The temple is the focus of our efforts
to "Bring People to Christ" through family history work.
This is the view of the temple we see from our office every day as we sit at our computers and work. Aren’t we lucky? Having a temple in West Africa has changed the focus of "redeeming the dead" from gathering information to actually participating in the sacred ordinances.
In this update we want to tell a little more about our calling and show you the work we do each day.
The temple is the focus of our efforts
to "Bring People to Christ" through family history work.
Most weekdays we work at the Africa West Area Administrative Office building. Along with the office building, the Temple Complex includes the Ghana Accra Temple, the Ancillary Building where visiting temple patrons and temple missionaries live and the Christiansborg Stake Center. There are 108 people who work in the building. The majority are paid employees, mostly Africans, who work in the Temporal Affairs functions for the Church, such as Physical Facilities, Finance, and Materials (supply and distribution). Offices for the area presidency and several area missionary couples are also located here. We are the Area Family History Directors. Other missionary couples are an auditing couple, Elder and Sister Markham; a welfare missionary couple, Elder and Sister Strong; a couple in charge of public affairs, Elder and Sister Whisenant; a couple on a special humanitarian assignment, Elder and Sister Leishman; and a couple who serves as the executive secretary to the area presidency, Elder and Sister Skelton.
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Dan and the Office Building Sign (Since this was taken, trees and shrubs have filled in so much you can hardly see the sign.) |
Ghanaian Flag in front of Ancillary Building |
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Christiansborg Stake Center This lovely building is used for many activities and events other than Sunday worship. Many gospel discussions with missionaries and investigators take place here. |
Africa West Area Administration Building This was taken during Harmattan when dust from the Sahara Desert created a fog-like haze through much of West Africa. |
Our apartment is only a few blocks from the Temple Complex but on the other side of Independence Avenue, which is a major highway in Accra. This picture was taken early one morning while we were on our daily walk.
The Temple Complex from Across Independence Avenue
We are assigned a two office suite with desks, filing cabinets and computers connected to the Church network. One of the fringe benefits from our assignment is learning more about using computers and family history software. While there are some quiet times when we can plan, prepare training and publish a newsletter (see below), most often we have people in our offices who need help with their family history. Often when groups travel to the Temple, our rooms are full and there is a waiting line.
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| Elder Armstrong Models a New Tie |
Elder Armstrong with New Converts from Ho Elder Beckstead (left) was one of the young missionaries who first went to Ho. |
Until last Fall there was no organized branch of the Church in the city of Ho in Ghana's Eastern Region. Several people from that region had joined the Church in other locations and then moved back to Ho. When missionaries were assigned there, the growth was exciting. Two young missionaries who were involved with establishing the Church in Ho brought a group of new converts into our office to get their family names ready to do vicarious baptisms in the temple. Helping new converts get names ready to take into the temple is one of the greatest joys of our calling as family history missionaries. The spirit these converts feel as they enter the temple is something they will never forget. Working with the valiant young missionaries in West Africa is also a great blessing.
Every two months we publish a Family History newsletter to share the success stories and faith promoting incidents with the ward and branch consultants. At first it was limited to Ghana, but it has expanded to become the Africa West Area “Family History Happenings.” Sister Armstrong is in charge of compiling the information and photos for the newsletter. The newsletter contains family history highlights of individual church members as well as groups of Latter-day Saints who are achieving success in doing their family history.
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Sister Armstrong holding the first edition of the Family History newsletter. |
Brother Osei-Agyemang Bonsu, Africa Family History Support Manager, reviewing a newsletter draft. He is our “boss,” so we do a lot of planning with him. |
The First Edition of Our Newsletter
Frequently on weekends or evenings, we visit stakes and districts or wards and branches to do training and to help members with their family history. Elder Armstrong generally opens with a brief presentation about the purpose and blessings of this great work. Then we try to work one-on-one with leaders and members to help them actually progress their own Family Histroy work. This approach ignites a fire in a few and the flame spreads. Other missionaries including Elder and Sister Bevan and Elder and Sister Markham like to accompany us when their schedules permit. Working one-on-one means the more laptops--the merrier!
Elder Armstrong addresses the Ward Council in
the Ashiaman Ward of the Christiansborg Stake.
Training Branch Family History in Assin Foso District,
about 150 miles from Accra.
Members are encouraged to record all available information for their ancestors. This data is then entered and stored on computers using the Personal Ancestral File (PAF) software. When names and approximate birth and death dates and locations are known, the PAF file can be further processed with Temple Ready software. The Temple Ready information is then taken to the Temple Recorder who prepares ordinance cards for the deceased persons. Patrons in the temple use these cards when doing work for their kindred dead.
We help the members in West Africa with the PAF and Temple Ready steps. Most members don't have ready access to computers and haven't learned to use the Family History software. Our work involves some data entry for those with hand-written information and "clean-up" for those who have used computers in Stake and District Family History Centers with local consultant support to enter their data. We also try to maintain an archive copy of all data files from the Area on our office computers. This is accomplished by requesting local consultants to send us copies of data files on CDs, and by copying the data files whenever we visit a Family History Center. Our archive involves thousands of data files and is a challenge to maintain. However, it often provides a quick solution when a member shows up at the temple with a bad floppy disk. The heat, humidity, and dust make the life expectancy of a floppy disk very short in West Africa.
This Sister in Assin Foso watches Elder Armstrong
enter her Family History data into his computer.
Does she look like she trusts this computer?
The real opportunity to add value comes while listening and gently asking questions. Many African Saints know more than they realize. When asked if they know their grandmother's birth and death years, they will answer, "No." However, if asked how old they were when the grandmother passed away, they know. And they know how old the grandmother was when she died. With a little arithmetic, death and birth years are known. Our "friendly listening" skills are being honed as we serve. The wonderful stories we hear from the people have made our testimonies of Family History grow.
A brother in Abomosu talks about Family History
with Elder Armstrong. Abomosu is a village
in the jungle about three hours north of Accra.
We knew it would be difficult to be away from our children and grandchildren. We love them very much and look forward to real hugs and kisses. We are so thankful for the knowledge we have that families can be together for ever. It is a great blessing in our lives to be able to share our testimonies of eternal families with the Saints in West Africa every day. It makes our time here seem very worthwhile. The two pictures below capture our feelings so beautifully.
This face says it all! A (pioneer) brother from the Ivory Coast
with Temple Ordinance Cards in his hand and a journal under his arm
to record his experiences and feelings for future generations.
Saints from the Abobo Ivory Coast Stake assembled on the temple steps
with President and Sister Gunnell. These Saints make a huge sacrifice
to attend the temple. Many groups travel for days, then spend their
time in the temple doing ordinances all day long. They are always
happy and grateful to be here. We love all of them so much.
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