PHOTO ESSAY

Disclaimer: Obviously, The Book of Mormon Musical is intended to entertain, not to serve as a primer on Mormonism. This series of essays is offered simply as a view of what missionary life is actually like for Mormon missionaries in Africa, not as a direct response to the musical—though there are a few responses. The missionaries featured in these essays served in the Republic of Congo and Cameroon. The missionaries in the musical are in Uganda. Of course, each African country is distinctive. Nonetheless, for the purposes of these essays, I often refer to Africa as a whole rather than to the specific countries of Cameroon or the Congo. The Book of Mormon Musical ends with a reprise of the Hello song, but now it’s the African converts practicing their door approaches. In the show’s final twist, they hold up their books. The audience gets a little surprise when the actors reveal the title—not The Book of Mormon, but The Book of Arnold. Yes, Elder Arnold Cunningham’s “metaphorical” tales have apparently been compiled by the missionaries, who have defied their despotic mission president and remained in Uganda as renegades. The actors take their bows, and the audience applauds. Elder Brandon Price, the “real” Elder Price in this series, knows what it’s like to take a bow after a show, since he is a theater major, but also what it’s really like to be a Mormon missionary. These are his reflections: I think that it took me a while to realize that I was trying so hard to act like a missionary (just as the familiar song goes “teach and preach and work as missionaries do”) that I wasn’t able to BE the Elder Price that I could be. I think (well, I hope) that it takes all young missionaries a little while to really realize the power of their calling and that it is happening for real. You grow up looking forward to it all your life, then it comes and it’s TOTALLY different than anything you ever imagined. It’s almost unreal, and it takes a little while to stop acting like a missionary and instead start being a missionary. Acting like a missionary isn’t a bad thing; I think it’s a necessary step in self discovery and has its place in all missionaries. But, there is a magical point in a mission where things become so much more rewarding and special as the missionary gets a greater understanding of the eternal nature of the work. As an actor, I really enjoy making up a character and putting on a show, but never has a character influenced and changed my life for the better as the role of a missionary did. I don’t think any role could, because they are simply the creations of man’s imagination possessing nothing but depthless emotion. However, just as the Plan of Salvation has been created by the perfect mercy of our Heavenly Father, each righteous role we ‘play’ here on earth has the power to expand our knowledge and to help us to understand more about our divine nature. Elder Brandon Price returned to Utah from his mission in September, 2010.

In their final emails from Africa, the DRC-Kinshasa missionaries wrote about the whole of their experience. Both Elder Lee and Elder Wigginton mentioned that the work would go on after they left; they had planted seeds which others would harvest. Jared Wigginton: My time here is wrapping up. I have been fading out and new elders have been stepping up to the plate. This work will continue without me. It has changed me and been a great blessing. Jared returned to Orange County, California, and started law school a few months later. He got married in May, 2011. Seth Lee: This week was special to me. It started on a very high note with our baptism service on Saturday. The service went great. One of our baptisees, sister Aude, was accompanied by her recent convert husband Rostand who was looking like a stud in his police man uniform. It was really sweet to see the love the gospel can create and nourish in families. Another of our baptisees, sister Light, was being baptized by her recent convert father. The power of godliness was manifest during those priesthood ordinances and really served as a strength to me. The last person I confirmed on my mission was Light. She is about 14 and loves to study the scriptures. Blessing her was really a great experience. The words I needed to say were given to me. Last week I related an experience in contacting a lady named Colette. She has been prepared for the gospel, and it hurts a little that I won’t get to teach her, but the missionaries here will do great things with her. I have all the confidence in the world that I will hear one day about her baptism. Seth returned to Seattle, and subsequently resumed his education at BYU-Idaho.

