Some of you may or may not know that over fifty-five years ago as a scrawny green behind the ears nineteen-year-old, I served as a missionary for our Church for two and a half years in South Africa and in what was then known as Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
After serving in the Philippines as senior couple missionaries for a little more than twenty-one months, Marcia and I have accepted an assignment to the Africa South Area. Our Philippines mission was scheduled to end in February of 2025, but with this re-assignment we will now return home from South Africa in May of 2025.
Differences between the Philippines and Africa South Missions
The Philippines is unique for a couple of reasons. One, even though there are thousands of islands that make up the Philippines Archipelago, the islands are all a part of a single geographical/ecclesiastical area of the Church. Also, there are twenty-six missions throughout the Philippines.
Many geographical/ecclesiastical areas of the Church throughout the world are host to multiple missions often located in multiple different countries. For example, the Africa South Area consists of thirteen countries (vs. the Philippines area which is one country) that has a total of fourteen missions that are spread throughout these thirteen countries that include Angola, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Reunion, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The country with the largest number of missions (four in total) in the Africa South Area is South Africa. During my first mission in Africa, I was able to visit eight of the thirteen countries above.
Missions in Africa
Below is a map of all of the missions in Africa – missions are designated by the multi-colored areas highlighted in the map below.
All of the LDS Missions in Africa
The Four Missions in South Africa
The South Africa Cape Town Mission
The South Africa Cape Town Mission is by far the largest geographically in South Africa. You will note a purple/blue colored marker along the Southwestern coastline of the Cape Town Mission. This colored marker designates an operating temple, a temple under construction, or those nearing completion.
The map below is the South Africa Johannesburg Mission. You will note a purple/blue temple marker that is located in a suburb of Johannesburg. This temple was opened in 1985 and was the first temple on the African continent.
The South Africa Pretoria Mission. Pretoria is located in the national capital of South Africa and is the Washington DC of South Africa. There is no temple in the Pretoria mission – yet. I anticipate a temple will be announced for this mission the near future.
South Africa Durban Mission
This South Africa Durban Mission was the second mission opened in South Africa. The temple marker designates the Durban Temple which was opened in 2020.
There are five temples currently operating in Africa. These temples are located in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Aba, Nigeria; Accra, Ghana; and in Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa. Sixteen more temples have been announced or are under construction.
I am confident there will be many more temples announced throughout Africa in the future.
Growth of the Church in Africa
When I first served in South Africa over fifty-five years ago, there was only one mission on the entire African continent – the South Africa Mission with a total of 6,000 members. Today there are forty-four missions in African with over 325,000 members and growing exponentially.
After arriving in South Africa in early December, Marcia and I will assume the same role and duties that we were assigned in the Philippines – documenting the history of the early pioneer saints in this part of the world. I continue to be amazed at the resources the Church devotes in carefully documenting the history of its members and events in countries around the world that in aggregate will document and create a global history for the Church. I’ve become convinced that if we don’t learn from our collective history, we are destined to repeat our mistakes. I’m so grateful to be a part of documenting various narratives of the leaders and members of the Church in the Philippines and now in Africa South Area and to be a part of preserving history and valuable insights from being lost to future generations to learn and benefit from.
Benefiting from What We Do
One of the benefits we’ve gained from our experience in the Philippines is an enormous appreciation for member saints that live in third world countries, the challenges they face, and how they managed to rise above the challenges they face to become better individuals and collectively stronger saints. This evolutionary process is truly remarkable, inspirational, and I often stand opened-mouth amazed at the resilience of these pioneer saints of the Church that live in these third world countries.
One of. the things I’ve learned from our Philippines experience is that the Lord is truly involved in the details of His work around the world. There are simply too many experiences that have been shared with us in the nearly hundred oral history interviews we have completed to deny the reality of how intimately the Lord is involved and oversees His work by direct and frequent divine intercession. To me, this is a sign of a loving Heavenly Father and shows just how much our Lord Jesus Christ loves and cares for all of us.
A Reoccurring Theme
As we conclude our mission in the Philippines, we have observed a reoccurring theme when recording oral histories of mission leaders, area seventies, others in leadership roles, and early pioneer Filipino saints as these experiences have been shared with us – their faith in Christ. It is clear to me that these saints have had divine help in circumstances that have been beyond their ability to manage or control.
These stories have had an impact on the individuals themselves, their families, missionaries, and member saints that often have had along-term positive outcomes in the lives of those with whom they have worked. Many of these experiences fall into the miraculous category and have left us amazed, humbled, and feeling like we don’t deserve to be in the same room with some of these Filipino saints that we have interviewed. Many of these Filipinos are spiritual giants.
Arriving in South Africa. Once we arrive in South Africa, we will have the opportunity to begin to document the history of the saints in southern Africa. We just received our South African visas and are tentatively set to departure the fourth week of November to fly from Manila to Johannesburg.
My wife is not all that excited about the weather in South Africa at this time of year because when we arrive in Johannesburg it will be just in time for summer. Summer in the southern hemisphere is winter time in the US – which means that December in South Africa will be like July in the US. I told Marcia that the silver lining is that the weather in Johannesburg will not be like Manila, which is on the western coastline on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, with sky-high humidity. Johannesburg is inland and is more like Nevada than the tropical Philippines islands. While Johannesburg can get hot, butit has relatively low humidity.
I recall as a young man thinking that the province (where Johannesburg is located), and where I lived for nearly a year in a small town a few hundred miles from Johannesburg was so flat that if you stood on a step ladder you could see the back of your head – that is how flat it was.
A Different Country Today
When I served in South Africa from November of 1968 to June of 1971, the country was still under the apartheid political system – meaning that the country was white ruled and native Africans didn’t have the same civil rights as white South Africans. Now, South Africa is a democracy ruled primarily by the native black South Africans.
Just prior to leaving for the Philippines in March of 2023, we had dinner with a family that I knew while serving my mission in Southern Africa. In the early 1980’s, this family immigrated to America. They returned to Zimbabwe and South Africa for the first time in late 2023. They shared with me how different the country is now than when they lived there. These differences are both good and some not so good differences. I’m sure the same could be said of every country on the planet revisited forty years later.
We are excited for this new adventure. The next time you hear from us, we will be in Johannesburg, South Africa. Stay tuned.
One Final Trip
A week before we were scheduled to leave for South Africa, we took a trip to the Islands of Cebu and Bohol. While there we able to see some more of the natural beauties of the Philippines.
While in Cebu, we took time to visit the Philippines Cebu Temple in the middle of a torrential downpour which is relatively common in the Philippines.
Next....Tails from South Africa.
Thought of the Day: The most important things in life are not things.
Scripture of the Day: Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”