Our mission is very difficult but we are adjusting. We take it just one day at a time and sometimes moment to moment. Our pleasant living conditions and the wonderful people here make a big difference. They are so loving and so committed to the Gospel. They are truly pioneers – only the little children are 2nd generation.
Our mission has 64 elders and sisters, all of them black and from West Africa. They baptize lots of folks each month. There were well over a hundred this month; I know because it is Laura who types out the certificates. I pay out the Lord’s money and she records the results. I never thought I would be an accountant but am getting the hang of it.
The Saints at home really do not have a clear understanding of how their tithes and offerings are supporting the Lord’s work in these remote and underdeveloped portions of His vineyard. The ward, stake and branch buildings are the best built and cared for structures in this country. And now they have a temple and they are so proud and excited about the dedication this Sunday.
The other day, one bishop was telling his congregation of Saints how blessed they are and he asked them how long would it have taken them to acquire enough money to build their chapel. They answered him in hushed voices and bowed heads that they would still be saving for it.
Then Laura said that it took the Saints 40 years to build the temple in the Salt Lake valley. They could really relate to that. In a different meeting, one of them asked me if my forefathers were members of the Church and I replied in the affirmative. Then with a special joy he asked me what that made me feel toward them. I replied that I was proud of them for enduring and sacrificing. And the comment came from the class that they did it all for us.
Here I observed a whole congregation of black people who will never see the Salt Lake Temple or the valley that our fathers built and they know that it was done also for them. They know that they are also part of it. Like our pioneers, they have strength and endurance and ask very little of life – having found what really counts in the Gospel of Christ.
Dedication
The temple has been dedicated! What a joy! We were given permission to attend the event about three days before the dedication and we went. Thousands of people filled the complex – men and boys dressed in white shirts and ties – women dressed in a plethora of native colors and fabrics. The few white members (security, leadership, and missionary couples) really stood out in the crowd. Everyone was so happy. Family members reunited after years of separation, missionary companionships reacquainted, long-time members seeing again the missionaries that had helped in their conversion.
By departing Uyo early in the morning, two other couples, Laura and I were able to watch the cornerstone ceremony. A small choir from our mission sang in the background while the Prophet applied the mud and made his quiet remarks about getting used to this work – having done it so much. Oh, the Saints were moved!
Then we were able to enter the temple for the second dedicatory session where we sat in a wonderfully detailed little room off the Baptistry and watched the session on a monitor. Tears were shed as we listened to the Prophet dedicate the building and grounds to the Lord’s work.
Nigerians don’t sit still very long, but this time they hardly breathed as they watched this wonderful program and listened to the talks – one given by our mission president – and participated in the prayer of dedication. I was so happy for them. These people have waited almost fifty years for the Gospel in its fullness to be established in their verdant land.
At the end, in order to make room for those yet arriving, we left. No one really wanted to go, especially the Nigerians. I have had that same feeling (of not wanting to depart the temple grounds) many times at many temples. They were experiencing it for the first time and I could tell that it was both painful and sweet.
