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

This morning we enjoyed a peaceful sacrament meeting with our mission Assistants, Elder N’cho and Elder Wanani.  These are remarkable young men who help administer the affairs of the Abidjan East Mission.  They are helpers and teachers and trainers.

Today we thought it would be interesting to learn about their conversion stories and their decisions to serve missions.  We continue to learn from each other.

Elder Yapo N’cho
Elder N’cho is from Abobo, not far from here. He was called to serve in Ghana and he learned English and he speaks really well. He returned here with other Ivorians when they came back during the COVID missionary movement. He’s 26 years old and did 3 years studying law at the university before his mission.

Elder N’cho told us that he comes from a family with 4 children, his is the 3rd and he has a “junior brother” he is very close to. His dad worked in the Abidjan area as an elevator repair technician (now retired and living on a pension). It was a good job and he earned good money, but sadly, he spent much of his money on alcohol. The family wasn’t happy, his mom wasn’t happy.

There was an LDS Church being built in their neighborhood, across the street from the home of his dad’s best friend. They were curious. They thought it might be a hospital or an orphanage because it was so big. The friend and his dad went to investigate what was going on there when an open house was held on a Saturday. They liked what they saw. They were invited to go to the church meeting the next day (Sunday).

At church, they met the missionaries, who asked for his contact information. They would come to teach the family, but he’d hide. He even hid under the bed. The family didn’t like the drinking problem, so they encouraged him to meet with the missionaries so he’d stop drinking. Eventually he came out and listened.  When they were taught the Word of Wisdom the family was very happy. Three months later only he and his friend were baptized (2007).  This friend is now a bishop in Akoupe.

Elder N’cho’s family was happy their dad stopped drinking, but they made fun of his church where they sang songs that sounded like funeral songs (no drums or dancing).  When his dad read scriptures, they continued to make fun of him, but he continued and was faithful. Once his dad invited Elder N’cho to read with him. He did, but he thought the church was too religious. He said his father played CDs of the hymns every morning in their home.

Once American missionaries came and challenged Elder N’cho to play PlayStation. If they won, they got to teach him. If he won, they’d leave him alone. The Americans won. He had to agree to listen to the lessons and go to church. When he went, he said he noticed the young people coming and going at the church. He could see that they were all smart and they knew how to speak well and read well. He thought he would like to be smart like they were (he said he could never speak in front of people.) He started attending church with his dad. He took it all in and decided he liked it.

The missionaries taught him and his younger brother and they were baptized. He learned about eternal families and desired that more than anything. He went to seminary and he received the Priesthood. He and his dad and his brother went with the stake on a temple trip to the Accra Temple to do baptisms for the dead when he was 17 in 2010. In Accra he got a copy of the Duty to God booklet and after returning home, he happened to leave it out on the table for about a week. His mom noticed it and read it. She asked him if he had the Priesthood and he told her yes. She said she wanted to see him blessing the sacrament for all of the people. She attended church with him the next Sunday and watched him do it. She said, “now you are a man.” That booklet changed her heart.

His mother and older siblings were all taught and baptized and they later went to the Accra Temple as a family to be sealed (August 2012). He loved it. He was about 20 when he decided to go on a mission but he had things with school that kept him from it. He finished a degree, studying for law.

His dad once gave him 40,000 cfa to get a passport so he could apply to go on a mission. He spent it on other things. Time went by. One day his dad told him this was his last chance to go on a mission–he was 24 years old. His dad gave him money again to get a passport. He said, “I know that when I gave you money last time for a passport, you spent it on other things. You can do what you want, but I hope you’ll go on a mission.”  This time he gave him the 40,000 plus 30,000 extra, and this time Elder N’cho went the next day to get a passport. He decided that he needed to go on a mission. He said he wanted other people to have the opportunity to have eternal families.

Elder N’cho was thrilled to open his call to serve in the Ghana Cape Coast Mission. The call letter was all written in English and he couldn’t read any of it except for “Ghana” and “MTC in Accra.” He’d studied English in school, but couldn’t really speak it. When he arrived in Accra, he had an American Mission President named President Hillam.  He went into his first arrival interview with him very scared and nervous, but he was able to understand and be understood–every word. He’s loved being able to speak English. Elder N’cho will finish his mission here in August.

Elder N’cho’s 2 older siblings are both married. He baptized his sister’s husband. Everyone in the family is active and they love the gospel. He told us that as a family they had family prayer and family home evening. Their family has been blessed.

Elder Junior Wanani Bukembo
Elder Wanani’s story was very different. He is 25 years old and he’s from the Congo. His father had 4 wives, his mother was the youngest. She was very young and he was her only child. Because of contention in the compound (between wives and families), his mother left the family when Elder Wanani was 9 months old. She went far away, eventually remarried and had a family.

Elder Wanani was close to his father. There are 13 children in the family, 10 sisters and 3 brothers. One brother has died. The other brother isn’t that close to the family. So Elder Wanani’s father took good care of him and they were very close.

