Today after church we had a special meeting for all the women and our 2 young women. With Valerie teaching, we introduced them to Days for Girls and the beautiful kits that will help them manage their feminine hygiene. It was fun and exciting for them to receive their own kits.
After that, I brought some of the clothing I’ll be leaving behind when we go to share with my friends here. We had so much fun together. I will really miss these friends.
On our way home at the end of a great Sunday:
Here are our beautiful Primary children:
Elder Kouassi was our teacher today.
Singing “The Wise Man and the Foolish Man.”
Here is our youth class:
And here is the adult class, Relief Society and Elders Quorum combined to learn more about the ministering program and how to actually implement it here in our branch.
It was a great Sabbath. A really great Sabbath, here in Bamako.
After church we gave out some of the extra church materials from the library. We’re so happy to get these magazines and old supplies into the homes of our friends here.
I love it when we go to the church and our member children are there, just because they want to be in a safe happy place! None of these children live very close, so it’s an effort to walk to the church, but they often come. This morning when we arrived a group of our young women and primary children were already there, enjoying being together.
Today John and I went to work upstairs in the library/storage room. We’ve worked for months to get the permissions needed to buy a cabinet to store our church materials in. Today we moved into that cabinet.
The library is in the room that would be a kitchen if this were a home. There is a counter and a sink. There are no outlets for electricity. There are windows that leak a bit. And there were stacks and piles of church materials everywhere.
We spent the rest of the day cleaning and organizing these materials. There were boxes of both French and English magazines from the last several years. There were some damaged by water under the windows. Many of the materials are now outdated and no longer in use. We made piles to give away (to an English school) and to give to the members here.
By the end of the day, the cabinet was filled with good useful books and manuals and sacrament supplies. Extras and overflow materials were labeled and organized so we can find homes for them.
It was a hot, humid, dirty day. We were drenched with sweat, but feeling great to finish this big job.
Today I also took church photos and artwork to decorate the primary room and all of the 6 bulletin boards in the classrooms and offices here. Everything is looking better. It was a great day.
Friday is the day of worship in the Islamic world. We hear the prayer calls broadcast every day, 5 times from the muezzin across the street. On Fridays, there is a special call to prayer at noon and a 12:30 p.m. a lecture begins. Everyone gathers to the mosque for this discourse from the Imam. Men and women worship separately in their designated areas. You can see the overflow tent for the men in the street.
Our street is lined in every direction with men who put down their prayer rugs or mats, facing Mecca (east), and praying. They repeat parts of the prayers, they stand, kneel and reverently bow. The prayers are broadcast in Bambara or Arabic. We don’t seem to ever hear them in French.
Before praying, the men wash their hands, feet, and faces, including their eyes, ears and mouths. They approach Allah respectfully.
After the sermon and prayers finish, everyone goes back to their jobs or to their families. Some take the rest of the day off. Fridays are happy festive days. We enjoy watching the devotion of these good neighbors.
Here is our beautiful view at the end of the day as the sun is setting. I never tire of looking out over our neighborhood.
This is our view to the south from our back deck. The moon is rising. It’s calm and beautiful here. I will miss this place more than I can say.
Today we took Elder Kamenan to the airport and said Au revoir! We will miss him here in Bamako. He returns home to San Pedro, Cote d’Ivoire in a few days. He’s been a great missionary!
An hour or so later, we welcomed Elder Kouassi, who will be our next Bamako missionary. We are so happy to have him join us here.
Of course, we think this is the best assignment in the mission, and these Elders are the most lucky of all!
When old people go on missions, we aren’t sent to the Missionary Training Center first to learn the language. We work with a tutor for a couple of hours a week for a few weeks, then we take the plunge and learn on our own.
I want to preserve the pages from my little brown French book that has gone with me just about every day while we’ve been here. These are the words I did not know when I wrote them down. Now I know them. It’s one of the many miracles of missionary life! I hope this beautiful French language stays in my brain. I’m sure it will stay in my heart.
At the end are some notes and recipes and lists that have also become a part of my missionary life here in Bamako and in Abidjan.
Our wood carving friend, Pascal, his brother, and their helpers have been very busy working hard to complete all of the carvings we’ve ordered for missionaries and friends before we go home. Tonight he delivered a huge Nativity that was special ordered by a friend of ours. It’s quite spectacular. Take a look:
The people in this Nativity set represent all of the ethnic cultures of Mali.
It’s going to be a little tricky getting these home, but we’ll make it happen.
We’ve been delivering Nativity sets to Abidjan for the missionaries at every opportunity.
I’ve spent many years living in Africa eating delicious pineapples. There is an art to cutting them fast, efficiently, and with the least amount of waste. Here is how I do it.
After easily twisting the top leaf spears or crown off, you cut off the ends of the pineapple, top and bottom.
Then you slice the pineapple into slices, 1″ or less thick.
Now it is easy to cut off the outside using a small serrated paring knife. It’s easy to cut close to the rind and divot into the thorn spots, wasting very little of the pineapple flesh.
If you miss a few spots, go back and cut them out quickly.
Then I cut the slices like a tic tac toe, around the center core.
I can cut a pineapple in just a couple of minutes this way. It’s fast, easy and efficient.
Today we had our weekly District Meeting with the Elders. We love these meetings and discussing all the good people we are working with.
At the end of the meeting, we presented these 2 Elders with their Chiwaras with thanks for their service in Mali. The Chiwara is the symbol of Mali and it represents exactly what these Elders are doing here.
This is the view from the entrance to the church. We hope that before we leave, the signs will be finished and installed so everyone knows who we are and where to find us.
Today we met with the sign maker again and finalized all of the details. The down payment has been made. The work will commence today!
Today was a beautiful day in Bamako! Emmanuel Ngalle entered the waters of baptism, joining his wife, Sylvanie and 2 oldest daughters who were baptized 2 weeks ago. What a beautiful family! What a blessing to our Bamako Branch!
Esther and Judith gave talks on Baptism and the Holy Ghost.
Sharing the good news of the day with Elder Koffi in Cote d’Ivoire, who helped to teach Emmanuel and his family and Florence and her daughter Beatrice.
Our Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan East and Bamako, Mali Mission 