Mauritius is a small island nation in the Indian Ocean, located about 1,200 miles off the southeast coast of Africa, east of Madagascar and is part of the Mascarene Islands.

Originally uninhabited, Mauritius was discovered by the Portuguese in 1507, and then colonized by the Dutch in 1598 and later abandoned in 1710. In 1715, the French took control and then during the Napoleonic wars was taken over by the British in 1810. Slavery was abolished in 1835 and replaced by indentured servants from India, which is why even today the population majority consists of Indian descendants. On March 12, 1968, Mauritius gained its independence from Britain and later became a republic (replacing the British Queen with a Mauritian president as head of state) on March 12, 1992. Its capital is Port Louis, and its official language is English, with French and Creole widely spoken as well.

The island is generally known for its beaches, coral reefs, and lagoons, as well as a diverse culture of African, Indian, European, and Chinese influences. The economy is strong and diversified, relying on tourism, textiles, financial services, and information technology. Mauritius is known for its political stability, high literacy rate, and peaceful multiethnic society.

The population consists of about 1.3 million people with 68% being descendants of the Indian indentured servants. This is the main reason why just over 50% of the population practices Hinduism. Christianity represents 32% of the population and Muslins 17%. Fortunately, Mauritius is also known for religious tolerance and harmony between and among the religions of the island. Public holidays celebrate Hindu, Christian, and Muslin festivals annually. Below are maps showing the location of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean as well as the location of both Mauritius and Reunion relative to Madagascar. I should add that while we have missionaries on both of these islands, the work is slow, much more like Europe than Africa.

The reason we were in Mauritius was for the Africa South Area Mission Leader Seminar. What an amazing week it was. We arrived on Tuesday after a 4 hour flight on Flysafair, a regional no frills airline much like Southwest Airlines in Houston. Seats didn’t recline and leg room was minimal, but we had a safe flight there and back- and for that we are grateful. We stayed at the Westin Turtle Bay Resort and Spa. A very nice place right on the beach. Here are some pictures of our room and our views.

Here is the high level agenda that we followed. The big difference between the Central and South Area Mission Leader Seminars was that in the Central Area most of the instruction came from the Area Presidency (Elder Mutombo, Élder Pieper, Elder Giraud-Carrier). In the South Area, most of the instruction came from the Mission Leaders who were given assigned topics by the Area Presidency (Elder Godoy, Elder Silva, Elder Sikahema). Both methods were effective and inspiring! While many of the topics were the same as instructed by the Missionary Department, the insights and personal experiences were different. We learned so much from both seminars. Here is a summary of the our key takeaways from the Seminar:

• The work in the Africa South Area continues to accelerate with almost every key indicator showing improvement over the previous year. Elder Godoy used the scripture in Alma 59:1 to describe the results: “…he was exceedingly rejoiced because of the welfare, yea, the exceeding success which Helaman had had….”

• The goal of the Area is to double the stakes in the next two years. Africa currently baptizes more than twice the annual average per missionary as compared to the entire world.
• If we are not bringing people to the temple, we are not doing anything. We have to get people to the temple!
• We have a God of miracles.
• “Never mistake activity for achievement” (John Wooden)
• The Plan of Salvation is the great “WHY” for mission leaders
• There are no covenants required for entrance into the Terrestrial and Telestial Kingdoms
• ABC = Always Be Contacting
• “Find – Drop – Repeat, until you find the elite”
• Without a missionary purpose there is no reason for missionaries, and without plans and goals we cannot achieve the purpose
• No involvement = No commitment
• God cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance (D&C 1:31), but because we are mortals, we will sin (Romans 3:23). We have missionaries who believe in Christ, but they do not actually believe Him.
• Invitations for “friends” to attend sacrament meeting have to come from the Lord and not the missionaries (they are only conduits)
• To have great finding missionaries, we must have missionaries who are great at scripture study
• Most of the miracles in missionary work occur while Finding.
• We need to make December a “miracle month”. At any one time, 1/3 of the population is ready to receive the gospel
• The Africa South Area’s plan is simple, but has significant impacts. It is like the spit and dust with which the Savior healed the blind man. Here are the four conerstones:
  • Increase the number of ministering interviews
  • Holding regular missionary coordination meetings
  • Holding regular family history coordination meetings
  • Focusing on the rising generation
• All can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ
• It was from Africa that the “believing blood” moved to Brazil
• Every day our wives need to hear that we love them

On Friday we boarded a bus and did a bit of sightseeing around the island. Here are some pictures from the places we visited and saw along the way.

There was a lot going on in the Africa Central Area during our week in Mauritius. Both Cameroon and Tanzania held elections and the opposition did not like the outcome. Since we have Mission Leaders and a bunch of missionaries in Cameroon, we were keeping a close eye on the unfolding chaos. President and Sister Kannar in Yaounde, Cameroon did an amazing job of making sure the missionaries were safe. Here is a brief summary of what happened in Cameroon.

