“In this audio interview, BYU graduate Yeah Samake shares the story of his father’s vision for education which raised an entire family from hunger to prominence.  We’ll hear how his actions eliminating corruption as Mayor of a small town brought him to the attention of national leaders in Mali, and what he hopes to accomplish if elected President of Mali in April of 2012.  You’ll also learn what it’s like for brother and sister Samake and their children to be the only members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a country with a population which is 90% Muslim.”

See also http://ldsmag.com/church/update/article/9047?ac=1

“The beauty of the country is only exceeded by the beauty in the hearts of these gentle people which is then deeply enhanced as they learn to climb the path of the restored gospel of Christ.”

This is Part 2 of “The Real Elder Price and the Mormon Boys.” Read Part 1.

Disclaimer:  Obviously, The Book of Mormon Musical is intended to entertain, not to serve as a primer on Mormonism.  This series of essays is offered simply as a view of what missionary life is actually like for Mormon missionaries in Africa, not as a direct response to the musical—though there are a few responses.

Go to this link to read Part 2

Go to this link to read Part 3

Go to this link to read Part 4

Go to this link to read Part 5

Also here is another article related to the topic:

http://www.jweekly.com/blog/full/61975/comparing-broadways-mormon-hit-to-lds-missionary-reality/

For those of you in the southern California area: the Special Destiny fireside honoring Black Mormon pioneers will now have TWO performances on July 30, at 3:00 pm and again at 4:30 pm, at the Los Angeles Temple visitors center! I have seen this production, and it is EXCELLENT. The stories, the music, will uplift and enlighten everyone who is there. It was standing room only last year. Looks like we’re getting a new tradition in celebrating pioneer history.

For those around the country and globe, we’ve launched the full text of the presentation on the Blacks in the Scriptures website, under the Blacks in LDS History link.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW: http://blacksinthescriptures.com/latterday-saints/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/us/11beliefs.html

Go to this link to read about how Elijah Abel relates to this anniversary.

http://www.sistasinzion.com/2011/06/elijah-abel-black-mormon-pioneer.html

http://www.blacklds.org/i-am-a-mormon-videos

Also see the following link for other Mormons sharing personal experiences:

http://mormon.org/people/find/ethnicity/african-american/

“… As I reflected on all that time spent parodying this particular target, I also wondered what was really going on with Mormons in Africa during those same seven years.

So I checked.

•The World Health Organization estimates that 884 million people worldwide don’t have access to clean water. This is a huge problem in Africa, not only because of water-borne diseases but because kids who spend hours each day walking to and from the nearest well to fill old gasoline cans with water cannot attend school. According to church records, in the past seven years, more than four million Africans in 17 countries have gained access to clean drinking water through Mormon humanitarian efforts to sink or rehabilitate boreholes.

•More than 34,000 physically handicapped African kids now have wheelchairs through the same Mormon-sponsored humanitarian program. To see a legless child whose knuckles have become calloused through walking on his hands lifted into a wheelchair may be the best way to fully understand the liberation this brings.

•Millions of children, meanwhile, have now been vaccinated against killer diseases like measles as the church has sponsored or assisted with projects in 22 African countries.

•More than 126,000 Africans have had their sight restored or improved through Mormon partnership with African eye care professionals in providing training, equipment and supplies.

•Another 52,000 Africans have been trained to help newborns who otherwise would never take a first breath. Training in neonatal resuscitation has also been a big project for Mormons in Africa.

•Then, of course, there is the tragedy of AIDS. A couple of weeks ago I attended a dinner where the Utah AIDS Foundation honored James O. Mason, former United States Assistant Secretary of Health. When he was working for the Center for Disease Control in 1984, a project to research the epidemiology and treatment of AIDS was established at the Hospital Mama Yempo in Kinshasha, Zaire. After visiting the hospital and examining the children and adults with AIDS, Mason described the death rate and the associated infections from AIDS as “horrific.” Mason, a Mormon, knows quite a bit about AIDS and a great deal about Africa.

•None of this includes responses to multiple disasters, like the flooding in Niger, where the Church provided clothing, quits and hygiene items to 20,000 people in six inundated regions of the country.

Of course, parody isn’t reality, and it’s the very distortion that makes it appealing and often funny. The danger is not when people laugh but when they take it seriously – if they leave a theater believing that Mormons really do live in some kind of a surreal world of self-deception and illusion. …”

Mormon.org recently posted a new profile and video for Sheryl Garner: “I’m a social butterfly. I’m a mama’s girl. I love to dance. I’m an urban school teacher. And I’m a Mormon.”

“Last Laborer: Thoughts and Reflections of a Black Mormon” by Keith N. Hamilton, © 2011. For more information visit: www.lastlaborer.com or www.keithnhamilton.com. This book is the remarkable personal story of Keith Hamilton, who joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church) in 1980 while attending NCSU. Keith served a full-time LDS mission to Puerto Rico and Barbados and was the first black student to earn a law degree from J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. Keith has served as an LDS bishop, as the chair of the Utah Board of Pardons and Paroles (thus becoming Utah’s first black cabinet member), and co-chair of the Utah Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice System. He has also served on active duty as a judge advocate with the United States Navy in San Francisco, CA.

In addition to telling his own story of growing up in the Jim Crow south of the late 1950s and 1960s, where his grandfather was a Southern Baptist preacher, to his conversion to the LDS Church, to his life in state and church service, Keith also adds his thoughts on the history of the LDS Church’s policies toward blacks and the watershed revelation on priesthood in June, 1978 that extended the priesthood to all worthy males. If you have ever had questions about the Mormon Church’s doctrinal history regarding blacks or have wondered what an African-American convert’s experience in the Church may be like, then “Last Laborer” is a “must read” for you. This book will stimulate your mind, arouse your soul, and challenge your thoughts about blacks as a people and your beliefs about the Mormon Church as an institution with respect to God’s eternal plan for all His children.”