When he was a young boy, about 16 his father sent Elder Wanani away for school because of the contention in the compound.  He lived on his own.  There was an LDS church in his neighborhood and he and his friends would watch people coming and going.  After graduating, he found work doing yard work, then at a customs office, then working for a petroleum company.

Once there was a baptism (outside font) happening at the LDS church. He and his friends watched over the wall. He had good feelings when he saw what was happening. Not long after he watched young men and women coming and going to an Institute class. He went in to see what was going on. The course was on Marriage and Family Relations. The members were kind to him and invited him to join them. He met the missionaries.

Over a 4-week period, Elder Wanani was taught the discussions and was baptized. He was 20. No one in his family had any interest in the church. His father was a teacher (now retired). He’s had no support from anyone in his family. He’s not sure who he will go home to, although he calls his dad every month and he hopes someday his dad will join the church.

Elder Wanani was very diligent and intent about learning about the gospel after his baptism. His bishop noticed that and gave him things to read. This bishop encouraged him to serve a mission. Now  Elder Wanani is a gospel scholar and he loves to memorize scriptures. Today he said the sacramental prayers by heart.  Only one of his sisters has  joined the church. She’s taking care of his father right now. She and her husband want to move to Belgium after COVID, so Elder Wanani is not sure where he’ll go after his mission. His dream is to go to BYU.

 

We had a pretty perfect Saturday.  The Elders invited us to go with them to teach and we were delighted to join them.  We love driving through new sectors of town.  This is such an amazing and interesting world and Africa is such a colorful fascinating place.  I could sit for hours just observing daily life here.  Our friends here are industrious, hardworking and enterprising.  They find simple ways to provide for their families.   And they make do.  We can all learn from our brothers and sisters here.

We arrived at our appointment this afternoon and met these lovely ladies.  They have a hair and beauty salon.  One of the ladies who works here is a member of the church and she shared her love for the gospel of Jesus Christ with these three who are preparing for baptism.  We talked about the commandments and how we can show our love for our Savoir.  I loved being there.  It’s so easy to love the people we meet here.

As we taught, clients came and went.  It was interesting to see the many hair products for sale and the variety of combs in the vase on the counter.

The shop looked out into the street filled with every-day life in Abidjan.  I wish there were a way to capture the sights and sounds here.

As we left, women came for hair extensions, or to have their hair plaited.  Hair care is a big part of daily life here.  Women change their hair styles like we change what we wear.  It’s always interesting and sometimes a challenge to remember what a new friends looks like when they look different each time you see them!

Our next appointment was with a beautiful seamstress in her little shop.  She welcomed us warmly and we went inside.  I felt right at home there, in her beautiful little sewing room.  I told her sewing is one of my favorite things to do.

Amassen sat behind her little black Singer treadle sewing machine telling us how much she loves reading the Book of Mormon and the pamphlets. The Elders said they met her on the street–they knocked on her shop door and she invited them in.  She had a perfect smile and a strong spirit. It filled the room.

I Loved being in her shop!  There was a table covered with fabric and clothes, a couple of chairs, a bench and her sewing table and machine. The side walls were wood with cut out pictures of dresses and clothing nailed or pinned up (her patterns). The floor was uneven rock cement. Her scriptures were in a bag by her side, safe and clean.  It was fantastic to be in that little sewing room talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ. She seemed so happy.  And I felt happy too.

Today was a good day.  I made new friends and I shared what I believe with them.  My French isn’t great, but they don’t seem to mind.  I can speak the things in my heart and they understand me.  There is no place in this world I’d rather be.

We heard the news this morning from the West Mission–a French Embassy flight departed this morning from Abidjan for France!  At first there was only room for one of our missionaries on that flight, then two, then three, and then by the end of yesterday, all 11 missionaries from the Cote d’Ivoire missions were able to get on the flight!  They will be finishing their missions in the Paris and Leon France Missions.  We send them on with love!

What a fun coincidence that our Orem neighbors, the Wildes, are serving in the Paris France Mission office and were there this afternoon to greet our Elders!  They sent us these pictures of their arrival:

We had our weekly District Meeting today in Cocody.  The work is beginning to pick up a bit and that makes everyone happy.

Today we talked about making our personal study more effective and ways to improve our work.

This is our little District:

Here are a few pictures of this week’s progress on the temple:

We’ve had a lovely weekend.  While our nation at home unravels in chaos and riots and protesters, we have enjoyed a calm Sabbath, smiling at our industrious neighbors (above) and eating some delicious food.

I made banana bread for Alida and her family to celebrate her baptism yesterday and  I made pizza and cinnamon rolls for us.  We are happy and content here in this peaceful place.

This is one thing I just never get used to–road improvements in West Africa!  Every few weeks someone comes and dumps a pile of what we call “road base” in the middle of our little dirt road.  These piles are unbelievable!  They usually dump a full truck load of debris made up of chunks of concrete, broken cinder blocks and other construction waste.  I’ve even seen an entire toilet in the pile of dumped debris.

