Going to church in Ghana was so awesome. First of all I just need to get something off my chest. If you look at my pictures you will see the people walking to church. Do you see the tin sheds behind them...yes, my friends, those are there houses and they come out of those dressed to the nines. Plus, they love to wear white to church but how in the world do they keep their whites so clean. So the problem I am having with this is if these beautiful people living in poverty can dress like this when they go to worship, why, in the name of all that is good, do we let our youth wear flip-flops and tees (like they are going to the beach) when we come out of our big beautiful houses with washers and dryers and running water. Those who know me best already knew I had issues with this but going to Africa and seeing them has raised my soap box higher then it was. So I better not see any of you at church in flip-flops or you will get an earful from me...you know who you are!
This is the new church they just built. Yes, it looks pretty standard, complete with a basketball hoop in the parking lot. However, I think air conditioning was not including. During sacrament I noticed that no women cross there legs. When I asked Tammy why she told me its because it makes you hotter (tip).
Sacrament meeting was so awesome. The talks were so well done. These people get it. They understand the scriptures so well. I have never been in a sacrament like that. I can see why other churches whoop and shout “Hallelujah.” They delivered their talks with so much spirit and conviction. They truly are the Lords people.
I decided that I really wanted to go and see the primary in second hour. I figured if the savior was here that were he would probably go first, too. I was a little confused as to what was happening in there. there were only about 6 or seven kids and one teacher (who I learned was the primary President) I think this was just junior primary. 2 or 3 women sat in the back with babies and I could never figure out if they were the councilors with or the nursery. I also got my first glimpse of their teaching method...which goes a little like this...
Teacher: “Who is this a picture of?”
Kids: silence
Teacher: “This is Joseph Smith. Who is this? Joseph Smith. Who is this?”
Child 1: “Joseph Smith”
Teacher: “Who is this?”
Child 2 : “Joseph Smith”
Teacher: “Who is this?”
Child 3: “Joseph Smith”
Teacher: “Who is this?”
Child 4: Silence
Teacher: “This is Joseph Smith. Who is this?”
Child 4: “Joseph Smith”
And repeated again and again to every child individually until everyone answers right. Then they add the next fact and do the whole thing over. I was soon to find out that this is how they teach in the school too. It was a little mundane to say the least.
The third hour I went to Relief Society. Do they know there scriptures or what. I‘ve been a member all my life and they all floored me, not only with their knowledge but their way around the scriptures. Every thing they taught was directly out of the scriptures and if someone had a comment they tied it to a scripture. When the teacher would ask someone to read a scripture she would then ask the reader “How do you understand that?” meaning “What do you think that scripture is means?” Some of the scriptures they read were pretty tricky to follow but they all got it. The other thing I loved was that they would say “Do you have a question or a contribution.” It was so sweet to hear with their dialect. I am not sure if it was because I was there as a daughter of a G.A. or maybe just because I was so white amongst their beautiful dark faces that I just stood out like one of those glow in the dark sticks, but I was surprised when the teacher looked at me and said “Please, we would like you to make a contribution” I honestly turned around to see if she was talking to someone else and said” Oh, me?” “Yes, please” she said. Luckily I had been paying attention and had a thought already brewing in my head so I think I said something somewhat intelligent. I wondered if that would fly in my ward. Next time I teach R.S. I am going to just call on random people to make a comment (or a “contribution” I should say).
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