Three members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Australia who are called to serve for the next three years as Mission Presidents for the Church, were welcomed by Elder James J. Hamula to the annual Mission President’s Seminar at Church Headquarters to begin their training.
President Jeffrey D Cummings, along with his wife Evelyn will lead the New Zealand Hamilton Mission. President John F Larkin and his wife Robyn will oversee the Marshall Islands Majuro Mission. President Robert H Simpson and his wife Jinny will lead the Ghana Accra West Mission
Elder Hamula, a General Authority Seventy and currently Executive Director of the Church Correlation Department, feels a closeness to Australia having served as Pacific Area President for the Church for three years. His wife, Sister Joyce Anderson Hamula, was also on hand for the welcome.
“Sister Hamula and I were thrilled to greet the Cummings, Larkins and Simpsons,” said Elder Hamula.
“We are so happy – and proud – to see so many couples from the Pacific serving as new mission presidents, along with their wives.”
Mission presidents are responsible for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their assigned areas. They supervise, train and lead up to 200 missionaries, who are mostly young men and women ages 18-22 assigned to them from around the world. The missionaries pay their own expenses while they serve for between 18 and 24 months.