Elder Ikpeti, Elder Brown, Elder Kouakou and Elder Gbedevi
The first four Elders arrived in Bamako last August. Two of those first Elders (Elder Ologundudu and Elder Lukombe) have returned home now and others replaced them here. When we arrived in October, our missionaries here were Elders Oulai, Tshiamala, Sulu and Usoh. They have each been transferred back to the Ivory Coast and now our four Elders are pictured above: Elders Ikpeti, Brown, Kouakou and Gbedevi.
These excellent missionaries are an important part of the history of the Church in Mali. Today we captured their stories and had a tour of their apartments.
Here is our church compound. Our meetings are held downstairs and the 2 sets of Elders live upstairs. They each have an apartment, but they share a kitchen.
These photos are of Elder Kouakou and Elder Brown’s apartment:
Study areas:
Bedroom:
Extra room:
Laundry drying up on top of the building:
Interviewing the Elders was a great way to begin our work of gathering the history of the establishment of the church in this amazing place.
Today important visitors arrived in Bamako. Brother Norbert Ounleu from Accra and Brother Matt Heiss from Salt Lake City have come to gather oral histories from our Pioneer members here in Mali. They will be here today (Friday) through Monday to document the history of the church here and its beginnings. We have a full schedule of appointments prepared for them. This is an exciting time for our members here. Their stories and experiences matter and their faith will bless others for generations to come.
I think about these first generation members and the significance of their conversions. My father was the first and only member of his family to accept the restored gospel. Because of him, my life and the lives of my children have been blessed.
Because of our first members here, blessings will flow through generations and through this country.
“It is good to look to the past to gain appreciation for the present and perspective for the future. It is good to look upon the virtues of those who have gone before, to gain strength for whatever lies ahead. It is good to reflect upon the work of those who labored so hard and gained so little in this world, but out of whose dreams and early plans, so well nurtured, has come a great harvest of which we are the beneficiaries. Their tremendous example can become a compelling motivation for us all, for each of us is a pioneer in his own life, often in his own family, and many of us pioneer daily in trying to establish a gospel foothold in distant parts of the world.” –President Gordon B. Hinckley
Here is the first verse of one of my favorite pioneer hymns:
1. They, the builders of the nation,
Blazing trails along the way;
Stepping-stones for generations
Were their deeds of ev’ry day.
Building new and firm foundations,
Pushing on the wild frontier,
Forging onward, ever onward,
Blessed, honored Pioneer!
Here is the Family History Center in the Cocody Stake Center a few minutes from our apartment. There is some amazing family history work going on in the Ivory Coast. Did you know that of the top 20 stakes in the WORLD actively doing family history work, two of them are Stakes in the Ivory Coast?
The Aboisso Cote d’Ivoire District has almost 41% submitters. The Cocody Stake has almost 38% submitters. The Agboville District has almost 27% submitters. These numbers are amazing! That’s a lot of people here who care about their families and their ancestors.
Come take a look at our Cocody Family History Center:
Here are some interesting things I learned last September when we visited with those at FamilySearch who are over the family history centers in Africa and record collection here:
FamilySearch has a project to preserve the family history that is remembered orally throughout Africa. In 2018 FamilySearch gathered over 16 million names and in 2019 FamilySearch gathered over 37 million names.
These records are considered high risk because so many of the record keepers will die soon–they keep oral histories–and they are old chiefs and villagers who have memorized the names of their people through the generations.
Written records in Africa are also at risk because in many places the conditions for keeping records is very poor. Therefore, the records are crumbling to dust. Most places have no budget to preserve them.
Record collection in Africa is a very high priority right now. Church leaders are very invested in gathering and preserving these records immediately.
In the past many African areas would take a census, the government would take the information it wanted, then the original records were thrown away.
There is a phone app called FamilySearch Lite that uses less data (no photos or memories). People in many parts of the world with less access to wifi can use this app to do their family history work.
There are extra sheets/pages for the MY FAMILY booklets available for polygamous families.
There are people in place in Ghana Area Offices over record acquisition for West Africa.
More people from the Ivory Coast attend the temple in Ghana than people from Ghana.
