Thanksgiving and Lessons Learned

If you are a follower of our blog you may have read the post about Joseph Wilson and our efforts to help him attend school at BYU-Hawaii. Due to the economy and some other reasons we were unable to collect the funds or find a sponsor for Joseph. When we found this out after hearing back from a few of our potential sponsors, I wrote an email to Joseph about how God's will is not always the same as our will and desires. When I was writing this email I truly felt like this statement was true but at the same time felt like I was only writing it to make him feel better. I knew how hard he had been praying and fasting for the opportunity to attend BYU-Hawaii. For the next day or two I felt horrible and very disappointed in myself that I was unable to help Joseph. I felt like I had failed him. I had tried to contact a couple more people that were involved in charities to see if they had any means or contacts to help, both were unable to help financially. One of the emails that I received truly help me understand God's will. I was very grateful to have the lesson that I was trying to help Joseph learn, be taught to me. I now truly have an understanding that the things that we believe to be the "right" choice for us are not always the choice that our Father in Heaven has for us. No matter how hard we pray for something, if it is contrary to the plan that God has for us then we will not receive the answer that we want. We need to pray for an opportunity to know and understand God's will and plan for us. I am so grateful to have learned this lesson. Especially since it has taught me that I need to listen to the lessons I am trying to help teach others.

For Thanksgiving I thought I would make a list of things that I am Grateful for.

I am Grateful for:

•  My wonderful husband, I have learned so much from Joey and don't know what I would do without him in my life. While he was in Europe I realized how much he does for me. I knew that having him be gone for a month would be very difficult for me because I love having him by my side. I learned a lot about myself but was also able to get through the month by doing things for Joey. While he was gone I was able to stain and varnish his desk as an early birthday present. My ability to stain and varnish his desk leads me to my next gratitude.
• I am so grateful for my mom, she does so much for me. Over the years the relationship between my mom and I have changed. While I was at Dixie for school we became best friends, we used to sit on her bed and just talk about life. I miss those days and wish that we did it more often. My mom kept me sane while Joey was gone. She helped teach me how to stain and varnish, she made me dinner, and kept me entertained. I love when we "fight" we will have these little battles of strength. They are too hard to explain but if you ever are around for one I am sure they are hilarious to watch. I love my mom and cannot express my gratitude for all that she has taught me and done for me. She has taught me how to be selfless and to constantly serve others.
• I can't talk about my mom without mentioning my dad. He is hilarious, my dad is very shy (I know where I get it from) but when he is around certain people he is very opinionated and is able to make his opinion very funny. While he has been taking classes from USU, especially his English classes, we have been able to talk about the topic of his papers. We start off being kind of serious with the political/ controversial issue and then we end up with the most absurd views. My dad is amazing with computers and is always able to answer any questions I have when my computer isn't working. I am a lot like my dad, we both like a lot of the same weird things (music, clothes, TV, movies, etc). My dad is another example of a charitable person. My parents have hosted a foreign exchange student, they sponsor a child in Mexico, have gone on many service trips to Mexico, work in the Temple, and are always willing to help their children.
• My siblings and their spouses. If I were to list each one by themselves this blog post would be super long. I have learned so much from every single one of my siblings and their spouses. They all married amazing people and I love them all so much. As we are all growing older we have grown closer together because we all are realizing the importance of family and we have more in common now. Although we are growing closer we are being to live farther away from each other, which makes me really sad because I love having my family close (although we want to move outside of Utah at some point in our life). I want all of them to know that I love them and admire all that they do. I hope that someday I can be as skilled as my family. 
• My in-laws (Donna and Von)
• In-law siblings
• Nieces and Nephews. They always keep me smiling. I love watching them grow and all the cute things that they do and say. I love facebook because it allows me to read the cute things that my nieces and nephews say when I am not able to be around them on a regular basis to hear the things that their little minds come up with.
• Education and graduation
• Friends
• Gospel
• Children in Ghana
• All the wonderful people I have met over the years that have made an impact on my life. Joey has a list that he writes down the names of the people that have had a positive influence in his life. I admire this list and think that I might make one of my own so that I never forget the people that have influenced me in my life and have helped me to become the person that I am today.
• Health
• Eternal Marriage
• Temple
• Living in the United States, although it is easy to complain about the government and everything else that is wrong in America, it is hard to not appreciate everything that we have. Especially after being able to experience how people live in Ghana and Mexico, I am grateful for the comforts I have. We have housing/building codes and requirements to help us live in a safe home. We have toilets for sanitation and we have garbage collection companies and landfills that hold our garbage so that we don't have roads full of garbage or having to burn our garbage. Although we may not like the way that health insurance and the expenses of medical care, we don't have to worry about the level of care that we will receive if we go to the hospital or health clinics. We can be assured that sanitation levels will be followed in hospitals. We were told a story of one of the clinics in Ghana were a nurse rummaged through her utensils with bloody hands and did not wash them afterwards. Running water and being able to drink water from the faucet without fear of getting sick.

