Meet Alex Acquah

by dad

(Elder Alex Darrow and Alex Acquah)

Alex is the grandson of Bro. Acquah. He lives with his grandfather and speaks no English. Bro Acquah was supposed to be a Chief , but instead, he joined the church a while back. He loves the missionaries. They have a lesson with him every Friday at 5 p.m. After the appointment, they have a Fu-Fu meal. This is the story Elder Darrow wrote a few months ago about his little buddy Alex Acquah.

This week we went to an appt with the Acquah family. They are one of the more rich Ghanaians around (and by more rich I mean like he has a decent house and a small farm) and they give us water (clean water) and sometimes coconuts, bread, mango etc. Well last time we went there this little boy came running out. He was poking me and such and I grabbed him and put him up on my lap. He loved it. He just sat there and stared at me. I looked at him and opened my eyes REAL wide and he looked at me and did the same. So cute. Then I smiled at him and he did the same. Then I frowned and he did the same. Then I grunted and he did the same. hahaha. I was loving it.

His name is Alex Acquah, he’s maybe 3-4. I leaned in real close to him to look him eye to eye and he did the same. Then he touched his little noggin to mine and just stared at me. It was so freakin adorable. I fell in love with this little kid. I was sweating like crazy and when our heads were touching my sweat was running off my face onto his and down his cheeks. He didn’t care. He was just so curious with me. He just chilled in my lap during the lesson the whole time. He played with my hair and was touching me and just making sure I was normal. Then he started to play with my face (like the lost boys did to peter pan ... see Hook). He just played with my face and was so curious. hahah loved it.

At the end of the lesson they gave us some water. The water is in these plastic pouch things. They hold 1/2 a liter. So I drank what I wanted as the little boy watched and I gave him the last little bit. He loved it. After saying the cutest thank you he drinks it all and when he was done he grabbed my (nicest Ike Behar) tie and wiped off his mouth and face with it like it was no big deal. I just freakin melted. shah I didn’t care at all and it was just so cute. oh man.

Wow I Love Mondays.

by dad

Today the Sekondi and Takoradi zones had a little get-together at the beach. Alex says it's so sweet to see the all other missionaries together. The two zones have 32 missionaries; 26 elders, 4 sisters and a senior couple, the Lambs. The missionaries love the Lambs. Alex says the work is going great and all is well.

(Sekondi & Takordi zones at the beach)

As for this week. Well, e Sintim and I keep working through our cultural gap. So many things are said and done that are just different. We are getting closer then ever. All good friendships have fights. We have a few. I just have stuff to work on. He’s a really good guy. We get along great and have a lot of fun.

This week e Halling gave a talk. It’s his second to last week here and next week his parents will be here. So weird that he is already leaving. I remember he had 41/2 months left when I got here and the time has already gone. He’s a funny guy and will be missed.

Also this week I went on exchange with elder MacKay who is way sweet and had a very special Fu-Fu experience. I copied out my journal and sent it. So I wont touch on that but it was quite a day. So much Fu-Fu. Sigh. So much.

Also something interesting that happened that I forgot to talk about. Ghanaians are very thrifty. The electrical stuff here is so old and you would never believe some of the things they get to work, that most of the world would have thrown out. For example. My razor that was ‘done-zo’. I saved it and told e. Sintim about it and he asked to see it. He asked if he fixed it if he could have it. I said sure. Well 2-3 hours later he took the entire thing apart and did something and now it’s working. It’s so crazy how he can do that. (Well, it’s not entirely working correctly. It doesn’t hold a charge and when the motor runs the whole machine gets very, very hot, almost over heating. But he got it to work.) They just make things work.

Thanks for everything. Love you guys like crazy and don’t worry there is lots of mail on the way. I love writing and telling you all about what’s going on that I miss on email Mondays.

Wow I love Mondays.

elder darrow

Burn Notice? Really?!

by dad

Alex being Alex...

When going to the Internet cafe to email home, there are a few things you must remember...

1. always have a good eye on your companion in case of problems on line.

2. you must remember that time is limited and you don’t have time to lolly-gag. Also in case of a hold-up, know where the best chair is that won’t break on the first swing you take at someone and know where your exits are located. (I hope we all got that I was just in a scene from Burn Notice) haha It's crazy here.

Before I start just want to thank you for all the letters and emails. That was sooo awesome. Loved them. My family rocks. So crazy that today is my 4-month mark. Really is going by fast. I know I have a lot in front of me but also can see how fast it will go.

