December 2019 – Page 3 – Our Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan East and Bamako, Mali Mission

Our Christmas Sabbath in Bamako 2019

We caught a taxi bright and early this morning to go to church. Our arms were full of Christmas cheer and we were excited, knowing that members of all three of our groups would be traveling here to Bamako to worship together.

We went early to finish helping set things up while our friends arrived.

Pres Sekou is preparing extra trays for our sacrament meeting. The bread and water are ready. We use crusty baguettes for the sacrament bread to remind us of the broken body of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The water reminds us of the blood he spilled for us.

Faithful Brother Mbaya:

Elder Usoh led us in singing several hymns as we waited for the transport vans to arrive with our members from Gomi, Diatoula (the town 45 min beyond the chicken farm who go to the new building in Farako), and the chicken farm (Mountougoula).

The bus from Gomi arriving!

We waited from 9:00 until 10:15 for everyone to come.

Dramane and the bus from the chicken farm finally arrived!

Dramane is the leader of the Chicken farm Group. He translated into Bambara for his members. Many of them don’t speak French.

With Sekou conducting, we had an opening hymn and prayer. Every chair we had was filled. We had to bring down the few chairs that were upstairs and dust them off. The count was 98, and I think we had 100 by the time we finished.

The sacrament was blessed and passed to every single one. It was so reverent and peaceful as we thought about Jesus Christ and the incredible gift He gave us.

Than we had 4 speakers–Romaric spoke first about the birth of our Savior, then the choir sang “Joy to the World.” Then Elder Ikpeti spoke about why following Christ is important. Then the choir sang “Angels we have Heard on High,” with a beautiful solo by Valerie. She was wonderful.

Then Elder Kouakou spoke about love. Dramane was the last speaker. He spoke in Bambara on serving as Christ serves. The closing song was “Called to Serve.” Then everyone was invited to go outside for a few minutes while we set things up to show them the beautiful new video depicting the birth of our Savoir.

Brother Biggo, our executive secretary, got the projector and laptop going and everyone–young and old–sat, watching the beautiful video. It was magical. No one in the room made a sound, as they watched, enthralled.

After the video, Sekou and Dramane explained about Light the World and each family was given the calendar with ideas of things to do to serve others in the coming year. Then we handed out the gifts of Christmas cheer to each family and individual. We are grateful for each other here. These are the Pioneers of Mali, all joined together today, to worship Heavenly Father and give thanks for His Son, Jesus Christ. What an honor it is to be here in this sacred place.

Nourou, Dramane and Sekou:

Our Bamako Missionaries: Elder Usoh, Elder Ikpeti, Elder Sulu and Elder Kouakou:

Some of our wonderful priesthood leaders:

Stopping for Water and Minutes

When we leave the church here in Bamako, and walk down the dusty dirt road to a main road where we can catch a taxi, we pass so many interesting places and people. We often stop at this little shop to buy a case of water, that will get us through about a week. If I were a true African woman, that case of water would go right onto my head to be carried. I let John carry it.

Today John also purchased some more minutes for his mission flip phone. While the shop owner helped him, I quietly snapped these colorful photos of this small shop and some of the things you can buy here.

Dry goods, rice and soccer–all a good Malian man needs to survive!

These small neighborhood shops are everywhere. This is where most of the family shopping is done here, in shops like this. Rice is weighed and measured. Bullion is sold by the cube, and these canned goods represent the basic needs of most families.

Below you can see this shopkeeper’s wife and many other interesting parts of life here: a mosaic floor made from broken tiles, low chairs made from strung plastic rope (cool and comfortable), a small coal stove (on the ground by the tree) where the silver tea pots are heated to make tea several times a day, the green and black plastic pot filled with water for washing your hands, or for washing head, hands and feet before ritual praying, a green container for water storage, a re-used bottle of water, flip flops and some fans.

I also noticed this hand pump–maybe it’s kerosene oil or gasoline. You can see the Orange Money sign, that tells us you can buy phone minutes here.

Across the street from this small shop is a laundromat. There are usually 2 or 3 women out here every day doing laundry in these tubs, scrubbing on washboards. I think they do it for hire, but I’m not sure. Maybe they have large families and they just have a lot of laundry to do. Every compound has clothes lines and most buildings have laundry drying up on the roof. I love watching daily life happening around us here.

