March 22, 2019 Home, Sweet Home

We posted our previous blog last Sunday.  Monday morning I woke up with the strong feeling that we would be going home early, perhaps within a week.

Monday the president of Côte d’Ivoire issued a proclamation about COVID-19: no school, no gatherings of more than 50, social distancing, no hand-shaking, etc.  He also said that the government would take into their custody for quarantine any cases of the virus.  It was clear that the cancellation of all our Church meetings 10 days before was prophetic for the country.

The same day, the Church issued a letter saying that all senior missionaries could return home.  That combination made us think about when we should go home, if offered that possibility.  We worked on our usual Monday activities: laundry, cleaning,  some food shopping.  That evening, Pres. Sherman called and asked what we thought about going home.  We said we thought that was what we should do and he agreed.  Sr. Solomon, in the mission office, would work on our travel plans the next morning.

We spoke with her briefly Tuesday morning to confirm that Jacksonville was our destination, and said we could go in a week, or whatever worked for scheduling and Church travel.  Then we were off to district counsel meeting.  I told the district leader that we would be leaving before the next week’s meeting and he asked us to share our testimonies.  Shortly after that in the meeting I received  a phone call from Sr. Solomon: had we seen her email?  She had sent our flight itinerary for departure the next day in the evening.  They just needed to know if we would stay in the mission home Tuesday evening or arrive there before 11 AM on Wednesday.

It happened that they were trying to get a missionary home the next day and having us accompany him made sense.  The departure process involves a last interview with the president, and being driven in a mission vehicle the 2 1/2 hours from the mission home to the airport.

We left the meeting immediately and started to pack.  The zone leaders came over and we loaded up the truck with some food that they could use and drove them home.  We decided we would go one last time to Saioua to say goodbye to those we worked most closely with.  We arrived there about 3:30 pm and met the missionaries (Elders Allsop and Ati).  We were able to visit the group leader and left the elders there with their bikes.  One branch president was in Abidjan on business but we visited his wife.  We found the other branch president at his “campement” but missed his wife who was fishing (for supper).  We found the councilor in the district also at home with his wife.  We visited with a few others.  One especially touching moment was when we had kneeling prayer with the couple for whom we were witnesses at their wedding.  We tried to leave them all with a message of faith and hope and promised that, God willing, we would be back for the temple dedication in Abidjan in ’21 or ’22. 

We drove home mostly in the dark without incident, and resumed sorting and packing.  It was a late night.

Up early for departure by 7:45.  The house was tidy and the kitchen floor was mopped.  Road construction had progressed so much that it only took 2 1/4 hours to drive to the mission home.  We had our departure visit with Pres. and Sr. Sherman - they mostly listened to what we felt were the highlights of our experiences.  Lunch at Mama’s (Lebanese restaurant), then off to Abidjan with Elder Bugnet, driven by Bro. Golys, one of the two mission drivers.  The airport was not crowded so we had a long wait until our departure at 10:30 pm. 

Everything went smoothly.   Our nephew (a private travel specialist) had arranged for an agent to meet us in Paris CDG and guide us through the transfer.  That was a delightful experience and smoothed any concerns there.  We connected with a young sister missionary on her way home from the island of Réunion. She was grateful to latch on to 3 others wearing name tags.  We flew direct Paris to Atlanta, where we had dinner at PF Changs and enjoyed our first broccoli and pea pods since leaving the USA.  The planes were all very full.  Then home to Jacksonville on schedule where we picked up a rental car. 

First impressions: there were no people walking on the sides of the highway with loads on their heads, no motorbikes swarming the road.  Everything was so clean and orderly.  Our home is a luxurious mansion in a very beautiful setting.

As we write, we have heard that Elder and Sr. Tanner are leaving tonight with five missionaries.  There are an additional 35 missionaries from Yamoussoukro staying in a hotel in Abidjan waiting to get out.  Their planned trip yesterday was canceled because one of the airports on their long itinerary had closed and they needed to rebook.  We pray that they will be able to leave soon to join their families.

Our mission has ended in a dramatic way.  The whole world is in commotion.  We know that God is in charge and many good things will come out of this trial.  We will continue to pray and exercise our faith to accomplish what good we can while we pray for needed blessings for those we have left in Ivory Coast.

 







Views from our balcony

Dealing with uncertainty

First, just to illustrate an expression we use often while driving, here are two photos of a driver who stopped to change his tire in the middle of main street.  File under the category: What was he thinking?

We traveled to the city of Man on Friday and returned today, with the Solomons and the Tanners (the other two couples serving from N. America in our mission).  Man is about a 3 hour drive west and has mountains surrounding the city that go up about 2,000 feet.  It was a wonderful break that had been planned a few weeks ago but postponed.  However, the Tanners leave in a couple of days to go home.  The Solomons will be released in about a month.  We had a wonderful time feeding the monkeys, driving up the mountain, eating dinner at a nice hotel, and visiting.  We have a reunion planned in Montana in August, inshala.

Elder Tanner - yes the monkey did jump that high!

Sr. Spackman feeding the monkey an avocado.