There was a lot of rain this week. So actually it was somehow chilly this week. And when I say chilly I don’t mean cold, I mean that the temp was bearable.

Okay on to important matters. First things first, yesterday I got to see Joseph and King David be ordained priests. Wow! ... Wow! Just never thought of something like that. So flipping cool. Love those kids.

Also I got my pants and shirts tailored so now I look somehow slimmer. No more baggy, baggy cloths. The girl who does my shirts did them for free and really loves the missionaries but you know how I am and gave her money. Wouldn’t take no for an answer, but I really wanted her to have it. The guy who did my pants charged me. shah. So it was 15 cedes ($10) all together and I have tailored everything but 1 pant and 2 shirts. looks good. I sent 2 memory cards home just recently. So hopefully they get to you soon. So hope you enjoy.

(Elder Darrow - on the corner of Sekondi-Takoradi Rd)

Speaking of enjoy. ..... Hmm..... yup.... dinner at the Lambs! Spaghetti with garlic bread. And for dessert chocolate chip cookies and cookies n crème ice cream. SO, SO AWESOME! Love the Lambs. Such a blessing.

Also this week, when Isaac Dazi (our ward coordinator) came over to the apt for our meeting, I showed him the map on the wall. HA. Wish you could have seen this. They have never seen anything like it and he was shocked. Kinda freaked him out to be honest. Hahah. It was cool to go over it with him and explain stuff. Also some elders asked a while ago for mission maps and I guess they know about the map we have in our apt and I think now the APs are going to try and get one for all the apartments. Nothing like the one you went WAY overboard on, but something like it.

I have found that with e Sintim the lessons are different. Less lessons but longer lessons. So it’s a change but all is well. We have 10 progression investigators and the 2 young boys are doing awesome. I don't really like to talk about the numbers. I had a cool realization, yes the numbers matter and show progression, but it just goes back to the quote you gave me about that (confusing motion with progress and activity with results).

(The District - Elders Dadegnon, Bassey, Halling, Moiwo

front - Wolfgramm, Mackay, Sintim, Darrow)

Behind every great missionary is an even better supporting cast. Love you guys so much.

Thanks for everything.

xoxo

elder darrow

Ghana Map - Mission Map

by dad

Ghana is divided into nine political/geographical regions. The Ghana Cape Coast mission covers from the coast to the northern boarder including, the Upper West region. The missionaries however, only cover the three regions in the south, Ashanti, Western and Central. According to Alex, most of the northern part of Ghana is Muslim.

(Ghana political/geographical map)

Previous information from Alex...

There are 8 zones in the mission; Sekondi, Takoradi, Cape Coast, Abura, Bantama, Dichempso, Assin Faso, and Swedru

As for their locations, Sekondi and Takoradi are basically touching and are in Western Ghana. Cape Coast and Aubra are in the Central region. They are in and around the city of Cape Coast, neighboring each other like Sekondi and Takoradi. Bantama and Dichempso are north, in the city of Kumasi, in the Ashanti region. They don’t go much higher then Kumasi. Assin Foso (or city Foso) is right above Cape Coast, in between Kumasi and Cape Coast. Swedru is to the east of Cape Coast, right on the border of our mission and the Accra mission.

Zones - cities

Sekondi - Kweikuma, Kojokrom, Nkestiakrom, Sekondi

Takoradi - Takoradi, West Takoradi, Chapel Hill

Cape Coast - Cape Coast, Yamoransa, Nkanfoa, Mankessim

Abura - Ola, Elmina, Abura, Pedu

Bantama - Bantama, Suame, Asuoyeboa, Nwamase, Aboakwa

Dichempso - Dichempso, UST, Asokwa, Buokrom

Assin Foso - Assin Foso, Assin Foso North, Praso, Achiase

Swedru - Moree, Swedru, Odoben, Winneba, Kojo-Bedu

The Map was SICK

by dad

I like maps. When Alex wrote home a few months ago and said 'there are no maps here', I could hardly believe it. When we asked how did they find people or places he said 'people just walk with you and show you where to go'. We decided there was an easier way...Google Earth. After a volley of emails over a few weeks, we finally narrowed down his area (and still missed 'BU' because Google Earth is a blur). Then, I spent a little time creating "The Sick Map". Elder D writes...

First things first! The big package I got on Tue was soooo sweet. Thank you so, so much. It was awesome. P-doe, (dad) the map was SICK. I'm sure you knew that but thanks again. We LOVED it.

