MISSION PRESIDENT

Many mission presidents have served the Lord in this land. A Mission President's call usually lasts for three years. He serves as a president over many full-time missionaries in a specific geographical area. For instance, our present Mission President, Pres. Roy Russell Valantine, presides over the members, Branches, and missionary work that is disseminated from St.Martin on the north, to the three Guyanas on the South American Continent (French Guyana, Surinam, and Guyana). He conducts interviews for advancement to the Melchizedek priesthood, temple recommends and is responsible for disciplinary councils. These extensive assignments take up a lot of time and you can often find Pres. and Sr. Valantine traveling to and fro throughout the Caribbean and South America.

Before Pres.Valantine's call to this mission, he served in many leadership positions; Ward Sunday School teacher and Counselor, Ward Priest's quorum adviser, Stake High Counselor, Bishop, Branch President, Stake Young Men's president, Asst. High Priests group leader, Elders quorum instructor, Stake name extraction worker, temple worker and Counselor in the Stake Presidency.

Sr. Valantine, his wife, was the Ward Primary in-service leader, teacher, and accompanist, Ward Young Women's counselor and president, Stake missionary, Ward Relief Society Counselor and President, R.S. teacher, Branch Young Women's counselor and President and Stake Young Women's counselor.

Pres. Valantine taught at a school for two years after his mission to France, and then became a practicing dentist until his retirement a few years ago. Sr. Valantine attended B.Y.U., and then returned home (Glendale, California) and taught second graders for five years at a primary school. Somewhere in between these past events they were married in the temple and were blessed with four children, two boys and two girls. In describing how they were called, Pres. Valantine said,

"Our preliminary interview was with Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorurn of the Twelve, but we received our call from Pres. Thomas S. Monson of the First Presidency, to a French-speaking mission. Later, we obtained a letter telling us of our specific destination the West Indies Mission, which includes Dutch and English countries."

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Sr. Valantine relates their lives before their call,

"We lived in Glendale since our marriage, but when my husband retired, we moved to St. George, Utah. We were fixing up our new home and had been there only a few months when our call came. It was total surprise and very exciting to be asked to serve the Lord in that capacity."

Commenting on their arrival to the West Indies Mission, Sr.Valantine said,

"We have had many rewarding experiences in the past months in meeting wonderful members, whose hearts were touched by the great message of the Gospel. Their testimonies bring happiness to my soul, increasing my own testimony of the scriptural truths. Meeting our valiant missionaries in zone conferences has been a great blessing. Watching young people gain conviction, obey the commandments, and serve our Savior, Jesus Christ, is my greatest joy."

Pres. Valantine has instructed many Branch Presidency Leadership training meetings locally, and he often emphasizes; COMPLETE OBEDIENCE TO GOD, FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, ELIMINATING DISTRACTIONS that take away from the Lord's work, ACCOUNTABILITY, HOME TEACHING, VISITING TEACHING (R.S.) and so forth.

"Our mission scripture is Alma 16:16 -- And there was no inequality among them; the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word which should be taught among them at the time of His coming." -- (Alma 16:16,Book Of Mormon)

Focusing on that scripture and his own testimony, Pres. Valantine commented, "We encourage all members and missionaries to constantly pray that the Lord will touch the minds and hearts of the people to prepare them to receive the truth as it is taught by the Spirit. I know that God lives, and is truly our Heavenly Father; that Jesus Christ lives, and is our Savior; that Joseph Smith and Gordon B. Hinckley, our present President of the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, are prophets of God; and that the Book Of Mormon is the Word of God. I'm grateful for this knowledge, and for the privilege of serving in the West Indies among so many lovely Brothers and Sisters."

I would also like to express gratitude for the marvelous, unwavering work and dedication that these mission presidents and their spouses have done and continue to do for the movement of the Church in this land and the region. We would have probably made little progress in establishing the Church here were it not for the effective leadership and management of these faith couples.

Trinidad and Tobago dedication at St. Augustine Grounds - Missionaries
1. The Lobleys, 2. Elder M. Russell Ballard, 3. Elder Charles Didier,
4. The Tallys, 5. Pres. A. Dean Jeffs, and 6. Gary Ishmael

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