Cote d’Ivoire, or the Ivory Coast as it was called when I was growing up, was first explored by the French in 1483. They maintained a presence there and officially colonized it in 1893. Today there remains a surprisingly strong European feel throughout Abidjan which is only 335 miles from Accra. It is clean and modern with well-maintained roads, European architecture, and food. Most notably is that French is the country’s official language and only French is spoken. In West African countries where English is the official language, the people speak their mother tongues amongst themselves, causing their English to be heavily accented. This makes communication challenging between Americans and West African English speakers. We were assuming since Cote d’Ivoire is surrounded by English speaking countries that people would be somewhat conversant, but we were very wrong. No English, not even in the hotel. Our driver, Jean Claude learned English on his mission, so he interpreted for us everywhere we went. He was our life saver!
The purpose of our visit was to continue the training of our three senior missionary couples living in the country. Our American-based couple missionaries, who have since been released, began the training via Zoom as each of the current missionary couples was called. We felt it was important to meet these French speaking couples face to face so we could establish a comfortable working relationship and answer questions. We held our meeting in the Selmar Stake building in Abidjan. By the time we spoke, the interpreter spoke, and the missionaries answered, the meeting lasted seven hours. Without the pre-training from our US based missionaries, I think it would have gone faster, but they had been serving just long enough to have in-depth practical questions. Their questions were good.
What did we learn? First, that leadership principles we follow in the US are also true in Cote d’Ivoire. People like to be recognized for their efforts and thanked for their service. Second, that cleanliness helps set the tone and allows the Spirit to enter a meeting. The stake center was very dirty and in ill-repair! We meet in the stake president’s office, which in this stake was a room with an empty desk, a few chairs, and a floor so filthy that Dale asked for a broom so we could sweep out the debris and dirt. Third, we are members of an American English-speaking church. As common as the French language is world-wide, we could not find a French speaking Global Support agent to help these couples get set-up with their church accounts, despite our efforts over the previous months. We were told several times that the one French speaking agent was too busy to return the call. To solve the problem while we were face to face, I called the toll-free Support number and explained our language situation. With the interpreter present, I spoke to the agent, the translator spoke to each missionary, the missionary answered and/or asked questions in a four way back and forth service call that consumed over two hours of time. It was exhausting, but beneficial since we ended with all the missionaries having access to what they needed! Phew!! We left them with warm feelings that are shared between people with common beliefs and love for the Savior.
On Saturday, Jean Claude, drove us to a historical area outside the city to see the government buildings constructed by the French and a museum.
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Note the smug French fellow who took advantage of the locals. The people grew to dislike the French and wanted them gone. |
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Here is the end of the story. The locals took the fellow in the first picture, killed him, cut him up into little pieces, and boiled him in a stew. Next, they invited all the French that you see in the picture to a tasty meal of stew. It wasn’t until one of the Frenchmen saw a partial finger with a wedding ring on it that they realized what they were eating. The message was clear, you are not wanted here! In the end, French guns won. |
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From the museum, we walked to the beach, which is cleaner and nicer than any of the beaches in the other countries where we’ve been. Our driver said it’s because they were “colonized by the French, not the British!” |
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Evidence of their colonization is seen in their food! The food was delicious. My breakfast: chocolate muesli, chocolate chips, edible cocoa beans. it was worth every bite! And that was just breakfast! |
On Sunday our YSA driver took us to his downtown Abidjan ward which met in a rented building with twisting narrow stairways, low ceilings, and open verandas. Through gestures we were asked to sit on the stand. After one of the speakers everyone turned and looked at Dale. That was the clue that it was his turn to talk. Jean Claude jumped from his seat to translate. I calmly sat thinking that if they wanted me to speak, I would have done so before Dale. But, to my surprise, after Dale everyone turned to me. My clue. Since it was July 24, I spoke on pioneers and their roles as pioneers in their country. Afterwards, we lead a discussion with a group of YSA, then after lunch, we traveled to the Toit Rouge Stake’s Gathering Place Launch where we spoke. Toit Rouge (or Red Roof) is the first building and stake in the country. It is 20 years old.
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Dale’s white Elder Uchtdorf-looking hair always attracts little children. While she spoke French, we knew she was asking if he’s an apostle! |
YSA Sunday School class where we talked about the importance of marriage and being sealed in the temple. As in the other AWA countries, the YSA are very slow to marry because of the bride price and the economy. General and local Church leaders emphasize the importance of varying the tradition, but changing the mindset is slow.
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The Cote d’Ivoire Temple under construction. The first thing we noticed was Moroni! We’d never seen a SILVER Moroni. Is it even legal for Moroni to be anything but gold??? |
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