After opening everything, I laid it out on the ground and all the elders swarmed and figured it out. Some of the others elders areas were on there and where we live is on there. It was instantly put up on the wall. SO, SO, SO sick. I will say you went a BIT over board. ahahhaha but i flippin loved it thank you so much. it rocks. So now when you walk in our apt there is a huge map up on the wall. I wish you guys could know how awesome it is to get stuff from you guys.

(The wall map of Sekondi and neighboring towns)

The zone conf we had on Wed. was sweet. It was a 130 min drive to cape coast and our zone and takoradi zone all went in a big tro-tro. The conf went really well. Powerful talk from pres about completing the goal and even more powerful was the second talk he gave. It was mostly about the two missionaries in Accra, Ghana (falsely accused and jailed) and he had a very, very powerful talk about how important the rules are and why they are there and why we must always be with our comp and so on. That was sweet. The whole place was silent as we stared and listened with our mouths open. It was intense.

Alex says the work as a missionary is going very well. They seem to always have someone to teach. The difficult part is weeding through those who are truly interested in hearing what they have to share. Most rewarding, is to have a recent convert say he is thinking about serving a mission.

This week we finally got to sit with Agyemang's whole family. We have been trying to for some time and it went really well. I think with the Lord’s help he will lead his whole family into the water with a good push from us and the nagging of his eager son Agyemang. He wants to be baptized so badly and it would be cool to get the whole family. Fruits that will remain.

Still going well with Ebenezer’s and Pau Quaseys. Yup Both have a 2 year old and a 10 year old. Don’t have a lot of time to go into each of them, but going well.

This week King David was asking me questions about missions and said he is somehow thinking about serving.... how sick would that be? Wow that made me happy. He’s such a smart kid. He turns 21 in Jan. and by the time he went that would be a normal age for Africans. Makes me so giddy thinking about it.

(A Home/Area Compound type thing)

I wish I could tell you how sweet it is to walk into a home/area and have little kids run up and actually call you by your name and grab your hand and walk you up to where you are going to meet. Happens every time I walk into Josephs’ compound type thing. My heart just melts. They are so awesome. I love the kids and I really do love the people.

As for things with Elder Sintim, he is so sweet and I really am learning to love him like a brother. But he walks so slow. He is never in a rush. But not in a bad way just his personality. Just a really chill dude. He’s very upfront with people. I'm learning and adjusting. Nothing new. We are getting really close and I'm excited to get closer. Gonna learn to love that kid.

(Elders Sintim & Darrow at the Apartment - (with a number 2 haircut))

(Elders Darrow & Sintim - Pday at the Stake Center)

Thanks for all that you do. You really are so, so awesome, thanks.

Keep saying those prayers.

And don’t forget to wash your hands. The world is full of filth :) -

elder darrow

Culture and Customs - From Handshakes to Reducing

by dad

We got a letter from Alex recently which he described some of the culture and customs of Ghana. Here are some of his observations thus far...

Hand Shaking & Greetings - When you shake hands you always start on the right. It is considered rude to shake the person to the left first. Also, when you end the shake, there is always a snap. To make the handshake-snap you place your thumb on the back of their middle finger and then snapping it. All the guys do it and about 50% of the women. If the women don’t, they just leave their hand out, for you to snap off if it. Also, when your talking to people after shaking hands they will just hold your hand as they talk to you. Not like a just a long hand shake. They will shake with the right hand and then transfer your right hand to their left hand and hold on. Then once they say good-bye, they transfer the hand back and shake again. Quite weird. A lot of hand touching!

Left hand usage – It’s a big no-no to use your left hand at all (except after the hand shake). You don’t wave with it. You don’t eat with it. You don’t grab things with it. It’s just a big DON’T. I think it goes back to ‘sanitation issues’.

People are very honest, very direct and very open about everything. If you are fat…they tell you (And if you are loosing weight, they tell you are reducing). That’s just the way it is.

(Elder Darrow outside his apartment- 'reduced')

They escort you places. When you’re done teaching they will walk with you until you are back to a main road, usually a 2-3 minute walk from where you were. The men do this more often and the men will walk longer with you. Then they say their good-byes. Also, if you can’t find some place and you ask where it is or where someone lives, rather than pointing you somewhere, they will just walk you there. Cool right?!

Holding Hands - It is very common here if two people are friends. No matter the sex or if they are boyfriend/girlfriend, they will just walk around town holding hands. I like my good friend Eric Proctor, and wouldn't mind escorting him to his home, but I wouldn't walk around school holding his hand. Ha

Calling People. When you’re out and about people “Hiss” at each other. It’s a hard “S” sound like SSSSuper! You can be walking down the street and just hear “SSSSS! SSSSS!” that is coming from a window or a shop or across the street. Then once they get your attention, they put their hand up like giving you a high-five and then close their fingers (then repeat).

