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 directio...

  In April 2022 we had a zone conference for all the Senior Missionaries serving throughout the Area,  from Senegal to Ghana.  Those who are not stationed in and around Accra joined in on Zoom.  Elder & Sister Kacher both spoke.  Great people.  They go home to Midway, Utah July 1 as he has reached the General Authority Emeritus status (he has turned 70).  They will be missed by everyone who knows them. After the discussion, we took a group picture of those attending in the Area Office conference room.  Here they are, from left to right: Standing:     Terry & Cynthia Call (Executive Secretaries to the Area Presidency), Ross, Jeri Jacobs (husband is in the OGC office of general counsel), Elaine, Jon and Shauna Duke (Pathway, from Bountiful), Jack Nelson (Diane is taking the picture, Area Historians, from Midway), Neil & Jill Whitaker (Accra Mission couple, from Bear Lake, Neil went to Bountiful High, class of '72), Dale Olsen (...

  Trip to Monrovia, Liberia - April 21 to 25, 2022 To train the AAAs in that country with the assigned A2AA, Solomon Agbo.   Agbo lives in neighboring Sierra Leon and covers both countries.  He was in Accra for some business and flew with Atobora Brown and Elaine and I to Monrovia, Liberia.  A two hour flight. Flew out of Accra at 4:00 pm for Monrovia, nonstop, Thursday April 21.  Called the Royal Grand Hotel as we taxied out.  We need a ride from the Monrovia airport to the hotel. Atobora had not arranged for that so I thought I had better do it quick.  Hard to get the message understood by the hotel clerk.  I explained who I was and that our group needed a ride from the airport into town.  We would be there in two hours.  She said she would check on it and call me back in twenty minutes.  That won't work.  She got the message, I think.  We’ll see when we arrive.  I turned the phone off as we arrived, we taxied t...

  We sometimes meet people who remind us of friends and acquaintances.  It happens to me often.  It's fun.  People are people all around the world; personalities, energies, smiles, mannerism, etc. in one place remind you of someone in another place.  The fellow above is an employee of the Area Office, a custodian.  He is also a great bishop.  Bishop Amos Aidoo.  He reminds me of Herb Beisinger and the Bruce Borrowman the builder.  A mix of these two friends.  Full of energy, and a big smile.  Herb from boyhood in the old Bountiful 31st Ward neighborhood, and Bruce of Woods Cross. Last Thursday we went to the ancillary building next to the "Jubilee House", the presidential office building where the President of Ghana has his office.  This ancillary building is as close as we could get to the Jubilee.  Brother Bannerman works as a fireman now for over 30 years.  He is 57 and must retire in three years.  Brother Gha...

Elder Christofferson was in the Africa West Area with Elder Palmer of the Presidency of the Seventy for about ten days.  They traveled from one end to the other, literally from Abuja, Nigeria on the east to The Republic of The Gambia on the west coast.  The Gambia is a tiny country surrounded by Senegal.  It covers the mouth of the Gambia River and either side of the river on the north and south a few miles inland as it stretches to the east; the smallest nation on the continent.  The Gambia has recently recognized the Church and with that, we are able to send missionaries there.  A big thing. The Church is growing in Africa, and particularly in this West Area.  Did I tell you that world population experts indicate Nigeria will be the third largest nation in the world in population by 2050?  It will surpass the US and be behind China and India.  I bet you didn't know that. We know the other senior missionaries serving here in the Area office....

  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 pe...

One of my favorite street hawkers, "The ball guy".  We became fast and true friends when I purchased a ball one day to give to some kids in Wote, and we waved to each other from then on as Elaine and I commuted home up Independence Way.  I have no idea where he got the hat or if he knows what it means.  He isn't one, just a guy who needed a hat and there it was.  Fashion is not a big deal here.  You wear it because you need to wear it, and he just needed a hat. February 28, 2022  I hadn't blogged for many weeks until the other night.  It felt good.  It feels good to document something of our activities here away, from our family and friends.  I don't want to forget details of our wonderful experience.  Remember, we are living in Africa (!!).  It feels good to emphasize, at least to myself, that I exist.  Not only exist, but that I am important.  You are important.  We don't always feel that way, do we?  Then we g...