Home Sweet Home!

I'm back. On Thursday I boarded a plane headed for New York and from there I flew to Ghana. Nearly two years ago I concluded two years of serving in Ghana as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While here I fell in love this country and her people. Now I am back with a group of other BYU students to volunteer with the Unite For Sight organization.

After enduring the long winter of Utah, it felt good to walk out of the airport and feel 90 degrees and high humidity. Our flight got in at about 1:30pm on Friday. Asante (a member who lives in the last area I served in on my mission) was there to meet. He has been my awesome driver the last couple of days. The rest of my Friday was spent with members in the Danfa ward. They fed me several delicious meals much as they used to do when I was a missionary. Man, these people take good care of me. I will include some pictures and stories of the people I saw later when I can.

Benjamin in the new stroller my parents bought him (thanks guys!). Benjamin is awesome. He laughed and squealed as I raced around with him in his new ride. He suffers from spinal bifida, but he still smiles and laughs constantly. He hopes to someday be a soldier.

On Saturday morning I got to hang out with Asante and his family. He has two children who are adorable. Later that day I met up with the rest of the group at the Telecentre Guest House. This place is sweet and well worth the price we are paying. Our rooms even have AC! We are so spoiled. Our group started to click from the moment we met. I can tell our six weeks together are going to be an absolute blast. Saturday night we wandered around the hotel for a while and ate at pretty cool restaurant. Most of the group was exhausted from their flight, so pretty much everyone went to bed when we got back to the guesthouse.

Asante's son fell asleep, so he let him take a nice
nap on my luggage.

Sunday was fantastic. We attended the Achimota Ward about a kilometer from where we are staying. Today their ward was split to form a ward and a branch. The growth of the church here never ceases to astound me. There are so many things I love about worshipping with the saints in Ghana. When someone at the pulpit says good morning or good afternoon everyone in the congregation responds. And when they sing they do so with gusto. You can feel the energy and joy in the room with each song. While at church we met a man who is from Ghana, works for the church in Georgia, and has been a bishop in Utah. He is awesome and graciously offered to drive us anywhere we want to visit next weekend in his massive ford van that he shipped to Ghana from the US. We will definitely be taking him up on that offer. Sunday afternoon we met with Jerome, one of the opthalmic nurses who works at the Crystal Eye Clinic (one of the clinics sponsored by Unite For Sight). That is the clinic I will be working at throughout this week. I'll give more details about how Unite For Sight works in future posts.

I am soooo happy to be with the Ghanaian people. They are humble, hardworking, kind, and warmhearted. They constantly go out of their way to make me feel welcome and at home. They inspire me with their courage and faith and they constantly remind me to find joy in each moment regardless of the circumstances surrounding me.