Many people in Africa are accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ whole-heartedly. In a recent visit to West Africa, Elder D. Todd Christofferson visited saints in Sierra Leon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Ghana. He even spent an evening with the President and First Lady of Freetown, Sierra Leon.
The first lady, Fatima Maada Bio, had visited with Elder Christofferson in Salt Lake City, Utah last October. At that time she toured Welfare Square. In Freetown, Bio said of her visit to Salt Lake, “I had a lasting, lasting impression of the kindness of you people, and I just couldn’t stop telling His Excellency about how you spoiled me rotten.”
Elder Christofferson thanked the first lady for hosting the 2025 Strengthening Families Conference which will be held in Freetown in June. The Conference is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is an international, interfaith event that brings in family experts and performers from around the globe. This will be the 7th year of the annual symposium.
The first lady is an advocate for peace. “I am a Muslim and he [President Bio] is a devoted Christian. We know the importance of religious tolerance and how it can bring harmony and understanding to the families of Sierra Leone.”
President and first lady Bio invited Elder Christofferson and his entourage to share a meal in their home. As an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, Elder Christofferson presented President Bio with a replica of the Christus statue and a copy of the Book of Mormon.
It was wonderful to read about Elder Christofferson’s visit to Africa, and even more wonderful to hear of President Bio and his first lady — two fine examples of peacemakers in their personal lives as well as their public lives. President Bio and first lady Fatima are wonderful examples for their country and for the world.
24 Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. 3 Ne. 18:24
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