Local Pages
Found on a Mission, Reunited on a Mission
In 1982 in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, Elders Laddie Stewart and Michael Bouy knocked on my door. Two of my friends—Steve Byrne and Chris Murphy—had recently joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so I was somewhat familiar with it.
For over 10 years previous I had had an interest in religious thought and was ‘searching’ for truth. When my friends Steve and Chris joined the Church, I tried to convince them they had made a mistake.
Over the months that followed the arrival of those elders to my home, Elders Stewart and Bouy taught me the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. On 26 March, 1983, I was baptised and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by my friends, Steve and Chris, at the Croydon chapel in Melbourne.
Since my baptism I have had the opportunity to serve in many callings, including bishop of the Lilydale Ward and stake president of the Canberra Australia Stake.
In 2016, 33 years after those young missionaries came into my life, I was called to serve as the mission president for the Marshall lslands/Kiribati Mission. It was such a privilege to be called to such a beautiful place to continue the work of salvation that for me, had started with my baptism more than three decades earlier.
The joy of spreading that gospel that had blessed my life for so many years was made even sweeter when in 2017, I suggested to Laddie and his wife, Lorrie, that they consider serving a mission at the Moroni High School—a specific role within the mission where they would assist in training the school teachers.
Both Laddie and Lorrie had careers in education, which made them a perfect fit for the role at Moroni. I arranged for the Stewarts to speak with other senior couple missionaries serving at the school and subsequently the Stewarts agreed to apply for the role.
In late August 2018, their call letter finally came. The Stewarts were officially assigned to serve their mission at Moroni High School, Tarawa, commencing in January 2019.
Elder Laddie Stewart had taught me when he was a 19-year-old missionary. Now, 35 years later, his investigator will serve as his mission president as Laddie serves yet again, this time with his wife.
This blessing from the Lord has touched me deeply. I am excited to have the opportunity to reunite with ‘my missionary’, especially as we will be working together in that same sacred work that brought us together in the first place.