It is hard not to be grateful for so many rich blessings in our lives. One of my favorite gratitude scriptures is found in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah 2:20-21.

I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

And in Doctrine and Covenants 78:19, the promised blessings of gratitude are spelled out. And what a significant promise it is!

And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.

Wow, more than a hundred fold of “the things of this earth shall be added” to those who receive “all things with thankfulness”. That is an impressive promise indeed! In the Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor [2001] p203, we read something remarkable written by President Taylor in the Deseret News on 28 October 1884: “We have learned many things through suffering. We call it suffering. I call it a school of experience. … I have never looked at these things in any other light than trials for the purpose of purifying the Saints of God that they may be, as the scriptures say, as gold that has been seven times purified by the fire”. This is reinforced by a quote from then Elder Oaks in the April 2003 General Conference: “When we give thanks in all things, we see hardships and adversities in the context of the purpose of life. We are sent here to be tested. There must be opposition in all things. We are meant to learn and grow through that opposition, through meeting our challenges, and through teaching others to do the same.“

And so it is with the work we are doing now here in the Africa South and Africa Central Areas of the Church. Do we deal with tough issues? Yes, but in the context of the purpose of life, they are experiences which test us and allow us to become “as gold that has been seven times purified by the fire.” To be grateful for refinement is much easier said than done. And yet, these are the very experiences that bring forth the blessings of Heaven and allow us to see and understand as never before. For that we are eternally grateful.

With that as a backdrop, I want to share with you another recent song that I wrote and then using AI developed a tune that matches the feeling of the words. It is simply titled, “Render Thanks”.

RENDER THANKS
Drops of joy like sacred rain
Wash my heart from grief and pain.
From above this hope is given—
Gratitude draws me toward heaven.

Thankfulness in all I see
Drives away hostility.
Grateful for all He does,
Fills me with faith and hope and love 

I render all my thanks to God
For life, for breath, I stand in awe!
Unprofitable I remain,
Indebted for his selfless pain

His grace to lift, His arms deploy
This fills my soul with deepest joy
Because He gave His all for me,
He claims my soul eternally.

So now I fall on bended knee,
And speak the words He gives to me.
I thank Him for the Father’s will,
Whose perfect love redeems me still.

I render all my thanks to God
For life, for breath, I stand in awe!
Unprofitable I remain,
Indebted for his selfless pain

With thankfulness I receive all things,
Made glorious beneath His wings.
A joy-filled heart within my breast
Reminds me how I’m truly blessed.

I render all my thanks to God
For life, for breath, I stand in awe!
Unprofitable I remain,
Indebted for his selfless pain

It’s gratitude that fills my soul
For every gift that makes me whole.
He freely gave His life for me
Upon the cross at Calvary

He freely gave His life for me
I’m thankful for Gethsemane

There are changes coming in the Presidencies of both the Central and Africa South Areas of the Church. Elder Thierry Mutombo has been serving in the Central Area presidency for 6 years. He was called as a General Authority in April of 2020 and in August of that year became the second counselor in the newly created Africa Central Area. In 2022 he became the first counselor and in 2024 he became the Area President. We will miss Elder Mutombo, he has been and is a faithful servant! Elder Paul Pieper who has been serving as Elder Mutombo’s first counselor will become the president of the Area. Elder Pieper was born in Pocatello, Idaho and grew up in Snake River near Blackfoot with Steve Bair, my last mission companion in 1976 in the Germany Munich Mission, Elder Pieper has one year left in his service as a General Authority and will become emeritus next year. When Elder Pieper came to the Area in 2023, he did not speak French. And now he does. An amazing feat for anyone, but especially for a 66 year old!

There will also be a change in the Africa South Area Presidency. Elder Denelson Silva has been served in Africa for now a total of 7 years. In 2016 he was called as the Mission President of the Angola Luanda Mission and then at the conclusion of his mission in 2019 was called as an Area Authority and began work as the travel manager in the Brazil Area Office. Three years later he was called as a General Authority and began his service as a counselor in the Africa South Area Presidency. Elder Silva has been my first contact in the Area Presidency. He has been wonderful and amazing to work with. We will definitely miss the Silva’s. Replacing him as a counselor in the Presidency will be Elder Ozani Farias. Elder Farias and his wife are from Recife, Brazil and are currently serving as the Mission Leaders of the Georgia Atlanta Mission. They will be released at the end of June and Elder Farias will begin his service as a counselor to Elder Godoy in the Africa South Area on August 1st.

April General Conference was great as always. Good counsel offered for living in the “last days”. For me personally, there were two comments that were seemed to be just for me.

The first came from Elder Bednar: “Enduring to the end is linked inextricably to the spiritual gift of charity. Enduring to the end is not merely a relentless determination to grit our teeth, hold on to the limits of our physical strength and mental capacity, and push through the challenges and adversities of mortal life; it is so much more than that. Enduring to the end is the joyous quest of a lifetime—a pressing forward with faith in Jesus Christ in a gradual process of trusting in and receiving help from our Savior to become more like Him. As our love for Him grows ever stronger and deeper, we can be blessed to receive spiritual perspective, the Lord’s empowering grace, and exceedingly great and indescribable joy.” In other words, as we endure to the end, we should be using the time and experiences to possess charity, or as Elder Bednar stated, to allow charity to possess us.