Taking Pictures - It’s not really ok to take pictures of poverty stuff. If people see they will get quite upset. They think you are going to give it to some newspaper or something. They don’t really like you taking pictures of their children if you don’t know them.

(Sekondi, Ghana - Gulf of Guinea)

All my love. All the way from Sekondi, Ghana

elder d

The Faith of Agnes

by dad

From Alex...

So as for elder Sintim. He is so tight. Man I am really learning to love that guy. He is from a city called Asamankese, which is in the eastern region. It's about an hour from Accra and is somehow close to Swedru (a Zone in our mission). He’s a shorter stocky guy. He’s so sweet and very, very funny. We laugh a lot together. He is also a very American-Ghanaian. He also grew up in a better off family. Of course he is still Ghanaian and culturally different, but I really am going to love being with him . It’s so cool to be with a local. He is just so much more comfortable and knows the culture and it’s a cool change. He speaks Twi (chwi) and doesn’t hear Fante( so he says. he actually hears it very well just not 100%) and while I’m at it lets clear this up. Fante the old school original version. Twi is a lot like Fante just simplified. They say Twi is way easier to learn. But its crazy cuz everyone comes from random places all from Ghana and I would say Twi is the dominant language so we often run into people who speak it then I just sit there as they go crazy and I just smile and wait for them. I get small parts of it and can understand the subject they are talking about and such but really not much more than that. And when they try to get me to speak... FORGET! (wow... that is a VERY Ghanaian saying. ... Forget... hahaha sigh...) anyway. He really knows how to work. He also knows how to Enjoy (another thing they say here... "have fun") He’s very good at knowing when it's time to work and when it's time to enjoy. He’s good at switching them when needed.

(Elder Sintim & Elder Darrow)

Also, yes this Friday with Ghana losing and all was quite sad. I can’t even begin to describe to you how different and serious the goal is for my companion not to watch. Man was he suffering. He’s a stud for that and mad respect. We were outside listening to the noise of the game and man was it intense. Very sad to see... I mean hear them lose but i'll get over it. wait... I just did. : ) And I’m sure for the few of you who knew it was very controversial and lots of yelling and people upset. But all is well.

Big news. GOAL COMPLETED!!! (to baptize a family or a husband/wife of a part member family) That is all I know. We have zone conf tomorrow and I am SO stoked to hear how it happened. I do know that is was a crazy finish as always and I’m sure it's the covenant we made helped us more then we will ever know. So crazy.

The apartment is sweet with the new elders. E MacKay is way sweet. Hope to get to know him. Could be living together for some time. Should be fun. We are going to have lots of fun.

As for members and so on there are so many things I could say so I will just say this. This week we were walking to a members house so we could teach her little brother who she wants to be baptized and it was a bit of a walk so she met us and took us there. She has been trying to get us there for some time and its not easy cuz they are so far away so we did our best. Well this is what I found out. This sister Agnes was baptized 4-5 years ago. I bet she is 17-19. She is the only member in her family. Her father and mother let her go to church but don’t support it in anyway. She has been taking her little brother to church with her for the past 1-2 years. This is what is so cool about this girl. She has been dying to get us there to teach her brother Ebenezer (different Ebenezer) and I now understand why. What this girl goes thru is unreal. She has no support from her family at all and gets her brother to come to church with her every week.

( the roads and hills of Sekondi)

Well from their house it is a 30-40 min walk up and down big dirt hills to get to the main road. Which then they have to buy a Tro-Tro (that I’m sure she pays for) and then it’s a 10 min ride to the church. Week after week she comes. After making that walk to teach him it really gave me a greater understanding for how incredible this gospel is. It gets this girl to do all that just to go to church for a few hours. What incredible faith. What an incredible example she is to all who notice her. I honestly look at her and think if I was in her shoes would I do or would have done the same... I hope the answer was yes but I don’t know. And as I sat at the door on Sunday greeting everyone as they came in it brought tears to my eyes seeing her walk thru the doors with a smile from ear to ear with her little brother. Just knowing what she went thru to get to church is unreal. I really do love this gospel so much. I know that it’s true. Sorry I don’t have time to tell you everything that goes on. I just like to share my favorite parts.

(Sekondi chapel & church)

Glad you got the mem cards and such. Doing my best with pics. I love you guys so much. Thanks for all the prayers. I see the blessings everyday.

Elder D-ROW

Love you guys lots and lots