Zone Conference Notes

Friday, 29 November 2013, Chris's notes from Area Senior Couples Zone Conference,
Africa Southeast Area, Johannesburg, South Africa
Elder Carl Cook of the Seventy and Sister Cook spoke to us.

They first told us a story about the Kananga Stake up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Several years ago, a brother showed up at the church/mission offices in Kinshasa and identified himself as a member of the church and he wanted to pay the tithing for all the members in the Kananga area.  The mission president asked the brother where he was from.  After the brother explained, the mission president said that he didn’t even know we had members in that area.  “Oh yes, President, we have many members in that area.”  The mission president eventually was able to organize an official branch in the area.  The members had moved to this area to escape persecution from others so they could worship in peace.  The area is so remote, that the mission president could not send any full-time missionaries to the area.

Within a few years, there was a second branch and then a third.  There were still no full-time missionaries; limited priesthood contact from outside Kananga; and no church funds were sent to the area for buildings, budget, or welfare.  In May 2011, a stake was organized in Kananga.

Elder and Sister Cook attended the Kananga Stake Conference last month.  From the nearest airport, it took them two days of travel to reach the site of the stake conference.  The stake had rented an old movie theatre for the conference.  There was not enough room for the 2360 people who showed up (89% attendance).  The primary sat outside in a lean-to; well-mannered and reverent.  Many had arrived an hour early to the conference and so many of the children had been sitting there reverently before the meetings began.  There are currently 11 wards in the Kananga Stake.  They still have never had any full-time missionaries.  The missionary work is handled by the ward missionaries.  112 missionaries have served full-time missions from the Kananga area.  Only 12 have remained in the stake after their missions as the others have left for the big cities to receive a higher education.

At this stake conference, 49 prospective elders were sustained to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood.  22 brothers were sustained to become High Priests.  Elder Cook asked the Stake President how they handled the welfare in the stake.  The stake president responded that they have no welfare expenditures.  He responded that all the members have families to help them. [Their solution is reminiscent of the Church Handbook – which talks about family first].

Elder Cook went on to explain that the growth rate of the church in Africa is faster than we can build meetinghouses.  In Zimbabwe, the church is doubling every 3 years.  For our area (Southeast Africa Area) we will reach 250,000 members by 2016.  For our area, we expect to double our members in 8 years.

Elder Cook cited the talk from Elder Packer from the April 2000 conference; just after the new conference center was constructed.  Elder Packer told a story about a man who obtained a beautiful pearl.  He had a beautiful box built for the pearl.  As he showed others his treasure; more people commented on the box than on the pearl itself.  The man was very disappointed.  Elder Packer asked the Saints attending the conference to focus on the pearl (the messages of the conference) rather than the box (the new conference center).

Elder Cook then cited Mosiah 18:7.  The saints gathered at the waters of Mormon and were taught the gospel.  We do not need to build church buildings to feel the spirit and become converted.  In fact, a study conducted in our area showed that the growth of the ward or branch was not affected by whether a congregation met in a leased facility or a church owned building. v. 21: It is not how much we know, but what we “become”.

In the DR Congo, after the colonists left and they gained their independence, the land was divided up into parcels for the residents.  When the church attempts to acquire enough land to build a church, they must acquire between 15 to 20 contiguous parcels.  Title records are difficult to research and may not be reliable.  It can cost us up to $1 million to simply acquire land for a chapel and take years to conclude the transactions.  (The cost of the notary alone to certify the purchases is about $30,000.)  Once we build a chapel, we need 24/7 security for the property.  Because of squatter rights, if squatters move onto a property when it is not occupied, they immediately have legal rights.  The area of the Kananga Stake is in an area called the Kasai.  The Kasai has no building materials: no cement and no lumber.  Any materials must be shipped in and are very expensive.

In the Africa Southeast Area, we are trying to focus on the pearl and not the box.  We may no longer build American style meetinghouses; if we build, we will build meetinghouses suitable for the saints in that area.  Elder Cook was visiting a branch in Madagascar.   On Sunday, he observed that the attendance had far outgrown their member-built building.  He asked the branch president how we as a church could help the branch.  The branch president responded that all they needed was 30,000 bricks.  The members had already drawn up the plans and knew exactly how to expand their branch building to meet their needs.  Elder Cook said “I think we can do that.”  The members were willing and expecting to do all the labor themselves.  [Madagascar has an abundance of locally produced bricks.  So, the members’ request was a simple and inexpensive one.]

Elder Cook met with a branch president where the church built a new “American style” chapel.  After the chapel was built, the chapel was over-filled with investigators.  The branch president said they came to see what the “rich” church could do for them.  A few weeks later, the disappointed investigators stopped coming.  Sometimes the churches we build are “too rich” for the area.  Sometimes too much focus is given to the box, instead of the pearl as mentioned in Mosiah 18.

The Area Presidency met with Elder Perry and a President of the Seventy.  His council for our meetinghouse challenge was to “consider unique and even one of a kind solutions.”  The Church will entertain options other than building or renting.  Our 5 area meetinghouse goals (which have been approved) now include:

1) Adequately house the saints at the lowest necessary cost and present an image of reverence and dignity in the community (appropriate for the area).

2) Members should be able to get to the nearest building within 30 minutes (which for much of our area means “walking”.)

3) The ideal ward will have between 200 and 300 members with a sacrament meeting attendance of 100-125.

4) The ideal stake will have 6-8 units

5) Each stake will have 1 meetinghouse able to accommodate 170 in a meeting; other buildings will be rented or leased.

Elder Bednar recently visited our area.  He was very supportive of our area plans.  He commented and said, “Don’t complicate these people’s lives”.  Start right, keep it simple, and it’ll stay right.  We are trying to focus on the pearl and simplify the box.

We are excited for the growth of the Church in Africa.  The gospel blesses people’s lives; makes families whole, and helps us become converted sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.  I testify these things are true.