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

We went to the office early this morning to see what needed to be done on this P-day.  All was quiet and calm.  No one had arrived yet. It felt surreal.  Empty.  Lonely.  Clean.  Calm.

John went to work trying to make sense of the financial records so he can figure out what needs to be done. 

This will be our new work space for now.  An office tucked away in the corner of the mission office where people have to knock before entering.  That’s how it’s done here. 

Not many missionaries came in today.  We have no one traveling today.  We are waiting to hear who will go next.

Elder Van Duzer is trying to empty his brain into ours.

We decided to venture out for lunch.  We went over to the Cap Sud shopping mall.  Before entering, we each had to wash our hands and sanitize them.

We decided on Burger King and the Elders from the West Mission decided on Italian food.  It was all Delicious!

Elder Gibbons and Elder Van Duzer are responding to questions and concerns from stake presidents anxious about their missionaries returning home.  We don’t have many answers here.

This afternoon more missionaries with suitcases arrived.  They are weighing their cases, then leaving them here so they can be ready at a moment’s notice to depart when called.

Here’s our Abidjan East Mission, solid and intact, just days ago:

And here’s how it looks now:

It’s impossible to tell the story these two photos show.  Impossible.  I hope all of these missionaries are keeping good journals.  They will talk about this week for years to come.

We arrived at the office early on this Sabbath morning.  Today we had 38 Nigerians with flight plans.  By 9:00 a.m. they were all loaded into vehicles and shuttled over to the airport.  But here’s what it looked like here before that exodus:

We used the scale at the West Mission to weigh everyone’s bags.

Ahhh, what to take??  What to leave??

We had 5 Americans with tickets to fly out this morning in Ethiopian Air.  Elder Van Duzer and Elder Gibbons are still have no travel plans.

Our 5 Americans are leaving.  They were turned away.  There’s a problem with their itinerary and they were not allowed to board the flight.  Here we go again.

In the meantime, our Nigerians waited to check in.  They were tired and hungry and sad to be leaving.  We’ve been told that they’ll be picked up at the airport by Stake Presidents or helpers who will take them to Stake centers, then they’ll be transported to their new areas. We got a list this morning of all of their new assignments in Nigeria. There are several missions there now. They all have a place to go.

I lived in Nigeria long before any of these missionaries were born.  When I lived there, we had only a handful of small branches.  Now there are stakes and missions and temples and all these beautiful missionaries!  It’s a miracle to me!

The West Mission Nigerians also left this morning.

Back at the office, we cleaned up the aftermath of the whirlwind that blew through here this morning.  It felt like when the handcart companies were told to lighten their loads, so they left the non-essentials behind, along the trail.  The clothing was bagged and we’ve taken it home to clean, wash and sort for future needs.  The books were organized and stacked.  So much stuff.

Then the Elders went back to work looking for more flights.  They are also corresponding with parents and stake presidents at home who are anxious about their missionaries coming home.  The truth is, we don’t have much information to share.  We are all waiting on instructions from someone else.

New missionaries are starting to arrive from the other 2 Ivory Coast missions.  They are the ones who will be assigned to serve here.  Others are coming to pick them up and take them to their new apartments.  There is no time for fanfare here.  No grand farewells for the departing. No hugging or emotion. No final dinners or breakfasts.  Nothing extra to say Thank YOU, we’ve loved being here with you. Pres Binene was so exhausted he went out to sleep in his car in the airport parking lot while this morning’s group waited to check in.  I had to go out and search the cars to find him when it was finally their turn, so they could see him standing there as they left.  We are almost beyond emotion.  If stopped to feel, we might not be able to move.

Tonight the heavens opened and the rains fell.  The heavens are sad so many missionaries are leaving Africa.

We brought these 5 Elders home with us after they were’t allowed to board their flight–a flight that would have taken them around the world in 4 days, eventually landing in Tahiti.  No one knows when the next chance to leave will be.  This is a process that unfolds hour by hour.

We were back at the mission home for the rest of the day, helping prepare others to depart.  When all this chaos broke loose, John and I decided to stay here if we are allowed to.  This is where we want to be and this is where we’d like to help.  In many countries, couples were given a choice about staying, then told they must return home.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that won’t be the case here.  We’ve had conversations with the Area Presidency and President Binene and they are aware of our desire.

Sister Binene got a new hair do this afternoon!

