Trip to Cape Coast Sept 27-28

We left for our little getaway with Elder and Sister Cobb. They serve in the Temple and since it is closed on Monday, they had time to go away. The Area Presidency is away for General Conference in Utah and thus, we had an opportunity to take Monday off and go with them. We left early Sunday morning and drove for 2 and a half hours, stopping to pick up a couple who are assigned to attend a small branch to help with leadership. A few miles from the branch we stopped and picked up these two boys who were waiting with their grandmother for a ride to the church. The one on the left is Ishmael who is 13. The other is Shadrach who is 10. They seemed excited to get to ride with the white missionaries! We met Sarah as we got there and were ready to take the picture. Ishmael was the only deacon.
This is the small but very faithful branch we attended. Picture was taken before the meeting. About 40 members came to church. All four of us were asked to speak when we got there. I spoke on living after the manner of happiness in our families and Arlon spoke on the healing power of the Savior.
Elder and Sister Cobb
After church we traveled to visit another good friend of the Cobbs who works in the Temple
The outdoor oven where bread is made for those at the school
as well as his family.


This brother joined the church many years ago. He attended a university in America for his Masters and returned home where he settled on a huge track of land and built a home. He named it Lehi Villa. From there, he built homes for several other family members and then others started moving there and building. He built a school and continues to add to it. He now has about 1200 students. There are no public schools here. Parents pay to send their kids to these private schools or to boarding schools where the kids stay for about 9 months with just a few vacation weeks to come home. This brother also has an orphanage here at the school. We met about 10 teenagers from the orphanage who are all members of the church.

Next we stopped in to visit this couple...Brother and Sister Eshon. He is a medical assistant who owns and runs a clinic. They have been building a new home for 2 years and wanted to show the Cobbs. People here do not take out loans for homes. The acquire the land and then build a little at a time as they have the cash. Arlon found that they have orange trees. Here in Africa the oranges stay green even when ripe. We had freshly squeezed juice at our hotel the next two mornings. Mmmmm..good! Brother Eshon invited us in and related his incredible conversion story which I hope to record and write about later. I'll take a picture of us together at that time.

These are just two of the children who came up to us while meeting with some of the people during our several stops on Sunday. They were so darling.

What a beautiful beach. We both love the sound of the ocean - very relaxing. We checked into the Elmina Bay Resort by the very bustling fishing village of Elmina.

The view from the big window of our room.
Palms everywhere in this part of Ghana.

We may come back this way again as the Cape Coast Stake is where the first baptisms took place in Ghana and there are several people living here who were among the first members in 1978 when missionaries came. One of those is William Fifi Imbrah who had lunch with us on Monday. He also shared his conversion (he is on the film "Pioneers of Africa" which is sometimes shown between Conference sessions). He works at the Temple on Tuesdays and Wednesday mornings and has agreed to have me interview him and write about his conversion and experiences between 1964 when he first read the Book of Mormon and his baptism. The faith of these saints is very powerful and it is a privilege to get to know them.