One year mark! Travels from Sierra Leone to Portugal to London then to Ghana!

It was a memorable way to celebrate my one year on my mission traveling to all these places and the huge hotel and nice food. One year has gone by quick. On the plane they were wearing white gloves. I can't tell if they were trying to be fancy or they were scared of the ebola thing.   It will be interesting to serve my last year in Ghana. It's quiet different but not bad. Lodon is exactly like you think it would look.

From Sierra Leone to Portugal, over North Africa, the winds blow the dusts up into the clouds and you can see it. I thought it was pretty cool.

The mission in Portugal gave us super nice food and a nice hotel.

Look how nice the bathroom is! I felt like we were on the best vacation ever.

London airport with Elder Maughan and Elder Barlow. The last time we saw each other. 

Just thought I would take a quick break from missionary work and go to London for the weekend and get some Starbucks... nice to taste some food!

First time to have cheese in a year!

My first companion in Ghana, Elder Van Wagoner.

Evacuation from Sierra Leone and reassigned to Ghana, Accra mission: "I want to go back to Seirra Leone, but I will serve here the best that I can"

Hello family, friends and everyone else who wants to know about Ebola stuff.

So, I will try to tell you everything that has happened regarding Ebola and our steps of action and movements. I have been too busy and exhausted to be able to write this stuff in my journal, so I guess this is my journal for the week.The first news of Ebola came when I was with Elder Bogh about 4 1/2 months ago, whatever month that was. It was first reported in Guinea. Even though it was very far away the mission made big changes to how we work. A few changes included: no shaking hands, no eating street food (anything that was not packaged), no touching animals, couldn't go into a house where a sick person was, no attending funerals, no giving blessing to anyone but sick missionaries, we had to clean our counters and bathrooms with bleach water everyday. We also had to buy food storage. Our food storage consisted of baked beans, mixed vegetables, a bag of rice, tomato tins, oil, salt, and a few other spices. There was food to make stew for a bout a 3 weeks. Water was no problem because we had a well. Most of the members laughed at us or wouldn't take us serious when we would only bind them (fist bump). Investigators and members would be offended when we would turn down meals they had prepared for us.

Little did Cody know that his recent zone conference would be his last in Sierra Leone. You can find him pictured right in the middle.

In the back ground you can see the missionaries bind (fist pump) rather than shake hands because of ebola.

Cody enjoying his last zone conference in Sierra Leone.

So that lasted about 6 weeks or so, then the mission realized that Ebola was far away and few of the restrctions were taken away: we could shake peoples hands, we could eat from the street again and from members, but all the other rules stayed the same.

Over the weeks, rumors would come up, some that I believe and some that are false. The ones that I believed is that there were cases of Ebola that were not being reported, they were handled under the table, and hospitals would keep it all a secret. Cases all over the country being hid because of fear of the country reacting in chaos. Those cases progressed with time thats why now a big out break, because everyone was denying that it was actually in the country and nothing was being reported, and no action to stop it either. Most people believed that the government was lying about Ebola so that they could make money. Most Sierra Leonians don't like the government because it is so currupt. So no one trusted what the government was saying. There are some really whaky rumors that I wont share, but just know that most did not believe it was there and thats why it got so bad.

So all of that went on while I was with Elder Latu.

While I was with Elder Zenovieff, at the beginning of the transfer, there was reported cases of Ebola in a place called Kailoun district in Sierra Leone, its right next to Guinea. So that is where it had entered into the country. Kenema is the next big city  from Kailou and that is the farthest away that we have missionaries, was in Kenema. Around week four of last 6 week transfer, we got news that all the missionaries in Kenema were being taken out, and moved to all different parts of the mission. After talking with some missionaries who were in Kenema, they also know that Ebola had reached Kenema before the government had reported, once again it was kept a secret. The main reason that we were taken out of Kenema, was not because Kenema was swarming with Ebola, the mission was afraid of what the people would do. A senior couple stayed in Kenema for about another week and a half but the people in Kenema started to clash with the government a little because they were not doing anything to stop Ebola. Tear gas was flying a little.

So we continue with our work, kind of numbed to the thought of Ebola. Last week Monday, the night of the Muslim holiday, I got a call from the zone leaders that we were not to shake anyones hands and we were not to eat any food from the street. We didn't think much of it really, it had happened before. The next day was our zone conference, with Elder Viinson from the Seventy. Its was interesting to bind a seventy... haha! So, that day we were able to teach one lesson because of travel and Elder Vinson wanted to interview Elder Zenovieff. We got to see Osman Sankoh, luckily light (electricity) was there and we watched  a movie about the Saints after the Restoration of the church, and I gave him a hymn book and a triple combo (book of mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price.) It was a sweet lesson because his family was there watching too. When light is on, everyone is inside watching films.