We spent the afternoon working with Pres Binene.  We are preparing the documents into country groups.  We have large groups of Ghanaians,  Ivorians and Congolese, and then about a dozen more missionaries from a variety of other African countries.  It’s a race between the borders to these countries closing and church travel.  We are spectators in this race, hoping to participate at some point.

These Elders have tickets with Ethiopian Air tomorrow (Sunday) morning.

The garage is filling with luggage and overflow items.

Elder Ilori has been our financial clerk in the mission.  He’ll be leaving with the Nigerian group tomorrow (Sunday) morning.  He spent 3 hours today with John, teaching him how to take care of the mission finances.  It’s an interesting process.  This is a cash society with handwritten receipts.  Every request for money must be put in writing and approved by Pres Binene.  There are binders and binders full of records and receipts and a safe in the finance office for the cash supply.

The Elders invited me to have lunch with them.  They said they were going to get some “pain chien” (bread with dog meat).  I politely declined, but when they insisted I try a bite, it was delicious grilled steak.

Holding up pretty well:

I wish there were a way to record the emotion filling this movement.  We are busy and there isn’t much time to sit and think about what’s actually happening here, but when we do, we feel numb, stunned and incredibly sad.  Hundreds and hundreds of missionaries are leaving Africa and those who remain are being uprooted and reassigned, not just to new areas, but to new countries.  It feels like we’re caught up in a human tidal wave that we did not anticipate.

From my journal:

We had another crazy day. We went to the office at 7:30. Pres Binene called before we got there. “Are you coming?? I need help!!” We were there soon and spent the morning helping get about 44 Elders to the airport. Mostly all Americans. We had 5 Tahitians. Those 5 had an itinerary that went all the way around the world in 4 days with Ethiopian Air. The flight went through Japan, arriving tomorrow afternoon, then flying out again the next morning. BUT, Japan was closing her borders tomorrow night, so they wouldn’t let them get on the flight here. We had to bring them back to the office.

Yesterday and today all the Americans from the 3 Ivory Coast Missions are supposed to depart. Yesterday the other 2 missions took their largest groups. Today we took our largest group of Americans.  [Not all would be able to board.]

It was a sobering sight today at the airport to watch these valiant young men in their very dirty white shirts and wilted pants and worn shoes exiting in droves. Lines of them, pushing filthy suitcases that have seen better days, leaving. Just leaving us. I kept thinking of all the work that went into getting them here and how, just a week ago, they were a well-oiled machine of goodness, out in the towns and villages, teaching and preaching and sharing the truth of the gospel in every corner. Now they are gone. Tomorrow we are told the rest of the African missionaries will leave–all those from Ghana, Nigeria and the Congo, and a few other African countries.

Come see our wild and crazy day:

These are the missionaries we took to the airport today.

Our island Elders would be turned away when they tried to check in.

These 3 and 2 others have flights scheduled for tomorrow:

Off the the airport:

President and Sister Lewis from the Abidjan West Mission were also here with their departing missionaries.

Missionaries from both missions blended into the lines.

And they kept coming, and coming.  ALL of the photos I’m taking each day can be found in albums on this facebook pages, managed by the moms:

Cote d’Ivoire Mission: ABIDJAN EAST:

Watching loved ones leave.  It’s so sad for all of us.

By the time we arrived at the office early this morning, things were already in motion.  Flight plans are coming in.  Our first group of American Elders returning home were gone before we even arrived at the office.   I’m sad I didn’t get one last photo of them. Our first departing Elders were:  Broadbent, Pogai, Wade, Chapman, Ogletree and Gatherum.

Five more tickets came through for five more Americans, including Elder Tenney and Elder Van Duzer, two of our valuable office Elders.  They’ve been working around the clock to help prepare the mission for upheaval and departures.

Elder Mark Tenney has been serving here as an Assistant to Pres Binene since before we arrived last October.  He was scheduled to complete his mission this summer, but instead, his service ends today, along with many others who have served more than 21 months.  The missionaries only smiled in these photos because I asked them to, not because they felt like it.

One last look at his home away from home:

We took this next group of Elders to the airport at about 9:00: Elders Tenney, Van Duzer, Gibbons, Cameron and Michon.  We stayed at the airport to see that they got off OK. Elder Van Duzer and Gibbons were behind the others in line. They were turned away.  This flight went through Ghana, and Ghana closed down this afternoon between the time they were standing in line and when they got through.  So we brought Elder VanDuzer and Gibbons back with us to the office.  We think this is a God-send because these Elders can help us organize the flights and itineraries for all the others.  They are rolling with the uncertainty, but happy to be here to help.

