A Time Not Soon to be Forgotten

It’s a big deal when an Apostle visits any country in Africa. On the weekend of February 14-16, 2025, Elder Renlund, and his wife a long with the Second Counselor in the Area South Area Presidency, visited Lusaka, Zambia for a country-wide stake conference. We made the trip from Johannesburg to Lusaka to document this visit. 

On Our Way to the Conference via South African Airways

But First a Short Story About – My Nearly Unscheduled Visit to Lusaka – 55 years ago.

Serving in a country as a senior couple, many of the things that I see or think about often triggers memories from experiences that I had as a young missionary during my first mission in Southern Africa decades ago.

When I think of Lusaka today, it is not only in the context of Lusaka being the capital city of Zambia but when I was nearly arrested in Zambia as a young – very, very stupid missionary – and when I was almost given an all-expense paid trip to Lusaka. 

Here is that story….I was a district leader in what was then Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe). I had requested permission from our Mission President to take my district to visit Victoria Falls which was about an eleven hour drive. Victoria Falls is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. We made the trip from Salisbury to Victoria Falls and camped out in our sleeping bags near the “falls” after arriving late in the evening. 

Early the next day, I got up early and walked to the bridge that spanned the falls over the Zambezi River from Rhodesia to Zambia. Before walking onto the bridge, I had to surrender my passport to the guards at the entrance to the bridge. 

Now for a bit of context. In the early 1970s Rhodesia was a white ruled country and Zambia was black ruled. Zambia was given independent nation status in 1964 when England granted Zambia its independence. To say that there was no love lost between these two countries at the time is not an understatement. 

After surrendering my passport, I walked out on to the bridge with my camera eager to get a few good pictures because Victoria Falls is truly a wonder and sight to behold. 

In the middle of the bridge there was a white line. When I arrived at the white line, the side I was standing on was Rhodesia. If I walked across that white line, I was entering Zambia without a passport. 

Being a very stupid 20-year-old at the time, I decided to just walk across the line into Zambia to get a better angle for my pictures. As I was standing on the bridge (now in Zambia) taking pictures, I felt a tap on my shoulder. When I turned around, I was greeted by two Zambian soldiers with AK 47-like assault rifles hanging on their shoulders. They escorted me off of the bridge and put me into a small building near the guard shack near the entry point onto the bridge. 

As I sat there, I was thinking to myself that this is all so ridiculous, I overheard a telephone conversation that was all about me. The discussion was about if they should transport me to Lusaka. They apparently assumed that I was a white Rhodesian and that they needed to send me to Lusaka for detainment. After nearly an hour of sitting in this building, I realized that I had made a huge mistake. 

About this time, an official looking soldier with a lot of ribbons on the chest of his uniform entered the room. Because of this ribbons on this uniform,I figured he must be a general or something. As he began to question me and learned that I was an American, his demeanor changed and smiling he said, “An American – you have an embassy in Lusaka!”  

After I shared this piece of information, the general commanded the other two soldiers to call the Rhodesian guards and I was marched out on to the bridge to meet the two Rhodesian soldiers at the white line. After the Rhodesian soldiers gave my passport to the Zambian guards and they examined it to verify that I was indeed an American, the exchange took place. As I stepped across that white line back into Rhodesia, at that moment I was never so grateful for my American citizenship. 

As we flew to Zambia, this memory was triggered and I couldn’t help but think about my nearly fully all expense paid trip to Lusaka.

Marcia Meets Mandela

Leaving Johannesburg for Zambia, Marcia meets Nelson Mandela

Arriving in Lusaka, Zambia

After landing at the Lusaka International Airport and after getting our rental car, we passed some kids on their way home from school. These kids were basically in the middle of nowhere.

I couldn’t help but reflect of how parents in the US often drive their kids to school that is only a relatively short distance from their home and then they pick their kids up again after school. As we drove by these kids, they were basically in the middle of nowhere happily walking home from school. How different things are in other countries of the world.

Members Arriving at the Conference

After arriving at the conference facility, we watched buses dropping members off. There is something special about seeing several thousand Latter-day Saints, many having traveled great distances which often included overnight travel to attend the conference, arriving with great anticipation of the meeting they were about to attend.

Members arrive from all over Zambia by Bus

The enthusiasm of these faithful saints that were so excited to see and listen to an Apostle of Jesus Christ is a humbling experience because living in the US many of us have the opportunity to go to Salt Lake City twice a year and sit in the Conference Center where all of the twelve of the apostles and the first presidency are in attendance and hear them speak. 

If we don’t attend General Conference in person, we can watch it on TV. In Zambia, and in other African countries, there is limited internet service and data for phones is too expensive to stream to watch General Conference. Where there is a meeting house, this is an option but not all meetinghouses have internet service to be able to watch conference live or by delayed broadcast.

Since there is not a church building large enough to host a conference of this size, a conference center was rented to accommodate the thousands that attended.

For most of these faithful African saints, this meeting is a once in a lifetime experience. 

Before the Conference Started

Before the conference started people began filing in and grabbing seats while they were still available .

The Conference Messages

The conference messages that were shared were:

President Ngqabutho F. Moyo, the mission leader for the Zambia Lusaka Mission, spoke about endurance and the will to go forth in faith against all odds, the four things you can do to overcome financial challenges, the importance of the temple, and an invitation to endure to the end. Then he challenged the Zambian saints to “awake and arise” and go forth in faith because God loves you and will bless you. Next, Elder and Sister Sikahema, who serves as the second counselor in the Area Presidency, addressed the saints. Sister Sikahema spoke about God’s love for all of us regardless of our circumstances because we are the spirit children of Heavenly Father. She also talked about her parents and how they taught her to love nature on the Hawaiian islands. She is Hawaiian.

In his comments, Elder Sikahema commended the saints on the way they looked and recounted the first time he saw an apostle. This was in 1968 when the first Tonga stake was organized by two apostles – Elders Hunter and Monson. He shared that there were six thousands Tongans from thirty-five islands in attendance at this open air meeting.

While in Tonga, the apostles meet the king of Tonga. His mother told him that he will never be a king but someday that he will hold the same priesthood that these two apostles have. The memory of seeing the apostles and his mother’s words are still vivid memories for him.

Since Elder Sikahema played football at BYU and was drafted into the NFL, he relates several experiences where he started to drift away from the gospel but the gravitational pull of the Church kept him in the gospel orbit. He told the audience that we are all prodigals in one way or another and to always remember that God loves us no matter what we have done.

Sister Renlund, the wife of apostle Renlund, spoke about the five years they lived in Johannesburg when they served in the Area Presidency in the Africa South Area. She shared when they were called to serve in Africa her husband was a cardiologist and heart surgeon and she a practicing attorney. She shared how difficult it was to give up careers that they loved. Nevertheless, they did so willingly.

She then related a story of a safari they took in Botswana. Their guide told them that they needed to follow three rules. 1. Stay in the vehicle. 2. Be quiet, 3. Be still. The guide explained that the lions and other animals see vehicles and its occupants as one large object and will not attack or threaten a large object.

When the vehicle got close to some lions, she couldn’t quite see these majestic animals very well. She broke rule number one and stood up. The guide grabbed her pulled her down explaining that rules aren’t created to limit you but to protect you and if she didn’t want to become lunch for the lions she needed to keep the rules.

She used this experiences as an object lesson and counseled why everyone needs to keep commandments because the commandments are there to protect you, not to limit you.

After Sister Renlund finished her comments, Elder Renlund spoke for nearly twenty-five minutes about how he is not special but whom he serves is. He then talked about the hymn “How Firm a Foundation” and how his dad was a contractor. He shared how he worked for his dad and was often tasked with digging a trench for the foundation of a building that his dad was building. His father was always insistent that that he do his job precisely right because if the foundation isn’t done right, the building will have problems in the future. He went on to talk about five foundational principles:

1. Know who you are. He related knowing who you are to the movie the Lion King and how Simba needed to learn who he really was – a king. We need to know that we to are kings in Heavenly Father eyes.
2. The importance of Jesus Christ in our lives and why we should never miss the opportunity in taking the sacrament so our sins can be washed away each time we partake of the sacrament.
3. Prayers about the truthfulness of the gospel can be answered. He then shared how his prayers were answered on the gospel’s truthfulness. You can have your prayers answered as well.
4. We are commanded to love one another. Elder Renlund shared how in 1994 there was a genocide happening in Rwanda where in ninety-days over nine hundred thousand people were killed because of tribal differences. Today the Church is growing and strong and the different tribes are co-existing. Love can overcomes all.
5. It is not how good you are but how willing you are to become good. God helps the willing.

Elder Renlund ended his comments with a story about how Satan can easily deceive you if you stop learning and serving. He shared the story of Brother Woolley who joined the Church in the 1830s. After making the trip across the plains, Brother Woolley was made a bishop in Salt Lake City and helped build one of the first meetinghouses in the Utah territory.

There was a time when Bishop Woolley had a difference of opinion with President Brigham Young. President Young publicly criticized him in a conference of the Church. After the meeting, as the two men shook hands, President Young said to Bishop Woolley, “I suppose now you are going to apostatize from the Church.”