The next day was p-day (wednesday) because of the hiliday on Monday. So we had our p-day like normal. Thurday we do our weekly planning, that will usually take from 10:30am until 1:00pm to complete and after we had lunch until 2:0pm. After lunch we scrambled to get to lessons, because of how few lessons we had that week. As we reached our first appointment I got a call from the zone leaders to get back to our apartments immediately, and to tell all the other people in the district. We walked casually like nothing was wrong and called all the people in the apartment and everyone was back to the apartment in a half hour(walking takes some time.) So I pulled out my Uno cards to get everyones minds off of Ebola and being in the apartment. Uno worked pretty good. About an hour later Elder Bough (one of my zoneleaders) called me, and asked if we still had food storage to last us 4 or five days. He said that we could go out one last time to buy anything we need. So Elder Zenovieff and I went and bought things like milk powder, corn flakes, onions, eggs and toilet paper, and other stuff we thought that we would like while we stayed in the apartment for 4 days.

We returned to the apartment and settled in, got everything organized and ready for the next few days. We had heard that the government said for everyone to stay in their homes, so the mission told us to do it also. By this time its now dark, and we just go on with our evening as usual.. the only problem we had was that our generator was broken and light doesn't come very often. So we couldn't charge our phones, and that would mean that we would lose contact with the mission. So we called to have it fixed and luckily we did get it fixed the next day.

Friday was really interesting, it was the first full day in the apartment. We continued with the schedule, we studied in the mornings and dressed up. After studies, we didnt really know what to do. Some worked out, some slept. The apartment was so clean, because everyone became bored and started cleaning. We cooked, we ate... we played uno for hours, but staying inside was really hard. The hardest part is that we were not allowed to communicate to anyone except for mission leaders. Couldn't accept calls from investigators, couldn't talk to members or other missionaries. The day was long, but we managed.

Saturday was about the same, we started playing football in the house, I had eaten,I wrote a letter to Jeff and then laid down to take a nap. I kept the phone next to me just in case the zone leaders called to update us. Before I could fall asleep, I got a call, but it wasn't from the zone leaders, it was from President Ostler. He said to gather all the missionaries together in the apartment and put him on speaker phone. He told us that we would all be reassigned and talked to us about how it would happen and then told us individually where we were going. I was told Ghana, Accra. All the African elders returned to their countries to finish their missions there. Almost all the Americans  were shifted to different missions in Ghana. We were told that we would be leaving the next day (Sunday). So we started packing. We were allowed 2 bags. One could be 40 pounds and the other 20. So we had to leave behind a lot of stuff. I left a lot of shirts and books that I could get again. Saturday night I was to find transportation for 3 apartments, so I managed to get three podas. Sunday morning came and we left to the mission home. No one knew, we jsut disappeared all 170 missionaries came to the mission home to prepare for our flight to Ghana. 

                     Pres Ostler posted on Facebook a few pics of the guys leaving and packing …his comment : "Getting ready to leave means sorting through what you can get on the plane. Lots of packing  and repacking and lots of things having to be left behind.”

"We were allowed 2 bags. One could be 40 pounds and the other 20. So we had to leave behind a lot of stuff. I left a lot of shirts and books that I could get again."

Missionaries leaving lots of things behind. I love how there is a teddy bear.... lets just hope that was coming from one of the sister missionaries!! *wink

Pres. Ostler's Facebook post: "Moving out - Here is one wave of our reassigned missionaries leaving for a charter to Portugal. We hired a fleet of Poodas, stuffed missionaries and luggage in and hurried to take pictures and wish them good bye. Way to fast and early to say goodbye. Wonderful missionaries"

This is the first hotel we stayed at in Lungi

Ends up Ghana didn't want to accept a flight from Sierra Leone because of Ebola. So we were delayed. In the evening we were able to get a flight for all the people without an African passport to Portugal (Portugal was willing to take the missionaries in exchange for them to use there emgerency respond team to practice on the missionaries coming into their country). We ended up staying in a hotel that night because the flight hadn't come yet. 6 missionaries to a room, one bed, and 5 slices of bread and peanut butter to last two days. Luckily there was food at the restaraunt that I bought. Monday was declared by the government as a stay at home day, so we couldn't fly out. So we went from being stuck in our apartments to being stuck in a hotel.

