The first three weeks....

The Shipleys
President and Sister Harmon, he is the MTC President. His parents also live in Mom and Dad's home ward in Utah.

Richard Papa Dadzie

We left Salt Lake City three weeks ago today. Wow! What a fast pace we seem to have kept since we arrived. Elder and Sister Shipley met us at the airport early on Sunday morning. He is the Executive Secretary to the Area Presidency and a good one! They have been very kind to us. They brought us to the Ancillary Building and took us to the apartment that had been the Bordens. We brought in our bags and took a much needed nap. We had slept little on the crowded airplane.

We took another nap on Monday, and then I think our jet lag was over. We were really blessed this time. The direct flight from NYC Kennedy to Accra made it so much easier.
Shipleys took us to the bank to get Ghanian money, which has changed so much in the short four years we’ve been gone – new currency – about 1.36 cedis to the U.S. $. It was much more favorable before, and we discovered when we went to the new mall (can you believe it?) that grocery and other costs have at least doubled. There are several more places to shop and get American products; we haven’t even checked all of them out yet.

We learned the first few days that we were here that our former apartment #305 was available and that we could choose. We walked into it, and it felt like home! The cane tables we had made and the decorator pillows were still there. So we opted to move down and across the hall. It took us a few days, but everything seems to be working now except the cable TV. They had to repair the air conditioning and the water pressure in the bathtub. We have our own hot and cold pure water dispenser which is wonderful.

Richard Papa Dadzie (photo with Dad in office) was a young single returned missionary when we were here the first time. He is a computer expert and works for the Church in the ICS department. We urged him to find a wife. He was married when we came for our temple mission, and now he has four children -- including a set of two year old twins and a brand new baby girl who keeps them all awake at night. We have been so warmly welcomed back by many of our good friends. Somehow the word had spread, and most of them said, “I heard you were coming back; welcome home!” And we feel that way.

We are still feeling our way in our office – going through files – and trying to become more familiar with the new family search, but I think we’ve made amazing progress in three weeks. The Lord has truly blessed us. We’ll make it!