Bishop Woolly replied, “If it was your Church I might, but it is not your Church it is Christ’s Church.”

Bishop Woolley remained faithful his entire life and one of his direct descendent was Spencer Woolley Kimball who became the President of the Church in the 1980s. Elder Renlund then counseled everyone to live the commandments so you can have the Holy Ghost guide you in all of the challenges and decisions you will need to make in your life.

Everyone was spiritually well fed during this conference.

Even the children came – some were more attentive than others.

After the Conference

Elder Renlund, and the rest of those that spoke in the conference, took time to shake everyone’s hand that were in attendance – which was a lot of people. The line to meet an apostle and shake his hand was long and the line seemed to replenish itself when the line seemed about to end. The handshaking went on for a long time.

Elder Renlund and other speakers probably got hand cramps after shaking so many hands.

Not Wanting to Leave

People really didn’t want to leave the conference and stayed around for a long time to enjoy the moment.

A group of African sister missionaries serving in Zambia from countries all over Africa

Former and currently serving missionaries meet up at the conference.

Colorfully dressed sister missionaries.

Former missionary companions now graduated from college and established in their careers reconnect.

Members meeting old friends and making new ones after the conference.

Sister Storm with some young adults after the conference.

Elder Storm with the first District and Stake President in Zambia and his wife.

As I walking out of the conference center, there was a Zebra just causally strolling around the conference center grounds..

People just went about their business and after a while the Zebra got bored and simply walked away.

After deciding not to try and ride the Zebra, Marcia poses for a picture with her new best friend.

What I am learning about Africa…..

Billboards say a lot about a country. In the Philippines, being the only christian nation in Asia, billboards would often have bible verses displayed.

As we drove around Lusaka, these two billboards jumped out at me.

Obviously, there is a strong Christian influence in Zambia.

This billboard says a lot about some of the challenges that governments in Africa face.

Thought of the Day: It’s never too late to be what you might have been

Scripture of the Day: Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 – Doubt not, fear not.

Until next time……

The World In Constant Flux

During my service as a young missionary in the South African Mission in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I was tasked by the Mission President on two separate occasions to visit Mozambique to assess the viability of opening the country for missionary work. Once when I was a District Leader in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe) and another time when I was an Assistant to the President. I highly doubt that any of my input that I provided the Mission President had any impact on the opening of Mozambique to missionaries. However, today there are two LDS missions in Mozambique.

In a recent turn of events in the last few months, Mozambique has been in political upheaval and turmoil that threatens the stability of the country. Here is a summary of short news blurb on this situation.

Beginning in September 2024, the campaign for the presidency in the country began. Initially, it appeared that the opposition leader had prevailed in the election. However, the ruling party called for a recount and after the recount, the ruling parties candidate was declared the winner.

The official runner-up in the presidential vote, the Mozambican opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane, called the recount election fraud and began calling for mass protests. For the last few months, the nation has been gripped by protests that have led to vandalism, looting, and reports of heavy-handed police repression as the protests escalated into a national wave of rioting that have left scores of people dead. Mondlane left the country and was directing the calls for protest and marches from outside of the country. However, he planned to return home from self-imposed exile in the next week which could potentially exacerbates tensions in the southeast African nation.

The protests have wreaked havoc on the economy, cutting off key trade routes, curtailing energy exports to neighboring countries, and has caused an economic contraction in the final quarter of 2024, which is likely to continue in early 2025.

The big question is if there can be a negotiated settlement or will it escalate into a humanitarian crisis? – from a news article recently published.

As mentioned, there are currently two LDS missions in Mozambique with over four hundred missionaries and senior missionary couples serving in the country. On New Year’s Eve we were having dinner at our host’s apartment – the Gollaher’s – when Greg got a call. Greg and I served together in South Africa 55 years ago in what is now Zimbabwe.

A bit of background. Greg worked for Ford Motor Company early in his career and was transferred to Brazil for seven years. During his time in Brazil, he took a sabbatical from Ford to serve for three years as the Mission President in Brazil. During that time in Brazil, they both learned to speak Portuguese.

The call that Greg received while we were at their home having a quiet New Year’s Eve together was from the Area President explaining what was going on in Mozambique.

The Area President explained that because of the political unrest, a decision was made a few hour prior to the call to Greg on the evening of December 31, 2024 to remove all foreign missionaries – totaling over 120+ missionaries and senior couples and transfer them out of the country. The Area President asked Greg and Jill to take on the responsibility of being the feet on the ground in South Africa to help relocated these 120+ missionaries.

The missionaries were to be informed of their leaving Mozambique on a countrywide Zoom call on New Year’s Day. They would be told to pack everything they owned and to be ready to be picked up between 1:00 am and 4:00 am on January 2, 2025 and that they would be going to Johannesburg until further notice notice.

Greg and Jill had less than 48 hours to figure out how to house, feed, and keep these missionaries busy for the foreseeable future. Needless to say, our evening together ended shortly after the call. From that call for the next 48 hours things happened at lightning speed.

The Church’s travel department in South Africa purchased the remaining seats on commercial airlines on both Beira (now renamed Mafambisse) and Maputo the two major airports in the country to Johannesburg. Also, several chartered planes were secured to transport the remaining missionaries out of the country.

Beginning at 1:00 am on January 2nd, missionaries were picked up and taken to the airports. Beginning at 5:30 am and throughout the day missionaries began leaving the country which was somewhat challenging because the airport would be closed down for several hours at a time and reopened for flights to arrive and depart for a few hours and then be closed again. The evacuation was only for the foreign missionaries serving in Mozambique, These missionaries were from Brazil, Portugal, Angola, and the United States. Since Mozambique is Portuguese speaking as are Brazil, Portugal, and Angola it was a natural fit for young men and women from these countries to be called to serve in Mozambique. About two hundred and fifty Mozambican missionaries and the two mission leaders serving in Mozambique were not transferred out of the country and remain in Mozambique.

The Logistics of an Emergency Transfer of Missionaries

While it might not seem like a big deal to move 120+ missionaries from one country to another, nothing could be further from the truth. Things that needed to be considered were individual visas which expire at different times with ten expiring in the next 45 days. Visas entering into Mozambique can take anywhere from three to seven months to be issued….and this is during normal times. While it was not difficult to get visas to enter South Africa, the visas that are issued are tourist visas that last for ninety days and do NOT allow the holder of the visa to work during their stay – including doing missionary work. Now, you have 120+ missionaries in South Africa that can’t be engaged in missionary work. What do you have them do?

The Gollaher’s

As mentioned, Greg and Jill speak Portuguese learned while they lived in Brazil decades ago. It was fortuitous that they are here in Johannesburg serving on a senior couple mission. It made communication with Portuguese speaking missionary with no English language skills much easier to have leaders that could speak to them in their native language.

Greg was assigned the responsibility to oversee the arrival, housing, feeding, and daily activities of these missionaries from Mozambique for the next month or two until the political climate in Mozambique settles down. The type of activities that the missionaries have been involved in while in South Africa are researching family history, attending the temple, keeping in touch with the people they were teaching in Mozambique via WhatsApp, and personal study and reading. There are daily devotionals where local Church leaders, senior couples, and members from the community speak on spiritual, practical, and career oriented topics. This has been a time for these young people to think about their future and to learn how to adapt in a constantly changing world.

Time to Unwind

During the months prior to their departure the foreign missionaries in Mozambique, because of the unrest throughout the country, which included rioting, burning of buildings and vehicles, protests, and unrest, the missionaries serving in Mozambique were relegated to their apartments for weeks at a time. Now that they are in South Africa they were anxious to be involved in something useful. However, first things first.

A few days after their arrival, the missionaries were allow to go the Johannesburg Mission Training Center (MTC) and to be outside and play sports. This is the first time they have had the opportunity to be outside and exercise in several months.

Here are a few pictures of these Mozambique missionaries on their Preparation Day at the Johannesburg Mission Training Center. We were asked to help coordinate the purchasing of some items they needed from local stores and bring these to the MTC.

Missionaries playing basketball at the Johannesburg MTC

Missionaries playing volleyball- which is serious business for missionaries from Brazil

Ifyou think American football is an obsession – you have no idea how fanatically soccer is followed and played in other countries around the world including many African countries.

These sister missionaries are from Ghana, Angola, South Africa, and Zimbabwe and are a part of the missionaries transferred out of Mozambique.

Missionaries playing War – a game of world domination – and a game that I learned to play on my mission over five decades ago….some things never change. Marcia watches over the game along with Greg Gollaher – one of my former missionary companions when I served in South Africa the first time .

We have been involved in helping the Gollaher’s from time to time with these displaced Mozambique missionaries and have gotten friendly with many of them. They surprised us the other day when they dropped by our office to say “Hi.” These missionaries are from Brazil and the US.

A small group of Mozambique missionaries taking a break after working on researching their family history/genealogy.

