Stories of some Great Missionaries from Africa

Comments and quotes from missionaries of the April 21, 2016 Ghana MTC incoming group

It is amazing that in this one group of about 90 missionaries so many have compelling stories to tell. There are probably many more that are going untold.

The courage, faith and stamina of these young people are exceptionally inspirational.

Elder F  - Ghana

– He is from the Northern Ghana town of Tamale though he also lived in Cape Coast and Takarati.  Tamale is a place several hours drive from the main cities of the nation where many old traditions survive. The population has a large Muslim segment. His mother passed away when he was one year old. And that may have led to his being moved abound so much. He remembers teasing the Sister missionaries in Takarati but never listened to their message. Later as a 19 year old when he was again living in Tamale. Elder F was befriended by a member of the church who had come to his school to do his National Service requirement. One day the member saw him standing by the side of the road and approached him. They became friends. He noticed that this friend was always an example of Christian attributes. Because of the kindness and patience of his friend Elder F decided to be baptized. He is the only member of his family.

(As a side note Elder F was hoping to get some information about family history and called his sister who had helped raise him from the MTC. She a Pentecostal, refused to give him any information and told him that he was not in the right place and was in the Church of the devil... kind of a hard thing for a new missionary)

The Church was new in Tamale when he was baptized 3 years ago. Four saints, including Elder F. met in an apartment at first. There has been a great deal of missionary activity and just a few weeks ago another branch was divided so that there are now 5 branches in the city of Tamale. All in three years!!!

About 3 years ago a paper on Missionary Opportunities in Tamale, Ghana was authored by Matt Martinich. This quote speaks of the importance of Elder F. and the 'pioneer' Church members in Tamale. "The small number of members in Tamale offer immediate opportunities for member-missionary work.  The Church has not always benefited from this resource in opening additional locations to proselytism.  Carefully mentoring these members and coordinating with them in finding, teaching, and convert retention efforts could yield long-lasting results in terms of cohesive, self-sufficient, missionary-minded congregations that experience high convert retention rates."

He is excited to be the first full time missionary ever to come out of Tamale. He hopes to be an example to motivate others in his Branch to serve missions.

Elder U - Nigeria

-- From a large city in Nigeria Elder U lost his father when he was young and lived with his mother. He was first introduced to the church at 17 years old, when he saw a Book of Mormon in the school locker of someone in his class. He was fixated on the book and begged the classmate to let him borrow it or get a copy.

The classmate did better than that and invited Elder U to come along with him to church. He was baptized as a consequence of 1) gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon and 2) having a member friend share the gospel.

Elder SE – Sierra Leone

-- This Elder is was first introduced to the Church while living in Freetown the capital of Sierra Leone and was baptized at the age of 16 in 2007. He moved with his family (not church members) back to the traditional family village, a place where there was no LDS Church, for 4 years. When he moved back to Freetown at age 20 he became reacquainted with the church. He became extremely interested in family history and did a great deal of research before coming on a mission.

Of his conversion he says,  “The experiences are so great that are uncountable to mention.  I was converted by the missionaries but what made me to be converted was the Plan of Salvation. I loved it and it answered all the questions I could think of.”

He embarked on a genealogy adventure. “I have to do the research of my family to travel 166 miles away from the city. By then the EBOLA outbreak was all over Sierra Leone. There were 9 checkpoints to cross through before you reach to my village and each of these checkpoints been guarded by military police. At first I was panicked. I thought I will be a victim of EBOLA virus, nevertheless I remembered a scripture Isaiah 43:2. This scripture helped me to accomplish my family history work. I was told that my great-grand father found our village, which is belongs to we, the SE family. Mother’s side is also like that, the village belongs to us. My great–grand father established the village. The chief-tancy is in our lineage, just like my father is a chief. “

At first the villagers were suspicious that Elder Sandy was gathering information to give to the government and it took a couple of days the gain the confidence of the villagers. In the villages of Sierra Leone there are traditions that go back centuries. There is a strong sense of community in the villages’ men’s and women’s societies. These come with initiation rituals and intrigue.

Elder M- Nigeria

-- His family first came into contact with the church when they took advantage of a Church sponsored eye clinic. Three of the 5 family members joined the church.

“I know that the gospel has being restored even in this dispensation. I could feel this when the missionaries taught me and my family” (He was 11 years old then in 2004)

“I firmly say that when I prayed to God for the truthfulness of the gospel, I saw almost the same thing Joseph Smith saw in similitude to what happened to him at the Sacred Grove. “, “I know heavenly father loves me and I know he will never gives me trial or challenges more than my strength even to the end”.

Sister Ak- Nigeria

-- Talented Sister Ak was introduced to the gospel through an Uncle who is and active member. The 5 youngest children and her Mom were baptized.  At 16 she decided to get her patriarchal blessing. “I came to find out things that has to do with mission. I never gave much heed to it ‘cause my desire was to enter into college. When I wrote the examination to my greatest surprise I couldn’t make it. I reflect in my mind back to my patriarchal blessing and the message contained in it. I felt great when I made the decision to come on a mission and things really work out fine.”

