On 23 June 2024, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints created the new N’Zianouan branch, as part of the Abidjan West Mission District of the Church in Cote d’Ivoire. President R. Wade Litchfield and Sister London L. Litchfield, mission leaders in the Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan West mission, were in attendance. President Litchfield directed the creation of the new branch.
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N’Zianouan is a village in the Lagunes District, Agne-Trass Region of Cote d’Ivoire, and has a population of 13,000 people. It is located 130 kilometers from Abidjan.
Before the creation of the branch, members in this area met in a special group. Groups are small, authorized gatherings of members overseen by a Bishop, Branch President, or Mission Leader. The groups are authorized by the Area President and are usually created when member travel to a ward or branch is difficult.
Missionaries were first sent to N’Zianouan in June 2023 when there were just a few church members. In just one year, the growth of the church allowed for the creation of the new branch. 103 individuals attended the branch creation.
Accompanying President Litchfield was President Rabé Gomez Kipre, a counselor in the mission presidency, and Tié bi Zemblé Jean-Louis, President of the Tiasalé branch. President Tié Bi had previously overseen the N’Zianouan group.
Also attending were Elder and Sister Stotts from the Abidjan West Mission, and the missionaries serving in the branch, Elder Akunsah, Elder Nsilulu, and Elder Motshikana, and Elder Wood.
Called to serve as the first branch president of the N’Zianouan branch was N’dri Edouard Franck Sylvain. The counselors in the new branch are Yao Kouadio Kan Claude, and Ahomahou Jean Claude. Kouassi Konan Germain was called to serve as branch clerk.
Recently, a local building was remodeled into a chapel for the branch, with a separate building that had meeting rooms and an outdoor baptismal font.
President Litchfield said in his remarks “As much as today we celebrate this new meetinghouse and being able to gather as a newly formed branch, let us remember that the strength of the Church is not this building or any other building. As president Gordon B. Hinckley taught, the strength of the Church is found in the testimonies of its members. The miracle of N'Zianouan is not finished."
“What we have witnessed take place over the last 12 months in N’Zianouan is just one more miracle among the countless miracles that are a part of the restoration of the gospel in this last dispensation.”