The second statement that resonated with me came from Elder Christopherson, which, interestingly enough, came from a talk by Elder Bednar. You may remember the story of the horrific car crash involving young women in Arkansas while Elder Bednar was serving as stake president. One mother who had just learned of the death of her own daughter from that car crash, calmly and deliberately insisted that they get in contact with the mothers of the two other girls who were then in the hospital as a result of that same accident. Elder Bednar said, “there was no self-pity; … there was no turning inward. The Christlike character of this devoted woman was manifested in her immediate and almost instinctive turning outward to attend to the needs of other suffering mothers.” It is easy when we are facing difficult situations to turn inward. The spirit immediately whispered to me that I had been turning inward in my role as an IFR. The counsel to turn outward was like the soothing balm of Gilead. It felt like he retold that story for me.

I then went back to Elder Bednar’s talk about enduring to the end (from which the first quote originated) and found this reinforcing comment, which I missed entirely while listening at the time. “The Redeemer of the world turned outward in love and service when He faced spiritual adversity or physical pain—in contrast to the natural man in each of us that turns inward in self-interest, self-centeredness, and selfishness.”

One more thing I will mention from Conference. Elder Thabo Lebethoa is one of the new General Authority Seventies called during the Conference. Elder Lebethoa has been serving as the Director of Temporal Affairs here in the Africa South Area. He has been a great DTA and will be an even more wonderful General Authority! His wife Andronica and LaDawn have become good friends as they have been serving together on the same Wednesday morning temple shift.

We love the influence that General Conference has in our lives!

At end of April, the Africa South Area held the twice-yearly mission leader seminar. This time it was held here in Johannesburg at the Melrose Arch Marriott. The hotel is only about 10 minutes away, so we went in the mornings and came back and slept in our own beds at night. We always love being with the amazing Area Presidency and these fabulous Mission Leaders who serve in the Africa South Area.

On Thursday, Elder Sikahema kicked off the seminar with a report on the Africa South Area against the Area goals. It is an impressive story of hard work and inspired leadership. Mission Leaders who had been assigned previously then led discussions from Preach My Gospel on the following topics:

• Fulfill Your Missionary Purpose and Understand the Doctrine of Baptism
• Your purpose and Accomplishing the Work through Goals and Plans
• Your Purpose on Helping People Attend Sacrament Meeting and Teaching with Members
• Your Purpose in Finding People to Teach
• Using Your Mission Leadership Council to help Missionaries Fulfill Their Purpose

Daniel Lewis who is the outgoing Africa South Area Mission Specialist from Salt Lake, spent some time near the end of the day talking about Africa South Missions’ Best Practices. He spoke about finding by the Spirit and having multiple lines in the water in our finding efforts. He reinforced the importance of inviting those we teach to come to Sacrament Meeting the very first time we meet. He discussed inviting the friends we are teaching to be baptized very early in teaching the lessons. He finished by sharing a quote from Elder Uchtdorf: “It is their choices, not just their abilities, that show who they [missionaries] truly are.”

On Friday, Elder Godoy spoke about Missionary Self-Reliance after they complete their missions. This is a significant area of focus for the entire Area Presidency, and Elder Godoy has been especially involved in helping YSA returned missionaries find a way to provide for themselves and a family after they return home. After all, in order for them to be integral to building the kingdom, they need to find a way to support themselves and a future family. An important part of that is learning English for those from Mozambique, Angola, and Madagascar and improving English skills for all the rest of the Africa South countries. Helping missionaries to understand the resources that are available to them when they return home (e.g., Gathering Places, Resource Centers, BYU Pathway Connect, My Plan Mentors, Self-reliance classes, Perpetual Education Fund, English Connect, etc) is an important centerpiece of this effort.

Elder Silva then spoke about Raising the Bar when transitioning to New Mission Leaders. It is nearly always inevitable that the performance of a mission dips when new Mission Leaders arrive as they begin the learning process for themselves. This does not have to be. With 5 new Mission Leaders replacing outgoing leaders and 5 new missions, the Area Presidency has committed to visit each of these ten Mission Leaders in their missions within the first month of being infield. An impressive commitment to ensure the Area continues the same level of growth!

Elder and Sister Lebethoa then had an opportunity to talk about “The Africa We Love”. We really loved their presentation and it reinforced for us the same reasons why we love Africa as well.

Friday night all of the Mission Leaders attended a show put on by the Living Legends from BYU. When I was a student at BYU, they were called the Lamanite Generation, but with time the name changed as there were fewer native Indians attending BYU and more and more students from places like Tonga, Hawaii, and New Zealand. The show was all dancing and the performers did a great job.

