Where organizing gets complicated

 Family Home Evenings and gathering have started up slowly. We all still wear masks though all the missionaries have been vaccinated twice. We still sit apart (except individual couples) and we don't bring food unless it is in single serving packages.

I organized a simple Family Home Evening to give departing missionaries their Kente banners. Simple, ask the missionaries to tell about their missions, arrange for an Area Presidency member to give them, and remember to arrange for songs, prayers and we are good to go.......not quite.

The complications came from the fact that the Belnaps are going home -- at different times. I thought they were all going home in July, but when I got the Kente information I found out two of their young adult children are going home in June. Then the man who makes the Kente banners was confused about the wording on the banners - it was not the normal missionary banner, because they aren't missionaries. So even though the presentation was last night, today I am meeting with him to draw out and show him exactly what I mean. Yes the presentation was last night, that made my Monday very complicated. I did not want those kids to go to a meeting and say, Oh sorry but your banner will come later - while the others got their banners.

I pulled out my black material and then found Ghanaian flag colors close to the flag colors - but not quite. Of course I prayed I'd be able to pull it off and my ministering angels came through again. 

Ideas of how to accomplish my task would come into my mind when I needed them.

I am not really sure who my ministering angels are, I just count on them now. I could see how to sew up the strips of color to look similar to the flag colors. I realized early I just did not have time to cut out a lot of material letters and sew them on. Having no access to iron on materials, that was out too. Trying to trace out the letters was too awkward. So I typed it out in 110 font that was as close to the Kente as I could get and the idea popped into my head that the Hymas have a printer - instead of going all the way to the Area office - over half the time saved. Jeralie and Scot asked if I wanted to ride with them when I came to get the typed letters. I asked if Scot could conduct the meeting. I put the paper with the words on the window to trace them, when the thought came, Why don't you just cut out the letters with the yellow paper underneath? Somebody is helping out and thinking this through. Thanks. 

I glued the letters on the banner and then sewed on a "golden stool" in the middle. You really do want to read all about this golden stool and the royal stool that fell out of the sky to give kingship. Here is the link. After I fringed up the ends. Now the time is slipping by and so I quickly call for the prayers and asked Sister Kittleson to take care of the music. (I really need to do something nice for her as she always comes through for me on the music.) Then finished up the last few hems and took a picture.

Just about like Kente, but the blue is suppose to be green and a perfectionist would tell me the edges are uneven and the paper could fall off at any moment. Good thing I am not a perfectionist or I would have been driven crazy.

    

The really cool nice thing was Christopher Belnap telling me that the fake banner placeholder was just as valuable or more as the real Kente banner would be as it represents Africa and how things work. It made the whole day worthwhile.

Though the Belnap banners are not quite right, they are pretty close!