June 23, 2019 Godoua Branch is born

It has been a great week!  Yesterday in Saioua Tom was invited to take part in the interviews to select the new branch presidents for the branch division that happened today.  President Sherman also announced that in three weeks the Issia District will be created and will include these two branches, the Issia Branch and the Zoukougbeu Branch.  It was a great review for him to see all the men that we have been working with for the past five months or less and to consider their strengths and also their needs for leadership.  And participating with the mission president and his counselor in the selection was a spiritual high reminiscent of similar experiences in the past.

Picture of those who stayed long enough to have it taken!

 Today in sacrament meeting the two new branch presidencies were sustained, along with 6 new Elders.  The outgoing president will likely have a role in the district leadership.  The two new presidents are both returned missionaries but they are not young.  They will do a lot of teaching and training.  While it is exciting to see numeric growth in membership and units, the most important growth is the spiritual aspect that happens in the home when families are studying “Come Follow Me”, holding Family Home Evening, and preparing go to the temple.  That is what will lay the foundation for a future stake in the area and a future temple in Daloa - though those things are a long way off.

Branch President of Saioua, and wife

Mother of the new Branch President

Br. President of Godoua, and wife,

We also had a great phone call from Pres. and Sr. Assard with whom we served in the Accra Temple.  They sounded wonderful and are busy organizing their home after being gone for almost 5 years to serve the temple.  A few of the pioneers in this area remember them from the very early days of the Church in Côte d’Ivoire.  We hope to see them sometime - but Abidjan is outside our mission so perhaps on the way home.

Primary child taking his chair to the next meeting

While Tom was doing interviews, Sister Sherman and I did training for the women. We spent about 3 hours with them teaching everything from Principles of Gospel Leadership in the handbook , to a new hymn and how to conduct, read a key signature  and tempo numbers  plus how to teach a lesson.  The music and the lesson were mine. We thought Tom would be there to translate but he wasn’t so I just did the best I could in French.  I am sure that all my tenses were not correct but each sister said she understood and they were excited enough that they shared what they  learned with Pres. Sherman. This is basically what the lesson was about:             
           PREPARER A L’AVANCE
           INVITER A PARTICIPER—small group activity to form inspired questions, plus posters for people to hold
            TEMOIGNER
             INVITER A AGIR
 It was the first anything I have taught since being in Cote d’Ivoire and almost felt like my old self. I do love to teach.

The elders who come from Issia.

This week we tried roasting peanuts in their shells. It takes a long time—boiling in salted water and roasting in the oven off and on so they will dry but not burn. I also made another batch of bissap which we quite enjoy.  [Dried hyacinth with pineapple and fresh ginger]. We also went to a restaurant this week - the first time in Daloa in 5 months except when the president invited us to a hotel where they were staying. We are getting very used to hosting the Pres. and his wife who now stay with us each time they are in Daloa . We will have them 3 nights in the following week.