Dakar, Senegal May 2022

It's May 8, 2022, and Mother's Day in some parts of the world. Elaine was not thrilled to be in Dakar on this special day. Me either. It turns out that this holiday is not celebrated much in this part of the world so scheduling a trip was easy to do for Atobora Brown. In our sacrament meeting today, Mother's Day was not mentioned.

It is midafternoon and we are in the Archibald's apartment watching two elders eat two sandwiches each and a couple of pieces of KFC chicken each. They were in between appointments, called Sister Archibald to see if they could stop by for some food and get a ride to their next visit. Of course she said "yes". She was in the middle of cooking enchilada's for us when the missionaries called. The Archibald's (Brad and Becky) are Humanitarian Missionaries here in Dakar, Senegal since last September. They are from Tremonton, Utah. Great people with big hearts. They work under the direction of President Lewis of the Abidjan West Mission in Cote d 'Ivoire, and the Woodbury's, the humanitarian missionaries in the Area Office in Accra, Ghana.

It would have been great to have a Sister Archibald tend to some of the wants of the palangi Tongan missionaries back in '72. She is so wonderful. Elder Archibald speaks French and knows how to get things done. French is the national language of Senegal, and a local native language is Wolof. English is also spoken, of course. But, French is major here.

We and Atobora and Amani are here in Dakar training the new Dakar District leaders. The Senegalese are slender and a bit taller than other West Africans. Also, there are members in the branches from many other African countries.

The main roads are nice. The roads into the residential areas are sand. What happens when it rains? The weather is unusually cool with 68 F at night and 75 F in the day. It was so nice, I had to get up early Saturday and take a short run. Can't do that in Accra. The heat and humidity take energy away so we workout in the apartment. It's nice because we listen and watch "come follow me" material each morning. A great way to learn.

The picture at the top is the renaissance monument in Dakar built from 2008 to 2010. The government of Senegal contracted with North Korea to build it. It is huge. It depicts the future of Africa. The couple and child are looking forward with the child's arm outstretched ahead, while the mother's arm is behind her pointing to the island in the distance where the slaves, headed for North and South America, were housed for the last time in Africa before sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. There is a point of land in Dakar that is the farthest western point in Africa, called the "nose of Africa".

We were in Senegal to train the leadership of the newly created Dakar Senegal District. Created in March and under the supervision of the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission. An historic event. We are seeing the Church grow from a few members to enough to create a District with three branches, two in Dakar and one up north in Saint Louis, Senegal. There are few primary age children or YM/YW. Most members are YSA age and a few married couples. We are fortunate to have members working in the US Embassy. They provide stability and help the locals understand how the Church operates. It is a big challenge joining the Church and setting aside traditional ways. Most Senegalese are Muslim, with few Christian faiths. It exciting to see the growth. The embassy employees move around, of course, so the local saints will have to grow into leadership at all levels and be strong.

Safora (District auditor), Locko Chervie Aurchiday Ngoussani (audit committee member), Guy Marc (District auditor), Oderick (auditi committee member), Andy Armstrong (audit committee chair), Mermoz Amani (A2AA), Atobora Brown (AA).

District President, Jacques Niambe, Andy Armstrong, district clerk, Amani.

The District center, a former home, with Amani.

The Aaronic priesthood teaching the brethren about how the sacrament is administered. These young men spoke in French. Did a great job. Most members do not know how it works.

The colorful chorister in Sacrament meeting (the audit committee member).

Sister Collette "Mama Africa" who is responsible for introducing many people to the Church. She spoke in Sacrament meeting. The missionary was translating from French to English.

On Friday before the training began in the evening, we were taken around by Brad and Becky Archibald from Tremonton, the Humanitarian Missionaries in Senegal. They have an apartment in Dakar and help President Lewis, the Abidjan West Mission President, take care of the twelve missionaries in the Dakar zone.

Elder Brad Archibald, Amani, our lighthouse guide, Ross, Elaine. Sister Archibald took the picture.

Our monument guide, Ross, Elaine, Amani. The Senegalese are taller and skinnier than the other West Africans we have met. This guy is unusually tall.

School children waiting outside the monument to go inside. We were happy to go in before them. The elevator to the top is small; only three people can fit in. They probably were going to the lower meeting rooms, and not to the top.

We flew out of Dakar on Monday afternoon, so the Archibald's took us to Bandia, a 3,500 hectare animal reserve. It is twenty minutes or so from the international airport. We took ride through a portion of the reserve in an open truck bed, with a guide. It was very hot, and very fun at the same time. Our first chance to see giraffes, a variety of deer and buffalo, many monkeys, two rhinos, and many zebras and ostriches.