The Ghana MTC: I Love to See the Temple, I'm Going There Someday

Much of what we do at the MTC revolves around the Temple.

We are blessed to be located in Tema, a community located about 30 Kilometers from the Accra Temple. Though it is only 18 miles away, the streets and roads in and around Accra are some of the busiest in the world and it often takes between 60 and 90 minutes to travel to the Temple.

The building of the Accra Ghana Temple was announced on February 16, 1998. Years before the temple was announced, LDS Church president Gordon B. Hinckley had promised members in the area they would someday have a temple close by.

When the temple was announced President Hinckley also told those in attendance that the church had been trying to find a place to build a temple in Ghana for five years. The Accra Ghana Temple sits on the main avenue that runs through the center of Accra. The exterior of the temple is made of Namibia Pearl Granite.

The temple was open to the public December 3 through 20th, 2003. During the tour people were able to see the craftsmanship utilized on the interior of the temple. All of the materials used in the building of the temple were from the area. Moldings in the temple were made of the native makore wood, skilled men in the area handcrafted the furniture and the art-glass windows reflect the culture.
President Hinckley dedicated the Accra Ghana Temple on January 11, 2004.

One of the first things we do when a missionary comes to the MTC is review his or her Temple Recommend to make sure that it is in order.

A little over half of our missionaries arrive not having been to the Temple before.

If things go well these missionaries have received an interview and recommend from their Bishop/Branch President which is also countersigned by their Stake President/Mission President.

An important bit of knowledge is that the missionaries going to the temple for the first time must have a 2 part recommend that has both parts still together. This is from a recommend book labeled "number 2". The right side contains information that the Temple Recorder will need to properly record the ordinance in the church register. The left side when detached and folded becomes the typical patron recommend that we are more familiar with.

Often the Bishop/Branch President will use the form from book number 1 which does not have enough information for the Temple Recorder. Sometimes that Stake President will tear off the right side of the form thinking that it is the Stake's receipt. Sometimes the missionary will leave the recommend at home, lose it on the way to the mission field or just leave it at the MTC.

With close to 100 new missionaries each 3 weeks we spend a great deal of time re-doing Temple recommends. One goal we have this fall is to meet with all of the Mission Presidents in Africa and educate them on which form to use and how to keep both parts together until the missionary arrives at the temple.

Many of our missionaries are able to work on their family history with Elder Tibbitts, our MTC support missionary, or some of the other Senior missionaries. These wonderful missionaries so graciously come to the MTC to assist missionaries with their quest to find their family roots.

10-25% of our young missionaries have lost at least one parent. 5-15% have lost both parents. Almost every group is able to go to the Temple twice during their stay at the MTC. The second trip will almost always include temple ordinances for deceased parents. One of the great MTC experiences is to see many missionaries witnessing one of their compatriots' parents being sealed followed by the sealing ordinance of that missionary to his/her parents.

One of the duties of the MTC President and Companion is to teach an abbreviated temple preparation class. This we do on the first Monday after the missionaries arrive.

We love this short video explaining the significance of the temple garment.

On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings a group who have already been to the temple and a group going for the first time get up around 5:00 AM in order to be on the buses by 6:30.