Embracing Change: Our Cape Coast Mission Journey

A few weeks ago, I was going through our Cape Coast Mission history book and what I found was so many inspiring stories from previous missionaries (Mission Presidents, Senior Couples and stories from Jr. Missionaries) many of those stories were from blogs that the senior couples had kept. I thought a blog would help me record our experiences more consistently. I haven’t been great at recording our time here. We have been in Cape Coast Africa for 8 months now. There are so many things we want to share. So, we will start with this month and catch up on the rest in other blog posts.

This month has been a month of many changes. President and Sister Morgan returned home to Alabama after serving 3 years in Ghana Cape Coast. We were sad to see them go. However, we felt excited for them to be together again with their family. Maybe we were a little jealous. We will all miss them. We are so grateful for their leadership and the lessons they have taught us all. President and Sister Tachie-Menson have replaced the Morgans, and we are so excited to have them here. They bring with them their 2 boys, ages 10 and 12 and it’s been fun to have them around. They are from Ghana and live in Accra, so they aren’t too far from home. President and Sister Tachie-Menson made some changes to the way we did our transfers in the past. We used to have our transfer meeting at the Olah chapel. It was held the day after our new missionaries arrived. Now our office Elders and Assistants move all those who are being transferred. We no longer have a transfer meeting. Our office Elders were busy. They were so organized, and from what we hear, all went well. Some Elders arrived a day later from the USA. It was a little (or a lot) different from what we are all used to. Change is never easy for me. I’ve learned to embrace it. I always learn and grow from things I learn along the way. I’m sure there will be many changes before we leave. We are excited to see the growth in our mission.

We said goodbye to 11 missionaries on Wednesday. The longer we are here the harder it is to say goodbye to the missionaries. 3 of the elders were our first office elders when we first got here. Elder Anagbo from Ghana, Elder Tew from Utah and Elder Soria from the Philippines. We tease them and tell them they were our trainers. They showed us the local places to eat cheap. They were so patient with us when we asked questions. This was especially true when they were busy doing the things they needed to do. Elder Atwater from Utah has been in our office the last few months, we will miss our daily visits with him and the random movie quotes that no one else knew. We will miss all the departing missionaries and are excited to hear about their next chapter in their lives. We always hope we will see them again someday down the road. We know that some of them we probably won’t see until the next life. We are so grateful that the Lord has put them in our path. We are also grateful for their examples of Christlike love for those they served.

We are so grateful for the opportunity to serve in Ghana. Never in our wildest dreams would we think we would get the opportunity to live and serve in Cape Coast Africa. “God Knows” has been my motto since preparing for our mission. He knew we needed to be here, and it has been such a great experience.

July 15, 2025

The Missionaries were treated at lunch and dinner to yummy local food. Fufu, beans and rice and soup for lunch. Banku, rice, salad and yes even Pizza Hut for dinner. I think we all gained 10 pounds overnight.

The missionaries all received their scarves for their service. I didn’t realize this was the only picture I took with all of them with President and Sister Menson. In the photo are (left to right top row) Elder Thueson from Idaho, Elder Dogby from Ghana, Elder Anagbo from Ghana, Sister Akonorbea from Ghana, Sister Tachie-Menson & President Tachie-Menson, Elder Matseketsa from Zimbabwe, Sister Elisaia from Samoa, Elder Afemui from Tonga, Sister Moriba from Sierra Leone. ( front row left to right) Elder Greene from Utah, Elder Soria from Philippines, Elder Tew from Utah, and Elder Atwater from Utah

July 15-16, 2025

We had Elders stay overnight at our house to rest up before flying home the next day and of course we have to have one last brownie night. We asked them to share their hardest time while on mission and also their most memorable memory. I wished I would have recorded it because each of their stories were so powerful. We heard about miracles and how God showed up in their hardest times and guided them to have such amazing experiences, teaching others about Christ and baptizing them.

Last time walking the roads of Ghana Cape Coast as full time missionaries.

July 16, 2025

New Cape Coast Missionaries arrive and are greeted by departing missionaries. President Tachie-Menson gives advice and words of wisdom.

They really were more excited than they looked 😂😂

The newest Ghana Cape Coast missionaries! Front row ( left to right) Elder Tamanivalu (Fiji) Elder Torara (Papa New Guinea) Elder Halafihi (Tonga) Elder Bowen Office Elder from Las Vegas, Elder Mayo-Office Elder from Philippines Middle Row ( left to right)Elder Koyondo – Office/AP from DR Congo, Elder Masas (Philippines)Elder Uhila (Tonga) President Tachie-Menson, Sister Tachie-Menson, Sister Fakatele(Tonga) Sister Ladner- Mission Medical, Sister Arpa(Papa New Guinea) Back Row ( left to right)Elder Bingham-Office/AP from Utah, Elder Weah (Liberia) Elder Jada (South Africa) Elder Mitivao (Samoa) Elder Ndlovu ( Zimbabwe)Elder Faumuina (Samoa) Elder Mukenge(DR Congo) Elder Ladner-mission logistics.

July 18, 2025

We received another group of missionaries from the United States on Thursday. The office Elders and us picked them up at the Ford station in town. They had just flown in from Salt Lake City early that morning and were some tired boys! We took them back to the mission home and fed them and heard their testimonies as well as some instruction fro the Tachie-Mensons, then we headed to our house so they could get some sleep.

July 19, 2025

The office Elders took them to meet their new companions/ trainers and we hoped things would settle down. Later in the afternoon, both Kelly and I got sick. We ended up in bed with a fever and upset stomach. Of course your first thought goes to having malaria. We’ve taken our doxy, but due to the busy week, it was not always taken consistently at the same time. But luckily the fever went away and by Monday and we were able to go in to the office. Our mission nurse also felt sick so we think it’s just a bug that was going around. We have been blessed with good health so far and when we do get a bug, it goes away quickly. I know we are being watched over and we are always mindful of the many blessing we have been given.