5 of the 6 elders enjoying a very nice and comfy hotel bed (I'm kind of thinking 5 elders sleeping in one bed together might be breaking some rules - but I can't blame them for taking the opportunity to savor a moment on a really nice mattress that they haven't enjoyed in many months). I guess they thought it was funny that the hotel would provide champagne in their room with 6 mormon missionaries so they had to include it in their photo.

Tuesday morning we finally got out of the hotel and had a chartered flight come and pick us up, with a ton of doctors to test us for different symptoms of Ebola. If we were sick we wouldnt fly.

This is not Cody but Cody taking a picture of one of the other elders as they are leaving Sierra Leone and boarding a bus for the chartered flight to Portugal.

We went to Portugal and was escorted by the police to a hall where the top person in charge of health talked to us and welcomed us. The mission in Portugal helped us get a hotel and travel. Man Portugal is sooooo nice, but it was a culture shock.  First world countries are terrible. The way people dress is crazy. Everyone is looking for things that don't make them happy. I am glad that I am back in Africa. Portugal was weird. Only 2 missionaries stayed in each room and the mission got us something  like a Subway sandwich each. It was hard to adjust ... when we got to the hotel the mission president told us that many of us got another re-assignment. Everyone, except my MTC group went to the U.S. So about 10 of us stayed in Ghana.


There are 3 elders from my mission who are coming to the Irvine mission. Elder Losee, Elder Ray, and Elder Maxfield. So look for them...

We have been able to meet two of the 3 elders that were evacuated from Sierra Leone and are now serving here in the California Irvine mission. Elder Losee above and Elder Maxfield below. It was really fun to meet them and hear more about Sierra Leone and the evacuation story. They both have wonderful Krio accents...hope Cody doesn't loose his before he comes home. Hoping to meet Elder Ray soon. 

The next day after 3 hours of sleep we went to London and connected to Ghana. Met my new mission president  and relaxing and getting my clothes clean and buying some things and preparing to go to the field. Ghana is soooooo nice. Everything works, the roads, the light is here (electricity), its quiet, people speak English... no more Krio is weird. I just have an instinct to speak Krio to black people. Even in London hahah... so it will take some adjusting too.


I want to go back to Seirra Leone, but I will serve here the best that I can. At Christmas we can talk more about this or email me questions. I am okay I guess, just tired.

Love Elder Beckett...

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OFFICIAL STATEMENT —  6 AUGUST 2014

Missionaries Serving in Two

African Nations are Reassigned

SALT LAKE CITY — 

UPDATE (6 August 2014 at 3:00 p.m. MDT):

All missionaries have safely departed from Sierra Leone and Liberia, and have been reassigned to other locations. Missionaries will be traveling to their new assignments over the next few days. When they arrive they will call their families to update them. All missionaries are safe and in good health.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a strong presence in Liberia and Sierra Leone, where thousands of our members continue to live, worship and serve. The Church, through its humanitarian programs and partners, is in the process of assessing needs and considering how to best support relief efforts to its members and the people of these countries.

——————————————————————————————

Missionaries Serving in Two African Nations are Reassigned (1 August 2014 at 4:00 p.m. MDT)

Due to the outbreak of illness related to the Ebola virus, as a precautionary measure, all missionaries serving in the African nations of Sierra Leone and Liberia are in the process of being transferred out of these countries and reassigned to other missions. Ensuring the health and safety of our missionaries is our top priority. In recent weeks measures have been taken to reduce risk to missionaries, including asking them to remain in their apartments. To date, there are no reports of illness among the missionaries. Families are being notified as the missionaries arrive in their new assignments. This is a very challenging situation for the missionaries, members and citizens of these countries, and like other organizations, we are taking every practical step to reduce risk.

When you leave an area, you are likely to never see these people again in your life, so its not easy!

So first to answer all of your questions. Yes we can get cold water if we buy it but its hard to come across ice. Yes, you spell it Dramadri for those scriptures for the Elder. Yeah we only have 2 elders in our mission from Zambia... pretty interesting people too!

Its crazy to think that so many people from home are coming and going on missions. It goes so fast too. All the days seem to blend into one!

On an exchange with Elder itomo, we went to a service project in someone's house. We were making the floor level. He's a sweet guy from Nigeria!

Found this guy crawling around at a service project.. tasty too :-) ...haha, just kidding!!