As I have been able to experience the lives of those that have much less than me I have been more grateful for the things that I do have. One thing that I have learned while spending time with those "less-fortunate" than me, I have realized that they may be materially less fortunate but in many ways are more-fortunate. They are less likely to worry about possessions and finances but rather they understand the importance of non-worldly objects. Families, Service, and the Gospel are the most important things in their lives.

(This blog post was getting very long so I am sorry that there isn't an explanation on every bullet point)

Craft Time

Since Joey has been gone I have been trying to keep myself busy so that I don't go crazy. This weekend was Fall Break so I didn't have school on Friday. Leah and her cousin Hayley came home from the store and told me that they had a craft for us to make. So we first cut a 2x4 into different size blocks, cut out letters, sanded the blocks, painted the blocks, mod podged the halloween scrapbook paper and then the letters on, and then to make them unique and personal we all added ribbons to them. I was only able to get a picture of mine completed and Leah's almost complete but without the ribbon. The final product: SPOOKY signs

Help get Joseph Wilson to BYU-Hawaii

Hello Friends and Blog Followers,

We need your help. This past summer Joey and I were in Ghana with the USU SEED Program. While we were there we met the Wilson family. Sampson Wilson was one of the loan recipients to help further his Kenkey (staple food in Ghana) business. While we were there we met Sampson's son, Joseph, whom Sampson always refers to as his "return missionary." He was so proud that he was able to serve a mission for the church.

Sampson and his wife making Kenkey

The Wilson Kenkey Business

Sampson asked us for help. Joseph has applied and been accepted to attend BYU-Hawaii but, because he's foreign, the school requires a $6,000 deposit before he can apply for his visa. This needs to be paid before December. They have informed us that they have contacted everyone that they know who would be able to help them and that we are their last hope. We know how important it is to further one's education and we also are aware that the schooling that Joseph would receive in Ghana would never compare to the education and knowledge that he would receive at BYU.

Joseph has told us that he is willing to pay back the $6,000 as soon as he is able to. I know that this will put a very large burden on Joseph because as an International Student he is only allowed to work certain hours a week while he is attending school. We are looking for donations to help lift this burden.  Also, we are looking for a Sponsor(s) that would be willing to loan Joseph the rest of the money that we are unable to raise in donations.

Joseph Wilson

   Joseph was born August 14, 1981. He served in the Lagos Mission and returned in June 2006. He is currently attending Meridian University College of Ghana. While at BYU-Hawaii he wishes to major in Business Administration. We have met Joseph and got to know his parents very well. They are honest people and I know that Joseph truly has a desire to gain an education and is willing to repay as much of the $6,000 as he is able. It may take him quite some time but I know that he is determined to pay back this debt. 

Joseph Wilson

Please pass this blog on to any one that you may know that will be willing or able to help in anyway. 


One of my biggest desires while I was in Ghana was to know that all the children I met would be able to gain an education. Most children do not make it to high school, and if they do make it to high school they are not likely to finish or gain a further education beyond that. Being presented with this opportunity to help Joseph reaffirms that desire that I had and I really want to make this opportunity possible for him.


Thank you for all your kindness. 

Switzerland...is...interesting. Temple, Cars, Drunk Teens, and Raclette

The past few days has brought a lot of interesting observations of how things are in Switzerland.

