"Former State of Origin prospect and Brisbane Broncos forward Lagi Setu is street preaching in Birmingham, England, and is now referred to as Elder Setu," according to The Queensland Times newspaper.
"It is a far cry from being selected by Wayne Bennett to be part of Queensland's Emerging Origin Squad just two years ago at age 21," the article says.
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"Now, Setu spends his days spreading the Mormon gospel, door knocking residents in the working class England city north west of London. He lives in a small one-bedroom apartment with a fellow missionary and wakes up at 6.30am every morning for prayer before hitting the streets, with the Book of Mormon in hand. He also participates in services for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and preaches on the streets of the midlands city."
The article continues: "Missionaries do not receive a salary for the work they undertake; most are supported by themselves or their families."
The Queensland Times reports that Elder Setu plans to continue his rugby league career after he completes his missionary service. To read the full article, click here [http://www.qt.com.au/story/2011/04/23/lagi-swaps-broncos-to-preach-in-birmingham/].
The Church's missionary program is one of its most recognized characteristics. Mormon missionaries can be seen on the streets of hundreds of major cities in the world as well as in thousands of smaller communities.
The missionary effort is based on the New Testament pattern of missionaries serving in pairs, teaching the gospel and baptizing believers in the name of Jesus Christ (see, for example, the work of Peter and John in the book of Acts).
More than 52,000 missionaries are currently serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most are young people under the age of 25, serving in nearly 350 missions throughout the world.
Missionaries can be single men between the ages of 19 and 25, single women over the age of 21 or retired couples. Missionaries work with a companion of the same gender during their mission, with the exception of couples, who work with their spouse. Single men serve missions for two years and single women serve missions for 18 months.
Missionaries receive their assignment from Church headquarters and are sent only to countries where governments allow the Church to operate. Missionaries do not request their area of assignment and do not know beforehand whether they will be required to learn a language.
Prior to going to their assigned area, missionaries spend a short period of time at one of 17 missionary training centers throughout the world. There they learn how to teach the gospel in an orderly and clear way and, if necessary, they begin to learn the language of the people they will be teaching. The largest training center is in Provo, Utah, with additional centers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, England, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, Spain and South Korea.
Male missionaries are addressed with the title "Elder" and women are addressed with the title "Sister."
A typical missionary day begins by waking at 6:30 a.m. for personal study. The day is spent proselytizing by following up on appointments, visiting homes or meeting people in the street or other public places. Missionaries end their day by 10:30 p.m.
In some parts of the world, missionaries are sent only to serve humanitarian or other specialized missions. Those missionaries do not proselytize.