Hurts So Good!

Hurts so good! I feel his pain. I love this picture...and it totally sums up our last week. It's like bad medicine--a little painful to experience, but once you put it on, (or just get through it), it actually feels quite nice.  This is Elder Randall from the Sierra Leone Mission after a bicycle accident. Got skinned up pretty good and lost a good pair of slacks but lived to tell the tale without any significant injuries. The person I cropped out of the picture is Elder Kirkham who is one of the senior couples serving in Monrovia. These couples are the first responders for the health and safety of the missionaries. They are in the 'trenches' with the missionaries and we love every one of them--the unsung heroes of missionary life if you will. We are so blessed to be able to work closely with each of these couples who take care of our missionaries in the field. We have two or three in each mission--I wish we had six or seven. We don't really get involved in these kinds of things because the senior couples are so good, but occasionally something serious comes along when we are needed.

This last month was the month of accidents. It is really true that things come in groups of three. Groups of malaria, groups of typhoid, groups of dog bits, and this month, groups of accidents. There were three missionaries involved in pretty significant motorcycle accidents. One sister riding on the back of a motorcycle was 'pushed' off the road by a truck. She didn't sustain any fractures, but wound up staying in the hospital for a couple of weeks for skin grafting as she was missing quite a chunk from her thigh. The worst part of it all is that this happened on the second to last day of her mission. There are still two areas that I know of in West Africa where the only form of public transport is a moto (motorcycle taxi).


Two other elders were crossing a road and a moto wound up sliding in to them and taking their legs out from under them. One spent the week end in the hospital after he was knocked out for some time, and the other is still real sore after the first week. We have had three dog/cat bites (yes, here that means rabies shots), I think there were three bicycle accidents and then of course the usual assortment of sicknessess--malaria, typhoid, etc..

This week, we finished with the Spring Mission Presidents Seminar. We were lucky because it was right here in Ghana and we didn't have to travel. We took on a whole bunch of little projects for the week, and we stayed very busy. We were just running around a lot, gett'n this done or checking on that person; we had one in the hospital and several more feeling poor. We did health screening for the mission presidents and their wives, but it turned out to be a bigger project than intended. We did some educational things through the week as well. We came home tired and exhausted each night, but it really felt like we had accomplished something and the end of each and every day (unlike most of our days here in Africa where we work and work and work, only to find that we have accomplised close to nothing).

We work pretty closely with the area presidency here in the Africa West Area. I am pretty sure they are the best area presidency in all of the church. Maybe I am biased, but I do not know of three better men to 'work' for than these three. We report directly to Elder Legrand Curtis, but frequently deal with Elder John Dickson (the area president) as well. They have been so supportive of any and every thing we have needed; we are just blessed. In addition we met with Elder Tad Callister and David Evens though the week. While we missed some of their teachings, we were able to hear others that were just awesome. Really felt good this week to hear uplifting words and good council from each or our general authorities.

Mission Presidents Seminar
General Authorities--Front Row, Africa West Mission Presidents,
...and us support staff is our group in the upper left corner

 Around the area, things are moving right along.  Last week in the Accra area, there was an historic conference where four stakes gatrhered at the beginning of the meeting and became six stakes by the end of the meeting. The missionary work continues to be on fire--even in this big city of Accra.

Outside the conference center (Accra)--photo from Sister Barney

We've had a few struggles this week as well. We have tried hard to stay healthy, but this last week with the mission presidents seminar we must have gotten into something bad. (We are finding out there several that picked up the same bug). We were both treated for typhoid fever, and are finally feeling better.

Another thing happened for me a couple of weeks ago as well. I had been struggling since the beginning of December with a piece of glass in the bottom of my foot. It was just so painful and no matter how much I dug, I could just never find it--glass is like that because you can't see it. Try as I may, I could never get Michelle to cut it out. I knew where it was and just wanted her to cut out the offending chunk of flesh. As long as I wore shoes or sandals, I could manage, but it was real bothersome to try to walk otherwise. I always tell my patients that these little shreds of glass have a way of working themselves out; but after a few months, I really started to wonder if I had been lying this whole time. Finally, one night I just was scratching at it, and what do you know, this little shard of glass just popped out. It took another couple of weeks for the soreness to go away, but now I can walk and play and do all the normal things. Amazing what we take for granted.

At the Market!

We went to the market yesterday and just loved the hustle and bustle. We really didn't buy anything except a couple of Skrek movies, but we had fun wandering the back streets and alleys of Makala market here in Accra.

 Sister Fife at the market.
Check out the women in the background,
one with a huge stack of bags on her head and the other who is selling watermelon quarters.

We took Kelsey to this market while she was here but lasted only about 30 minutes. I think it was the overwhelmingly hot and sticky air combined with the stench of day old fish, waste, trash, and, well to be honest--urine. I think we have been here too long because we hardly notice any of these smells any more.  We don't walk out the door every morning and get blown away by the overwhelming smell of...well the smell of Africa.

 

Elder Fife at Makala Market--Down Town Accra

We continue to enjoy the missionaries. We have found our first fellow Montanan--Elder Pearson who recently came through the MTC. He will be serving here in Ghana for the next two years. I keep looking for someone from North Dakota, but nothing yet and times a roll'n right along. 

Three Montanans in Africa; Sister Fife looks so young, Elder Fife showing more of  the shape of his head,
and Elder Pearson far too young but ready to start a great mission

We have officially past our 6-months-to-go mark, but seem to have too many things to get done in that short time. We are leaving Monday for Port Harcourt  and Aba Nigeria. We are so happy to finally be going. We have been trying to get there for some time, but for various reasons (mostly security), we haven't been given the green light until this month. We are excited to visit the Aba temple and look forward to seeing the missionaries and hospitals.

...Elder and Sister Fife

Hurting so Good in Ghana