There is a Temple Assistance Fund for people visiting the temple for the first time. Recently the policy was changed to help with more than the first trip, with approval.
By the year 2100, 1/3 of the world’s population will be in Africa.
By the year 2050, Nigeria’s population will be larger than the USA’s population.
Lagos has 21 million people. By 2100, they are forecast to have 87 million people.
The Abidjan West Mission Office and Home are side by side with our Abidjan East Mission Office and Home. This evening we had dinner with Pres and Soeur Lewis of the West Mission. We had a really nice evening at a French restaurant. Our crepes and pizza were delicious!
This afternoon we met with the Mission Presidency, office staff and the APs for our weekly coordinating meeting. This is where we discuss the affairs of the mission and the needs of the missionaries. There is a lot that goes into running a mission and maintaining 160 or more young missionaries. Housing, health, transport, problems, record-keeping and more. These are excellent leaders and we’re happy to serve with them.
Eveque Mel is the Mission Recorder:
Elder Van Duzer works in the office keeping track of things.
Brother Ebick Ngoma is our historian and photographer. Our APs take care of holding it all together.
I wish everyone could see the inner workings of a mission. There are a lot of plates to keep spinning.
This morning as we were leaving our apartment building to walk over to the stake center, we bumped into our neighbors, the Soeurs! We live in the same complex and we walked to the church together. It was fun to see them again.
The week after MLC, this mission holds a Zone Training Meeting where the Zone Leaders pass along what they learned last week. We had a great 2.5 hour meeting with this Cocody Zone which is made up of 4 Elders’ companionships and 9 Sisters’ companionships. They talked about finances and budgeting their sacred mission funds, and about effecting planning and how to help contacts progress into investigators.
Each companionship also reported on their key indicators for the last week.
Elder Ellsworth and Elder Kamleno, the ZLs, both taught.
This morning we had our District Conference General Session for the Alepe District. It was a glorious gathering of saints and friends. This is a happy district. The District Presidency was reorganized and a new counselor was called. We listened to wonderful speakers. John and I were invited to share our testimonies. Elder Guei instructed us. We sang with all our hearts and we loved being together.
Here are some photos I took before and after the meetings. I just want all of you to see these beautiful faces and wish you were also lucky enough to be here!
While we waited for the meeting to begin, the missionaries got up and taught about our basic beliefs, the Doctrine of Christ and the Articles of Faith.
This young man wearing the dark green tie is Amon Oliver. He’s 28 years old and he joined the church last June. The missionaries taught him. He’s the only member in his family. He is blind. I sat next to him last night and got to know him better. He has a beautiful spirit about him. Today he asked for my phone number so we could stay in touch. He was happy when I told him I’m an old lady and my oldest son is his age. I hope we will stay friends. The members of his branch help him to and from church each week. I wonder how he spends his days.
Elder and Sister Guei:
I loved watching Sis Assard greet Sis Affue. They are life-long sisters and friends.
Annelies Assard, Lucien Affoue, Philippe Assard, Agathe Affoue
These first four pioneers of the Cote d’Ivoire are loved and honored here. And they love everyone as if they were their own children.
Before the meeting started, a small choir, including several missionaries, sang prelude.
Then the meeting began. A new 2nd counselor was called: Pres Digbeu Gegoire Zoko.
The young man on the floor was resting after an epileptic attack.
Lots of visiting after the meeting.
The small choir sang again after the meeting ended.
Some of the best people on this planet:
Philippe and Agathe Affoue
This is our new Alepe District Presidency:
First Counselor: Michel Ohoucou, President: Taly Guy-omer Nadje, Second Counselor: Digbeu Gegoire Zoko
I think these are the most beautiful women ever. When we greet each other, we kiss cheeks, left, right, left. It’s sweet and endearing. I wish I could speak their language perfectly and understand their everyday lives better. They are also the pioneers here. I also love love love the fabrics they wear!
This young man on the right just beamed when I told him he was a future missionary.
I find it hard not to love children dressed like this!!
My new friend, Amon:
I missed this opening prayer for the debriefing meeting with Elder Guei afterwards.