Another sunrise in Salone

So I guess its strange to email you on a Wednesday. We had a national holiday here on Monday so the internet cafe was not open and the shops all closed. Its called prayer day (Ramadan). All the muslims go to the mosque to pray one last time while fasting. They fast for 30 days (they can eat after 7pm until sunrise). So we taught a lot of people about prayer and we also watched a few  church restoration films. Usually we can't watch films because there isn't any light (electricity) but because it was prayer day, the electricity was turned on and everyone had light. It was actually a problem. I have never had to ask a person to turn off the TV to start a lesson. The TV's are really distracting. I am not used to having them around. I would not do well in the US where everywhere you go is something distracting to look at... hahah it was an interesting day! You could hardly find people in the street because everyone was inside watching films.

Elder Vinson from the quorum of the 70's came and talked to us yesterday, that was super sweet, he's from Australia.

After the service project, they gave us a lot of food. Even though 8 of us ate, we couldn't finish it!

Elder Zenovieff and I in the bush after some home teaching

We went visiting teaching with Sister Turray. She is one of my favorite members in Wellington. She always gives us food, when her own family struggles to eat.

Next week I should be transferred, I have been here a really long, so we will see where I'm going next. Hopefully not too far, I like this place. Also, when you leave an area, you are likely to never see these people again in your life, so its not easy!

Well I have long life and well body.

Elder Beckett

Ebola Update

Recipients:

Sierra Leone Freetown Mission

28 Jul 2014

President Ostler

Dear Elders and Sisters,

The outbreak of Ebola continues. I appreciate your prayers for the people affected, for Kenema where it continues to spread and asking the Lord to stop it spreading to other areas in Sierra Leone.

Here are some things we know:

- The survival rate for the outbreak is substantially higher when people receive early treatment. Overall the survival rate is 50%. For those who receive early treatment it is about 70%. Helping people to trust the health care system and get looked at early with symptoms increases survival.

- The US embassy conducted a briefing on Thursday which our couples attended. They were briefed by senior US and Sierra Leonean medical experts. They confirm that our precautions are the right precautions. They also confirmed that although there are a few cases in Freetown and Bo, these people were all infected in eastern Sierra Leone. There still is no person to person transmission in Freetown, Bo or Makeni.

- It is widely reported that there was a case in Freetown of a woman who was at a local hospital whose family took her from the hospital. She has since been found, but later passed away reportedly as an Ebola victim

- Kenema continues to have new cases and some civil unrest. The Jests have been relocated to Freetown as a precaution. One of our members in Kenema died from Ebola last week. The lead doctor in Kenema has contracted Ebola and is receiving treatment.

- There was a case where a Liberian flew to Lagos and collapsed upon arrival in Lagos and has since died from Ebola. He contracted it in Liberia. Airlines are now monitoring health of passengers. There are travel restrictions other than checking whether travelers are in good health.

- Our humanitarian couple is providing general church relief to the government and to the members in Kenema.

- We have called 14 full time branch missionaries from Kenema to serve in Kenema. They will serve for several months and are staying in our apartment and following the missionary schedule, missionary rules and will help the work continue to progress in Kenema. The 7 senior companions are all returned missionaries, so we expect that the work in Kenema will continue effectively.

We continue to monitor to ensure our missionaries are safe. We pray that you will continue to follow the guidelines which we have provided.

With Love,

President Ostler

I am planning on leaving my missionary library!

Hello Mom,

The river looks awesome! I expect Zac to barefoot for me, so tell him and get pics for me please. Who from our family is there?

Yeah I guess that I have really gotten used to this place, so nothing seems super shocking to me anymore but I will still try to share stuff with you about Sierra Leone. I have more pictures today too.

If you see Landon, Elder Mthembu was wondering how Elder Gold is doing. Its funny to see someone from South Africa that knew Elder Gold. 

So sweet to see people going on missions. When is Sam Chamberlin going and also when is Grant Hiltbrand going to Botswana? Ends up that Botswana and Namibia are in the same mission and I know a few people from Botswana and Namibia, so I want to send him something when they go home. 

This week we were doing a lot of finding in a part of the area I haven't really ever been in, so it was really nice. It kept me really motivated.

Brother Sankoh is still a boss! Man he is such a powerful and inspirational man. Its so sweet to see people grab so tightly to the gospel and gain so much knowledge about the church. He is answering peoples questions in the gospel principles class and every time we go to visit him he is reading his Book of Mormon. 

Brother Sankoh is still a boss!! I love this guy!