The road up the mountain, with lots of old bamboo.

Srs. Spackman, Tanner, and Solomon

Things are changing very quickly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.  We would not have predicted that all Church meetings would be canceled by today.  With only one confirmed case in this country most people do not appreciate what is happening, and most members don’t understand why meetings were canceled.  Missionaries have all been trained about hand washing and keeping their distance from people, not shaking hands, etc. They are struggling with how to teach new contacts if they can’t invite them to worship services.

We are also faced with what to do and how to strengthen the Church in our district and stake.  Certainly the Church has been prepared through prophetic changes to deal with this crisis and continue to thrive.  It is predicted that the virus will spread quickly here.  The average age in the country is about 16 which means it will not be as severe as Italy, for example.  However, basic medical care is lacking for most of the population outside Abidjan, and intensive medical care is very limited.

We know the Area Presidency and our mission president are praying and pondering and working on how best to take care of the missionaries as well as the members in our area.  We also can pray and exercise our faith and patience as we work through these challenges.  Life has changed for the whole world.  May God grant us peace as we help each other through this time of trial.

March 8, 2020

Yesterday was our oldest granddaughter’s birthday and we rose at six to get her birthday letter off to her.  For you who are not aware, each year we share with our grandchildren what we were doing at the age that they are celebrating. The power was off so we could not send it. We were 7 hours ahead of her time zone so we had some leeway. When Tom went running, a neighbor said the power would be off until 4 pm so we figured out what we could do without devices. Our  scriptures, reading books, contacts and communication are on or done  by phone or computer unless we have driven the two hours to the villages. They were useless and this was very frustrating.

However, Tom had a paper copy of the Conference talk he was preparing for Priesthood today so he could work on that. Later in the morning we did make it to the market and when we arrived home to bleach our vegetables and fruits, the house was very hot. Of course, no power = no air conditioning.  It was already close to 100 and it wasn’t noon yet. [Six of our green avocados ripened in the house just sitting on the cupboard.]

Fortunately, our stove is gas so we could still cook and eat.  We planned preparing chili around the time the power would come on so we wouldn’t add to the sweltering heat.  We had everything ready so the fresh tomatoes could be boiled, skinned and pureed for the sauce.  When 4 pm came and went with no power we smashed them by hand and finally ate our supper.  After 7pm, Tom was lamenting, saying he was discouraged, hot, tired and wasn’t sure he could ever go to sleep.  The words had barely escaped his lips when THE ELECTRICITY WENT ON.  I grabbed my iPad and pushed the send button on Eden’s letter.  We isolated ourselves in the bedroom and turned the air on full blast and started to cool down and then catch up.  I did my scripture study and my French.  Tom answered phone calls.  We are SO GRATEFUL for electricity and air conditioning.

The highlight of the day was an invitation to attend a baptismal service in Daloa.  The college student son of the counselor in the Issia District had connected with the missionaries after two prior unsuccessful attempts to get them together, and now he was ready to be baptized.  Shortly after that invitation the missionaries called aback and asked Tom to baptize the young man since his father could not get there.  It was a brief but sweet service and a great privilege to baptize the last of the children in the family to join the church.

The group in Niakia (taken in February)

March 1, 2020 Growing

We very much enjoyed our meetings in the branch of Godoua today.  At one time in the past, testimonies were assigned so that there was no quiet time in the meeting.  Today there were many testimonies given, none prompted by the president and several interesting ones.  The president of the elders quorum is about 50 years old but has no teeth.  When the branch was organized, he had a very pronounced stutter.  Today he spoke powerfully and fluently about having no fear, and how the Lord had taken away his stutter.  He also shared the story of a recent encounter with a large python while he was working in his fields. He had no time to grab his machete but felt the protection of God as the snake slithered off in another direction.

Another brother bore a strong testimony of how God had helped him overcome many problems since he joined the church, but that he was still working on managing his anger and asked for the faith and prayers of the branch members to help him with that.  Two sisters stood and shared their testimonies in Bété.  We missed the content of their remarks but they were very sincere.

Sunday School was also a good discussion about God’s direction in our lives.  The teacher has greatly improved in his ability since  being called to teach. It is gratifying to recognize the progress in both the individual and the process.

Both elders assigned to the branch were there for the first time.  One is a seasoned veteran who will likely finish in Godua and the other from Togo, is in his first week as a missionary. They were scrambling to get phone numbers of members, figure out who were not yet members, and get to know the branch generally.

The branch still meets in an unfinished house: no doors or windows, just openings and a dirt floor.  We really liked the breeze blowing through today! (We are in the 8th consecutive week with temperatures over 100 and even hit 107 one day.) The walls are unfinished cinder blocks.  Several options for a new meeting place have been proposed to the leadership in charge of real estate; we’ll see how that turns out.  Generally the buildings are well done and well equipped - eventually.

We think we will be able to finish the last of our temple preparation classes this week.  Several couples have missed classes so we are working with them.  The trip is scheduled in late April.

It is exhilarating to be in a place where the church and its members are both growing in numbers, in faith, in understanding, and in capability.

