Universal Challenges

Though geography, culture, and distance may separate them from other Latter-day Saints, members in the Marshall Islands explain that they face many of the same challenges all members do.

Gary Zackious (right), a stake young single adult leader, says that "people come up to you and say, 'We don't need a prophet today, and we don't need any more scripture.' Some members don't really read the scriptures or understand them, so when someone tells them something that slackens their belief, they back off from what they know is true."

For Gary, the solution is simple: "I was challenged by the missionaries to pray about the Book of Mormon, the Restoration, and Joseph Smith to know if they are true. One night I was praying on my knees. I felt the Spirit. It was a feeling I had never experienced before. I know the things I was taught by the missionaries are true. Reading the Book of Mormon strengthened my testimony as a young convert." From his baptism to his mission to today, Gary says, "My testimony has grown as I read the Book of Mormon and study the scriptures and the words of the prophets."

Ernest Mea (right), who works with Gary as a Church translator in the Marshall Islands, says that a lot of young people get caught in immorality. He keeps on the strait and narrow path by engaging in wholesome activities with like-minded friends. "Before my mission, we played basketball at the church every day but Sunday and Monday," he says.

For Michael Ione (right) of the Jenrok Ward, joining the Church in 2006 came at a price: he couldn't continue living at home. Showing faith and conviction, he was baptized anyway.

Just a year later he was called on a mission—to the Marshall Islands. More recently, Michael's family has begun to show interest in the Church and to study with the missionaries.