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

This morning Pres Binene met with those who will be training our 7 new missionaries.  These missionaries are especially selected to be the best possible role models for these new missionaries.  They are missionaries who are obedient, experienced, kind and they are wonderful teachers.

Then this afternoon, our new missionaries returned to meet their trainers and to receive more orientation.  What an outstanding group!

Today 7 new missionaries arrived at the Mission Office to begin their missions!  They are all local Ivorians and have been temporarily assigned to our mission.  These Elders and Sister have been called to serve in Kenya, Nigeria, the DRC and Ghana.  Once the borders are open again, they will move on to their permanent assignments.   We hope it won’t be too much longer, but we’re really happy to have these missionaries with us now.  They are happy and excited to be here.  The hour of their mission is come (D&C 31:3).

Pres and Sis Binene met with them most of the day in an orientation meeting.

These missionaries have been attending virtual MTCs at their local stake centers.  The training is 6 hours every day online.  For some it was in a small group with a projector in a class room.  For others, they were the only student and they worked with a laptop.  These 7 missionaries met in 4 different stake centers.  The MTC experience lasts 6 weeks for the French speakers and 9 weeks for those learning English (those going to Ghana and Nigeria).

Today we saw the very first new Missionary Handbooks here in this mission.  This Elder was the only one to receive them by mail.  We are all still waiting.  Soon missionaries will have access to them in the new smartphones.

Tonight the Elders stayed at the old AP apartment nearby.  We picked up chicken for them and sent them home with a bag of rice for dinner and some eggs for breakfast.  Sis Yapo stayed with some local Sisters.  Tomorrow they’ll meet their trainers.

Another exciting thing was happening at the stake center today–a big delivery was made.   While we were there, a big truck pulled up from a supply company and men were unloading cases of soap, gel and napkin/tissues for drying hands into a back classroom for temporary storing.

We met Br Priva Koffi, who is the self reliance specialist for this area, working with temporal affairs. This request originated here with brother Koffi and the Public Affairs group, and was sent to LDS Charities, who paid for the supplies.

The church is working with 2 suppliers.  Today’s brought hand washing supplies. The other is bringing masks, shields, thermometers and gloves for the health workers. These supplies will be given to the Cote d’Ivoire Ministry of Health to be distributed to health care professionals in the Abidjan area. In addition to this project, we’re trying to secure more masks for more of the country.

It was exciting to see these things happening today at the stake center. These supplies are a wonderful good-will gesture and a kindness from the church to our local government.  Every little bit helps.

During our District Meeting this morning we heard and saw lots of activity going on around us.  There were work crews everywhere in the building and outside.  The grass had been cut and manicured.  New plants have been added.  The grounds are looking great.  I’ve been so impressed at how the maintenance crews have continued to beautify and maintain the buildings during these last few weeks.  Every week the buildings are cleaned, even while we are not meeting here regularly.

One of the crews working today was a painting crew.  They were inside and out, brushes and rollers in hand.

Outside they were painting the iron fencing around the church.

Another crew inside was working in the ceilings, putting in some new lighting.

The chapel:

There were stacks of this lighting throughout the building.

At the same time, work continues full steam ahead on the temple!

We understand that this maintenance work is happening at all of the stake centers in our mission area.  All is a testament to me that this great and marvelous work is rolling forward, throughout the whole earth, like a stone cut without hands from the mountain.

Look what came today!!  The smartphones are here.  They will be given out in MLC on the 29th, and to everyone else after that.  These are exciting times!  All of the missionaries will continue to be trained on how to use them and how to be safe using them.

This morning we took Elders Muyuwa and Blehi to visit a family in their area.   The husband is a counselor in their ward Bishopric.  He and his wife and their 6 children live here, along with some others who the missionaries teaching right now.

Elder Blehi (in the red shirt) is from Abidjan and has been called to the Lagos Nigeria Mission, but is relocated here for now. He did an online MTC experience with a group from the Ivory Coast at a stake center where and they were taught about missionary work and taught English.  Elder Muyuwa is his trainer.  They work hard.  Today they came on their P-Day to offer some service working in the garden in the back of this compound.

We enjoyed meeting the family.  Lots was going on.  Everyone had jobs to do–with the food preparation, the water, the laundry and the dishes.  We had a huge thunderstorm last night, so today was especially hot and humid, feeling like 100 degrees outside.

Imagine managing in a cooking area like this.  These women are my heroes.  They are survivors and they work miracles keeping their beautiful families going strong.

This good sister (above) is being taught right now by the Elders.

Today they were preparing soup made from what looked like beef bones and skin, a sauce to serve with rice, yams, dried fish and some pounded plantain.

Meet beautiful Sister Bailly.  She is the mother of 6 and she is serving as the Relief Society President in the Riviera 1 Ward.

Water duty, filling containers:

What a delight to look in on this family this morning.  I left feeling happy to have been there and grateful for my blessings.