Cleaning the Church and Choir Practice

On this Saturday morning before our Christmas Sunday, we met at the church for choir practice and a day of cleaning to prepare for tomorrow’s special meeting. The church compound is a refuge for the members here. They come here often, to rest or to visit with others, or to help with the cleaning. There’s never a sign up sheet sent around with who’s turn it is to do what, everyone just Comes. We work together and we love the peace the gospel brings.

Here’s a look at how the dust grows here when left unattended:

Preparing Gifts for Christmas

We have kind friends who have donated things we sent over in the container last year. Among the donations, we had boxes of shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste and soap. We decided to share these gifts with our friends at church this year, so we’ve been making gift bags for everyone. It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Up on the Housetop!

We have a neighbor friend we haven’t met yet. Every night he makes his bed across the way from our bedroom, and every morning he neatly folds up his mosquito net and his foam mattress and he puts them away. I imagine he has sweet dreams just like we do in this place we love.

Learning French

I pray every day for the Gift of Tongues. Truly. But gifts like that don’t just show up. we have to work for them. John is much better than I am. And he studies a lot every single day. I chip away at it, with my notebook filled with French words and phrases.

I thought it might be fun to put a few pages of church words here, so that some day when they’re all in my head, I can look back and remember how much work it took to put them there.

District Meetings in Cocody

There were 2 District Meetings this morning at the Cocody stake center. We attended the Cocody one and looked in on the Bingerville District across the hall.

These meetings seem to follow exactly the same pattern: Song, prayer, Missionary Purpose recited full speed ahead, reading the white handbook (which will be retired when we receive the new version), Welcome by District Leader, Key Indicators by each companionship followed by questions if anyone has any, 2 lessons from Preach My Gospel (taught today by 2 of the newest Sisters), then closing song and prayer. Our meeting went about 1.5 hours. The other district went for 2 hours.

The Bingerville District

Afterwards I was admiring the beautiful handmade tie one of the Elders was wearing, and he quickly pointed me to Soeur Sakina, who had made it. She had a whole container of them and she happily shared one with Elder Lewis. The missionaries here (Elders and Sisters) love making ties or having the tailors in the villages make them from fabric they’ve purchased.

After the meetings, Elder Lewis and I spent about an hour getting some work done with the WiFi at the church while the missionaries practiced their musical numbers for the upcoming Christmas celebrations. We’ll be sad to miss each zone’s performance, but we’ll be happy to return back to Bamako soon!

Meet Sanvee Kodjovi from Bamako, Missionary to the Ivory Coast Yamasoukouro Mission

This afternoon at the mission office I got to visit with Sanvee Kodjovi, who has just come to Abidjan from Bamako. The last time I saw him was on 16 November 2018 at his baptism at the chicken farm in Farako.

This last year, Sanvee has been preparing to go on a mission. He is the first ever missionary to be called to serve from Mali. We are so thrilled for him and excited for the wonderful blessings that await him.

I jotted down a bit of his story today, as he told me his history. I also video recorded him. His is a part of our Bamako history. Here’s what I learned:

Sanvee Kodjovi

Born 14 November 1993 in Togo
From age 7 to 19 he was a Priest’s servant in the Catholic Church. He wanted to become a Priest. There were 3 things that troubled him in the Catholic Church. 1. Baptisms didn’t make sense. They just sprinkled water on babies. He said in the Bible Jesus was baptized in a river by John the Baptist. 2. Representations. He said they adore or worship statues and saints. He felt you shouldn’t adore in church. 3. The Priesthood had to be celibate. He felt that you should be able to choose if you wanted to marry or not–it should not be a requirement. He said, “I wanted to get married some day.”

When he was 19 years old he completed his bachelor’s degree in law and English and he left the Catholic Church because of those 3 problems. He became a protestant, and joined the 7th Day Adventist. He loved to read and learn about religion. But he found there were differences between what he read and how people practiced. He was looking for the truth.

In the meantime, in 2015 he completed 2 Masters’ Degrees–in English and in Law. In 2016 he went to Accra to study English and he completed an English Language Proficiency Course. He wants to become a lawyer or diplomat and perhaps work for the United Nations. Then he taught French for 2 years in Accra at a college for Muslims.

Eventually he left all churches because he couldn’t find the truth. He was in Togo and a university professor there told him that the Book of Mormon is the best book in the world. (He wasn’t LDS.) Sanvee had a friend from Benin who went to Togo. This friend had a maid to told him about the Book of Mormon. He downloaded it and began to read it. It was a lot like the Bible. As he was reading it, something popped up and asked him if he’d like to visit with a missionary. He clicked Yes. He began taking the discussions online with a Sister Missionary named Aude Cunche from France (Temple Square Mission). He had lots of questions. They messaged and did video chats. That began in Togo in September 2018. In November he moved to Bamako to find a job. He continued learning. He was able to find Sekou and Pres Christ in Bamako and started worshiping with them. He was baptized at the chicken farm 16 November 2018. [John and I were there and I’ve got photos from the baptism].