African Saints are Just as Dedicated as Filipino Saints

It was not uncommon for Filipino saints to travel for several days or on overnight bus trips to be able to attend the Manila or Cebu Temples. It is the same here. The two women members (see below) traveled with other members of their small branch in Zimbabwe (700 miles) to attend the temple staying in the temple patron housing for three days to do temple work before returning to Zimbabwe.

Marcia and I at lunch in the cafeteria in the Area Office which is next to the Johannesburg Temple.

The Bigger Picture

This experience of the Mozambique missionaries has caused me to reflect on the enormous logistical challenges of coordinating nearly 90,000+ missionaries throughout the world where all sorts of events (both individual and governmental) are in constant flux. The Mozambique missionary evacution has given me a much greater appreciation for the vision and organization that enables the missionary program to continually move forward. 

Another facet of the missionary program is the breath of assignments filled and service rendered vs. the proselyting component of missionary work. What I learned in the Philippines, and now here in South Africa, is the enormous breath of talent of senior couples that elect to serve missions and how they are assigned to serve in many different types of assignments ranging from humanitarian, member and local leaders support, IT, finance related, administrative, legal, Church History (our calling), genealogical, temple, and a variety of other assignments that leverages the skills and talents of decades of professional and real world experience to further Heavenly Father’s work through the world. 

The other thing that has become obvious to me is how serving a mission provides valuable experience and personal growth for the youth of the Church throughout the world – especially in third world countries. A mission provides valuable experiences in leadership, understanding of the larger world, and exponentially expands knowledge and interpersonal skills that will benefit these young people that serve missions in their future lives – educationally, professionally, and in their personal lives.  

In countries where the Church is relatively new, missionaries that serve from these countries (such as Mozambique and other African countries) will become the future leaders in their communities, professions, and in the Church and because of the emphasis the Church puts on education they will be able to lift themselves and their families out of poverty and into a better life. Often, these opportunities are not always found or available to their non-member peers. 

I am grateful to be a small part of this great work.

Some of the things we are learning….

In the Philippines, regardless of where we were in the country, I would take long walks often late a night – often not knowing anything about the areas where I would be walking. Most of the areas where I would walk were local residential areas. I rarely saw gates, fences, or other protective measures installed. While there were gated communities in the Philippines, homes outside of these gated communities rarely had walls or fences.

Here in South Africa, this is not the case. Every home in the residential area where we live has a wall or fence and with spikes or barb wire as additional deterrent from the outside world. Here are some examples of homes in the residential neighborhood near where we live and where I walk mornings and took these pictures.

This wall is 15-20 feet high…note the electrified fence wires on top of the wall.

Another home with high walls, electrified wires, and note on the left – a sign of 24/7 security patrolling the area

Another home with fencing and barb wire deterrent installed.

A home with a wall and metal jaded and pointed spikes.

A home with a wall and very imposing metal spikes as a deterrent.

This home was protected by 20 – 30 ft walls and an electrified fence deterrent

Sign designating Forest Town – the community where we live – as a secure community.

In my mind, the security measures in place is a commentary on the potential for unrest in South Africa. The neighborhood we live is in a relatively high-end residential area with nice homes that are all well fortified. These fortifications are there for a reason….real or perceived. These homes are owned by both black and white South Africans….so it is not all about race….it is about the potential for incursions on to the property. We also live in a gated apartment complex with a 24-hour guard at the gate.

In the Philippines, our apartment building had a guards at the entrances as did most stores but the feel was entirely different. I perceived that these guards where there to open the door for you vs. guarding you against an intruder.

Another thing in the Philippines, you rarely saw was a police vehicle. There were traffic enforcers (traffic regulators) at busy intersections to direct traffic because there are no stop signs or lights. As I said, there were very few police in cars roaming the highways or streets. Here in South Africa there are police vehicle s all over the place….it is rare to drive any distance without seeing police cars parked or driving around.

Perhaps one reason for the cautious approach to security in South Africa is that the unemployment rate country wide is over 32% (with the unemployment for ages between 18 -25 as high as 50%) which gives many people few options to support themselves other than to steal.

In the US, we think we have a high unemployment rate in the US if the rate is 6% to 8%. In the Philippines, the unemployment rate is between 3-4% in the metro areas with unemployment higher in the rural areas of the Philippines which is why most young people move to the cities.

The Church’s efforts through the BYU Pathways program is to provide a college degree/certification to its membership and many local non-members since Church membership is not a requirement to participate in the BYU Pathways Program – more on this in a future blog post.

Thought of the Day: You can’t control what you can’t control.

Scripture of the Day: 2 Nephi 31:3 “For my soul delighteth in plainess…for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding.”

New Country – Same Responsibilities

One last dinner out on the town in the Philippines

On Thursday, December 5^th at 7:55 am, we left the Philippines for South Africa. After a short stop in Dubai, we landed in Johannesburg the evening at 8:55 pm (not including the 6-hour time difference which would have made our body clock time 3:55 am, Philippines time on Friday). The total time from leaving our apartment to arriving in Johannesburg was~24 hours of lapsed time. 

On our way to South Africa

After arriving in South Africa, it took about 90 minutes to clear customs, change our US dollars (that we converted from Filipino pesos to US dollars prior to departing the Philippines) into South African Rand. After getting these things done, it took us only a few minutes after walking out of the terminal in Johannesburg for our driver to find us. He was able to spot us right away….those missionary tags at work again. 

After loading our luggage into his van, we left the airport for our new apartment. The first thing that we noticed was the traffic. In the Philippines, traffic is hard to explain. Unless you have experienced Filipino traffic, words and detailed explanations just don’t communicate the essence of the traffic that exists in the greater Manila area. 

After leaving the airport, we merged onto a freeway…that had very little traffic. This never happens in the Philippines. When leaving the airport in Manila, there is always, always heavy traffic, often stop and go, until you get to wherever you are going – regardless of the time of day or night. 

As we drove down the highway, we were amazed to see that there was light traffic in both directions. I glanced over at the speedometer, and we were cruising down the freeway at the speed limit…about 105 kilometers per hour (65 miles per hour). In the 20+ months we were in the Philippines, I never reached the speed of 65 mph while driving in Metro Manila….never.

The side of the road one drives on in the Philippines is the same as the US – the right side. In South Africa, the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, and you drive on the left side of the road…similar to most former English colonies. This is going to take some getting use.

It took us only 35 minutes to arrive at our new apartment complex. Much to our surprise, there were fifteen senior couples waiting in the parking lot to welcome us…a very big surprise. Most of the senior couples serving in Johannesburg live in the same apartment complex. One thing I can tell you is that the apartment we left in the Philippines was a Motel 6 level apartment but our apartment here in South Africa is a Marriott level apartment.

Mentors

Greg and Jill Gollaher a few days after we arrived out showing us the sites

When I served in South Africa over fifty years ago, one of my missionary companions was Greg Gollaher. We’ve stayed in touch over the years and he and his wife are currently serving a senior mission in South Africa. Greg is the Africa South Area Auditor.

In his former career, Greg was the controller for Ford Motor Europe and Mazda Japan – living in both countries for a number of years. In the Africa South Area, his responsibilities include managing twenty-six in-field auditors each of whom track the flow of funds within the thirteen countries that make up the Africa South Area and to keep the work of the Lord financial solvent and moving forward – not a small task when dealing with thirteen different banking systems, governments, regulatory agencies, and thousands of local units that only deal in cash because no one has a bank account – everything is done as cash transactions.

Greg and his wife Jill were assigned to be our mentors to make sure that we get our mobile phones setup properly, our laptop computers, car – a Toyota SUV Crossover, get to know where to shop, learn how to drive on the left side of the road, and the other myriad of things that goes with getting acclimated in a new country. We served as mentors to senior couples that came to the Philippines.  

Our New Ward

We were assigned to attend a local South African ward in one of the townships. Our first Sunday in country, another senior couple escorted us to our new ward – the Tsakane Ward which is about an hours drive to the meetinghouse from our apartment. It will be our responsibility to help the local bishop in his calling. Before we left the church on our first Sunday, we had our first two assignments….one is teaching a temple preparation class and the other a missionary preparation class. We are excited about these responsibilities.  

Getting to know my new bishop (on the right) and one of this counselors (on the left).

A young woman preparing to serve a mission from the Tsakane Ward we attend.

Ward members getting ready to go home after church

Elder and Sister Harper, who are from Idaho, showed us how to get to the our new ward. The Harper’s are currently serving a senior couple’s mission in South Africa. They also recently served as mission leaders in Angola. Interestingly, Elder Harper is a cousin to one of my former missionary companions – Gary Harper – when I served my first in South Africa years ago.

Power Outages

One of the things we have experienced in our first few days in the country is the loss of power several times in the first week. Fortunately, the apartment complex we live in has a backup generator that kicks in within several minutes restoring electricity. In talking to the other missionary couples, this is a common occurrence in South Africa even in major metro areas. The power grid, as with other infrastructure in South Africa, has not been well maintained or expanded over the years. 

One of the senior couples we talked to shared, as we drove by some of the parts of Johannesburg near the train switching yards, pointed to the train locomotives and train passenger cars, explaining to us that all of this train equipment in the switching yard that we saw were non-operational. The entire train network, which is how we travelled most of the time when I was here decades ago, is no longer in use and has been shut down because of the lack up upkeep and maintenance. Passengers now travel by bus and goods are transported by semi-trucks.