I was able to visit the LDS temple in Bern.  This site brings together a lot of different people from different countries and culture.  While there I met a man from Italy and also another from the UK.  Both had been to Utah.  The dominant language in Bern is German giving it completely different feel from Leysin.  The people and the environment made me feel as if I had entered a new country.  While in Bern we visited Einstein's apartment and also saw the bears which make it famous.

While on the train I ask one man if he spoke English so I could ask him questions.  He did not, but he did speak Portuguese and one of the other Huntsman Scholars with me spoke Portuguese, so I used him as a translator.  He was born in Portugal but moved to Switzerland when he was young.  He also spoke Spanish, French, German, and some English.  It was amazing! 

On Saturday I went to Interlaken.  This city is full of high-adventure activities.  Hang-gliding, para-gliding, mountain biking, rock climbing, etc.  Four of the scholars went para-gliding and loved it.  While in the city I visited a cemetery to see if I could find anyone with the last name "Hirschi" which is my mother's maiden name.  I did!  It was exciting.  It made me want to walk around the rest of the day asking people if their last name was Hirschi, but I refrained.  There was also a car show in one part of the town.  Mostly European cars, but a few American favorites including the Chevrolet Corvette.  My favorite though was the 1968 Lincoln Mark III!  I have a 1978 Lincoln Mark IV, so it was neat.

It was around 8pm when we got on the train that headed up the mountain to Leysin.  On it was a group of teenagers drinking alcohol, dressed in 80's style clothes, on their way to a 80's themed party I presume.  They were loud and obnoxious, but the interesting thing was that when the train stopped and someone got on the train that was joining the group the young person would shake hands with all the people they knew.  It was such a bizarre action to me.  I could never see Americans stopping to greet each person individually when they joined a bunch of friends.  It showed me that even though they were out looking for a good time, they still take time to show respect.

I was also able to enjoy some of the world famous Swiss Raclette cheese!  This wonderful tradition involves eating a special kind of cheese in melted form.  It is eaten with a potato and thinly slice meat.  It was gooooooood.  As I write about it my mouth waters.  Dominique, our hotel manager and chef, was so pleased to share the tradition with us.  He smiled the whole night.

All of Switzerland seems very socially responsible.  They are environmentally and energy conscience.  They are way ahead of the US.  Everywhere I go I see things that are"fair trade" and I see wind turbines and such.  I like it.  Maybe I should come here and work with an energy efficiency consulting company and then take the knowledge back to the US.  I really like that they make some concerted effort to take care of the earth.

Chocolate, Castles, Cathedrals and Trains

We have been busy as Huntsman Scholars, but I have been learning a lot.  I believe I said this in my last post but I love Switzerland. 

On Tuesday we went to the Cailler Chocolate factory!  The best for me was a room with all the cocoa beans.  There was one bag from Ghana!  It made me so excited.  For all I know those could have been the cocoa beans I harvested while I was in Ghana.  Of course it was also wonderful to have all you can eat samples....which all the scholars got sick from eating too much.  Then everyone went out to the store and bought tons of chocolate to take home to share with friends and family...including me.  I spent about about CHF 40 (or $41).  All the Scholars together spent about CHF 558 ($580)!  Unbelievable.

Yesterday, we went to the IMD campus, a famous business school, and heard about the MBA programs.  Some of the scholars were impressed, others weren't.  I was impressed but I also felt no desire to do an MBA there.  I am trying to leave myself open to all kinds of possibilities, and I constantly ask myself 'what if I did this...' to just try and feel things out.  After the entertaining lecture we got to explore Lausanne.  We visited a beautiful cathedral and also a chateu (castle).  The cathedral was very quiet and reverent.  It was nice to have an opportunity to walk around and think without all the noise.  The chateu had so many levels to it, and so many intricate things.

All these experiences left me in a reflective mood last night and so once back to the hotel I sat out on the patio, overlooking the city of Leysin, and just thought about where my future could take me.  I reflected on the purpose statement I had created for myself and thought about ways I could get the most out of this trip.