Elder Kendell Coburn, who in the hard beginning of his time in Africa had received assurance that he would love his mission, wrote poignantly: My thoughts are all over the place. I don’t know how to explain it, other than this end of the mission stuff is horrible!! My dad sent me a wonderful email this morning. He explained how a couple of weeks ago he received a prompting of something he needed to tell me, but he waited until today. It was short and simple: “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” An alarming peace came and tears came over my eyes… I am coming up on a big change in life, and to be honest, I am really nervous. But I know that as we stay focused on the gospel and eternal life we will be able to overcome everything. Kendell and Elder Daniel Kesler returned from the same mission to the same airport—Salt Lake City—and descended the stairs arm in arm. Kendell began university life at Utah State University, and Daniel at BYU. Elder Chirwa’s last email recounted “an amazing experiece with Alphonse Madiya.” He wrote: Alphonse is the artist that engraves on the nuts. I took him a picture of the First Vision and also of the Manti Temple for my companion. He engraved these two pieces so beautifully it brought tears to my eyes. I wonder if he ever thought about what was symbolized in these two images… the restoration and the possibility to live together forever. I think he did. So before we took our priceless souvenirs, he asked us to pray for him. He rushed into his house and pulled out an old worn BUKU YA MOLOMONHI, a Lingala Book of Mormon Jared Wigginton gave him many months ago. We read together and with the little Kicongo I know, I tried to bear my testimony. I guess the wonderful mission experiences are numbered for me, but they sure have been sweet, and I am keen on using every last minute to serve the lord and others. Chiloba Chirwa returned to Zambia, and began his studies in architecture soon thereafter in Malaysia.

Elder Henry Lisowski wrote this on his last day in Africa. His plane would leave just hours after he sent these words: Well, that’s about it. Last lessons have been taught, pictures have been taken. Goodbyes have been said, and tears have been shed. And though I’ve still got some long, exhausting hours ahead, crammed with last minute notes, packing, and just plain reflection left to do before my plane leaves at 4 in the morning, I feel at ease, like I’ve done all I could. Then I will be off, on my way to Morocco, to share a brief layover with my MTC companions [Kesler and Coburn] before again parting ways, me heading to Quebec, then finishing off in Toronto. It has not yet hit me yet, that I will be leaving. It’s a fact there, floating in the top of my mind, and I know it exists and I can see it there, but I don’t yet understand it. And yet I know, the time will come that that fact will be processed, that intelligence will become wisdom, and that simple piece of information will become a living, breathing reality. And then I will realize that I am no longer in Africa; that the many people I have met and gotten to know and love so dearly will no longer just be a bus ride away; that my only concern will no longer be the welfare of souls, and that the incredible promise and power of guidance that comes with this calling will disperse, and I will be left, once again, just another normal person. Then I will probably be sad, miserable, and want to “Go back”. But it can’t be done, must not be done. I’ll just have to get over it. And that’s okay, because this changing from idea into reality is not something new to me. It’s something I’ve truly come to understand, through my now-grown knowledge of the gospel. Growing up, the gospel was something I was taught while young, something I followed, well, just because; something that was nice, but just kind of meshed in with everything else. However, I understand now. The gospel has become a living, breathing reality for me, and, I hope, in me as well. I’ve seen people change. I’ve seen lives blessed, I’ve seen miracles performed, and I myself have been changed. I know that Jesus Christ is our Saviour. I know that means He came here, to earth, out of his love for us, and died for our sins. I know he was resurrected, and lives even now. I know the Book of Mormon is true; of this I have no doubt. I know Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is God’s church here on the earth. This is my testimony, the one I am grateful for, and the one I have acquired, and it is the one I bear at this moment, and will continue to bear for years to come. -Elder Lisowski Henry returned to Whitby, Canada, but a few weeks later came to Provo to begin university life—which included a creative writing class from me and meeting the young woman he will marry in December. He and Kendell Coburn accompanied my family to the BYU art museum, where the Carl Bloch exhibit was up, depicting scenes from the Savior’s life. Kendell loved the spirit of the art, and said, “I haven’t felt this so strongly since my mission. It’s beautiful.”

I was privileged to be in the “audience” for the real stories of Elder Price and the Mormon boys. I wrote this to them as I contemplated their work: People tell pregnant women that the time will just fly by. They’re lying. The last three months of a pregnancy actually last a year. But when you look back on it with the babe in arms, you realize that they were right all along. It was only a moment. Or a few moments. And your whole life changed. Then you start telling other pregnant women that it’ll just fly by… It all does. Childhood. The teen years. Missions. The trick is to notice the details. Look at the veins of the leaves. Listen to the music of the animals; of your own tired feet (and your companion’s) trudging through the sludge of rainy season; of women singing by citronella plants; of children giggling at some missionary’s attempt to speak their dialect. Add a line of melody and a bridge, and it becomes the song that will play itself in your dreams for the rest of your life. Now, I have a new idea of what my future holds: a mission with my husband, probably in Africa. I’ve heard about the senior couples, who are vital for the missionaries’ well-being and sanity. I am ready to go find a full Primary somewhere and sing along with the little ones, “I hope they call me on a mission!”