Our Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan East and Bamako, Mali Mission

After church in Adiake we went to see our missionary apartment there.  It’s been empty since the Elders were evacuated in March because of COVID.  The street to the apartment was barricaded because they were digging the trenches along the road.  Trees had been cut down to make way for these new street improvements.

These trenches are bigger than you might think.  We crossed over them and walked to the missionary apartment.

These kids were sure having fun with their wheelbarrow skeleton!

Beautiful neighbors.

Here’s where our missionaries lived while they were here.  The gate to the compound was locked, so we weren’t able to go inside.

I hope these pictures bring back some happy memories for those who have served here.  We are all praying that our evacuated missionaries will return to us someday in the future.

A compound fence across the road from the apartment:

Amazing house plants!!

A load of coconut husks.

A shed full of coconuts.

Pineapple fields on our way out of town.

This Sunday we traveled to Adiake to attend the Branch there. On the map below, Adiake is on the left side of the large lagoon in the middle.  The drive to Adiake took about an hour and 45 minutes, through lush green countryside with fields of pineapple, cassava and rubber tree groves.  It was a beautifully wet and rainy tropical day.

We drove by lots of pineapple farms along the way.

We were greeted by children who live by the church compound.

Here is the baptismal font inside the compound.

And here is a side building where large meetings can be held.

We followed COVID procedures, cleaning our hands before entering, and social distancing the chairs.  We had about 25 attending today–on their first day back at church since March.  As the word gets out, more will come.

Pres Blet is our new Branch President here.  He was called to this position in August and set apart with one counselor today.

Here are some of our faithful members waiting for the meeting to begin.

This is beautiful 13-yr-old Lune-Carmel  who loves the gospel.  She showed me the Book of Mormon given to her by the missionaries who taught her–Elder Van Duzer and Elder Nkinzi.  She knew all of the missionaries who have served here and she’s not forgotten them.

The new counselor and his family:

After a wonderful testimony meeting, we visited and took some pictures, then we walked out around the compound to where we could see the lagoon.  This place is like a piece of heaven.

We loved being here today.  Next we drove to the place where our missionary apartment is.  We hope to refill these areas with missionaries again soon.

After the meeting, we walked around the back of the church compound and through some young cassava fields to where we could see the beautiful lagoon.

 

 

 

 

Here’s a neighboring 7th Day Adventist church.

Next we went to see the apartment where our missionaries here lived before they were evacuated in March.  We hope they will return here soon.  There are so many good people here who will be blessed by our message and the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

During the wedding celebration today in Abobo, I slipped out into the neighborhood for a wander.  This is one of my favorite things to do in places I visit.  I love trying to understand daily life in places different than my own.  I love it here.  I love these good happy industrious people.  I think they do magnificent things in hard places.

Here is some grilled chicken for sale.

The neighborhood popcorn popper!

Attieke and a bucket of popcorn balls!

This woman was selling hot lunches.  She had a huge pot of boiled yams that you could top with some fish in a sauce or other toppings.  It smelled good!

Cooking plantain.

This young man was frying chunks of fish dipped in flour.

Hot local peppers for sale.

Here’s a beauty parlor for fingernail painting!

Here’s a display of fabric for sale, kept dry under a sack.  It was rainy today.

This cute gal was cutting ripe plantain to make aloko, a favorite dish here that is simply fried cubes of plantain served with a sauce.

I was intrigued by the tally marks on the table legs.  I wonder what this vendor is counting.

This is the orange juice lady!   Juice oranges here are prepared in a special way you can watch in the video below.  The oranges are peeled to make it easier to squeeze the juice into your mouth.  A delicious treat!

Hair products at a beauty parlor.

This lady was selling beaded necklaces or waist beads.  She had quite a display!

Here is one of my favorite vendor ladies!  She was right across from the school yard where the wedding party was taking place.  She could hardly keep herself at her stand.  She finally came to the party and joined in the dancing!

My young friends!

A heavy load of goodness!

Beautiful faces.

And I’ll end with this photo of a shy young girl who had a well-beloved doll in her hand.  She was pulling her little puppy dog down the street.  When I asked to see her doll, she was frightened and thought I might take it.  It must have been my struggling French!  She was beautiful and I loved her beloved toys.