In Bamako he applied for a job as a volunteer (?) but was told he needed to have at least 9 years of experience first. So he got a job teaching at a Primary school, levels 5 and 6. He has been teaching there until it was time to leave to prepare for his mission.

He returned to Togo in August to prepare and to see his family. His mother has passed, and when he told his father he was no longer Catholic, but now he was a Priest, his father was very happy for him. He hopes his father and family members will learn about the gospel and accept it. He introduced them to the missionaries and they are beginning to learn. Sanvee is the youngest of 4 children.

I asked him how he felt reading the Book of Mormon. He said that there are things in the Book of Mormon that are not in the Bible and that made him very happy. He prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true. He received an answer. He said he felt as if God was talking to him personally. He said, “This is the one you are looking for. You have found it now. The gospel is restored here.”

Sanvee will be serving in the Ivory Coast Yamasoukouro Mission. President Binene was going to interview him after we left and he will set him apart probably tomorrow. He flies to Accra to go to the MTC on Thursday. He plans to return to Bamako after his mission and hopes to find work there and serve in the branch. Sanvee is bright and good. He is a Pioneer in our Bamako Branch.

A P-Day Outing to the Artisan Shops by Grand Bassan

We had a Grand Adventure today at Grand Bassam! The missionaries have told us about a place just beyond Grand Bassam where we can shop for wood carvings and nativity sets. For many years we have helped shop in Bamako for a benefit auction for the Ouelessebougou Alliance in Salt Lake, purchasing African items to help raise money for our Malian projects.

Today Bishop Mel took us to this Ivorian market where we hoped to find some new items for the auction next year. The “market” was actually an area on both sides of the main road with small shops, in a row, one after the next.

Before we got there, we drove along the coast. The government is doing a huge renovation to the beach front. I have no idea what it looked like before, but they’ve cleared everything away, and have cleaned the ground and leveled it and they have been planting palm trees and adding a walk way. They are also adding bathrooms and some buildings maybe for food. It goes on for many miles. Today they were planting things–landscaping. It’s going to be really nice. On the other side of the main road are hovels of shops and markets and vendors. The road is quite a ways from the shore–you can’t see where the water meets the land, but it’s going to be nice. I wonder if people here go to the beach.

I love roadside stands like this–with two of my favorite snacks here: watermelon and peanuts.

Piles of watermelons behind the shops:

Bishop Mel is the Bishop of a ward out along the way to Grand Bassam. He is is the Mission Clerk (secretary) so he looks after membership records, financial records, and all sorts of things in the mission office. He’s Wonderful, the father of 4 children ages 8 down to 6 months. He is kind and good and we loved spending the day with him. He’s also very good at bartering!

Here’s a look at the kinds of things we found in the shops. Most of the shops just sold hand made furniture, but there were plenty with curios, souvenirs and wood carvings.

These colorful people carvings are really fun and really colorful!

I really enjoyed the different depictions of Santa Claus or Pere Noel.

Many of the shops had wookshops behind them where the actual artisans create these fun carvings.

Here’s a look into one of the workshops in the back:

I am always on the hunt for interesting Nativity sets from the places we’ve lived. We found a few interesting ones today for the auction. I’ll take a picture of them after they’re unwrapped from all of their taped up packaging.

There were many other fun items for sale here–carved bowls and of course animal carvings and masks of every variety.

I just need to say a word about King Chairs. We see them almost every single day, in dozens of furniture shops that line the roads and highways here. They always are huge, with high ornate backs and red velvet upholstery. It must be a thing.

This was interesting today–there were shops piled high and deep with what looked like twisted driftwood. When we asked about it, we were told this wood is pulled from the bottom of the lagoons. It was eerie and fun. I have many friends who would create some amazing Halloween decor from these “trees” and branches!

It’s always fun to learn about different cultures by what they sell and the artistic things they create. We went away with a few fun things for the auction and a couple of things for ourselves. This is such a fascinating and interesting country!

Riviera 2nd Ward

Church today was great. There’s not much here that feels like Christmas at home, except when we sing Christmas carols at church (except we’re sweating while we sing them!).