However, despite these type of issues, South Africa is still a breathtakingly beautiful country. We are now experiencing the winter months, which is the rainy season. We have daily thunder and lightning showers which has turned the countryside into a brilliant green hue. This reminds me of northern California where we currently live where during the rainy winter months the countryside also becomes a brilliantly green before turning a golden brown during the hot dry summer months. 

For the Strength of Youth (FSY)

As in the Philippines, the Church has a vibrant and expansive FSY program here as well. As our first official assignment the first few days after arriving, we were assigned to attend and document some of the activities at an FSY Event about two hours north of Johannesburg. This FSY was held on a wild-life game reserve that had convention facilities on the reserve. There were nearly six hundred youth in attendance. 

One of the activities that each of the youth got to participate in was every morning at sunrise 1/5^th of the group were taken in open-air-safari vehicles each morning during the week into the bush to observe animals…very cool. FSY events began on Monday and ended on Saturday morning. As we talked to many of the youth, they were having the time of their life. 

You need to keep in mind that many of these youth are from very humble circumstances and to be able to attend an event like FSY is an unique opportunity for them and one that will have a lasting impact on them as they prepare for the future. Many of the classes and sessions these young people attend are focused on planning for the future which is something that most of these young people do not get in their home or in school.

Our first wild game sighting – a Wildebeest herd – while driving down the highway to our FSY event.

The above picture says everything you need to know about how FSY events bring the white and black South African youth together that helps erase centuries of historical racial prejudice that fueled apartheid in South Africa.

A thatched roof class room where youth attend some of their classes during the FSY week. One of the most attended FSY sessions were those given by Elder and Sister Tibbitts, a senior couple called to launch BYU Pathways in South Africa.

Getting to know the youth at our first FSY event.

Marcia getting to know the young women at our first FSY

The FSY “I am a disciple of Jesus Christ” Logo in South Africa used at all FSY Events

The World Wide Pathways Program

One of the many positive things the Church does for its members is to provide educational opportunities for young and old all over the world (especially in third world countries) is the Pathways program offered through the Brigham Young University (BYU) Pathways Program.

We had a chance to visit one of the test facilities for a new BYU Pathways program. This experiment includes a 15,000 sq. ft. facility with over a hundred computer work stations all with internet connectivity that can be used by Pathway students for their online courses as well as conference rooms, game rooms, study areas, and a kitchen area for dining. Most families and youth cannot afford a computer or Internet. This new facility will allow students to come to the facility to use the computers or their phones by connecting to Wi-Fi (most also can’t afford a data plan for their phones) to connect to the Internet. 

This educational opportunity coupled with the benefits of serving a mission provides a pathway for improving future employment opportunities for these youth and for other members in third world counties wherever they are located in the world. 

A few of the senior couples that were involved in the establishment of the Pathway’s Global Education Center in Johannesburg, South Africa that will officially open in the first quarter of 2025.

Take note of the back wall with a graphic that shows where groups of BYU Pathway students are located around the world.

Our Second FSY

On December 18^th (through the 21^st), we flew to Port Elizabeth (now renamed Gqeberha). Many cities in Southern Africa, and sometimes entire countries are renamed, replacing English names with local proper nouns.  For example, Salisbury – the capital of Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) has been renamed Harare.  Southwest Africa is now Nimibia.

Port Elizabeth – now renamed Gqeberha – is on the southeastern coast of South Africa, is where the FSY event was held where nearly eight hundred youth from all over the Cape Province – from Cape Town to East London – a city about 1100 kilometer northeast. In South Africa, a country about as large as the United States, the distances are vast.

This FSY was hosted on the Nelson Mandela University Campus. While not as picturesque of a location as where the FSY was held last week; nevertheless, the youth were having a great time. Attending an FSY on a college campus was the first time that most of these youth have gotten close to seeing what college life might be like.

Marcia chatting with some of the youth attending the FSY in Port Elizabeth.

It is dinner time…there was not a cafeteria area large enough on campus to feed all of the kids at one time, so two large event-sized tents had to be set up on campus to feed the nearly eight-hundred youth in attendance. The above picture shows youth lined up for dinner outside one of the tent dining halls.

Youth lined up inside the dining hall tents waiting to be served their meals in a cafeteria – get your food at the serving table style – method.

Youth (and Marcia – lower left) waiting for the daily devotional to begin.

Elder Storm taking a few minutes to chat with some of the young men during a break between events at FSY.

While out walking on the beach after attending a day at FSY, I bumped into two missionaries serving in the area. One was from the Netherlands and the other from Pretoria, South Africa. They both had been on their missions for fifteen months and were on their way to a teaching appointment.

First Impressions

While dramatically different in 2024 than in 1968-1971, there are still a lot of similarities. These similarities are found in the people. While still early in our South African experience, it appears that the people are still the uniquely special people that I remember. The time we spend in South Africa will either validate this premise or disprove. it. I have few doubts on the outcome.

What we are learning….

The youth are as committed to the Gospel of Christ as the Filipino youth. The future of the Church in both South Africa and in the Philippines is going to be the youth. It is easy to see why the Church devotes so much of its resources into providing experiences and opportunities for the youth.

South Africa has changed. When I was here over fifty years ago, apartheid was the political system and lifestyle….today, the first thing I visibly noticed was how integrated the culture and society has become. Our first shopping experience in a local mall we were one of the few white people in the mall – something that was just the opposite when I was here the first time – in fact, you would never have seen a black South African in a mall shopping unless they were the cleaning crew. Times have changed – for the good.

The dedication of senior couples is the same here as in the Philippines….total commitment to their assignments that are as varied here as in the Philippines. I know one of the lasting benefits of serving a senior mission is going to be the relationships and friendship we have built with some of the senior couples we have served with.

Scripture of the Day: 2 Nephi 2:1-2. “Nevertheless….he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.”

Thought of the Day: You’re not going to find true happiness where it doesn’t exist.

Back to Africa

Some of you may or may not know that over fifty-five years ago as a scrawny green behind the ears nineteen-year-old, I served as a missionary for our Church for two and a half years in South Africa and in what was then known as Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

After serving in the Philippines as senior couple missionaries for a little more than twenty-one months, Marcia and I have accepted an assignment to the Africa South Area. Our Philippines mission was scheduled to end in February of 2025, but with this re-assignment we will now return home from South Africa in May of 2025.

Differences between the Philippines and Africa South Missions

The Philippines is unique for a couple of reasons. One, even though there are thousands of islands that make up the Philippines Archipelago, the islands are all a part of a single geographical/ecclesiastical area of the Church. Also, there are twenty-six missions throughout the Philippines.

Many geographical/ecclesiastical areas of the Church throughout the world are host to multiple missions often located in multiple different countries. For example, the Africa South Area consists of thirteen countries (vs. the Philippines area which is one country) that has a total of fourteen missions that are spread throughout these thirteen countries that include Angola, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Reunion, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The country with the largest number of missions (four in total) in the Africa South Area is South Africa. During my first mission in Africa, I was able to visit eight of the thirteen countries above.

Missions in Africa

Below is a map of all of the missions in Africa – missions are designated by the multi-colored areas highlighted in the map below.

All of the LDS Missions in Africa

The Four Missions in South Africa

The South Africa Cape Town Mission

The South Africa Cape Town Mission is by far the largest geographically in South Africa. You will note a purple/blue colored marker along the Southwestern coastline of the Cape Town Mission. This colored marker designates an operating temple, a temple under construction, or those nearing completion.

The map below is the South Africa Johannesburg Mission. You will note a purple/blue temple marker that is located in a suburb of Johannesburg. This temple was opened in 1985 and was the first temple on the African continent.

The South Africa Pretoria Mission. Pretoria is located in the national capital of South Africa and is the Washington DC of South Africa. There is no temple in the Pretoria mission – yet. I anticipate a temple will be announced for this mission the near future.

South Africa Durban Mission

This South Africa Durban Mission was the second mission opened in South Africa. The temple marker designates the Durban Temple which was opened in 2020.

There are five temples currently operating in Africa. These temples are located in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Aba, Nigeria; Accra, Ghana; and in Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa. Sixteen more temples have been announced or are under construction.

I am confident there will be many more temples announced throughout Africa in the future.

Growth of the Church in Africa

When I first served in South Africa over fifty-five years ago, there was only one mission on the entire African continent – the South Africa Mission with a total of 6,000 members. Today there are forty-four missions in African with over 325,000 members and growing exponentially.

After arriving in South Africa in early December, Marcia and I will assume the same role and duties that we were assigned in the Philippines – documenting the history of the early pioneer saints in this part of the world. I continue to be amazed at the resources the Church devotes in carefully documenting the history of its members and events in countries around the world that in aggregate will document and create a global history for the Church. I’ve become convinced that if we don’t learn from our collective history, we are destined to repeat our mistakes. I’m so grateful to be a part of documenting various narratives of the leaders and members of the Church in the Philippines and now in Africa South Area and to be a part of preserving history and valuable insights from being lost to future generations to learn and benefit from.

Benefiting from What We Do

One of the benefits we’ve gained from our experience in the Philippines is an enormous appreciation for member saints that live in third world countries, the challenges they face, and how they managed to rise above the challenges they face to become better individuals and collectively stronger saints. This evolutionary process is truly remarkable, inspirational, and I often stand opened-mouth amazed at the resilience of these pioneer saints of the Church that live in these third world countries.

One of. the things I’ve learned from our Philippines experience is that the Lord is truly involved in the details of His work around the world. There are simply too many experiences that have been shared with us in the nearly hundred oral history interviews we have completed to deny the reality of how intimately the Lord is involved and oversees His work by direct and frequent divine intercession. To me, this is a sign of a loving Heavenly Father and shows just how much our Lord Jesus Christ loves and cares for all of us.

A Reoccurring Theme

As we conclude our mission in the Philippines, we have observed a reoccurring theme when recording oral histories of mission leaders, area seventies, others in leadership roles, and early pioneer Filipino saints as these experiences have been shared with us – their faith in Christ. It is clear to me that these saints have had divine help in circumstances that have been beyond their ability to manage or control.

These stories have had an impact on the individuals themselves, their families, missionaries, and member saints that often have had along-term positive outcomes in the lives of those with whom they have worked. Many of these experiences fall into the miraculous category and have left us amazed, humbled, and feeling like we don’t deserve to be in the same room with some of these Filipino saints that we have interviewed. Many of these Filipinos are spiritual giants.

Arriving in South Africa. Once we arrive in South Africa, we will have the opportunity to begin to document the history of the saints in southern Africa. We just received our South African visas and are tentatively set to departure the fourth week of November to fly from Manila to Johannesburg. 

My wife is not all that excited about the weather in South Africa at this time of year because when we arrive in Johannesburg it will be just in time for summer. Summer in the southern hemisphere is winter time in the US – which means that December in South Africa will be like July in the US. I told Marcia that the silver lining is that the weather in Johannesburg will not be like Manila, which is on the western coastline on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, with sky-high humidity. Johannesburg is inland and is more like Nevada than the tropical Philippines islands. While Johannesburg can get hot, butit has relatively low humidity.

I recall as a young man thinking that the province (where Johannesburg is located), and where I lived for nearly a year in a small town a few hundred miles from Johannesburg was so flat that if you stood on a step ladder you could see the back of your head – that is how flat it was.

A Different Country Today

When I served in South Africa from November of 1968 to June of 1971, the country was still under the apartheid political system – meaning that the country was white ruled and native Africans didn’t have the same civil rights as white South Africans. Now, South Africa is a democracy ruled primarily by the native black South Africans. 

Just prior to leaving for the Philippines in March of 2023, we had dinner with a family that I knew while serving my mission in Southern Africa. In the early 1980’s, this family immigrated to America. They returned to Zimbabwe and South Africa for the first time in late 2023. They shared with me how different the country is now than when they lived there. These differences are both good and some not so good differences. I’m sure the same could be said of every country on the planet revisited forty years later.

We are excited for this new adventure. The next time you hear from us, we will be in Johannesburg, South Africa.  Stay tuned.

One Final Trip

A week before we were scheduled to leave for South Africa, we took a trip to the Islands of Cebu and Bohol. While there we able to see some more of the natural beauties of the Philippines.

While in Cebu, we took time to visit the Philippines Cebu Temple in the middle of a torrential downpour which is relatively common in the Philippines.

Next....Tails from South Africa.

Thought of the Day: The most important things in life are not things.

Scripture of the Day: Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

A Light Appeared and Then Disappeared

Yes, the US Has Hurricanes, but….

In the Philippines, hurricanes are called Typhoons. Since the 1970s, there have been over 63 hurricanes in the US. These hurricanes generally make landfall in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, or in the Carolinas with occasional hurricanes making landfall in states in the upper east coast areas of the US.

As you may know, hurricanes are tropical depressions that form in the Atlantic Ocean while these same type of tropical depressions that form in the Pacific Ocean are call typhoons. Both are equally destructive. One of the biggest difference is that the Philippines has an average of 20 typhoons per year. In fact, in the last three weeks there have been two significant sized typhoons making land fall in the Philippines causing massive destruction.

Filipino are the most resilient people on the planet. After a typhoon, they simply pick themselves up and move on with an attitude that tomorrow will be a better day. Sadly, when it comes to typhoons, tomorrow is not necessarily a better day because the ability to rebuild is not as robust as it is in the US. Few have flood insurance for these types of eventualities.

Mission Leader Typhoon Stories

In a recent oral history interview with the mission leaders in the PhilippinesTacloban Mission, we gained a deeper understanding of some of the challenges mission leaders often face. President and Sister Andaya are a native Filipino couple that were called to serve as mission leaders. Their four children accompanied them on their mission to Tacloban which is located in the central part of the Philippines.

In 2013, near the end of their mission in Tacloban, Super Typhoon Yolanda (a category 5 typhoon is classified as a super typhoon), which turned out to be one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded in the Philippines, with winds of nearly 160 mph, made landfall in the Tacloban mission. Yolanda devastated large portions of the Philippines killing at least 6,300 people and leaving in its wake wide areas of devastation.

Satellite Image of Super Typhoon Yolanda as it made landfall near Tabloban City

President and Sister Andaya were away from the mission home that was located in Tacloban City when Yolanda made landfall. The Filipino house helper that was entrusted to help care for their children abandoned the children leaving mission home at the height of the storm. Fortunately, the Andaya’s were able to get back to the mission home and found their sixteen year old daughter had stepped in and was managing the situation with a maturity beyond her age. After Yolanda has subsided, the weight of the responsibility for the safety of the 204 missionaries serving in the mission settled in. This was a heavy burden especially when there was no ability to communicate and decisions were made based on inspiration vs. conventional logic.

The Andaya’s shared a number of miraculous stories they had while serving their mission and specifically the experiences they had during Yolanda. One story in particular stood out to me was about two young sister missionaries who had only been in the Philippines for less than a month. They didn’t know Tacloban City at all and they had no idea where the mission home was located. When Yolanda made landfall in Tacloban City, they were miles away from their apartment and were completely lost because all of the buses and Jeepneys they normally used to get to and from their apartment had stopped running. They were stranded with little idea on where to go, what direction they should walk, how far their apartment was, or in what direction the mission home was.

They prayed for guidance on what to do. As they ended their prayer, a light (they described as a spotlight in the sky) appeared on the horizon. They felt they should walk toward the light. As they did, the light continually moved ahead of them. After several hours of walking, the light stopped. They continued to walk toward the light and when they rounded a corner they saw the mission home. After they got to the mission home, the light simply disappeared.

As a parent, I had a deep emotional reaction to this story because I could envision our three daughters, who all served missions, being in this type of situation. As I reflected on this story of these two sister missionaries, my heart was full of gratitude for the Lord’s intervention in situations like this confirming for me that He personally watches over missionaries all over the world.

Another insight that was shared with us, is when President Andaya told us that two weeks before Super Typhoon Yolanda, he had the unmistakable impression that he needed to immediately have all of the missionary companionships to purchase rope and add it to their Go-Bags. Ropes was something that had not previously been thought of or discussed to be in Go-Bags. Just before Yolanda made landfall all of the missionaries had purchased ropes and put these ropes in their Go-Bags.

The rope turned out to be a life saver (figuratively and literally) because as Yolando began its destructive path, with rivers overflowing and flooding entire regions, and wind knocking out all communication towers, because the missionaries had rope they were able to pull themselves, their companions, and others on to rooftops. He also shared that missionaries we able to use the ropes to tie mattresses together putting mattresses in front of the windows of their apartment/houses to block debris that had become missiles driven by the 160 mph winds from allowing the debris to enter into the missionary’s apartments/homes.

The moral of the story: Living righteously enough enables mission leaders to hear the whisperings of the spirit becoming an invaluable tool to guide a mission. These mission leaders shared a number of other stories where they relied on the guidance of the Holy Ghost that we don’t have the time to share.

Of the 204 missionaries, that were scattered throughout the mission, none were serious injured and all were safe. The devastation caused by Yolanda forced the mission to close for nearly three months before the missionaries, who had been re-assigned in other parts of the Philippines, could return to their mission and continue serving. Stories like this that have been shared with us were not uncommon. The stories we hear during oral history interviews with mission leaders, always inspired me. I love what we do.

A Trip to the Rice Terraces in Batad, Philippines

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to be in northern Luzon (the largest of the Philippines islands) and while there visit the centuries old rice terraces in an area of Batad.

A Night in Baguio

On the way to the rice terraces, we stayed in the city of Baguio. The uniqueness of Baguio is the elevation – over 4800 ft which makes the climate very moderate and a vacation designation of local Filipinos for holiday and summer vacations. The average temperature is 15-20 degrees lower than in Manila near where we live in Quezon City and the humidity is much lower as well.

The Baguio Night Market

In talking to local Filipinos that live in Baguio, they mentioned to us about the Night Market held daily from 9:00 pm to 3:00 am. We thought that sounded fun so off we went via a Grab car (the Uber of the Philippines) to visit the market. We decided not to drive because there would likely be little parking – which we may or may not be able to find. It was a good decision.

At precisely 9:00 pm, the tents were erected on the streets and with in minutes the market was open for business. We spent nearly two hours walking the market and purchased a t-shirt and wallet for a fraction of what it would cost in Quezon City near where we live.

Notice my jacket and Marcia’s long-sleeved blouse we wore to the night market – it was actually chilly – a first for us in the Philippines. This is the FIRST time I’ve wore a jacket.

The view from how hotel window in Baguio before turning in for the night.

A view from our hotel on the second morning on our way to the rice terraces

The Rice Terraces of Batad are one of the few monuments in the Philippines that show no evidence of having been influenced by colonial cultures. Owing to the difficult terrain, the tribes in this area are among the few peoples of the Philippines who have successfully resisted any foreign domination and have preserved their authentic Filipino culture. The history of the terraces is intertwined with that of its people, their culture, and their traditional practices.

The rice terraces we visited are nearly two thousand years old and title to these terraces are handed down by families from generation to generation. The innkeeper’s family where we stayed owned a small section of a terrace. The rice grown here is not sold but used to feed the families and community living in the area.

This is the view from the window of the Countryside Inn where we stayed while visiting the rice terraces.

My guide for the hike down to the rice terraces – a strenuous hike that just about did me in.

Saying goodbye to our hostess, the innkeeper, before leaving the rice terraces. She has lived her entire life in this area along with her parents and grandparents.

Marcia with a bag of harvested rice from the rice terraces at the Inn where we stayed.

On Our Way Back to Quezon City

Marcia standing next to our car and a Jeepney and motorcyle trikes (the main modes of transportation in the Philippines) in the background.

The Tail End of Our Stay in the Philippines

We have been in the Philippines for over twenty months. Our mission is scheduled to end in late February 2025. There are three things that I have learned while serving here. One, the Lord is intimately involved in the day-to-day aspects of His work. There are just too many stories we have documented that confirms this fact.

Next, that the Filipino people are special people. Decades ago President Hinckley commented that the Philippines would serve as the gateway for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be taught throughout Asia. This somewhat prophetic statement is happening now and will continue to be fulfilled in the future. Filipinos are ready and willing to serve when and where asked.

Finally, that we have grown as a couple. I’ve always said that one of the best decision I ever made was to ask Marcia to be my wife. This experience has been one of the highlights of our lives together.

Until next time…..

Scripture of the Day: Ether 12:27:  Then will I make weak things strong unto them.

Thought of the Day: Put the first commandment first.

Getting to Know Filipinos

Where ever Marcia goes, it only takes a few minutes before she has engaged everyone she meets in a conversation quickly learning about their family, kids, and their life’s journey. Even though she only met the Filipino in the picture below a few hours before this picture was taken, they are already bosom buddies.

Marcia with Filipino saints at the Navotas Ward . Our friends the Call’s, a senior couple from Charleston, South Carolina, are standing to the left of Marcia in the background.

Marcia with a Filipino sister member and Sister Call (a senior missionary). You will note that Marcia is wearing her grandchildren’s birthstone necklace . Marcia always proudly points out this necklace to everyone she meets letting them know that she had sixteen wonderful grandchildren.

Filipino Pioneer Oral Histories

Recently, we have been to different wards interviewing early Filipino pioneer saints. The mother and son below are one of the first families to join the Church in the Novatos area (near Manila) in the 1970s.

Filipino Pioneers, the De Leon’s, after our oral history interview in the Navotas Ward Chapel.

Marcia with temple missionary sisters at the Pasig Philippines 2nd Ward

Staying Physically Fit in the Philippines 

One of my daily routines before our mission were long early morning walks. The other night I couldn’t sleep probably because I decided to go to bed early causing me to wake up early. Instead of trying to go back to sleep, I decided to take go on my early morning leaving for my walk a little before 4:30 am. 

My normal walking route is to go to the Circulo Verde condominium complex which is a little more than a mile from our apartment. Circulo Verde has become the preferred destination for most senior couples that walk. One benefit of walking in the early mornings is that the temperature is much cooler. Unfortunately, the humidity doesn’t change much regardless of what time of day it is. Normally, when I return to our apartment after my hour walk, I’m literally drenched and soaked with sweat. I look and feel like I’ve just been in a sauna. 

The reason I like to walk in this area is because it has a large soccer field to walk around as well as a circular parking lot that loops around the building. The area where we live consists of a mall, industrial buildings, and a several residential barangays that is not conducive for walking. A barangay is the smallest political unit in the Philippines and is similar to a subdivision or small town in the US. Most barangays in the Philippines are very congested, overpopulated, have narrow streets with motorcycles and small cars driving up and down their streets, not to mention that they are normally packed with tons of people. There are also small shops selling food as well as providing other services. I have several stores where I purchase lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, apples, and oranges. I purchase bread from a local bakery called Pan de Manila. This bread is multiple times better than in the US because it is so fresh – often sold just a few minutes after coming out of the oven.

On my walk back to our apartment today, I bumped into the Mecham’s, a senior couple that has also served for three years as mission leaders in Guam several years ago. He is a retired attorney. Their current mission assignment here in the Philippines is being responsible for the implementation of a human right curriculum into the school system throughout the Philippines. The Church is implementing this human rights program developed by the United Nations and is underwriting the cost of the implementation, training, and the roll out of this program throughout the Philippines into the country’s elementary school system. 

One of the basic human rights included in our country’s constitution, and in the United Nations program, is the basic human right of freedom of religion.  The Church is very active in promoting, protecting, and supporting freedom of religion in the US and other countries throughout the world. The Philippines is just one of the dozens of countries that the Church is actively promoting and supporting this basic right of freedom of religion. With the Church’s support – both financially and with people on the ground (like the Mecham’s) to help implement this program, numerous countries around the world are incorporating the freedom of religion to be taught in their educational systems.

As I’ve referenced before, there are over thirty senior couples currently serving with more scheduled to come later this year. Given the needs in the Philippines which range from member leader support, humanitarian, legal, education, medical, dental, and mental health, self-reliance, administrative, financial analysis, information technology, and the list goes on and on. If another two hundred senior couples were called, this would begin to make a dent in the needs in the Philippines. We are proud to be here in the Philippines serving in our little niche of responsibility.

An Eye to the Future of the Youth and Families

Prior to serving here in the Philippines, I had little understanding of the vastness, sophistication, and complexity of the global extent and reach of Church’s missionary program. It’s a privilege to be a part of it. One of the assignments senior couples have is to work with young proselyting missionaries in the Philippines Mission Training Center (MTC) in Quezon City providing different types of support services. There are nearly four hundred missionaries in the MTC at any one time. These missionaries come from over thirty-five countries throughout out the world. Filipino missionaries in turn serve in countries all over the world. The “Call to Labor” bulletin board below is representative of young men and women serving missions from one stake in the Philippines.

Filipino Missionaries Serve Worldwide . The above bulletin board is a list of youth called to served from this stake. Note the different flags of the countries where these missionaries are called to serve.

The bulletin board above lists recent Temple Marriages for Time and All Eternity in the Aurora Philippines Stake

Leadership Opportunities Come Early for Filipinos

This young man was called to be the Bishop of the Navotas Ward a few weeks ago. He is twenty-seven years old.

Caught in a Typhoon-like Downpour

Metro Manila, which includes Eastwood City where we live, was impacted by a major typhoon during the last week. Thinking that the worst had passed, I ventured out for my early morning walk. Here is link that gives a bit of insight into the scope of this typhoon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d5Uagi-RD4&t=11s

During an early morning walk, I was caught in a torrential downpour. I took cover at a local Union Gas Station. The motorcyclist below also took refuge from the rain as well.

One of the things, we have come to love and appreciate about Filipino people and their culture is their unselfishness and consideration. The gas station attendants at this station – and yes, there ARE gasoline attendants in the Philippines that will wash your windshield, check your car’s tire pressure, fill your car’s windshield wiper reservoir, and check your car’s oil level – in fact, there are NO self-serve gas stations in the Philippines.

In the first picture above, I was sitting on the side of the gas pumps not facing the gas station attendants. A few seconds after I sat down, one of the gas station attendants tapped me on the shoulder and said that I should sit on the other side of the pumps to be better protected from the wind gusts that were blowing the rain on me.

As I thanked them and was moving to sit on the other side of the gas pumps, the gas station attendant offered me a dry piece of cloth to sit on so my rear end wouldn’t get wet. Keep in mind that this attendant had never met me and had no reason to offer any assistance, other than his cultural proclivity to be friendly and helpful. Would this type of thing happen in the US?

Filipinos are the friendliest and most welcoming people on the planet.

What I continue to learn about the Philippines….

