FAIR

conversion

Prologue: What Brought Us to Africa? (The Church in the DR Congo: A Personal Perspective, Part 1)

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Baptismal Day near Ikot Eyo, Cross River State, Nigeria, by Janath R. Cannon. Elder Edwin Q. Cannon, Jr. baptizing. Photo taken 4 March 1979. Following the June 1978 revelation on the priesthood, the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ was taken to West Africa. On 4 March 1979, at a small stream near the village of Ikot Eyo, Cross River State, Nigeria, sixty-seven persons were baptized [by Elder Edwin Q. Cannon, Jr.]. One hundred seventeen had been baptized the day before. Supervising the baptism (at left and right of the baptismal line) are the Cross River State District president [Ime Eduok] and his first counselor [E. D. Ukuot]. They were the first two black brethren in [West] Africa to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood.
In a presentation at the 2018 FairMormon Conference,[i]I shared stories of some of the faithful Saints in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa). In this series of presentations, I would like to speak from a more personal perspective, reflecting on the meaning of that experience for Kathleen and me, and pondering some of the dynamics of numerical and spiritual growth of the Church in that country.

The series is organized into eight parts:

  1. Prologue: What brought us to Africa?
  2. Snapshot of the Church in the DR Congo
  3. The missionaries
  4. What attracts people to the Church?
  5. Building from centers of strength — Kisangani
  6. Building from centers of strength — Wagenya and elsewhere
  7. The temple: A light to the world
  8. “The labourers are few”

Part one is a prologue that begins by outlining some important milestones in the history of the Church in West Africa. This will be presented through the eyes of my mother and father who served in Nigeria twice, beginning in 1980. I will then give a few of the circumstances of our call as a couple as senior missionaries to the DR Congo.

This video presentation is available on the Interpreter YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAvgzAWDswI

 

Endnotes

[i]The video version of the entire FairMormon presentation “Stories of the Saints in the DR Congo” is available on the FairMormon YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJl9FvLKmjw. The seven segments of that presentation, in an edited and somewhat expanded form, are available for reading at Meridian Magazine(www.ldsmag.com) and the website of The Interpreter Foundation(https://interpreterfoundation.org).

“Cease to Sleep Longer Than Is Needful” (Stories of the Saints in the DR Congo Part 7)

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Family and friends of Luvualu Mwinza David and Ndotoni Josephine

Author’s note: This series shares stories about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Each story is framed in the context of a Christlike attribute. This article is adapted and expanded from part 7 of a presentation given at the FairMormon 2018 Conference.

As I think about the faithful Congolese Saints, I realize that what I love the most is that they take the Gospel seriously. For them, the Gospel is not simply a part of life, it istheir life, their hope, and their joy.

Not long before the end of our mission, I met with a Congolese church leader who is a great example of devotion and diligence. He had scheduled another meeting later that morning. He called the Congolese brother who was in charge of this meeting to confirm the time. But the brother told my friend that he had just returned to Kinshasa by plane and for that reason had had to cancel the meeting.

After my friend hung up, he gave the situation some more thought. He realized that it couldn’t be true that this brother had justreturned to Kinshasa because there were no flights that morning. He must have come back the night before. Because this brother had returned the night before there was no reason he couldn’t have been available for the meeting that morning. My friend called him again and took him to task for having canceled the meeting.

I felt compassion for the brother who had been corrected. But I also felt the power of the sincerity and earnestness with which my friend had spoken. D&C 121:43 speaks of “reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost.” According to Elder H. Burke Peterson, this “means reproving with clarity, with loving firmness, with serious intent. It does not mean reproving with sarcasm, or with bitterness, or with clenched teeth and raised voice. One who reproves as the Lord has directed deals in principles, not personalities.” Among other things, my friend had said in a spirit of love and inspiration, with directness and without guile: “You like to sleep too much. You cannot sleep when the work of the Lord awaits you.”

 

The video version of the entire FairMormon presentation is available on the FairMormon YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJl9FvLKmjw

The article relating to this story can be found at the Interpreter Foundation website: “Cease to Sleep Longer Than Is Needful” — Stories of the Saints in the DR Congo, Part 7

If you would like to watch the other presentations from the 2018 FairMormon Conference, you can still purchase video streaming.

Conversion Story, MTC (Mormon.org) Missionary, and a Stake President – LDS MissionCast Podcast

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Podcast: Download (94.6MB)

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Geoffrey Allen - LDS MissionCast - Mormon Convert
Geoffrey Allen (Guest – via FaceTime)

This week’s episode is a listener generated story that involves a convert, an MTC Missionary from the Mormon.org referral center, a ministering Stake President, and so much more. This episode shows the perpetual motion that missionary work can have throughout the world. I received this email from recent convert, Geoffrey Allen, that reads:

“I listened to your most recent podcast with Sister Bringhurst and loved it. At one point I thought I was going to get a good story about the MTC missionaries, but she didn’t have one. I’d love to hear one, as the MTC missionaries from mormon.org played a vital role in my conversion 188 days ago. I’m still in contact with that missionary, now returned. I have an odd story that I believe is a testament to Heavenly Father’s Divine Guidance and includes both MTC and field missionaries. I probably make it much longer than it needs to be, but I believe the MTC missionary who helped bring me to conversion has an exceptional story to tell that includes illness, missed missionary callings, and early returns. If you’d like to talk to her I’d be happy to ask her. She has quite the story and is a very special person. My family is lucky to have “met” her.”

Emma Wageman - MTC Missionary Cancer
Sister Emma Wageman – During cancer treatment

Emma Wageman Mormon.org referral center missionary
Sister Emma Wageman – Post Cancer Treatment

Nick Galieti and Emma Wageman LDS MissionCast Podcast
Nick Galieti (host) and Sister Emma Wageman (guest)

I exchanged a few more emails and spent some time arranging the multiple guests that we have on this show. We will first hear from the man that sent this email to me, Geoffrey Allen, to get his inspiring conversion story. His story is filled with the challenges encountering questions about various gospel topics and doctrines, and how he was able to find peace through prayer and study. Following Brother Allen, we will hear from Sister Emma Wageman, the missionary referred to in his email who has an incredible story of her own, that fills out this wonderful example of the hand of the Lord guiding this work. Finally, we will hear from Geoffrey’s Stake President, David Hollandwho is just one of the many people that have played a part in bringing Geoffrey into the church. It was a joy to learn of this story and I hope you are able to find inspiration in us sharing that story in this episode of the podcast.

David F. Holland - LDS MissionCast Mormon Missionary Podcast
Stake President and Harvard Divinity School Professor – David F. Holland

Thank you for listening to LDS MissionCast, we hope you enjoyed this episode. Select episodes of the LDS MissionCast Podcast can be heard through the FairMormon Podcast stream. Please subscribe to the FairMormon Podcast by clicking here.