The AWA audit team

 

February 28, 2022

We look at this board every day at the office.  It can't be missed because as you enter the room, it stares you in the face if you are looking straight ahead.  Not exciting I know, but very informative if you know what it is and intended to do.  We have sixteen coordinating councils ("CCs") in the Africa West Area ("AWA").  We have an "audit manager" (we call them A2AAs) over several CCs who, in turn, has more assistant area auditors ("AAAs") under him.  His AAAs could be from different countries.  We keep track of our team and take pictures of them as new ones are called so we know who they.  It is good to have a visual to make things come alive.

I am creating this blog so I can easily remember how we organized things and how many great people we worked with regularly to manage the six-month Church unit audits.  For the December 31, 2021 year end audits, we have almost 1,700 audits being performed.  Stake auditors perform them under the direction of stake audit committees.  We, and our AAAs train the stake leaders, answer questions, encourage them to do the right thing, having special meetings with the stake leaders as needed, train some more, encourage some more, and then when the audits are submitted, review them.  Then we start doing it all over again.  Not exciting I know, but very important.  Elaine and I have traveled to Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria and throughout much of Ghana.  Elaine and I know a great deal about how wards and stakes, branches and districts spend their money. 

Now we know where a portion of our tithing money goes.  It takes money to fund Church activities and there are right and wrong ways to spend it.  We've seen both right and wrong.  In all that we are doing, we are doing a small part of building up the kingdom here in earth.  We are happy to do it, and feel privileged in many ways to be latter-day saints. 

Living in the US gives one a very narrow view of what is going on in the world.  There are so many countries and languages and people, and they work together by crossing borders and learning each other's languages and doing business with each other.  Most US citizens spend much of their lives consuming goods made in other countries, by people in these other countries who speak all these wonderful languages.  Most US citizens don't understand much about the world beyond their own state boundaries, let alone outside the boundaries of the US.  

What an education we are having.  We miss much about our home in Bountiful.  We are learning and experiencing so much here in the Africa West Area.  We are grateful for it.  We will bring it home with us.  All of the knowledge and increased understanding and new friendships and greater appreciation for this wonderful world that was created for us.  And a greater love for the people who populate this planet, especially our dark, African friends.