January 2021 – Page 3 – Our Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan East and Bamako, Mali Mission

The Bats of Abidjan

Today between our airports we had a few hours to go get our COVID tests in downtown Plateau. We tried first at the Marcory and Cocody testing sites, but the lines were so long, we knew we wouldn’t have enough time to wait several hours.

It was way more exciting downtown because we got to watch the BATS! Take a look at these trees overhead–they are full of bats! They were flying and swooping and hanging upside down right over our heads. And they were loud! They cheep and chirp like cackling birds. There were thousands of them. As we drove into Plateau, we saw clouds of bats swarming in the sky. They seemed to hover over certain huge trees. When we got to the testing site, we found ourselves under more of those huge kinds of trees. It was pretty exciting.

Here’s a bit of information I found about Abidjan’s bat population:

Ecologists estimate one million fruit bats live in Abidjan, giving a decidedly gothic edge to a city whose 3 million people have learned not only how to live with the creatures, but also how to hunt them, cook them up in sweet stews and put them to use in voodoo.

They’re fruit eaters (“frugivores”, in French – a lovely word), mostly eating mangoes. they roost in colonies in a couple of different kinds of trees, having a marked preference for a specific type of mango tree.

The noise and the amount of bat poop on the ground were pretty amazing!

Here are some short videos of the bats taken from the car as we drove into Plateau:

Here’s the COVID testing center where we spent most of the afternoon:

A Departure and More Arrivals

This morning we took Elder Oba to the airport. He will be reporting to Sierra Leone, where he was originally called to serve. We are grateful for his 7 months of service here.

This afternoon we were back at the airport to pick up another group of arriving missionaries who will be serving in all 3 Cote d’Ivoire missions. They are coming from Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Our 2 Elders were in this group.

Elder Ayat and Elder Peter will be staying here in the East Mission! We’re thrilled to have them.

Arrivals from Nigeria, Ghana and Benin

Today we expected to receive 19 missionaries from Nigeria, Ghana and Benin. All but 2 arrived. Those two will come tomorrow after having some COVID test issues today that have been resolved. These Elders and Sisters have been called to serve here in the Abidjan East Mission, but until now, they’ve been serving in their home countries. Of the 19, four started their missions here, then were evacuated to their home countries. They are happy to be back!

We’re so happy to see our numbers beginning to grow again. We have so many wards and branches waiting for missionaries.

Of this group of 19, all are English-speakers, except for our Elder from Benin. They will have to brush up on their French quickly!

We brought them to the Mission Office for an afternoon of orientation and some lunch.

Our fine Assiatants:

This evening the missionaries spent the night at a local hotel near the Temple. They’ll have dinner and breakfast here in the morning, then come to the office to meet their companions. Tomorrow the last two will arrive.

Zone Conference with the Cocody and Dokui Zones

Today we met with the Cocody and Dokui Zones in the Cocody Stake Center for Zone Conference.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be having some changes here in the mission. Missionaries who have been called to the Abidjan East Mission, but who have been serving in their own countries will start coming to us and missionaries here who have been called to other missions will start departing for those missions. Next month we are expecting some of our American missionaries to return to us. We are excited and sad all at the same time for these changes. It’s hard to see our missionaries leave. We have amazing missionaries here and we love being with them.

Today we enjoyed being with this group. Come see the light in their eyes!

Games People Play–Awalé (Mancala)

This evening we took a walk through the neighborhood. It was hot and humid with a cooling breeze. It was fun to watch these men playing the game they call Awalé here. In other places it’s called Mancala. It’s one of the oldest African board games known.

You can read about how to play here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oware

These men kept track of their wins with the broken pieces of white glass in front of them on the bench.

Here’s a video clip of these fellows playing!

Beautiful Local Produce

In this week of national terrorism at home, there is something calming to me about beautiful stacks of perfect fruit. I am grateful to be here, in this place, at this time, where I am surrounded by wonderful kind people and God’s interesting creations.

This fruit is called mangosteen.

Here’s the inside of the mangosteen. You eat the white part.

These pineapple are from Ghana. They are the most delicious pineapple I have ever eaten. The fruit is pale yellow and syrupy sweet and delicious. The core in the center is tender and this fruit is not acidic. It is heavenly.

This fruit is called soursop. It has white flesh with seeds and it’s known to boost immunity. People here believe it helps strengthen the body against cancer.

Look what I saw growing in the tree above this fruit stand! Calabash gourds! These are dried and used for bowls.

This is dragon fruit and a cocoa fruit. These were in a local grocery store.

This is called romanesco broccoli. It looked like a type of cauliflower. It was spectacular!

I came to his favorite fruit vendor to buy coconut. They are harder to find than you might expect. I bought 8 to get me through the next week. I haven’t been able to find coconut yet in Mali.

We also bought a small watermelon, which my friend put in this box with the coconut. She insisted on carrying it all to our car down the street.

I am grateful for the gift of beautiful produce.