Feb. 23, 2020

Our best news is that Sue’s ankle is healing well.  She has kept it elevated most of this week, which is very boring, but because of that the swelling and bruising is much improved compared to a week ago.  She is able to limp around quite well but can’t be up walking for very long. She did lead the singing in Sacrament Meeting today and did most of Primary while sitting down.

We heard on good authority that the Zoukougbeu branch was to be divided today.  We were very blessed to know the two couples and four singles who were in our temple preparation classes.

We held only one class this week, in Godoua but really enjoyed those interactions. It is transfer week for the young elders and sisters.  We are losing one of our zone leaders, Elder Allsop, who will become a trainer for an arriving missionary.  We found out this morning that he will be working in Godoua and Niakia so that is a great blessing for us.  Elder Ndombe, our tall musician missionary, is being moved to Man.

We have hit the six week mark for temperatures over 100 but the weather is starting to change.  We see more clouds and there was a small rainfall not far away.  The mornings are more humid and warm.  March is a transitional month between the dry and the wet seasons.  It is interesting to us that the trees that lost their leaves have now sprouted a new growth of bright green, despite the lack of rain.

We were devastated by the news that our niece passed away suddenly at the age of 50, leaving her husband and three sons and parents and siblings to mourn.  Here is a part of her obituary:  “Our sweet daughter Aimee Kristine Corbett passed away at her home in Severn MD on 17 February, 2020, in accordance with her Patriarchal Blessing that she would “live as long as your life is desirable”. She will long be remembered as a loving wife, mother, daughter and friend, as a faithful Latter-day Saint, and a charitable person.”   We are grateful for our witness of a loving and merciful Heavenly Father.

Feb 16, 2020 A Valentine's Day Celebration

What an activity we had this week in Godoua!  Valentine's Day is celebrated here, and the branch decided several weeks ago to put on a program and meal on the 14th to honor the couples who have been married in the last 3 months.  The whole village was invited.

The organizers of the event, with grandkids.

It was held in the open air pavilion in the center of the village, with an additional tent set up to accommodate others.  It was to start at 9 and it started “promptly” at about 10:30.  That’s typical African time.  Things start when people get there.  The second photo is of several of the married couples as they began to gather.  Many of the women had sewn dresses out of the same fabric so you could tell who was married on the same day.  You can see three of them in the movie.  They had their hair (or their wigs) styled with flowers or beads in them and looked pretty fancy!  By the time we started there were at least 100 people present.

Starting to gather...

I spoke first to introduce the church and why we were there.  The two branch presidents followed and spoke about why marriage is important and what blessings it brings.  Civil marriage is not the norm for most couples who live in the villages.  Unfortunately most of their remarks were in Bété so we only got bits and pieces.  That was followed by an open period for questions.  At the end, some gifts were given to the married couples. 

The first speaker

 That was followed by what appeared to be a spontaneous a cappella song by a sister with each of the married women joining the song and dancing in front of the pavilion, with a lot of clapping going on.  Check out the video.  It was very fun, but what I like best is right at the end of the video you have a mother joining the dance with her baby.  I don’t know if coordination in dancing comes through genes or is learned, but in either case I give the mother credit!

Finally a buffet meal with lots of rice and “sauce” was served next-door on tables set up in the courtyard under a canopy.  The sauce was very spicy.  We had to get a missionary team to the city 45 minutes away to conduct a baptismal interview so we couldn’t stay longer, but it was very fun.  It seemed like a great success in getting the church introduced to the community.

Unfortunately, the day before, Sr. Spackman sprained her ankle while stepping down into a vendor’s stall to pay for some lettuce.  We were able to get ice on it fairly quickly but she is “hors de combat” for days or weeks.  She managed to put up with the bouncy ride to the activity the next day but we will be staying home for a while with the foot elevated. 

Sunday Feb 9, 2020

We had another delightful literacy class with our three star pupils.  Part of each lesson [“this is my family“ was the theme this week] is having them draw a picture.  It gives them practice with pencil manipulation.  Each included a mom and a dad.  It is illuminating what you can learn about perceptions from pictures.  One of the mom pictures had few recognizable characteristics except for breasts and a belly button and some shoes.  These ladies are supportive of each other and told us this week that we should never go home.

The three temple preparation classes are highlights of our week.  We use a lot of Church media on the laptop to show videos and images.  These help our students visualize what it may be like.  We had members come to the Accra temple who had never used a flush toilet or seen an elevator let alone a place like the Celestial Room. To know what to expect is very helpful to them. The manual is somewhat outdated when you compare it to what is available on the Church web site and what Pres. Nelson has said in General Conference.  We are so grateful for the updates.  We have come to love those who are preparing to go.  For a few they still have to get married first…  

This is a short note that we are sending out early. We will be traveling Sunday afternoon to the mission home and staying overnight.  It is time for another oil change on the truck and we should be home again Monday evening.    We are putting about 700 km on the truck every week.  Very tiring!

Admiring his slingshot for keeping the birds away from the rice

One of the medium size trees - about 50 feet high

These are the helpers taking chairs back for storage after our meeting in the open air pavilion