and I again on Christmas with no other friends or family around.  It was just perfect.  The only thing that could have made it better would be to have friends and family around.  Funny thing is I haven't been homesick at all yet.  I think as long as we are together I may never feel that.  We cooked the yummiest food we had ( I honestly don't remember what we ate that night) I think left over pizza.  Not like American Pizza at all.  It was still good.  It had chicken and mozzarella on it.  We watched some Christmas movies and then read the Christmas stories out of the Bible and Book of Mormon.  The Next day we invited our zone of missionaries to the District Center and ordered them some pizza for lunch.  It was a nice day.  Christmas can be hard on these missionaries.  It can be a day they miss family the most.  They all handled it with grace for the most part.

These are just a few snap shots of these dear Elder's and Sister's enjoying a Christmas Lunch

After Christmas we were able to get together with the "She Shell" group of women.  These ladies collected 30 blankets, a bag of rice and oil and soda pops for the Orphans in Susuanso.  The people running the Orphanage operate it on very limited funds and donations.  The children here don't have anything and live with very little.  Bless the people who are trying to operate this.  They do the best they can and the children are in a much better situation than where they were found.

The Orphans of Susuanso

This is Bennet.  A gas stove blew up when he tried to light it the day before and he burned his arms.  That is why he is bandaged.  He and his wife live at the Orphanage and take care of the children.  The man on the right is Rob.  He is an American we ran into at the store and he was telling us about the Orphanage.  He was so grateful for the help the "She Shell's" gave him.

Bennet burned the field behind the tree because there were dangerous snakes there that were too close to the Orphanage.  There are so many uphill battles for them.

Louie took some time talking with the Children while I was being shown around.  When we came back he had them all barking like dogs.  Haha, that was funny.  Some little boys mentioned that they didn't have a soccer ball to play with.  We may have to make another trip out to deliver a ball and some jump ropes for the girls.  Play is as important as school.  They need some joy in their little lives. 

This little girl was just so cute!

These little boys were so kind taking care of each other

Let me be clear that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints does not just come in and hand out food and money.  They help out in many ways.  This is why we are here.  There has been a lot done in Africa and although it helps short term it doesn't help elevate lives.  In this case we were able to get one Organization to help another because it was just a small need of 30 blankets.  We did not need to get the Church involved at all but I think it helped because of who we represent.  I like the idea of Africans taking care of Africans.  Sometimes they start to associate white people as people that come in and feed them once in a while.  We would like to see some self-reliance going on.  When they get their stove repaired and it is safe, they would like to teach the older children to sell bread at the market to help with their subsistence.  This would certainly be more sustainable. 

We had a nice conversation with Rob.  He didn't like people from our church very much before he met Elder Fuell and I.  He was overwhelmed with gratitude when we were able to organize a way to help with a small need!  He said he would never discriminate against our religion again.  I told him we are all Christians and I felt good about the fact that I believe this is what Jesus would have done.  Rob and his wife are very nice people.  We are happy to call them our friends.

Sunday we went out to a Small congregation of our church that meets in an open air school in Domfete north of Sunyani.

This little girl led the singing

And gave a talk in Sacrament meeting!  This touched my heart!

We had a Branch party in Penkwase and this is a big pot of rice!

This is a big pot of soup.  It's similar to Gumbo but it is really spicy.  You eat it with Fufu and I bet it is very delicious.  We didn't stick around and eat.  We're missionaries and are on the move.  I'll be here two years and will get a chance I'm sure.