I wonder sometimes if someday in the Next Place someone like this beautiful little girl will come up to me and say, “do you remember? our paths crossed one day in Ahoutoue? Let’s talk!” Oh, I sure hope so. I will want to hear all about her life and all the things she did and all the choices she made. And we will be grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it blessed our lives and brought us together.
I love that she snuck into this photo of these District leaders.
What a happy day. We love being here so much.
Here’s the testimony I shared today in the meeting:
Je suis reconaissant pour la don de foi. Certaines personnel pensent que la religion ou la foi en Dieu et Jesus Christ nous protege de mauvaises choses. Je pense que, si notre foi est forte, lorsque de mauvaises choses arrivent, nous sommes capable d’y faire face. Et quand nous avon l’Espirit nous pouvons avoir de bonnes idees sur ce qu’il faut faire.
Je suis reconaissant ce quand je prie et lire mes ecritures et garder les commandments et remercie tourjours mon Pere Celeste, il m’aidera a savoir quoi faire quand le choses sont dificiles. Je suis tellement reconnaissant pour cela.
Elder Guei of the Seventy, Pres Binene, District President Nadje Omer, Pres Sossou and Pres Lewis (counselors in the Mission Presidency
After Elder Guei’s meeting this afternoon with the district and mission leadership, we had the Saturday afternoon leadership meeting for all of the organization presidencies, and then the evening adult session of district conference.
Waiting for people to arrive:
Sister Assard leading the music:
Elder Guei teaching about the new programs for children and youth:
After the meeting and before the next session, I visited with the Assards and Lucien Affoue, the pioneers of Cote d’Ivoire.
After the meetings, we were served a delicious meal. It was really delicious–rice or attieke with chicken in a peanut sauce and fried fish.
Elder Guei, Ohoucou Michells (2nd Counselor in District), Pres Nadje (District President), Pres Sossou, Pres Binene, Pres Lewis
The last stop we made on our village wander was in this compound where we found only two young children. They said their parents were out in the fields. They were in their outdoor kitchen with some large stocks of ripening plantain.
Plantain ripening–the darker it gets, the sweeter it is!
Visiting this compound was one of the highlights of my day. We heard women laughing and whacking and we went to see what they were doing. In the back of their compound, we found this work area where women were gathered, young and old, preparing cassava root to make attiéké–the main food eaten here.
I think they were amazed to meet a stranger interested in what they were doing. I told them I wanted to show my friends at home how attiéké is made and they laughed, as if to say, “don’t your friends know??”
The main food where I lived in Nigeria was also cassava, but there it was made into gari and foofoo. Attiéké is a bit different, but the preparation is similar. First you begin by peeling off the bark of the root. Then the cassava is cut into pieces. These ladies were working hard and fast. Even the little girls had big knives and sure hands.
I think we had 3 generations of women working together here today. They were happy and I could tell they enjoyed being together.
I wonder how many headpans of cassava have passed through this woman’s hands.
The next generations:
After the pieces are cut, they are washed to be as clean as possible.
Take a look at this process again here:
These women were delightful and we had a fun time together. The next compound we came to had just one woman working alone on the next step of the process.
Here’s how Wikipedia describes the next steps:
The cassava is peeled, grated and mixed with a small amount of cassava that was previously fermented which is the starter. The paste is left to ferment for one or two days. Once the fermentation time is over and the hydrocyanic acid that exists in a large proportion in natural cassava has been removed, the pulp is dewatered, screened, and dried, and then the final cooking is done by steaming the pulp. After a few minutes of cooking, the attiéké is ready for consumption.
This is the dewatering, screening and drying part:
This is the press where they squeeze the water out of bagged grated cassava:
Now this woman is screening it:
Then it will be spread to dry. The final cooking is done by steaming the pulp in a steamer like this:
Then the attiéké is ready to eat! Usually it’s served from a communal bowl with a sauce made from local greens, or tomatoes, onions, and peppers.
In town you can buy a serving of attiéké for about 20 cents. It’s sold in little plastic bags tied in a knot. It’s the fast food of the Ivory Coast and everyone loves it. I enjoyed seeing the process today. It is no small thing these women do to feed their families.
Our Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan East and Bamako, Mali Mission 