“I Have Been Expecting This Noble Book”

Latter-day Saints from the United States had held small meetings in their homes in Cameroon as early as 1974; however, no Cameroonians attended those meetings. Around the same time, Cameroonians began learning about the Church and writing letters to the Church’s International Mission. In late 1979, Agbortabot Ako Moses of Mamfe was first introduced to the Church by a friend. Intrigued by what he heard, Ako wrote to the International Mission asking for additional information and to request the establishment of the Church in Cameroon.

“The letter was received by them,” Ako wrote later, “and a favorable response sent to me.” Included in the letter were the addresses of the mission presidents in Ghana and Nigeria and a promise that he would soon receive a copy of the Book of Mormon. When the book did not arrive, Ako wrote again, asking if another copy might be sent. “I think it has got lost on transit,” he wrote. “I have been expecting this noble book with much anxiety.” Shortly after, a copy arrived. “I am studying it very carefully and prayerfully,” he wrote. “I enjoy reading it much.”

Over the next 12 years, Ako wrote frequent letters to an ever-increasing circle of Church contacts outside Cameroon. Occasionally, he made long journeys to meet Church leaders on the border of Nigeria and Cameroon.

During this same period, many Cameroonians living abroad were introduced to the gospel and accepted baptism. Occasionally, these recent converts returned to Cameroon, where they continued to practice their new faith in their homes with the support of members abroad. In 1984, a group was organized in Yaoundé, and the Saints there began holding regular meetings.

Finally, in September 1991, Paul D. and Arlene Payne, senior missionaries in the Nigeria Lagos Mission, arrived in Yaoundé. On September 28, Ako received a phone call from the Paynes inviting him to attend a meeting there, nearly 800 kilometers (500 miles) away. “There, we had the first meeting and were appointed to posts of responsibility in the Church,” he recalled. Although he still had not been baptized, Ako gladly accepted the assignments and, to assist the missionaries in establishing themselves in Cameroon, frequently made the nearly 12-hour journey between Mamfe and Yaoundé, changing vehicles 16 times each way. On May 8, 1992, Ako was among the first local converts to be baptized.

In January 1993, a branch was organized in Yaoundé. However, the following year, missionaries were forced to leave the country when they were unable to obtain visas. Over the next several years, members continued to share the gospel with their neighbors, even as they faced significant challenges. In 2004, a second branch was established in Douala. A mission was created in Yaoundé in 2020.