TWO local young men, Daniel Dafolo and Rommy Oli, left Honiara on 3 June to serve missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes known as the Mormon or LDS Church).
Dafolo, 22 years of age, and Oli, age 21, have served in various Church assignments over the past years as they prepared to accept the call to serve in the mission field.
Both young men will serve in Vanuatu.
Before their assignment in Vanuatu begins, both men will spend two weeks at the Church’s Missionary Training Center in Auckland, New Zealand, one of 15 such training centers world-wide.
When asked what motivates them to give 18 to 24 months of their lives to serve in foreign lands, missionaries most often state that they desire to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to bring peace and happiness to others. Currently, the Church has over 80,000 missionaries serving throughout the world, including 20 in the Solomon Islands.
Male missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serve full time for two years, during which time they receive no financial compensation from the Church.
Young women serve for 18 months.
In the past 5 years, several Solomon Islanders have served as missionaries in the countries of Fiji, Australia, PNG, and Vanuatu. Currently, five Solomon Islanders in addition to Dafolo and Oli are serving as full-time missionaries for the Church.