Cameroon recently held a presidential election that quickly turned into unrest after 92-year-old President Paul Biya sought an eighth term in office. His main challenger was Issa Tchiroma Bakary who claimed victory and accused the ruling party of rigging the results. Early vote counts showed Biya leading the race and at that point, thousands of mostly young protesters most of who support Tchiroma, took to the streets defying a ban on public gatherings. Security forces responded with tear gas, water cannons, and reportedly live ammunition, leaving at least four people dead in the initial clashes. Al Jazeera reported that Biya was ultimately declared the winner with 53.66% of the vote, but that declaration only deepened the unrest. Human Rights Watch reported that there were mass arrests and the use of lethal force against demonstrators. The worst hit city was Douala, where the unrest was witnessed by our missionaries who were sheltering in their apartments. As soon as things quieted enough to move the missionaries – mornings tended to be calm – they were taken out of Douala and placed in apartments in calmer places. Much of the public anger came from Biya’s 43 years in power and widespread frustration among young Cameroonians facing unemployment and poverty. It is probable that they saw the success of the young people in Madagascar who recently forced the President out of power, and this gave them courage to try and do the same in Cameroon.

During the same week in Tanzania, there were similar occurrences following the general election at the end of October. In this case, opposition leaders had been barred from running and this fueled the flame of discontent and widespread belief that the election wasn’t fair. President Samia Suluhu Hassan came to power in 2021 while she was serving as Vice-President when the then president unexpectedly died and she was sworn in as president. In this year’s election, she was announced the winner with nearly 98% of the vote and that caused protests to erupt across major cities – claiming, much like in Cameroon, that the election was rigged. Security forces responded harshly, using tear gas, live ammunition, and reportedly carrying out mass arrests. Al Jazeera reported that over 200 people were arrested and charged with treason coupled with opposition groups estimating that possibly more than 700 were killed in the crackdown. The President’s decision to impose curfews and cut internet access exacerbated the situation and caused Amnesty International to condemn what they considered “excessive force” used against civilians.

My role in these uprisings was minor. I needed to make sure that the right people had the latest information. The Crisis Management director in the Missionary Department, David Wade, along with the Security team, took the lead, but from time to time I came into information that needed to be passed along. I had to leave the seminar more than once to take a call. Because the internet was cutoff in Tanzania, the Mission President was having challenges communicating both with his missionaries and with the Area Presidency. President Eghan (from Ghana) did an incredible job of managing the situation on the ground and like President Kannar, kept all of the missionaries safe and sound. Despite the unrest in these two countries (which quickly settled down once the presidents of both countries were inaugurated), we did not have any issues with missionaries being harmed in any way. Truly angels were watching over them.

Despite the challenging distractions in Cameroon and Tanzania, the Mission Leader Seminar was stellar. We throughly enjoyed the time together with these amazing men and women.

We returned home to Johannesburg on Saturday, arriving back our apartment at about 9 pm. That concluded two really good back to back weeks as we spent time with 28 sets of mission leaders 2 sets of MTC leaders, and 2 amazing Area Presidencies. What a joy it is to be engaged in this great work!

I will mention a few more items. As mentioned before, spring brings a colorful display of flowers, shrubs and trees to Johannesburg. A week ago on the golf course I snapped a picture of a small, but vibrant Jakaranda tree, nestled among the greenery of the course, and surrounded by a “bunch” of ducks. It was quite a sight to see.

We will be hosting a new Area Couple in January who will be serving at the BYU Global Education Center (GEC). This is an amazing facility located on the 11th floor of an office building which Elder and Sister MacMillan took us to see so we will be prepared to take the new couple over and show them around. While this facility is still rather new and has not yet come anywhere close to fulfilling the vision that BYU Pathway and the Church has for it, it is an incredible resource to young single adults seeking sociality, education, and leadership. These Global Education Centers are beginning to spring up near temples in various places here in Africa and elsewhere. So far we have this one in Johannesburg; one in Lagos, Nigeria; a quasi center linked to the Institute of Religion building in Kinshasa, DRC; and one in Cebu, Philippines. BYU’s commitment to education is changing the world!

Each quarter we have a senior missionary devotional with the Area Presidency or their delegate. This past week we met with President and Sister Ruben of the Johannesburg Mission. They shared some amazing miraculous stories with us that their missionaries have experienced. They are very much in tune with their missionaries and are doing some incredible work as their baptisms and retention numbers continue to climb. The lunch is provided by the Area and catered by a restaurant called “Turn and Tender”. They have really good meat! It was an inspiring devotional and wonderful fellowship opportunity.

One last picture – this one from today, 16 November 2025. It rained a lot last night and all morning. Driving the 35 minutes to Church was a challenge because the roads were wet and there was standing water in some places. When we came out after Church to drive home, we saw this tree that had fallen over the road. At first we thought we were going to be stuck for some time, but then realized we could drive to the trees to a small dirt road and get out behind it. We were grateful.

We love our service here in South Africa. LaDawn continues to process and review all of the missionary applications for the Area. It is keeping her very busy. I continue to work to serve these amazing mission leaders when they run into trouble with a small number of missionaries who are either sick, uncommitted to the work, or simply confused about who they are and why they are here. It is a labor of love as we try to help these young men and young women become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. Serving in South Africa is a great blessing to both of us.