My purpose statement:
"My purpose is to create as much value as I can in this world by serving God and following His will.  By being Christ-centered, selfless, humble and grateful I can accomplish the most good.  I must remember to remember and diligently be diligent."

While in Lausanne we got some crepes that were wonderful.  The man making the crepes was so fun.  He enjoyed talking to us.  I would think people like him might get tired of dealing with tourists, but he was fun to talk to.

So far so good.  I am looking forward to the rest of the trip.

Sweet tourist walking around.

A NEAT TRAIN YARD

I thought this was a neat rendition of Adam & Eve.

Travelling to Europe and Arriving in Leysin

The trip to Europe was fairly uneventful...at least for me.  For Shannon Peterson, our Professor, it was a little more adventurous.  Every time we went through security she got put in the "sin bin" because they had to scan her wrist/finger brace thing.  Then when we got to the airport in Switzerland her bag was missing.  They have since found it and she will be getting it., but she had to wear the same clothes today.  Poor Shannon.

Once we got to the airport in Switzerland a bus took us to our hotel in Leysin.  It was amazing.  The road was so slim and the road was quite steep and had a lot of switch backs.  It was somewhat scary with such a little bus.  I am totally in love with the scenery.  As we drove we passed so many kinds of farms.  In America it seems a region grows all the same crops, but here I must have seen 12 different crops.

The hotel Bel Air is wonderful.  It is like a bed and breakfast.  And Dominique (spelling) has the same wonderful Swiss accent that my neighbor, Jenny Leonard, had when I was growing up.  I love it.

Right next door is the Gondola lift to the top of the mountain.  We went up it today and took a lot of pictures.  I have definite plans to mountain bike down the mountain later this week (with the hopes that my knee won't prevent me.)  Across the street is a place to rent mtn bikes.

Dinner last night was wonderful!  Squash soup, Chicken Cordon Bleu, and flan!  Then breakfast is wonderful too!  We had delicious meat, Swiss cheese (I know...all cheese here is Swiss, but it is similar to the kind we call Swiss cheese). and toast, fruit, hot cocoa, and OJ/Apple juice from a keg!

The local grocery store is called COOP (like co-op, not like a chicken coop).  I bought eggs, of course, but mostly because of what they looked like.  They are colored like Easter eggs.  I think they are hard-boiled.  I also bought some sandwich fixings.

Probably a $4,000 bike to ride down the mtn here.

I love the culture.  I don't know if it is just because I am from America or not, but I feel like we have no culture...or it is really lame or something.  The culture here just seems so rich and pleasant. 

Catching Up

We haven't updated our blog for quite sometime so I thought I would do a catch up since we have been home from Ghana.

When we arrived home we had a party with Joey's Family. It was really nice to see everyone and spent time with them even though Joey and I were exhausted. Luckily our plane arrived a couple of hours early so we got a shower and a nap in before everyone arrived.

The next day we came home to Logan and babysat my nephews, Ethan and Ryan. They were adorable. Ethan kept asking me, "Where is the other Emily, the Blonde Emily, I like her better." It was hilarious. Ethan loves bowling and could stay entertained all day long if he could bowl. After playing bowling at home with empty soda bottles we decided to take him to the Bowling Alley. He is an amazing bowler, he only used the ramp for the first couple of times and then he told us that he didn't want to us it.

Ethan was very helpful grabbing our balls for us.

Ethan doing his bowling approach.

We also took the boys to 1st Dam to feed the ducks. Ethan had so much fun with this. After we ran out of bread a nice family walked by and gave Ethan another piece of bread to feed the ducks. Ethan got so excited while he was feeding them that he ended up getting all wet. Joey took some really cute pictures of Ethan feeding the ducks but they are on his phone so I will have to post them later.

When Tricia and Dustin returned from Safford, Arizona (Dustin was there for a job interview, which he was offered and now they live in Safford) Joey and I headed up to Bear Lake to work before school started. While we were there we went wakeboarding and Joey was doing an great job at clearing the wake. On his last run he cleared the wake and it looked really good until the landing. Joey ended up with a Level 2 Sprain on his Knee. (I don't really know what this means). He is doing good but it still hurts him at times and he can't straighten his knee all the way.