In the Philippines there are no trash containers that are pushed to the curb every week for a scheduled trash pickup. In the US, we have a specific day for trash pickup with a truck that has a trash container with an enabled fork lift like mechanism use to empty the trash. In the Philippines, trash is put on the curb in boxes or plastic bags and placed in a pile for pick up – see below. Garbage trucks come by every day to pick up the trash.

Above is a garbage truck picking up trash. In some areas, the trash pick up is on a less frequent basis.

Thought of the Day:

There is no chance, no destiny, no fate that can be circumvented, hindered, or controlled that cannot be overcome by the firm resolve of a determined soul.

Scripture of the Day:

Alma 40:23 “The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.”

A Rags to Riches Story

Recently, we were privileged to interview an Area Seventy and former Mission Leader.  Some of these interviews that we get to do are so inspiring.

Here is a summary of Julio Gaviola’s story and interview.

As a young man, after graduating from high school, he came from the provinces to Manila to find work at age 17. Coming to the city to find work, since there is little opportunity in the rural areas of the Philippines, is very common.

He arrived in Manila with no money. He stayed with an older brother who introduced him to a member of the Church. His family were staunch Catholics. During high school, he had considered studying to be a priest. After being introduced to the missionary, he had no intention of joining the Church and since he had been on a high school debate team, he was loaded for bear when he met with the missionaries. 

After several lessons with the missionaries, his heart was touched by the spirit and eventually he joined the Church over the objections of his family. After his baptism, he continued to work saving money for college. Eventually, he decided to serve a mission. On his mission he learned to work hard, stay focused, and had a successful missionary experience. 

Near the end of his mission, while serving in a small city named Dagupan, a small city about five hours north of Manila, he was appointed as the group leader to a small congregation of humble Filipino members. As his mission was ending, his mission president asked him to extend his mission for two or three months and work with the Dagupan group helping it continue to grow so it could become a branch of the Church when the first district in this are was organized. He never hesitated and extended his mission. 

A few days after the Dagupan group was made a branch when the first district was organized, he received a telegram from the mission president asking him to immediately come to the mission home in Manila – about a five hour bus drive. After he arrived at the mission home, the mission president invited him into his office and told him that the day before his mother had passed away. He was devastated because he was very close to his mother.

You can imagine what his thoughts he might have been knowing that if he hadn’t extended his mission for several months at his mission president’s request, he would have been home with his mother during the last months of her life. 

After digesting this news, he went home for the funeral. After spending a few weeks with his father, he decided to return to Manila because there was absolutely no work or future in the area where his parents lived.

After returning to Manila, he stayed with a mission friend’s family and immediately started looking for work. He had no formal work experience, but that didn’t stop him from going door to door looking for work. After seeing an advertisement in a local newspaper, he applied for a job at an electronics manufacturing company.  After scheduling an interview, he met with several engineers. One of the engineers held up a small transistor and asked him if he knew what it was. He admitted to them that he had no idea what this small transistor was. They held up several other electronic components and of course he didn’t know what these were either. 

After a few more minutes of discussion, the engineers stood up shaking their heads and started leave the room indicating that the interview was over. However, not to be deterred he boldly he told them that even though he didn’t know what the parts they had showed him were, he explained that he had just returned from being a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for the last two plus years where he learned to work hard, study, how to stay focused, and to do things he never thought he could do. One of the things that likely impressed the engineers was his English skills. During the time he served his mission, the gospel was taught in English vs. Tagalog and since he had many American missionary companions, his English skills were excellent.

Because of his boldness and his unwavering commitment to succeed, he told these engineers that if they would hire him he promised them they would never regret their decision because he would outwork, out study, and be their most committed and dedicated employee. Impressed with the tenacity of this young man, they look at each other and then told him they would give him a 90-day trial employment period. 

To make a long story short, after the 90-day trial, his job was made permanent and true to his word he worked harder than anybody else and within a year, he was supervising other employees. Over the next two decades he became an operational manager of one of the divisions of the company that had over 600 employees. He became the right-hand man to the head of the division. A number of years later, his boss told him that he was leaving to start his own company. He asked if he join him. He did and he was successful at this position as well. 

While his work life responsibilities expanded, his ecclesiastical service grew as well. He served in various branch and ward positions, was called as a Bishop, a stake president’s counselor, and eventually a stake president. After his service as stake president, he applied for a key position in the Church’s distribution center for the Philippines Area which also served other Asian countries as well. 

This new job was a high-profile position and he achieved success here as well. After a few years in this new role, he was called to be a mission leader. After serving as a mission leader for three years, he returned to church employment and was called to be an Area Seventy.

During his service as an Area Seventy, he implemented some “out of the box” thinking programs such as purchasing (with his own money) chickens, goats, and pigs in partnership with local members who would raise these animals and share the first offspring with him. He would then give these “shared” animal’s off spring with other members in the area thereby perpetuating this program. He also started a program of self-reliance where member families would grow their own vegetable gardens to help feed themselves and sell their surplus at local markets. These gardens became the envy in the neighborhoods where the member of the Church lived. These types of programs were able to raise entire church communities out of the cycle of poverty.

The thing that impressed me most about this interview was that a penniless young man from a rural provinces was lifted out of poverty because he joined the Church and served unquestionably whenever and wherever he was asked.

While it’s true that there are inspiring stories we hear or read of individuals that start with pennies and become successful and wealthy. However, the thing I’ve come to realize is that the Church does this at scale and the amazing thing is that this story is not an isolated instance…it happens all of the time.

The ability to enable an individual to rise above their poverty and become monetarily and spiritually self-sufficient is one thing, but because those who commit, embrace, and live the gospel enables the Church to do this at “scale” enabling entire communities to break the poverty cycle in the Philippines over time. 

We get to see this every day because we are involved in the “Mp Plan” program where Filipino missionaries come to the For Strength of Youth Campus at Tanay, a city about two hours east of Quezon City to spend three days planning their post mission life and setting goals. These missionaries are the future of the Church in the Philippines. After the “My Plan” experience these Filipino missionaries return home with skills, experience, confidence, and a commitment to serve the Lord. This attitude of these faithful return missionaries over the next few decades will see them marry, become parents, serve, and because of their focus on becoming their best self, a focus on becoming self-reliant, and become financially stable as their lives are transformed. It is one of the miracles of the gospel that blesses the Philippines and other nations as well. 

As we conclude our interview, this now white-haired servant of the Lord is now retired and serves as a temple ordinance worker in the Manila Temple three days a week. The spirit during our interview was as strong as I have ever felt it in any of the interviews we have done, and we’ve had some great and inspirational interviews.

As Marcia and I talked after the interview, we marvel at the faithfulness of the Filipino people and especially these members and leaders we have the privilege to interview. 

Critics can rail against the Church, but what we see on a daily basis is the fruits of a good tree. There is no doubt (absolutely zero doubt) in my mind of the truthfulness of the gospel and doctrine of Christ and what it does for people who follow its gospel precepts incorporating these precepts into their lives. 

After interviews like this one, my heart swells within my bosom grateful for the opportunity to do what are called to do. 

Flashback

When I was a kid, we often had Spam sandwiches in our sack lunch for school. Here in the Philippines, Spam is still a thing and often a part of the daily diet.

Breakfast in the Rizal Province at Tanay FSY Campus – Spam, eggs, and of course, plenty of white rice.

We often travel and have to stay locally because there are no hotels. Here is Marcia standing next to our car in front of our AirBnb. Yes, they have AirBnb rentals in the Philippines. We have learned that pictures on the AirBnb website are often much better than the place we reserved actually turned out to be. Also, we had another family staying with us….meet Lizzy (see the picture below). She had two other family members staying with us.

Lizzy keeping a watch at the AirBnb

A typical road side restaurant run by local Filipinos.

What I continue to learn about the Philippines and its people…..

On a recent trip back to Quezon City from the provinces, we hit traffic as we got closer to the city. The picture below is three lanes of traffic each way and the black car (below) just deciding to make a u-turn on a moments notice that held up traffic in both directions. U-turns can happen at anytime and anyplace.

Traffic rules here are different

Stop Signs

There are very few stop signs at intersections in the Philippines. Since there are no stop signs, this basically means that the fastest car into an intersection gets through faster. I’ve been involved in a total gridlock situation because cars from all four streets entered the intersection at once which results in basically a free for all and massive gridlock that takes a while to work its way out.

Marcia refuses to drive here.

Spiritual Thought: Whether you accept the gospel as truth, it makes little difference. Truth is truth and will always be truth. It’s you that is at a disadvantage.

Scripture of the Day: Mosiah 4:9 “…. if you believe all these things, see that ye do them.” (I’ve found this hard to put into practice)

Another Mission Leader Interviewed

One of the highlights of our calling is to interview soon to be released and mission leaders that have already been released and having them share insights and experiences they had during their service as mission leaders in the Philippines. 

To review, mission leaders (formerly referred to as mission presidents), served for three years. They are generally a couple in the forties or fifties, and rarely some are even in their sixties, if they are called from outside of the Philippines. However, Filipino couples that serve as mission leaders are often in their late thirties or early forties and still have children in their home. Leadership opportunities come at a much younger age for Filipinos than for those from North America or other countries. A mission leader is a demanding calling and is a full time 24/7/365 responsibility for three exhausting years. 

