Safe arrival in Ghana!

Hello! I made it safely to the Ghana MTC! It took awhle, but I made it eventually. So, I'm sure youre wondering what happened at the airport when you dropped me off... When I went through security they found traces of explosives(!!!) on my hands, so they had to do a pat down really quick, nothing too bad. After that, I met up with the other 5 elders traveling to Dallas; Elders Hannemann, Neilson, Stulce, Day and Caelyn. They are all very nice. After our short 2 hour flight to Dallas, we had a layover before our flight to London. We had our last American meal at a BBQ place in the airport. Airplane food is awful. Before we left to London, we met up with even more elders, Elders Wightman and Lefler. The 8 of us flew to London in a huge airplane and I was lucky enough to sit next to a nice Indian Family. I made friends with their youngest boy, who gave me some candy and I gave him some gum. I thought about trying to place my first book of Mormon, and then I remebered the scene from The Best Two Years... After we arrived in London, we found 5(!) more missionaries. Elders Wight, Miller (from Lester, 2 hours from London), Brown, Mckonkie, and Cocheivar. I've made pretty good friends with all of them! All 13 of us flew from London to Accra, where we were met with a wave of heat and humidity the moment we stepped off the plane. I was expecting it, but nothing can prepare you for that. We went through customs and security, found our bags (mine made it safe!), and went downstairs to meet the brothers from the MTC who picked us up. We were supposed to pick up 12 more elders from Congo, but their flight got cancelled. We loaded up the 3 vans with our luggage and and all got in a van the size of the expedition. 4 or 5 guys kept trying to help us with our luggage, but we had been instucted to tell them we didn't need any help. They were very persistent. We all were wide-eyed, wondering what the heck we had gotten ourselves into. Our driver seemed to drive 100 mph on the way to the MTC (are there speed limits in Ghana?). We arrived safely around 11 p.m. Ghana time. We changed out of our clothes, finally, and went to bed. So far, I actually do enjoy the MTC. The hardest part of the past few days was watching as our house, and then Missy's, dissapear out the plane window. I'm very happy with my decision, but man, it can be hard. I hope all is well back home, I love all of you! Love, Elder Degen