On Saturday morning the Area Presidency and all of the Mission Leaders met with the Area Seventies and Organizational Leaders in the Africa South Area where there was a discussion on the training needs of the Area. Elder Lebethoa explained with the current growth in the Area, there are over 800 new leaders called every year. 160 of these are stake presidents, district presidents, bishops, and branch presidents. The other 640 represent the new leaders called by those 160. It is is a huge training task. The Area Presidency laid out a plan and a schedule broken into four quadrants: 1) Doctrinal Foundation (Handbook sections 4.2 and 4.4). 2) Church Organization (Handbook sections 6.5, 6.6, 8, and 9). 3) God’s Work of Salvation and Exaltation – Living the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Caring for those in Need (Handbook section 22.1), Inviting All to Receive the Gospel. 4) Church Administration (Handbook section 29.1). A one year plan was then presented showing who will be responsible for leading the training of these four quadrants, plus who the audience is and when they will be trained. It is an aggressive and impressive plan. We stand in awe of our Area Presidency!

The last few months have brought some new miracles and challenges. I will just list a few of them here:

• Sister Ranampizafy from Madagascar who came here for cancer treatment is doing great and will be returning to a temporary mission next week while she awaits her visa back to the USA. This is nothing short of a miracle. She was able to walk 6 miles a day for 6 consecutive days recently after being treated for an operable cancer tumor on her leg.
• Two missionaries in one of our South Africa missions drove over an hour away to a township where they were teaching several families. Despite being warned of the weather, they waited too long to return and hit a raging rainstorm. When they crossed a “bridge” as it was getting dark they drove through what they thought was a puddle of water, but ended up being fast moving flash flood waters. The elders and the car were swept off the bridge and into the then raging river. They somehow managed to escape through the passenger side window and make it safely to land. After three hours of trudging through flooded fields they found a house whose inhabitants called the police to come and retrieve them. It was a miracle neither of them drowned or even seriously hurt. The car was not so lucky as it has still not been recovered. The angels were busy that day!
• A wonderful young man from Zambia contracted malaria and despite excellent care and what appeared to a sure fire recovery suddenly passed away. This was devastating for the mission leaders, the missionaries who knew him, his family, and Church leaders all the way up to the First Presidency. The way this whole matter was handled was inspired and dignified. What a tragic loss to us on this side of the veil and what a marvelous gain to those on the other side.
• On May 15th, a new outbreak of Ebola was announced in the Eastern DR Congo. This is a variant of earlier outbreaks and is caused by the Bundibugyo virus. It has been a challenging period of time for the people in the Ituri Province. Bunia is at the epicenter of the outbreak and yet there has been no report of a loss of life in the Church’s Bunia branch. We have other branches along the border of DRC with Rwanda and Burundi. Goma, Bukuvu, Uvira. We are grateful our members have been protected. This virus is often spread through traditional funeral rites and of course through contact with body fluids of those with the disease. The 19 cases in Uganda are a direct result of two individuals who traveled to Kampala before the outbreak was declared. Fortunately those cases have been confined and are no longer spreading. Outside of Kampala (the cases are quarantined in a hospital), the closest we have missionaries is at least 150 km from the outbreak. We are grateful for the care, expertise, and resources government agencies, including the World Health Organization have brought to this fight. There is a long way to go, but progress is being made.

On June 3rd, Elder Kevin and Sister Ann Loveland arrived in Johannesburg. We spent 8 wonderful days together training and reviewing the work of an IFR. Kevin and Ann are now serving in Nairobi Kenya and I have already felt the impact of their presence. So much of the most challenging work occurs in the Africa Central Area (Ebola is just one example). I am grateful that the Lord inspired the IFR team in Salt Lake to contact the Loveland’s and that they felt inspired to accept the assignment in perhaps the most challenging Area of the Church. They are already a huge blessing to the Mission Leaders in Africa Central and are fast learning the ins and outs of the service we render to leaders as Infield Services Representatives for the Missionary Department.

Last week we met another one of our missionaries in the temple. Sister Mbedzi served with us for the first 6 months of our mission. She was outstanding then and continues to be a light to others now. She is hoping to move to Johannesburg and work at the Global Education Center for a few months. We would love to have her close enough to see her from time to time. She is a young woman of great promise! Just look at that smile and countenance!

And one more fun “coincidence”. It is not unusual for members of the Church of Latter-day Saints to make connections with members all over the world. Such was the case here in Johannesburg with Todd and Trina Chambers. They recently arrived and are serving as Church Family History specialists. Todd also loves to golf and so we are often found together early in the morning once or twice a week at Killarney Golf Club. I kept thinking that his wife Trina reminded me of a Trina that I knew at BYU. So one day I asked Todd about where Trina grew up and when she was at BYU. It was fun to make the connection that it was that Trina and her good friend Karen who sang at our wedding reception in 1978. It was so fun to show this picture to Todd and Trina and reminisce on that moment so many years ago.

The days and weeks continue to fly by. LaDawn continues to process increasing numbers of missionary applications from the Africa South Area. We now have 700 young men and young women with Mission Calls in the Africa South Area and another 992 in the Central Area. The growth is challenging and REWARDING. It is amazing to have a front row seat here in Africa to witness this unprecedented growth and strength as we continue Serving Together in South Africa as the Gathering of Israel continues!