The following is excerpted from the Church Newsroom. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
On 26 February 2023, members of the Burma Hills Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Accra Ghana, sang the hymn “God be with You” at the end of their worship meeting, presided by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. This was a fitting send off to Elder Christofferson who was finishing a 12-day visit to the Africa West Area. “You are a beacon of light that shines forth,” he told them. “I hope you feel God’s good pleasure with you.”
Elder Christofferson began his tour in Africa on February 15. He was accompanied by his wife, Kathy, and by Elder Paul V. Johnson, of the Presidency of the Seventy and his wife Jill. Assisting Elder Christofferson in his teaching and training visits were members of the Africa West Area Presidency, President S. Gifford Nielsen, a General Authority Seventy, and his wife Wendy, Elder Jorg Klebingat, a General Authority Seventy and his wife, Julia, and Elder Alfred Kyungu, a General Authority Seventy and his wife, Lucie.
The trip included a meeting with the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who Elder Christofferson had met previously in 2019. They discussed their shared focus on education and reviewed the BYU Pathway International and Gathering Place programs. “We value our relationship with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I hope that it will continue to grow,” President Akufo-Addo emphasized. “We will do all we can to make sure your Church succeeds in everything you do here in Ghana.”
Elder Christofferson taught and inspired Young Single Adults during a devotional in Accra Ghana that was attended by over 1000 YSA’s and broadcast to countries throughout the Africa West Area. He reminded them that “the Lord knows where you are, and if you keep the commandments you can prosper here”. He added that “you can overcome the world by loving God, and his son Jesus Christ, more than you love anything else.”
While in Ghana, Elder Christofferson and the other Church leaders attended the Accra Ghana Temple together. The Accra Temple is one of two operating Temples in West Africa, the other is in Aba, Nigeria. There are nine Temples announced, under constuction, or operating in the Africa West Area. The Accra Temple was dedicated on 11 January 2004.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