We have piles of passports and yellow health cards to sort and organize as flight plans and missionaries came to the office.  Borders of the nations around us and at home are closing.  It’s a race against time.

Everyone is processing these changes.  It’s not easy.  All plans have been disrupted.  For some, missions are ending, others will return to their home countries to serve.  Only a few Ivorians already serving here will stay to hold down the fort.  Timing for Everything and Everyone is uncertain.

All afternoon waves of missionaries came to the office with their luggage to be weighed so they will be prepared when their flight plans arrive.

Pres Binene is on his phones non-stop, receiving communications from the Area offices, talking to missionaries, and answering questions.  He has about 170 missionaries serving here who are feeling a little stressed right about now.

We are collecting apartment keys and making sure everyone goes home with 28 days’ worth of Doxyclycline (malaria meds).

We expect our next batch of Americans to depart tomorrow, so everyone came in this afternoon to weigh their luggage.

Signing mission journals:

Arriving in taxis and transport from all over the mission:

We helped at the the office with these missionaries and itineraries and tickets and passports and yellow cards and weighing luggage until late this evening.

Piles of belongings that didn’t fit into the suitcases are mounding.

We used the luggage scale at the West Mission’s office.  Oh happy day, when the luggage makes weight!

Posted by a friend in Accra this week:

End of an era: images from a special meeting convened last Wednesday afternoon by the Area Presidency, informing mission presidents and senior missionary couples of changes in missionary service for young full-time and senior missionaries. All young missionaries with more than 90 days until their regularly scheduled release dates are to return to their home countries to complete their service. Those with less than 90 days left are being released to return home. Senior missionaries have the option to return or stay, depending on their personal circumstances. The Area Presidency, mission presidents, and certain “essential” senior missionaries and expat employees are to stay on. A number of our children’s friends have left or are packing up as embassies/high commissions send their nationals back home. Some non-local friends have experienced angry anti-foreigner/anti-obroni outbursts accusing them of introducing the coronavirus. Anxiety seems to be increasing here as the number of community transmissions begins to increase. There seems to be at least a slight but noticeable downtick in local economic activity. Commercial flight options are shutting off: Emirates ceased its Ghana operations today. Delta and Brussels Air will cease service out of Ghana on tomorrow/Saturday. Other airlines, including KLM and Air France, are considerably reducing their global flights. Yesterday’s U.S. State Department travel advisory seems to have tipped the scales for some, who might have otherwise chosen to ride out the storm, to hurry home. Regular operations at the Accra MTC (“Empty, see?”) are winding down as it retools to virtual training. The Accra Temple is closed to all proxy ordinance work but is available for small groups for living ordinances only. Hard to believe how much the world has changed here in just the last week. I would say “Come visit!” but that’s no longer an option now as Ghana has closed its borders to everyone who is not a Ghanaian citizen or who does not have a residence permit. We are hunkering down . . . .

Report from the State Department:

State Department warns US citizens not to travel abroad due to coronavirus pandemic

By Jennifer Hansler, Nicole Gaouette, Kylie Atwood and Lauren Fox, CNN

Updated 2049 GMT (0449 HKT) March 19, 2020
State Department tells Americans not to travel abroad

Washington (CNN)The US State Department on Thursday warned American citizens not to travel abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic, issuing the highest possible level of travel advisory.

The Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory “advises U.S. citizens to avoid all international travel due to the global impact of COVID-19.”
The State Department urged Americans “in countries where commercial departure options remain available” to “arrange for immediate return to the United States, unless they are prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period.”
The updated advisory also cautioned US citizens living abroad to “avoid all international travel.”
“Many countries are experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks and implementing travel restrictions and mandatory quarantines, closing borders, and prohibiting non-citizens from entry with little advance notice,” it said.
“Airlines have cancelled many international flights and several cruise operators have suspended operations or cancelled trips,” it said. “If you choose to travel internationally, your travel plans may be severely disrupted, and you may be forced to remain outside of the United States for an indefinite timeframe.”
Four sources told CNN earlier on Thursday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had approved the Level 4 advisory.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the Level 4 travel advisory had been used sparingly for only a handful of countries, including Syria, Iran, Yemen and North Korea. However, as the virus spread around the globe, the department raised the advisory to the top level for a number of additional countries, including China and Mongolia, as well as regions within certain countries.
Last week the advisory was raised globally to Level 3: Reconsider Travel “due to the global impact of COVID-19.”
A US diplomat overseas said one reason that Level 4 advisory was being considered was that US embassies were increasingly less able to help Americans overseas with consular services, as staff get drawn down.
Many factors were feeding into this, the diplomat said, including the wide range of medical capabilities across the globe, which determines how willing some State Department staff may be willing to stay. One indicator US embassies are carefully watching is hospital capacity in their host countries, the diplomat said.
Last weekend, the State Department “authorized the departure from any diplomatic or consular post in the world of US personnel and family members who have been medically determined to be at higher risk of a poor outcome if exposed to COVID-19.”
Visa services being suspended
Due to the pandemic, the State Department “is suspending routine visa services in most countries,” according to a tweet from the Bureau of Consular Affairs. On Thursday, it announced that its passport agencies would only offer services “for customers with a qualified life-or-death emergency and who need a passport for immediate international travel within 72 hours,” effective Friday.
However, hundreds of Americans are already abroad, including in countries which have restricted travel and closed their borders in an effort to contain the outbreak. Many of those who are stranded said they are struggling to get help from the State Department.
State Department officials said their colleagues are working around the clock to be as responsive as possible, and US diplomats stationed overseas said they are trying their best, but are struggling because of reduced staffing even as they juggle their own worries about family.
CNN has asked the State Department about how it plans to assist Americans who are already abroad in light of the updated global travel advisory.
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was aware of a group in Peru, noting that “we’re working on that right now, trying to get them out.”
“We’re trying to get them out. And, you know, they got caught. They were late with their flights. We gave them a period of time. They didn’t make it, but we’re looking to get them out with military, probably through the military,” he said during a briefing at the White House.
The Pentagon has not received a request from the State Department at this point to operate flights that would be used to fly Americans currently stranded overseas back to the United States, two defense officials told CNN.
A group of senators wrote to Pompeo Wednesday to demand answers, saying they are “particularly concerned about an increasing number of reports that Americans and their family members have been unable to leave areas affected by COVID-19 and return home.”
Pompeo said Wednesday evening the department is “doing everything we can to protect American citizens all across the world.”
“We know of students that are in Peru, some other travelers that are there as well. There are other countries, too, where those countries have shut down their airports,” he said in an interview with Sean Hannity. “We are working to try and solve problems for each of those American citizens. We just learned about them over the last couple days; it’ll take us some amount of time. But know that President Trump has made clear that we’re going to do everything we can to get every American home safely.”
CNN’s Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

We left the office this afternoon and headed home at about 4:30.  As we drove past the stake center in Cocody, we saw this beautiful group of friends.

From my journal:

Just as we got to the church, we saw a group of missionaries and members who were coming out of the church. They were our DLs and ZLs and a few others. The church water is off (we learned our whole neighborhood’s water is off). They were trying to call other ward buildings/bishops to find a place to hold their baptism for 2–a young 11 year old girl named Linda and a man named Abraham. They’d located a place across town. We offered to give half of them rides in our truck and the rest took a taxi, which we followed. It was quite far from here.

We got there and someone had put a hose in the outdoor font and it was full enough. We had to be in a group of 10 or fewer. One of us stood out in the hall for the service, which was simple. John gave a little talk after the baptism. There was a sweet feeling there, as they figured their way through it. We watched how the American Elders coached and guided the Ivorians and the good brother who did the baptizing. These Elders are a great resource to the new members here.

Here are a few pictures of parts of the church building:

The baptismal service begins:

Before the baptisms:

Because of COVID-19 we are not allowed to gather in groups of 10 or more, we are not allowed to shake hands or hug.  We are trying to comply.  Today a fist bump had to do to convey all the love we felt for these dear new members.

Tonight we returned again (with our bags packed for Bamako) to our Abidjan apartment.  We are all in limbo, waiting to see what comes next.

We received this news release from the church this evening:

Adjusted Format for General Conference

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As we have seen the many changes around the world because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made adjustments to missionary service, temple work, and the ways in which we gather and worship.

Recent days have brought new guidelines from experts around the world. After counseling as the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, we have felt it wise to modify further the format of our April 2020 general conference.

Each session will be broadcast from a small auditorium on Temple Square. The First Presidency will preside and conduct those sessions, and only those who have been invited to speak or pray will attend. The music for the conference has been pre-recorded.