July 15th, 2025, 8:51pm MDT
Many members of the Latter-day Saint Church of Jesus Christ are familiar with early church members, such as Edward Partridge, the first bishop of the restored church, and pioneers who traveled to Utah in handcarts.
But how familiar are they to pioneers like the young man from Pakistan who left home and walked through Iran and Turkey, and eventually he boards a ship to Greece, where he can live his Christian beliefs?
Or a woman who was forbidden from attending church during Romanian communist rule, but later learned from the Latter-day Saint Missionary that she was a child of God?
As a history missionary for a European church, Elder Richard Ward and sister Marianne Ward interviewed more than 100 church members in such stories, stories of modern pioneers.
“We all know how much we love the inspiring stories of early saints in Kirtland, Nauboo and the Salt Lake Basin. Their commitment, patience, faith. These make sense to us as a community of churches.” “Well, it’s 1830 in Eastern Europe.”
History of the church created
Ward, an elder and sister from Midway, Utah, began the mission in September 2024 and was assigned to live in Bucharest, Romania. They collect stories of saints from the central region of the church. Specifically, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Greece and Cyprus are all located on the east side of the region.
They are also looking for artifacts such as old Book of Mormon hymns, letters, photos, copies. It also trains branch leaders on using the Unit History tool, a tool found at Churchofjesuschrist.org, which maintains the new history of wards and branches.
“In a nutshell, our responsibility is to search for all the people, places and events that have something to do with the establishment and growth of the Church in our field of responsibility,” the elder said.
The goal is to share these stories and artifacts with people all over the world and be inspired by European pioneers, just as many learn from the early saints of Joseph Smith’s time. The story certainly had an impact on the ward.
“This mission has allowed us to enter a very sacred place — the hearts of people and their innermost thoughts and personal experiences. We do not take this privilege lightly,” Sister Ward said. “Courage, commitment to God, endurance and understanding of who God is for these people have changed lives for us.”
Simple yet profound testimony
The Ward Sisters said the testimony of the people they interviewed, many of whom are refugees, was “very simple, yet very profound.”
For example, the ward interviewed a young Albanian man, whose mother kicked him out of the house after his baptism.
Without the money for transport, he traveled on foot from Albania to Greece and wanted to find a Latter-day Holy Assembly to worship.
After a while, after searching for no luck, the young man gave up hope and was on the verge of returning home, where his mother wouldn’t allow him to attend church.
Finally, he spots the Latter-day Saint Missionary on the street. He connected him to a local branch where he said he was a “pilot of strength.”
When the ward asked the young man why he chose to stay part of the church despite the opposition, he replied, “Because it’s true.”
All members are pioneers
Not every pioneer journey requires a trekking.
For example, the ward interviewed a man, as a teenager, who began to recognize the contradiction between what he read in the Bible and what he learned in his church.
Contemplating these contradictions, he saw the Latter-day Saint Missionaries teaching on the streets, asking them to approach them and learn about their beliefs.
Just a few weeks later, he and his mother were baptized.
Sister Ward described his family as “an important part of the foundations of the Hungarian church.”
During the 2024 celebration of Latter-day Saint Pioneers entering Salt Lake Valley, Elder David A. Bednar, a quorum of 12 Apostles, said it is important to know and celebrate modern pioneers.
“Every convert to the church is a pioneer of his or her family,” Elder Bednar said. “New members of churches in Africa, the Philippines and around the world are pioneers. Those who return to the church after they are away are pioneers of all future generations.”