Within a week or so, enough cars and trucks have driven over the piles to break them up and grind the rubble into the ground, creating another layer of road base.  It’s really unbelievable to me.  It happens here all the time, on most roads.  It seems to do the job.

You’ll see our little plumber stand here to the side of the road.

Here are a few of our other neighbors.  These good folks are right on our street, within a few minutes of our apartment.

This man has a chop shop.  He grills meat.  Today I got a good look at what he was cooking–it was skewered liver.

Here is our closest produce vendor.  I bought some potatoes and some bananas to bake banana bread today.

Next you will see an on-the-go sewing vendor.  He carries his sewing machine on his shoulder and in one hand he has a pair of scissors which he snips loudly as he walks.  Everyone recognizes the sound and if they have something that needs to be mended, they flag him down and he’ll sit right down and mend it.

In front of the sewing vendor are 2 hot drink carts.  These men are pushing barrels on wheels.  They store their supplies in the barrels, including thermoses of hot water and packets of coffee, tea, Milo and other drinks.  For a few cents, you can buy a freshly-made instant hot drink.

We also have a few seamstresses on our little street.  These women work all day and into the night sewing like crazy.  Every evening as we drive home in the dark, their little shops are lit by a hanging bulb and they are hard at work.

This is where I would be if I needed to find a job here.

And last of all today, here is our shoe repairman in his little shop.  He’s here every day with a pile of shoes to fix.  At night he puts a tarp over his things to keep them safe.

I’m sure he has enough business to keep him busy for a long time!

These are people and faces we see every day as we go to and from our apartment.  This is our home and we love it here.  I wish there were a way to get to know each of these neighbors and hear their stories, their hopes and their dreams.

Today was a beautiful day for Sis Alida who has been taught by Elder Blehi and Elder and Elder Muyuwa.  You may remember her from my 18 May post about visiting a family compound.  She was hard at work in those photos, cooking over the fire.  Today she was baptized!

The Elders have been teaching Alida for one month.  Alida has lived with her member sister’s family for about a year.  She said in all the time she’s lived there, she’s attended another church where they wear white robes/dresses and go barefoot. She said she never heard a single word about our church. She said she saw the Book of Mormon, but thought it was some odd book.

Then COVID came and the Elders came to visit the family to help them have the sacrament in the home. They learned Alida wasn’t a member and asked if they could teach her. She asked the what the name of the church was and they told her “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” She said immediately when they told her the name of the church she thought, of course, this is the right church. “Jesus’ house would have Jesus’ name.” She accepted the gospel easily and felt good about it all along.

It was interesting to watch her as she came into the church with her sister’s son who accompanied her.  She immediately walked over to the artwork of Joseph kneeling before God the Father and Jesus and she just stood there staring at it.  Her nephew, about 14 or 15 years old, went to the painting of the Millennial Messiah and reached up and touched his feet in the clouds where he could reach them. It was tender to watch them. Aside from her baptismal interview, this was the only other time she’s been inside the church building.

Eventually the missionaries had everything ready. The APs, ZLs, DLs and Sisters were there to help her in the changing room. John offered the opening prayer. The Elders gave the talks and welcomed her to the ward after her confirmation. It was a beautiful simple service. Her countenance was full of light.

She told me before that she’s had many trials and struggles in her life and she hopes that joining this church will make her life easier. I told her that God will not remove the challenges–they are here to help us grow, but He will make us stronger and able to bear them and the Holy Ghost will help us make good decisions and figure out the best things to do.

We welcome you, Alida, to the path that leads to the greatest happiness you have ever known.

Here is the font with the rock stopping the drain.  A sacred spot on this special day.

Here’s a look at what a remote MTC experience looks like.  These 2 Elders are preparing to serve in Nigeria or Ghana.  Both are learning English.  They come to the stake center every day for 5-6 hours and join other preparing missionaries in online classes.

There is a Priesthood leader assigned to be in this classroom with the missionaries as they prepare.  They were very focused and working hard as they prepare during these rather crazy times.

This morning we traveled along the coast, south to Grand Bassam for a Misison Leadership Council.  The Grand Bassam Stake Center is the only one in our area not being painted right now, so that’s where we held our meeting.  All of the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders attended.

Here is the Grand Bassam Stake Center:

Greeting friends and former companions:

The Sisters:

Arriving with missionary supplies and medications for each apartment:

Our council meeting began at about 9:30 or 10:00.  We heard from 2 of the missionaries, the APs and Pres and Sis Binene.  Then we had the special treat of hearing from Elder Martinez in Accra.  He cheered us on and taught about preaching repentance and baptizing converts, our missionary purpose.

President Binene talked about ways to study and share the new Proclamation on the Restoration.

After the meeting, we had sandwiches for lunch and we distributed the supplies.

John took care of the money matters.

Here are our mission leaders: