WEATHER
“It is the rainy season in Amazonia now with rain daily,” mission president Roger Hoggan writes from Brazil. “The Brazilian people are wonderful and we love to see the Church grow in our mission. We fly to most of our zone conferences from Belem. The climate is less than desirable, the housing might be substandard, the food is average but the pay is incredible.”
He is counting blessings, of course, because missionaries and mission presidents pay their own way and receive no salary.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has 348 missions in more than 63 countries worldwide, averaging about 150 missionaries in each.
Missions are presided over by men and women of faith and impeccable character who were happily retired or gainfully employed in the prime of their lives before being called away from their professions, as Jesus called Peter and Andrew from their fishing nets.
These are highly capable, devoted, enthusiastic men and women with the capacity to inspire and powerfully motivate their missionaries, and they serve for three years without vacation.
There is an elderly couple in Utah who treat me like a son to this day. In 1964, as a young missionary, I was assigned by President C. Elmo Turner and Sister Lois Turner to live and serve with them in the mission headquarters at Curitiba, Brazil.
In their home, I learned true discipleship. When I arose at 6 each morning, President Turner was in his office, white shirt and tie, engaged in the Lord’s work.
When I retired at 10 p.m., he was often still at work. He, with his twin preteen sons and a bush pilot, would survive a small plane crash into a bamboo grove on a mountainside.
Sister Turner would survive an appendicitis attack and surgery while her husband was away on mission duties. It was not easy.
I love the Turners as my own parents and thank them for their example of selfless service.
Young missionaries typically spend three or four months in a city and then transfer to another, and their companion assignments change every two months or so.
Mission presidents seek inspiration in transfer assignments. In Porto Alegre, Brazil, last year, President Craig Earnshaw told me that companionships almost always consist of an American and a Brazilian missionary together.
On transfer day, everybody on transfer meets in the Porto Alegre bus station, where they learn their new assignments and companionships: “Elder Oliveira, you are called to serve in Pelotas. Your new companion is Elder Beck!”
Missionaries receive their assignment, say thank you, grab their bags, walk to the nearby ticket counter for their bus, and go.
President Earnshaw had done this for almost three years and said there had never been one question or complaint from any Elder or Sister the whole time. Not one.
“It is a miracle,” he said.
He interviewed each of his missionaries every two months, and the growth he saw in them was nothing short of marvelous.
President Kevin W. Pearson and his wife, June, left their home in Salt Lake City to preside over the Washington Tacoma Mission with some 190 missionaries spread from Eatonville to Forks, including 10 assigned in the Gig Harbor and Key Center area.
President Pearson expresses his love for these young men and women and is excited about the growth he sees in their lives during their two years of service.
Their days are filled with study, service and teaching.
“They teach by the Spirit, sharing experiences from their own lives, and are bringing people to Christ in great numbers,” he said.
From the Amazon to Puget Sound, the work goes forth boldly and nobly, thanks to these dedicated mission presidents.
Print
E-Mail