August in Nigeria

Dear all,

Life in the Nigeria Lagos Mission has been very busy.  With the arrival of our new mission president Penny and I have been kept hopping.  We have more work assigned to us, particularly Penny.  It seems that everything the president wants done he has Penny do it.  He relies on her for everything.  In fact he thinks, and rightly so, that Penny can do anything and everything.  As for me, the president has delegated much more authorization to make decisions and to be responsible to see that many of the mission functions really happen as they should.  I am happy he expresses such confidence in me and does not micromanage me, but it is a bit uncomfortable making some of the decisions I do.  Our mission is growing faster than we comfortably can accommodate the new missionaries.  Soon we will have over 200 missionaries.  We love the work and feel we are making a big difference.  The African people are really tuned into religion.  There are churches everywhere.  Most are very small storefront type churches; but there are many very large church buildings as well.  The pictures that you will see are a reflection of the religious spirit that is here.  Many of the businesses have names of religious significance, as well as names or slogans on their trucks.  We remain safe, but we have to be vigilant and monitor the safety directives.  Two of our missionaries were attacked in their apartment and beat up quite badly; just because they were Mormon.  This being said, for the most part, all missionaries are safe and receive no harm.  We are now in the rainy season and it rains almost every day for a few hours.  We enjoy the rain, but it makes it very difficult to navigate the mud and very large pot holes in the streets.

We send our love to all of you.  We so appreciate the prayers and encouragement for our well-being.  May the Lord bless all of you.

Our love to you all.

Elder and Sister Brown

This month's post includes pictures of signs found in Nigeria.

His Grace Hotel and Suites, Ibadan, Nigeria

Godliness Feed Mills, Ibadan, Nigeria

Picture of Christ on the back of a truck

Grass to Grace - on the back of a bus

House not for sale, beware of 419.  This is painted on many houses.

Don't urinate sign - see this all over Nigeria

God is Good motor company

Sign on back of pick up truck

Large outdoor billboard

Toilet, bath, urinary - at the beach 

Everyone's favorite clothing shop 

Government sign 

Let us go to a church, but which one?  What a conglomeration of signs!