Trip to Aba Temple

During the month of May we made our first trip to the Aba Nigeria Temple.  Last year we were not allowed to go to Aba because of the security risk but this year we were delighted to be cleared to go.  The temple is a beautiful oasis in the midst of some of the worst conditions we have seen.  It really is a beacon to the world here--but that has made it the target of a lot of "bad boys" here.  There has even been a plot to try and steal the angel Moroni as it is thought by some to be solid gold.  The church has built a beautiful property here and paved a wonderful road right up to the temple.  So--that compounds the problems with robberies and violence as the perpetrators can get in and out quickly.  The temple was actually closed for a few months because of the danger and just reopened not long before we came to Nigeria.
We were only allowed to fly in and be driven to the temple complex where we stayed in patron housing and did our trainng at the chapel on the temple grounds.  We were fortunate to be able to attend a session on Friday afternoon as our flight was delayed and we almost missed the last session.  It was a wonderful blessing to be able to feel the peace, comfort and familiarity of the temple. 
Enjoy the pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the leaders in one of  our training sessions--in a beautiful chapel on the grounds of the temple.


We were privileged to meet the very first PEF student in Nigeria, Ezihie Macauley and have a great visit with her--and hear her testimony of the PEF program and how it is blessing her life.

 

 

This is the ancilliary building on the temple grounds that houses the distribution centre and the patron housing.


The view of the temple out of our window at night.  Couple missionaries used to live here and work in the temple until they were taken out because of security a few years ago.  The temple presidency and workers are now all African.  We felt privileged to be able to worship with them.