Tarkwa's First District Conference

We were excited to participate in the first district conference of the Tarkwa Ghana District.  I was assigned to preside at the conference and we had a very enjoyable experience.  This is Sister Stevenson with Sister Tetteh and Sister Adjei, who serve as Church Service Missionaries with their husbands.

The Saturday sessions of conference were held at the Tarkwa Chapel.

We held Priesthood Leadership meeting in the morning, then an afternoon session for the adult members of the Church.

Elder and Sister Clements serve the Tarkwa District.

Because of the distance, we stayed overnight in Tarkwa.

President Adjei eats a fish head.

On Sunday, we held the general session of the conference at the Longji Hotel because the District Center is not quite completed.

It is a nice place, and they took good care of us.  There was enough room for all of us, it was quiet and the sound systems worked great.

We just had to cover the liquor cabinets with sheets.

The District Presidency

The Choir

We even had video in the overflow area!

Sister Sumunah spoke in the conference.  She is a recently returned missionary.

Sister Barbara works at the Longji and always takes good care of us when we are in town.

I was so pleased with the attendance at the conference.  Half of the district had to travel two hours by TroTro to get there.  It was wonderful to see them rolling in.  There was a really great spirit during the two days and I am excited to see the future development of the Church and these members over the next few years.

After all that you would think that the rest of the week would have been anticlimactic.  No way!

Monday began with a volleyball game outside our bedroom window.  

Sister Stevenson even jumped in.

We held zone conferences for Cape Coast, Elmina and Mankessim Zones:

Mankessim Zone

Cape Coast Zone

Elmina Zone

Here are pictures of the zone conferences -- you sort them out.

 

We also interviewed several missionaries before and after other meetings.

  

We had Mission Leadership Council meeting this week.

Proof that Elder Plumb smiles.

We reviewed the leadership training for District Leaders (Missionary Exchanges, District Meetings, Baptismal Interviews and Leadership Principles) and sent the Zone Leaders out to train everybody up before the next Council meeting.

I love MLC.

The Sister Training Leaders.

Finally, we brought in our newest missionaries and their trainers to review their Missionary Purpose, resolve any questions about the training process and establish expectations.

It is always fun to see their excitement when they meet each other again. 

Happy Birthday to Sister Awor.

After only four weeks, it is difficult to tell the traniner's shoes from the new missionaries'.  This place is hard on shoes.

After developing a list of expectations for the trainers and the new missionaries, I ask them to consider if there are items on the list that they could do better and set some goals for improvement.

April 2017 New Missionaries and their Trainers.

With all of that, I didn't do a very good job of celebrating Sister Stevenson's birthday.  

I did get her a new dress.

Still awesome.