Three Couples from Australia Asked to Serve as Mission Leaders

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has asked three couples from Australia to serve as mission leaders in the Pacific Area.

Leo and Kendel Gomez have been asked to serve in the Australia Brisbane Mission, Jonathon and Fiona Maile, in the Marshall Islands/Kiribati Mission, and Riki and Donna Tukukino in the New Zealand Hamilton Mission.

Mission leaders supervise and train the missionaries serving in their mission, as well as overseeing the daily missionary work in their area.  They serve in these unpaid positions for three years.

Rikki and Donna Tukukino, who live in Melbourne, are excited to serve in Hamilton, New Zealand. Receiving their assignment was an emotional experience because their family heritage is from the Hamilton area.  Family means everything to the Tukukinos. When President Tukukino was eleven his family moved to the Temple View area in Hamilton.

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He says, “It is in Hamilton where I gained my testimony of Jesus Christ and the gospel. It is where I gained my strength. The Lord is in the detail of our lives. He is sending us back to where we fell in love and got married.”

Leo and Kendel Gomez, from Sydney, are deeply humbled by their call to serve.

They recently wrote: “We look forward to devoting the entirety of our time to others with all of our hearts, might, mind, and strength. We also look forward to loving and serving the Lord along-side faithful missionaries, both young and senior.”

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“This responsibility is immensely daunting but also an inspiring invitation to ‘Come, Follow Him’.  We anticipate that our lives will never again be the same.”

Jonathon and Fiona Maile, from Perth, look forward to meeting the people of Marshall Islands and Kiribati.

They recently wrote: “We are excited to get to know and work closely with dedicated and faithful missionaries, who are sacrificing their time to serve the Lord and build His kingdom. We also desire to become greater disciples and ambassadors of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

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“We anticipate that we will learn and grow spiritually as we serve and are strengthened in faith as we see the Lord’s hand in the conversion miracles that are happening in these latter days.”

In anticipation of their July 1 start date, all three couples are working to learn all they can about being mission leaders. They are listening to training materials, meeting with mentors, and studying “Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” and the scriptures.