We have started teaching his wife and he wants to be sealed to his family. Ends up she has a word of wisdom problem, and that was one of the first things we taught her. She struggles to understand us a little bit, but I have seen the spirit teaching her so much. She has stopped some of her habits and says that she is thankful for a prophet to help her know that those things will harm us spiritually and physically. That family is so sweet. I am planning on leaving my missionary library with him, because you cant get those books here. I also want to give him a nice pair of scriptures  but I cant get them here. I want to know if you can send me the standard works for him with his name on them "Osman B. Sankoh". It would be a blessing that he would use his whole life. I love that guy.

Also if you could send another standard works I would love to give it to an Elder whose scriptures are falling apart, and can't afford new ones. Its that really sweet one that I love from Uganda. I have sent a few pics of him. I know it is kind of expensive, so I can pay you back in a year.

 Elder Dramadri, my body guard and my boss from Uganda!

Also with packages, to make sure that no one breaks into them, put duct tape on all the edges. They wont even try to get into it. Oh and when you do send a package, include something that I can give to converts like a "true to the faith" or a picture of the first presidency or a card with the articles of faith on them or anything that would be good to strengthen them. I got a package from Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Brent and Chad. Thank you guys so much! Those packages seem to come just when I need them.

Did I ever show you this guy? Jana would love it!!

Our area book got wet.

I changed the oil in our generator. Oh and an Ebola poster haha!!

Well we are doing good, enjoy the river.

Elder Beckett

I Love the Gospel and Sierra Leone!

Yeah, I seem to get sick just about every transfer. I don't really know what it is, there just isn't good sanitation here so  I guess that's the problem. More and more people are talking about ebola, it scares some of the missionaries, but a lot of the rumors here are not true. Kenama is now closed to missionaries, so the branches out there are doing missionary work on there own.

When we first heard about Ebola, we were not allowed to shake anybody's hands. So at church, members would think that it was weird that we wouldn't shake their hands but today when we go to church, you can hardly find a member to shake your hand. All we do is fist bump. haha!!

Im glad Zac is enjoying EFY... tell him a mission is like a long EFY!!. So sweet to hear about Jordan and Brandon (friends both leaving on missions soon). Almost all the guys are on mission now. So sweet!

Yeah the weather app you have is pretty correct. Yesterday, for the whole day it rained. It came down hard! You have never experienced rain until you come here.

The mission is changing so much here, all the leader that were here when I first came are now gone. It is like the mission is trying to figure out how to do everything. President Ostler has made some sweet changes to how missionary leadership works, so all the missionaries are more accountable for what they do.

I have been reading from the Teachings of Joseph Smith this week and it is amazing to read the words of the prophet of the restoration. I have no doubt that he was a prophet!

Also, I found out that there is Boy Scouts here. There is a scout camp about 30 min away from where I am. They have almost all the same stuff that we do. I have seen a few of them walking around and its fun to tell them I am a scout.

Well my perspective in life is changed every day, I love the gospel and Sierra Leone.

I will see you soon!

Baffling News! The Gospel Is Restored!

Wow, you had a wonderful week! All those pictures are so sweet, and the beach makes me miss home a bit. The 4th was nice, it was a standard day for us, but in the evening we ate a chocolate cake that Elder Zenovieff had. We put a lot of candles on top and lit it all on fire. Cake tasted really good. On Thursday I had a pretty high fever, so I had to come home early, but the week was good.

We made a cake for the 4th of July and put matches in the shape of an A on it... A for America!  I am very grateful for America! 

                                 So this is how I play the music that you sent me. It just plugs into the side.

         (*Note.. the candles sitting on the pamphlet - that's Cody's light when he doesn't have electricity or generator use)

Our makeshift gym

We are enjoying a free meal that a member gave to us.

Sometimes it's pretty funny and amusing to see the reaction people have when they hear that the gospel has been restored. It would be pretty shocking news to know that all a persons beliefs have just been blown out of the water and that they have been lost for so long. Some people totally reject the message, some are dumbfounded by it, others are so excited. This week we were teaching David, who was actually a former investigator that I was teaching when I first came to this area. We explained the restoration and the Book of Mormon, and as usual he had questions to try to figure out what all of this meant. It caused him great concern. Even in his prayer he told God that he was "baffled and confused". It just reminded me of the wonderful messages that we are bringing to people and the great importance that it has. I know its true because I have lived the gospel and have felt that it is something that does and will bless me and give me happiness. 

Oh and missionaries have been pulled out of Kenema (area in Sierra Leone) because of Ebola. I am far away but who knows what will happen. I am sure the missionaries are safe.

Love Elder Beckett