Save He Shall Provide a Way

Sunday June 17, 2012  Africa:  Day 7

Today started out with a wild taxi ride trying to find the church building.  I was a little nervous about going out by myself, but I knew that the Lord would “provide a way for [me] to accomplish the things which he commandeth [me]”.   I looked up the directions on LDS.org and even drew a map for the cab driver to follow because I assumed that he wouldn’t know where they chapel was.  The website was not correct, so we ended up driving around tiny alleyways and side streets, asking random people on the street and finally calling TG, Arinze’s brother, to tell the driver where to go.

            When we found the building, a girl showed me the way to the chapel filled with about 150 members and about 15 noisy ceiling fans. Following the Sacrament, the Elders Quorum started the program by singing a hymn.  They sounded amazing and put any ward choir I have ever heard to shame.  Then the primary took almost the rest of the meeting in honor of Father’s Day.  They sang primary songs unaccompanied.  One primary girl would sing the first line of a song to set the pitch, then everyone would start over and sing the song.  A few kids got up and recited poetry about their fathers, and more kids bore their testimonies on the end.  All the speaking was interspersed with songs.  Every kid sounded beautiful-completely in tune, perfectly blended, and strong.  A couple of men gave a short a talk, then the Relief Society got up and sang the closing song.  It may be one of my favorite Sacrament Meetings ever.

            During Relief Society the teacher  kept switching back and forth between English and the other common language Twi.  There were points where I wasn’t sure if I was not understanding because they were speaking Twi or if they were speaking English with the thick accent. 

            At the end of Relief Society, TG called and said that he had made it to the building.  I arranged with him yesterday to meet me there so I could deliver some GMAT materials that his brother Arinze had sent with me from the States.  His mom and sister had come with him, and we talked for a while before we all went back to our homes.  A young married American sister and a Ghanaian sister who is currently living with her drove me home which was very nice because I wasn’t sure where I was going to be able to catch a cab to take me home.

           The girls had gone to Helel’s house for a lunch with his family, and when they got back we all went down the pagoda which is a big covered patio in the courtyard by the Social Science building near our hostel.  I took advantage of the free wifi there and spent some time video chatting with my parents.  We had a meal together of rice and fresh fruit from the Night Market and spent the rest of the evening making travel plans for the rest of the trip.  We have a lot to see!

(Since I couldn't take any pictures of the live snails at the market on Saturday, I took a picture of the same kind of 6" snail.  These were all over the ground by our dorm following a big rainstorm we had this afternoon).