Each of these mission leader interviews, have unique and interesting stories and experiences. I would like to share a few stories of the Burton’s who will be released and return home at the end of July of 2024. 

President and Sister Burton, Cabanatuan Mission, 2021-2024

President Burton was a career U.S. Naval Officer. In the exploratory interview with Apostle Rasband, many of the questions he was asked were focused on his naval experience. Interestingly, his experience in church leadership was not extensive. In fact, as the interview ended, he asked Elder Rasband if he was concerned that he had never served in significant leadership positions such as in a stake presidency. The reply was priceless, at least for me. Elder Rasband told him that he had not served in a stake presidency either and then said, “Does that answer your question?”

While the Burton’s were stationed in Louisiana, they served in a Vietnamese branch.  There was a lot of discussion in this exploratory interview about his experiences in the Vietnamese branch. Both of them shared with Elder Rasband how much they enjoyed working with the Vietnamese people. 

After the interview finished, as with all exploratory interviews of this nature, couples are told that they may never hear from anyone about a mission call and if they do, they will not initially know where they will be called to serve. When they did receive their mission call letter in late November 2020, they were informed that they would be called as mission leaders and that their area of service assignment would be made in March of 2021. Based on how the initial interview had gone, President Burton thought that they may be assigned to serve in Vietnam.

Much to their surprise, when their assignment came, they were called to serve in the Philippines Cabanatuan Mission. The Cabanatuan Mission office is a four-to-five-hour drive northeast of Manila and is considered a provincial mission – meaning it is a rural area where most of the population are farmers and fishermen. 

The Philippines Mission Map – twenty three missions with three more missions to be added in July 2024. The red arrow point to the light purple shaded area of the Cabanatuan Mission

When they arrived in the mission, the U.S. was largely coming out of the pandemic, but that wasn’t the case in the Philippines. After arriving in Manila, they were quarantined for ten days in a hotel and then quarantined another four days after arriving in Cabanatuan. Each province had their own criteria on quarantines. Almost universally all provinces were generally very restrictive on travel between cities and definitely between provinces.

In March of 2020, all foreign missionaries had been sent home throughout the world leaving only Filipino missionaries serving in the Philippines and they weren’t allowed to leave their apartments because of the pandemic restrictions on in-person contact.

In situations like the pandemic, there often are silver linings that emerge from these types of difficult situations. One notable blessing during the pandemic for Filipinos, who by culture and disposition, are shy and reserved, and because of this shyness don’t often get as many leadership responsibilities as their foreign companions. When serving as companions with a foreigner, mostly Americans, Canadians, New Zealanders, or Aussies, they often take a back seat because of their shyness letting their companions take the lead. However, when all the foreigners left the country, that changed and these Filipino missionaries were asked to step up and lead out – which they did. There are scads of stories of how well the Filipinos rose to the occasion. 

Another blessing was that since few people were working, the breadwinner had to remain home quarantined along with their families.  Interesting, after teaching moved from face-to-face meetings to online meetings, baptisms continued with one significant difference, more families were being baptized vs. individual members of a family because the breadwinner of the family was home and could be taught (albeit online) together with his family. 

Because of the pandemic, it was especially for a new mission leader arriving because their predecessor had already left the country. The Burton’s walked into their mission office knowing absolutely nothing. Traditionally, the existing mission leaders helps with a transition but in this case, it was baptism by fire because as new mission leaders that don’t speak the language, with no existing staff in the office they have all left when the pandemic hit, the Burton’s had to rely on two young nineteen and twenty-year-old Filipino Assistants to the President to help them figure things out. The good thing, from a new mission leader’s perspective, is that the total number of missionaries had dropped from 160 to 50, after the foreigners were sent home, so from a quantitative standpoint, the number of missionaries was much more manageable.

Now, visualize this….you are new to the country, you are responsible for the safety and care of 50 missionaries, you don’t know the language (and there are three dialects spoken in your mission), you don’t know where to shop for food or medicine, you haven’t and can’t meet the missionaries in person, and you have to figure out how to be a mission leader while everything else is going on.   This is where their experience in the Navy, having moved frequently and being familiar with new environments came in handy.

President and Sister Burton shared an insightful comment in our oral history interview that it was a miracle that the work of the Lord managed to continue to move forward under these circumstances. They both shared their belief that the First Presidency was inspired to start the transition of incorporating technology into missions around the world prior to the onset of the pandemic. Having technological platforms in place as the pandemic spread around the world allowed online teaching and church meetings broadcast to be able to be used months before the pandemic hit. Without this, it would have been difficult for missions like the Cabanatuan Mission to function as well as they did. 

One of the things the Burton’s started to do after the Covid restrictions began to be lifted was to go out with the missionaries on teaching appointments and on service projects in the community. They also visited families the missionaries had been teaching. They also taught their missionaries by example working shoulder to shoulder on service projects with families that were being taught. They truly walked the walk and talked the talk leading by example.

When asked about some of the challenges Filipinos face when they were considering joining the Church, they shared that the marriage situation in the Philippines was a huge issue. As mentioned in prior blog posts, there is no divorce in the Philippines. The Philippines is one of the only countries in the world to have a no divorce policy. When either a man or woman in a marriage decided the marriage wasn’t working, they would simply leave and often start a new family without getting married.

Also, in poorer rural areas, getting a marriage license is relatively expensive when taken into the context of the income of the people that earn only a few thousand Filipino pesos a month. For example, a marriage license is P10,000 or about $172 U.S. I think I paid $25 for our marriage license (I checked online, and a marriage license is now $81 in Oakland, CA where our marriage license was issued). It’s crazy to think that a marriage license in the Philippines is more than double of what is costs in the U.S., especially where a week’s income often barely covers the cost of a marriage license. This often resulted in people not formally getting married and just set up a houshold.

The inability to get a divorce and the cost of getting married in the Philippines often leads to unintended consequences. This often turns out to be a mess when a humble, sincere person accepts the gospel but isn’t married but has a family or sometimes two families. The accommodation made in this situation is that if a person has been with a partner for more than five years and can get married, they do. If they are meeting all of their family obligations, this is deemed acceptable, and they are allowed to be baptized and join the Church. 

 Contacting

I’ve heard of a lot of different contacting methods used in missions around the world but the one the Burton’s shared with me was one that I hadn’t heard about. This contacting strategies used in Cabanatuan Mission was to use the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ in finding people to teach. Since Christ our Savior is mentioned an average of 1.7 times on each page of the 500+ pages of the Book of Mormon, the missionaries when meeting and talking to people they would explain, “Every page of this book testifies of the Savior and teaches of Jesus Christ.  Will you open the Book of Mormon and just start reading?” 

The people would open the Book of Mormon and begin reading.  When a reference to Christ was noted, the missionaries would talk about that scripture.  After this short interchange, people would start to give the book back and the missionaries would say, “This is our gift to you.  Will you read about Jesus Christ every day?” The people would agree to do this and if the people were willing, the missionaries would get their contact information. If not, the missionaries would thank them for their time and leave. In many cases they were able to begin teaching these people about what they read about Christ in the Book of Mormon. When speaking of Christ, this resonated the Filipino people because of their deep and abiding faith and belief in Christ.

At the conclusion of this oral history interview, and in other mission leader interviews, I have seen how the hand of the Lord guides these mission leaders and have observed how they leverages their unique talents and abilities in situations that require not only insight but special managerial skills and inspiration to deal with uncertain situations on the fly and to do this 24/7 for three years.

In President and Sister’s Burton’s case, their Navy background of having to move to a new location or country frequently and often on a moments notice, dealing with uncertainty, and being able to think clearly under pressure was a blessing not only to the missionaries that they were entrusted to watch over, but to the local leadership as well. The Burton’s went out of their way to make special efforts to train local leaders as the mission grew by laying the foundation for the ability for the church leadership to support the growth now and in the future.

What I continue to learn about the Philippines…..

A few months after we arrived in the Philippines and after a day’s work in the field, we would drive home. At a busy intersection on our way home, we frequently were approached by young girls who sell local white flowers that were carefully strung together into a neckless-like string of flowers which most people hang on their rear view mirror. When the light turned red and cars had to stop, they would approach stopped cars hoping to sell their flowers. We have mentioned them in another blog post.

These girls are part of a family that apparently makes a living at this intersection. Most of the time we see these girls around five or six o’clock but this one evening it was 8:45 pm and to our surprise, one of these young ladies was out working the intersection at this late hour. 

Jasmine – Age 11

My heart breaks to think that for at least the next four or five years most days (after school) and evenings, Jasmine and her friend Joy and their brothers will be out working by selling their flower to support their family. As we drove away and I looked in my rear view mirror, seeing her hurry out of traffic waiting for the light to turn red again. As we made the turn at this intersection for home, I couldn’t but think of our grandchildren that are Jasmine’s age and the difference in opportunities our grandchildren will have that Jasmine and her siblings will not have.

Scriptural Thought:

1 Nephi 20:10: “For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.”

Thought of the Day: In coming days it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost. President Russell M. Nelson