Our Messages

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

On behalf of the Stake Presidency, I wish you a prosperous New Year and ask the Lord’s choicest blessings upon you and your households. It is ironic that the last day of the year is the first day of the week, and it is a day of rest from all the labors for the glorious year of 2023. This year our stake undertook to be more Christlike in our service to family, church, and community. It amazed me how I was served by others as I myself render service to the children of God. 

We can boldly declare the Lord has been kind and faithful in pouring out His blessings on us the last 12 months. I acknowledge it was not always as smooth and rosy as we may have wanted it to be. There were sicknesses and accidents, funerals and separation with loved ones in the year. Economic and social problems brought anxiety and sorrow to homes. Perhaps some of you dealt with difficult family and even church members. For our young adults, figuring out life for yourselves, with all the pressures from family, church leaders and peers, however well-intended.  School, work, marriage demands, and expectations can be quite tough for you, and I know many of you experience stress in these areas.

I’d like to share a few events that occurred in our stake this year which I am particularly happy about:

• A delegation visited the Mayor of Tema and the Tema Head of Police administration. We were privileged to share our beliefs and mission as a church with both them and their teams- a miracle from the Lord given the short notice provided to visit them. 
• I am grateful for each of the weekly service activities suggested in the stake throughout the year, and the implementation of them by many of our members and others. 
• The Gathering Place is in full operation and blessing the lives of many. Experienced business men and women provided instruction at monthly devotionals aimed at building skills towards self-reliance.
• President Ashton and other BYU-Pathway leaders were hosted in our stake. It was a blessing to share our vision as well as our challenges with them, and to see their efforts in helping address some of our concerns.
• The Stake Choir performed at the Tema General Hospital, uplifting, comforting and bringing the spirit into the lives of the patients and staff alike. What a blessing it was for choir members to fulfill the obligation to the sick so the Savior may say, “I was sick and ye visited me” (Matt. 25:36).
• Near the close of this year, we were blessed to enjoy a full day visit to our stake by Elder & Sister S. Gifford Nielsen that concluded with a special devotional focused on our YSAs. 
• We have seen a few marriages including families being sealed in the temple of our God.
• The Lord also blessed us with increase desire and participation in Family History and Temple work.

Now brothers and sisters, let us look forward to the new year of 2024. Joining with our area leaders and our Prophet, President Russel M. Nelson, we have chosen “THINK CELESTIAL” as the Stake theme for the year.  “THINK CELESTIAL” was the central message from President Nelson in the last General Conference. We highly recommend President Nelson’s talk (Think Celestial! October 2023) and invite you to study it individually and as a family.

Today at a sacrament meeting in Abidjan, Elder Goury of the Seventy encouraged members to place the Savior Jesus Christ at the center of their lives. “It is easier to put other things – food, entertainment, football, TV shows, work etc – in the right place once you have the Savior at the center,” he said.

For us as a presidency, we invite you to “think celestial” by doing all that President Nelson has asked us to do in his talk, and a few others such as the following:

• Become more holy as individuals and as families.
• Do not miss sacrament this coming year, unless it is absolutely necessary.
• Read the Book of Mormon and seek to repent and keep the commandments of God.
• Be peacemakers at home and in your communities.

These are ideas shared by my counselors. I love the members of my Stake Presidency. They are true men of God, though imperfect and fallible. I have enjoyed their counsel, and each time I listen in a council with them, serving you and the Lord becomes easier for me. I have also enjoyed serving with you dear brothers and sisters. I look forward to more spiritually rewarding experiences with you in the coming year. If there was any hurt from us, I state that it was not intentional and so beg for your patience and forgiveness. We continually strive to do better.

I know that God is our Father in Heaven. He loves us without measure, and we can become more like Him when we think celestial, because He is celestial. Dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord bless you in all your endeavors. May His grace be sufficient for us all as we rededicate our lives to the building of His kingdom here on earth, and in Tema in particular. I share these thoughts and testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

President Stephen Apeaning Abu Jr.

Tema Ghana Stake President