Borehole Complete!

 This week has been much calmer compared to last week. While it was wonderful to have Elder Cook in town, Doug had extra responsibilities, making it a little busier than usual. It was such a blessing to have Elder Cook here among us and to hear him speak so many times. What a wonderful man he is. Listening to him made us all excited for General Conference, which is just a month away.

The rest of the week was mostly business as usual. Lori’s beading class was moved from Wednesday to Thursday. She initially thought the change was permanent and was disappointed since Thursday is our MTC day, which meant I wouldn’t be able to attend the class. Fortunately, it was just for one week, and she will still be able to finish her beaded purse! Doug stayed relatively busy with medical issues, mostly malaria, rashes, and other minor incidents. We’re always grateful when his week is a little less hectic, as it usually means the missionaries are staying healthy and able to do the work they came here to do. He’s still working on getting approval to travel to the new mission areas opening in West Africa this July. He’s supposed to find suitable medical facilities for the missionaries to receive treatment when needed. As with many things here in Africa, it hasn’t been easy, but we remain optimistic that the challenges will soon be overcome, and we can start making arrangements. Patience has definitely become a virtue for us!

At the start of the week, Lori’s duties were about the same. However, on Friday, there was an extra special event—the completion of the SamSam School borehole humanitarian project that she had been helping with. The handover was scheduled, and we were able to attend the ceremony at SamSam School. The school did a wonderful job of organizing the event and the program. When we arrived, there were tents and balloons everywhere. The best part was seeing the completed borehole. Although there were five projects being worked on simultaneously, the borehole project was supposed to be the simplest. However, due to numerous challenges, it ended up being the last one finished. There were some serious disagreements between the contractor and the school, and the last meeting we attended was quite contentious. Sister Waterfall did a fantastic job of reminding everyone of the project’s purpose and acknowledging that mistakes had been made on all sides. She then encouraged everyone to unite so that we could ensure clean, healthy water for the children and the surrounding villages. Thankfully, the contractor and the school were able to set aside their differences, and it was wonderful to see them both celebrating at the completed borehole.




The program also featured some performances by the children of the school, and they were absolutely adorable. Children here in Africa are just so precious! Though everyone was excited about the borehole, the highlight of the event was when we presented a couple of soccer goals and soccer balls, purchased with leftover funds from the humanitarian project. The children were ecstatic beyond belief. It was such a heartwarming experience to be among these people as they celebrated something as simple as fresh water. One thing Africa has taught us for sure is to be grateful for the small things in life. For some, these things are not small at all—they are everything.




We had a wonderful experience while attending the temple this week. We were able to initiatory work and both Doug and I had individuals who had their baptisms performed in Brazil temples. When we entered the Celestial Room, we both mentioned that we had thought about our son, Matt, who served his mission in Brazil. It was a tender mercy for both of us to have the opportunity to do this work and to reflect on how much we love and care about Matt. The continual reminders of how much our Heavenly Father knows and loves us are abundant.

We are grateful for the temple and for the opportunity to be so close to it here in Accra.  We are grateful for the lessons we are learning and feel they are bringing us closer to our Savior Jesus Christ.  May you all have a wonderful week and take time to reflect on the many blessings you have received from our Heavenly Father.


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