One of the two LDS Missionary Training Centers in Africa is located in Tema, about 25 kilometers from Accra. The MTC is bustling with activity, even at Christmastime, because of a constant flow of new missionaries entering to prepare for their missions. On Christmas Day the senior couples in the area helped make and take lunch for themselves, the Accra Temple president and his wife, the MTC presidency and their wives, and 33 hungry young missionaries. We drove to Tema on practically empty roads (heavenly!), laden with goodies and gifts and games for this enthusiastic group of young people. Except for a handful of Ghanaians, the rest of us were celebrating Christmas away from home -- Utah, Idaho, California, Nevada, Arizona, Tennessee, Virginia, Canada, Australia, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Congo, and Madagascar. Who says it isn't fun to celebrate Christmas in Africa?
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| Sister Robison, the MTC president's wife, with the employees who helped serve mounds of food on Christmas Day. | Ghana Accra West mission president, Norman Hill, chatted with missionaries learning to speak English in the MTC. |
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| The MTC cafeteria was filled to capacity on Christmas Day. | A group of French-speaking Elders sang a hymn in English. |
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| An Elder from Madagascar has 23 letters in his last name! | Five of the 33 missionaries are Sisters. |
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| Only one young missionary is Caucasion (from the U.S.). He will serve in the Benin Cotonou Mission, French-speaking. | A friend of ours from Accra, Sister Benedicta Wegbe, is learning French to serve in Cote d'Ivoire. |
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| President & Sister Robison of the MTC and President & Sister Afful of the Accra Temple (seated) are flanked by scores of missionaries outside the Ghana MTC on December 25, 2014. |
