Keyboard Lessons

Saturday the 14th was the second day of our keyboard lessons. We try to leave the house about 6:30am to make it to our first lesson at 10am. Yes it is a long ways away but we travel through a rubber tree plantation and cross two toll bridges to get there and see beautiful sights all along the way. Our first group of lessons is held in a school where the branch meets on Sunday. There was one young man there when we arrived this week. We took advantage of the time and started reviewing with him. Before long, two of his brothers and one sister came (they are children of the Branch President). Then a mother and her son came with their keyboard. The Branch President's family was sharing a keyboard with a young man who had one but spent a lot of time at their house.

Well the first week, they had very little time on the keyboard so we decided to give one to that family so all (mother, two daughters and three sons) could practice without sharing with the other young man. Some of them are quick learners and you can see the excitement in their eyes when they put their hands up to play. Next week we are going a half hour earlier and perhaps divide the group into two--each of us taking a corner and teaching. That way, there will be more one on one time. That was the Nkroful Branch. We also delivered materials to the clerk and he stays and watches the lessons!

Next we had peanut butter sandwiches on the road on our way to the next town of Axim where we were to deliver materials to the clerk. However no one was there because of a funeral so we just took the materials to the missionary couple assigned to that branch. We are setting up lessons there too. However there is a person capable of teaching there so we are working the details out for that branch.

Next stop is at Agona Nkwanta where we meet in another school. We ended up there this time with two brothers, their friend, the Branch President's daughter and son. This time I taught the class mostly myself as Frank was taking a rest! He is so good at teaching but he encourages me to get more involved. He is such a natural at teaching and the kids all love him. He makes them laugh. We have left two keyboards with this group but they really need a third. We will see if they keep coming.

Then we were on to Takoradi to hand out branch information. It didn't take long but is still off the main road. The missionary couple there wants lessons in their branch as well. We have encouraged all of the Branch Presidents to identify one person they think would be willing to learn to play. Only one of the branches has music! The rest all sing a capella with a leader.

Our next lessons were in Daboasi at the Branch President's home. We taught his son, two daughters, a granddaughter, plus three other young men. That totaled five homes and we only had two keyboards! All of them were eager to learn and paid attention. We left one keyboard with the President for his family and granddaughter to use and the other keyboard went to another home which was central to the remaining students. We will see how strong their desire is by how much they practice. When the routine is new everyone is excited. We hope they will continue when they find out how much effort it takes. Then we can get more keyboards.

By this time, it was getting dark and we had two more deliveries to make. We had another peanut butter sandwich on the way home, got gas for tomorrow's trip to Numakrom for Elder Turner's temple prep. class and headed home!

The next day we planned to be on the road by 7am in order to pick up the elders in Praso. But to our surprise, the truck's battery was dead. The assistants came and jump-started the truck. All of the lights, horn, locks, etc. worked--just not the battery. Anyway we got it going and figured all would be well because the battery really wasn't that old. It was the last temple prep class for this group and they would be looking for us. We got off to a late start but we made it in time to teach the class. Just in case we might have trouble starting the truck again, we parked on the dirt road facing home instead of inside the gates at the building. Well it was a good thing we did that because when we went to drive home the battery was dead again! There were four young men that gave us a hefty push to get the truck started and we made it home without any trouble. When we got home, we tried to start it again and it was dead! We were watched over. Tomorrow we will take care of the battery!

We are finding our way around Ghana and enjoy meeting, teaching, and visiting the lovely people that live in this country. Their testimonies are strong and they want the blessings of the temple for their families. It is a joy to see the excitement on their face as they realize their goal is about to be completed. Just another weekend in Ghana.

--Sister Turner