In 1989, a young Togolese father was living in London while he was working in the Togolese Embassy there. His family remained in Togo, but he visited them often. He met the Mormon missionaries and was deeply impressed by them, their teachings, and the Book of Mormon, and he was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the Hyde Park Chapel in London. When he returned to Togo in the early 1990's, he wrote to the Church offices in South Africa and asked if there were any other members in Togo. They sent him a list of 70 members. He wrote to all of them, but only 6 responded. He got them together to organize a group of members for meetings. Elder James O. Mason (my mother's first cousin) came to Lomé when he was a general authority serving in Africa and organized the first official group or branch in 1997. The young man became the first branch president. Soon his young teenage son and some of his siblings and cousins were baptized in a hotel swimming pool in Lomé. His mother was baptized 2 years later. This young man (the son) later served as a missionary in Ivory Coast and Benin and upon his return married his sweetheart in the Accra Ghana Temple. We have had the honor of being accompanied by this fine young man throughout our stay in Togo. He has been an invaluable member of our team.
Last year the modern pioneer who joined the Church in London
supervised the construction of the first LDS Chapel in Lomé. Two local
congregations now meet there, and the other 10 local congregations meet in
rented facilities around the city.
Today, Elder Terence M. Vinson of the Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints presided over
the creation of the first stake in Togo. It was
a wonderful blessing for me to attend the conference and feel of the spiritual
outpouring that occurred. A stake (similar to a
diocese) is a group of wards (similar to a parish). Members of the Church are
to “gather” to the stakes of Zion. A stake will allow the people of Lomé to
benefit from the full program of the Church. The newly called stake president
paid tribute to his first branch president, the young man who had been baptized
so long ago in London, who was his early mentor in his volunteer Church service
when there was only one branch. The new stake president’s wife spoke in the
conference and said, “My husband is a good man. He is full of love for his
family, but he isn’t perfect. God chooses men with weaknesses, because they
always look to God for his help.” (The calling came to him on their
anniversary.) The stake president said, “If there is a task that I want to
accomplish, it is to serve the Lord. I ask for your prayers; without you I can’t
do anything.” A patriarch will be called who will give patriarchal blessings
to local members in their own language. This historic day will be the beginning
of many more blessings that will be poured out upon the people of Togo.
Today after the conference, our team was welcomed for a lovely Togolese meal at the home of our friend and team member where we met his father, the man who had been baptized in London years ago.
With people like this wonderful young man with whom we have
served this week and his family, the future is bright for the Church here in
Togo and for all the people of Togo.
“Angels from heaven and truth from earth
Have met, and both have record borne;
Thus Zion’s light is bursting forth.”
The Morning Breaks see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usbMQ8bLeFw
Text by Parley P. Pratt
Music by George Carless