Mission Leadership Council Today

Today our mission leaders met in MLC. We spent a lot of time talking about key indicators and what they really represent (people, not numbers). Pres Bendixsen asked the missionaries to consider the question, “Are you finding joy in the work? and if not, why?” Sis Bendixsen talked to them about unity and she showed flags of all the different countries represented here in our mission.

In the coming weeks we are going to receive dozens of missionaries. Some served here in the past and are finally returning from Nigeria and Ghana. Some were called here, but then sent other places because of COVID. Next month we should receive our first American Elders since the COVID evacuations. There are more than a dozen who will return after being reassigned to other missions. We are excited to see our numbers start growing again. Right now we have just over 80 missionaries serving here in the Abidjan East Mission.

Lunch time!

New signs outside the Mission Offices:

This afternoon we started preparing for the upcoming departures and arrivals. It’s exciting to think of many of our missionaries returning!

Bamako to Abidjan in 2 Tries

Living here, we’re getting used to expecting the unexpected. Yesterday morning we headed to the airport for a flight back to Abidjan. We’ve been instructed to keep our living schedule sporadic and unexpected so we are not predictable. It’s part of the plan to keep us safe here. When we got to the check in, we discovered that our Ivorian visas expired a few days ago. There was no way to get on our flight.

The very helpful airline personnel told us to go right to the Ivorian Embassy and see if they could issue a same-day visa to enable us to fly out tomorrow. So we loaded our bags into a taxi, dropped them at our apartment (9 flights up), and then continued to the Embassy. We then discovered that because of COVID, the Embassy is closed MWF. It was Monday. The guard in the booth was kind and helpful and wanting to help us, he called the visa boss, who was willing to leave his home on the other side of town to come to our aid.

In the picture below, the Embassy is the building on the left behind the banana trees. After about an hour of waiting, the guard led us down the dirt road and around this corner.

It was under this tree (out of sight from others showing up at the Embassy for help) that we trustingly handed over our passports and all of our documents and money for the new visas. Sometimes you just have to trust people.

While we discussed our situation, the guard brought one more man and his wife to the tree. They were trying to drive to Cote d’Ivoire and needed a signature for the border crossing.

The next thing that happened was we all 5 got into the border crossing car (that was packed to the brim with luggage and stuff) and the gentleman drove us to our apartment where the helpful visa boss took copies of documents we didn’t have with us, needed for the visas. Then they left and we waited for the day to pass, with the promise of receiving our visas today (Tuesday) by noon.

We went to bed wondering if we were right to trust.

This morning John went to the Embassy and there he met our friend who had prepared our visas. We learned that he is from our neighborhood in Abidjan and he lived near the Temple site. He said, “I know Mormons. You are good people.” We are grateful for his kindness and honesty. Everyone we meet wants to help us get to where we need to be. We live among good people here.

So today, we tried again to return to Abidjan. This time it worked.

The Bendixsens and Eveque Mel greeted us in Abidjan this evening and we had a delicious meal at the Mission Home. It’s great to be back with our friends here.

We learned this evening that Trump sent his followers to storm the Capitol Building today. Unbelievable. We were up late reading the updates on our phone news apps. Unbelievable.

Games Children Play

I love watching inventive children at play. The children here are happy and creative and they are masters at entertaining themselves. Below are some pictures I’ve taken of children at play, with their creative toys, trucks, cars, balls and games.

A rolling bike tire is always a big hit, or kicking an empty bottle.

These boys were playing marbles:

Footbol or soccer is popular with boys of all ages.

Table footbol is also very popular here.

These girls were sneaking a turn when the boys were gone!

Here is a homemade ball for playing a game that looked like a cross between keep away and tag.

These children have made whirlygigs with sticks and paper. When they run, the whirlygigs twirl!

Here’s a budding gymnast!

These boys were loving their slingshots!

And these boys were learning Taekwando:

We see lots of pull toys –vehicles made from all sorts of things like plastic containers or pieces of wood.

I think this boy is especially talented. He was hauling batteries in his little vehicle!

Here’s a game of checkers:

A Visit to Binabougou

When we arrived in Binabougou this afternoon, our group leader, Shaka met us in his compound. A group of about 15 friends had gathered and were waiting for us, wanting to learn more about the church. Some of the younger kids came with their hymn books, hoping we’d have a church meeting today.

Shaka is the one wearing the baseball cap.

Pres Sekou talked to this group (speaking Bambara) and explained many things to them about the Church. One of our visitors was the brother of the chief. After a very nice discussion, they asked if it might be possible to have missionaries teach the people, maybe using technology, until we have missionaries again in Mali (hopefully soon). Shaka is going to help us find a computer and a source for wifi so we can start holding weekly lessons.

This is Catherine, who is preparing to be baptized.

The children love to sing and once the tithing settlements started, they wanted to sing for me.

Singing “I Am a Child of God” and “How Great Thou Art.”

Straight hair is a wonder here.

Conducting tithing settlements.

As it got dark this evening, the ladies brought out a flashlight so they could see to sort and clean the rice they’d cook for dinner tonight. The water was boiling on the charcoal cook stove. We said our good byes and navigated our way home on these tricky roads in the dark.