Elder Christofferson Makes Historic Visit to Church’s Pacific Area

This article was originally written by Jason Swenson for Church News. The following is an excerpt.

Elder D. Todd’s Christofferson’s recent travels to three countries in the Pacific Area offered the Apostle a glimpse of three stages of Church development: beginning, emerging, and established.

In the Solomon Islands, he witnessed an island nation still taking its maiden steps in the gospel.

The islands of Samoa (including the U.S. Territory of American Samoa), continue to emerge and grow as Latter-day Saints embrace principles of spiritual and temporal self-reliance.

Meanwhile, the well-established congregations in New Zealand remain a proven power in an area of the Church defined by it geographical vastness and diversity.

The Pacific Area “is continuing to develop,” Elder Christofferson, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said of his assignment there January 21–31. “I was encouraged; we’re heading in the right direction. The corps of leaders in the area—both men and women—is getting stronger each year.”

Sister Katherine Christofferson accompanied her husband to the Pacific Area. The Christoffersons were also joined at various stops in their travels by the Pacific Area Presidency—Elder Kevin W. Pearson, Elder O. Vincent Haleck, and Elder S. Gifford Nielsen, along with their wives, Sister June Pearson, Sister Peggy Ann Haleck, and Sister Wendy Nielsen.

Elder Christofferson’s travels began in American Samoa, marking his first visit to the Samoas. In an interview with the Church News, he noted Samoa’s long and rich Church history that stretches back to the 19th century.

“Initially, those who joined the Church were expelled from their villages and had no place to live,” he said.

Since then, the Church has become both visible and influential in Samoa. The island nation has one of the highest concentrations of Latter-day Saints anywhere in the world, with about one in three Samoans being Mormons.

Read the full article at LDS.org.