While we were in Bear Lake we had a Stocking get-together. It was fun to spend time with Joey's family again. We had a lot of laughs, mainly due to children being very sneaky.

This is what happens when two 2 year old lock themselves in a bathroom.
The tub and toilet were full of bubbles.

It had been three weeks since we had been home at this point and I finally decided to take out my Ghanian Hair.

After taking out all of the braids and running a brush through my hair.

School has been going good, I am only taking 9 credits (3 classes) so I trying to find a hobby or a job to keep my busy. Joey is currently in an intensive scholar semester for the Huntsman Scholar Program. I am so proud of him that he was able to make it but I have to remind myself that this is an amazing experience for him. He is very busy writing papers and reading articles all day long. Also on Oct 2 he leaves for the whole month to go to Europe. I am excited for the wonderful experience he is going to have while he is there. I only wish that I was able to join him. 

We think of Ghana very often and can't wait until the day we are able to return. Our goal is to return in 4 years. I find myself daydreaming of all of the children that I grew very close to. I can't help but wonder where their life is going to take them. Are they going to make it to high school, will they stay faithful in the church, what opportunities will be presented to them, and on and on. If I could have, I would have brought about 12 of those children home with me. 

Part 2: Last Days in Abomosu, Ghana

Monday is P-Day for the missionaries and Elder and Sister Terry. We had asked the Terry's if they wanted to go on an adventure together for their last P-day with us in Abomosu. They were so excited and started making plans for what we could do. They drive around a lot to check up on all the branches in the district and they said that they saw this big factory and wanted to find out what it was. They found out that it was an Oil Palm Processing Plant. They went there on Saturday and asked if we would be able to take a tour on Monday and setup an appointment for us. Monday afternoon the Terry's picked us up and then we picked up the Elders and started our drive out to Asoum. It is such an amazing factory. They extract two different kinds of oil, which honestly I'm not sure I understand what they are for.  I think both are use for cooking (one definitely is and looks just like vegetable oil).  They also get fatty acid stuff that is used to make soap. They are trying to go entirely green and use the nut casing that contains the oil as biofuel to run the plant.  

Ready with our Hard Hats

Steam Room

Rail-Carts with the Palm Plant

Rail-Carts going into the Steam Chamber

This is the off-season for Palm

The Processing Plant

The many different products (from left to right: cooking oil, fatty acid used for soap,  stuff used for biscuits, ice cream, etc, another more pure cooking oil, and another product used for soap.

The last day we spent saying all of our goodbyes. Here are some pictures of us playing with the children for the last time. Thanks to Laura and Ember for the bubbles, the children really loved them.

Some of my favorite village children

We blew bubbles with them as our goodbye

I love their faces.

I hate to pick favorites but she chose me!

I absolutely love this girl!

Finishing off the rest of the bubbles

       The children made a song about us. Obroni means white person and Obibini means black person.

George was such a cutie.

Amanda, her mom had her bring out this picture to show us. We weren't sure if we were supposed to keep it or not so we just took a picture instead. She is so adorable and has the most beautiful smile, I wish you could see it.

George and his sister we called her Beautiful Face because we could not understand her name. Also many other children we love in the background.

As a goodbye from Esther she made us Golden Chicken, fried rice, salad, and brought us Alvaro (Joey's Favorite)

Where is this bird?

This was on our way to Accra. The driver gave us an orange and this is how you eat it. You cut off the top and then squeeze the juice and drink it.

This is Stephen Jr's Daughter, Rhea and a girl from an orphanage that is in the process of being adopted, Elizabeth. They are adorable. We spent our last night in Accra with them.

The bird is in a glove box. One our way to Accra we were riding in a Tro-Tro (a van) and this man opens the glove box and grabs this bird out and asks if we like it. He ended up putting it back in the glove box until halfway to Accra when he asks us to grab it for him. We think that he sold it to one of the other passengers because we never saw it again.

We really enjoyed Abomosu and we have set a goal to return in the next 4 years! We have definitely learned and grown a lot from our experience there. Thank you to everyone that helped make this summer possible for us. We are very grateful.