We just welcomed our first missionary from Namibia

Meet Elder Moroni John Swartbooi.

Elder Swarbooi

A few weeks prior to Namibia gaining its independence on March 20, 1990, missionaries were sent to Windhoek to proselyte (4 elders and a senior couple.)  By this time, there will still only 20 members in Namibian.  The Country's president-elect Sam Nujoma stated at the time of his election that missionaries were welcome in his country.

The Church first came to Namibia in 1973 with Otto Krauss was called as the presiding elder.  The first Church meeting had been held in his home in April 1972.  The first missionaries arrived in 1978 and a small branch was organized in 1983 with Dieter Greiner being called as the first branch president.

The Church has continued to grow since that time. A Scouting program was organized in Windhoek that provided wholesome activities for the young men. In 1995 the seminary program for the youth was instituted. Members from Namibia joined some 5,000 other Latter-day Saints for the Regional Conference on February 18, 1996 -- the largest such gathering in South Africa.

The first Church-built chapel in Namibia was dedicated in Windhoek on July 6, 1997 by President James O. Mason of the Seventy, President of the Africa Area.  Today there are 793 members in 2 branches.

You might wonder why we chose today to post the photo of Elder Swarbooi?  Well,  we were contacted by the Sister Missionary who visited his family in Namibia sixteen years ago.  She is a dear friend who was a young married person in a BYU student stake we served in for five years around 2001 or 2002.  Her name is Renee Richards and she is from Alberta.

Sister Richards and the Swarbooi family in 1999.  Elder Swarbooi is the little boy in the red shirt.