Radiant Sister Missionaries

Meet the June 26th Group Relief Society

Four Fotu Missionaries Serving At Same TIme

Elder Hill and Elder Fotu

Elder Fotu is from Tonga.  Right now his parents have four children serving missions at the same time: New Guinea,  New Zealand, Philippines, and  now Ghana.  (His companion Elder Hill is from St. George, Utah and is our only American in this group.)

Fotu Brothers

First Sisters from Namibia and Malawi

Meet Sister Swartbooi from Mamibia and Sister Gomani from Malawi.  Sister Swarbooi's brother was in our last group and they are the first elder and sister from that country that we have had.  Sister Gomani is our first missionary from Malawi.  Do you know where Malawi is?  It is hard to find on the map.

Malawi AT A GLANCE     

• Church gained legal recognition: 1995
• Current number of congregations:  9
• Current Church membership in Malawi: 1,931

HISTORY

• 1979: First Malawian to be baptized
• 1995: Church gained legal recognition in Malawi
• 1999: Sitima Village Branch organized
• 2002: Blantyre Branch organized
• 2005: First Church-constructed meetinghouse in Blantyre
• 1992 – present: Humanitarian aid assistance
• 2011: Blantyre District was organized
• 2011: Zambia Lusaka Mission formed
• 2012: Lilongwe Branch formed

NAMIBIA AT A GLANCE     

• First Church presence in Namibia: 1924
• Church is legally registered: 1990
• Church is dedicated for missionary work: 1992
• Current Church members: 793
• Congregations: 2  

HISTORY 

• 1927: Frist unit, Karibib Branch organized
• 1928: First convert baptisms, Johannes Andries Cloete and Martha Vermeulen Cloete
• 1969: First missionaries in Windhoek
• 1983: Windhoek Branch organized
• 1983: Mission transferred from South Africa Johannesburg to South Africa Cape Town Mission
• 1990: The Church gets registered
• 1990: A. Eugene and L. Ruth Hilton become the first missionaries to serve full time in Namibia
• 1991: The Windhoek District is organized. However, the district was dissolved in February 1992
• 1992: Elder Russell M. Nelson  dedicates the country for missionary work
• 1992: Andre van Der Merwe called as first missionary from Namibia
• 1994: Seminary Program begins           
• 1997 : Windhoek  Branch meetinghouse, first meetinghouse in Namibia, is dedicated   

How Much Luggage Do You Need for Two Years

Here is the luggage of thirteen missionaries from the DRC.  They have the shirts and pants they need, as well as the essentials.

So the question is, do you need more than one suitcase to serve a mission in Africa?

Pitching Senior Couple Missions

Elder Hales spoke in General Conference of 5 reasons that prevent senior couples from serving missions.  I call them the five F's.  Fear, family concerns, finding the right mission opportunity, financial challenges and faith.  It is a great talk:  Elder Hales, April 2005, "Couple Missionaries:  Blessings from Sacrifice and Service. 

This sculpture at Deseret Book by Mike Call is called "Eternal Companions."  It tells the story in art form of the love that come from serving missions with the companion you have chosen.

What do six week missionaries do when the 2 week missionaries leave?

They make journals during a two hour break, they attend the temple, they practice their language, that's what.

They mentor a future missionary who speaks fluent French.

Senior Couples Needed for Accra, Ghana Temple

Elder & Sister Parke

The compliment for the Ghana Accra Temple is 3 senior couples, however not one has been found for this September with Elder and Sister Parke return home.  The Parkes, who were featured in an earlier blog post this month, complete their 18 month mission the first week in September.

If you are aware of a senior couple contemplating serving a mission at this time, please contact me at reid.robison@ldschurch.org with their email address and phone number.  I would love to tell them how wonderful this assignment would be.  As an added bonus, you work 1-2 days every week with new missionaries.  Some of the work is in French, but this is an English-speaking temple so both couples who speak French and those who speak only English are needed.