Its been a great adventure so far! The lack of reliable internet is a blessing and a curse, which will prove to be my nemesis on this trip. I will succeed however and post as often as I can. I still have to talk about my first couple days. 

Saturday, May 2, 2015. Amsterdam was amazing! It was so cool to just be in a foreign country and experience, even for a few hours, the people and their culture. Everyone it seemed smoked in Amsterdam. I felt like I was in Ontario again! The air was just filled with it but it was still beautiful. The old buildings brought such a charm to the city that I could feel the history radiating from their walls. As we walked the streets we saw many things from cheese shops, to every kind of restaurant, souvenir stores and boats on the canals. I could hardly believe that so many food vendors and shops could exist in one place! They seemed to be in every other available space. The smell of fresh bread, sweets, and meat filled the air and we found a new smell it seemed with every step. The waffles there were really good! I had a chocolate covered waffle with smarties haha I could feel the cavities forming haha. Note to self and and future traveler's to Amsterdam. If you find yourself on a oddly quite street with not many people or shops…just leave. And don't ever go back there, especially at night, because whether day or night there will be men there satisfying certain…desires. Thankfully it remained PG-13. After our adventures on the streets of Amsterdam we got back on the train and headed back to the airport. Got on our last flight to Accra. 6 and a half hours later we arrived! 

There were 6 of us on that last flight, the other 2 would be arriving before us. WE walked straight out onto the tarmac and onto an old city bus that drive us to the arrivals gate. I was afraid to touch the handles or anything else haha it was pretty dirty and the lights would flicker in the bus as we drove. Before security we all had to be scanned for Ebola we we walked through the hall. Each person had to walk in front of an infrared camera. I’m not sure if those that had symptoms or any signs of the disease would appear colder or warmer than they should, I didn’t see anyone get turned away. Security and customs were a breeze! No questions, just scan and go. And all we had to do at customs was hand in our declaration card. They didn’t even look at our bags or ask us any questions! We found out later that they do this when its really busy. One of our guys, Austin, lost his luggage. Another stayed back and helped him talk to the baggage reclaim desk but because he did that, by the time he went through customs it was not busy anymore and all of his bags were searched. 

We made it to the Telecentre Bed and Breakfast Hotel around 10 o’clock that night (ghana time). Austin and I are roommates but we have to sleep at a nearby hotel because there was no room for us in the Inn so to speak. They say we will be moving in on Tuesday. Church was great! We walked about 10 minutes over the highway to the church building. It was so awesome to see the church in another country like Ghana, thriving and nearly just the same as back home! The ward had recently been split into 3 smaller wards and they called an all new relief society, you mens, executive secretary, and priests quorum while we were there. We forgot it was fast Sunday, I guess traveling will do that to you, so we ate the toast that was provided that morning as our “continental breakfast” they also had coffee and tea but we had to sadly deny those. When we got back we had orientation and then had the rest of the day to ourselves. There is so much I could write about but I just don't have the time or patience to be honest haha. But what I will say is that I love it here so far. Yes there are some completely sketchy stuff that go on but its amazing. It’s hot! like really hot! And of course humid. I’ve never been in a more humid place in my life. Then combine it with the 35 degree (that’s Celsius for you americans) weather and it equals constant moisture. You are wet ALL THE TIME. I met a missionary at church from Nigeria and he says it is too hot here. I agree, but I don't mind it. My hair is curly again haha, I can thank the humidity for that. 

Well that’s all I have time to write about today. Tomorrow we have our first day working with the clinics on outreaches. Should be a great time!