“When I joined the Church I saw great changes in my life and I believe I will be more better in years to come. Am striving to love my family, friends and those I meet, be more temperate and other divine values as well.”

Sister Ol – Nigeria

“I came across the book of Mormon in high school and criticized it. But after high school my brother investigated the Church and I was privilege to meet the missionaries. I was just going because the people were lovely. After some months I picked the book of Mormon and read it. The Spirit bore witness to me it is true because it teaches of Christ. I also prayed if the Church was true. In a dream I got an answer to that prayer. This has kept me going even when the Church is being ridiculed.”

“ After a lot of pondering and praying, I fasted about a mission. The answer came after Sacrament Meeting when my Branch President asked me if I will be going on mission, without prior notice…I took it (h)as an answer to my prayer and the Spirit bore witness to me. I picked my form and prepared for my mission.”

Elders Dogbey and Elder Lago – Ghana

Elder Dogbey states “I hated the Church for no reason.. I just have this ill feeling the Church is devilish. One day my Mother brought the missionaries an encouraged me and my siblings to listened to them. In fact I was happy that very moment the missionaries taught us and I felt good. After some weeks I was baptized and 1 January 2011. Nine months later my best friend Mathias Lago, now Elder Lago was baptized.”

Elder Lago served as one of the 2 MTC Zone Leaders in the last group and was replaced by his good friend, Elder Dogbey who came in with this group. These are two very special future leaders of the Church in Ghana.

Elder I – Burundi

“My parents died in the war of 1993. My mother became ill and she died. In 1998 my father was killed. I was born in the Catholic Church but by the time I turned 17 I felt that there was more truth to be found in the Pentecostal Church. I stayed in that Church until the clerk of our branch came along. He told me about the restoration and organization of the LDS Church and invited me to meet him at the Sacrament Meeting that week. It started there and I started meeting with the missionaries who were from the Kinshasa area of Congo. They taught me the differences between the Mormon Church and other churches and I felt the Spirit and decided to be baptized”

After my parents died I went to stay with my uncle where I stayed until 2010 when I got an apartment with my friends in Bujumbura. Before I came to know the Church I had a dream. I dreamt that I was serving God and preaching His Gospel to other people. I wanted very much to preach the gospel and I studied the scriptures before I even knew the Church. I couldn’t quite understand how I could get on a path that would lead to being able to fulfill my dream. After meeting the missionaries I could see a way. Soon the members were encouraging me to serve a mission and so I turned in my application and here I am.”

Note: Burundi seems to go through a never ending cycle of a few months of peace and then a war breaks out followed by a period of peace only to be shattered by armed conflict once again.

Elder Ej- Nigeria

“Becoming a member of the Church wasn’t easy. I was a boy growing up in a family that expected me to become a Catholic Priest. I was OK serving the Lord but I faced a lot of confusion about some of the teachings of the Catholic Church. The missionaries came and taught our family and my mother and all of the family joined the Church except me and my father, who was still preparing me to be a Catholic Priest. Four years after my family was baptized is when the real confusion came about the Catholic beliefs and I decided to pray about it. I prayed to God and I got an answer and I decided to be baptized. This was very difficult for my father and my friends mocked me making it hard. But my testimony grew as the problems came. Now I thank God that I have this opportunity of serving as a full time missionary.”

Elder Sa – Zambia

From Lusaka Zambia they had a good situation while their parents worked for “Mothers without Borders” for 6 years. They then moved to the Eastern Provinces and lived in a very “bad place” where Malaria was a constant problem. He passed the exams needed to attend High School and they moved again to Lusaka. Life was hard and he was forced to do “piecework” in any spare moment to earn money both to stay in school and to help support the family. There are 8 children in the family and each of the oldest children has a sad story. One became psychopathic as he was finishing High School. Another was successful in education and worked for 10 years to earn the money to go to the Ukraine and enroll in medical school. He dreams were shattered when the war there forced him to abandon his schooling and return home with nothing to show for all his work, he is now an alcoholic. One has not been able to find a job and is always on the hunt for small temporary jobs  (piecework). Another is a part time teacher with low wages and no security. His only Sister married at 16, has 4 children and no stability in her life. The last three children have remained active in the church. He and his twin brother are both serving missions right now. An organization named “She talks to the World” run by a nice lady helped Elder Sa and his brother acquire passports and medical exams to be able to leave on missions. The younger brother is in 12^th grade and hopes to serve a mission as well. Elder Sa received the conviction that if he and his brother left and were no longer able to help support the family that the family “would never starve”. With all the challenges and troubles they have faced this Elder firmly believes that the Lord is aware of and has a plan for the Sa family.

Note: In many African countries public schools require “school fees” to paid each term. These are often less that $25 US. But that can easily amount to a month’s wages and is often a limiting factor for many who would like to be in school.

Note: In the past few years political unrest and drought has been the force in driving the Zambian Economy downward from a fairly “high” standard of living to an almost totally impoverished existence for most of it’s citizens.