September 27th, 2025, 4pm MDT
During the 10-day ministry in the Pacific region of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Sister Tamara W. Lania, Relief Society sister Kamille N. Johnson, and sister Tamara W. Lania, the first counselor to the young female general president, shared a message of faith and hope during the meeting and dedication aimed at strengthening members and leadership.
The mission, which began in Sydney, Australia, was homecoming to her husband, sister Scott Lanier, who served as mission leader for the Sydney Australia mission from 2018 to 2021.
“This feels like my home,” said sister Runia in one of her dedications on Friday, September 12th, the church’s Pacific newsroom reported.
“As mission leaders, we were more than just serving here. We lived here, prayed here, laughed and cried here, and we came to love people with our hearts,” she said.
President Johnson, accompanied by her husband, brother Douglas R. Johnson, said Sydney’s iconic opera house, harbor and bridge were even grander than expected.
“I think that’s the case with the temple,” explained Johnson. “The buildings in our temples are iconic, but they are very grand when we are there.”
She invited Latter-day Saints to the Lord’s house. “As President (Russell M.) Nelson said, it will change your life.”
President Johnson and his sister Rania also spent time together in countries such as Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand.
What President Johnson saw in Vanuatu and Samoa
In Port Villa, Vanuatu, President Johnson met mothers who were blessed through a child nutrition program focused on church members for education, education and follow-up visits.
“We saw clear improvements in those kids,” President Johnson said in a video on her social media page.
President Johnson said being in Vanuatu is a “great opportunity” as he saw members expecting a new home for the Lord. Port Viravanuatu Temple has been under construction since April 2023.
“I know that the Lord remembers his children on the island of the sea,” President Johnson said. “They are known, they are loved, they are needed.
“This is a period of renewal here in the Pacific, and it was a glorious privilege to be with these wonderful people who are committed to making Jesus Christ the focus of their lives,” she concluded.
While in Samoa, President Johnson was able to become the place where her eldest son served on a full-time mission. There she was able to tell people, “Thank you for taking care of my son.” She said in a video on her social media page.
Regarding the Latter-day Saints of Samoa, she said: “They are faithful and good people who sing along with their souls.
She also had the opportunity to go to two church schools, where she told her students that the work they are doing and the research they pursued would “change the world.”
“Our goal is to graduate all students who graduate from church school, deepening their conversion to Jesus Christ and his restored gospel,” said Jonathan Warwick, director of the Church School in Samoa.
Sister Lania’s invitations in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga
At the local Relief Society leadership conference, young women and leading leaders in Sydney, Australia, rania invited them to become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. She told them that they were not called to serve, but to serve him.
Then Runia, a devoted sister for young people and young single adults, promised that their heavenly Father’s love is there for them, whether they know it or not, reported the Church’s Pacific newsroom.
Taliya Rathu Silk, a young woman from northern Sydney, was grateful that her sister, Rania, had returned to Australia. “It’s so blessed that she cares so much about us, and that’s an incredible blessing,” she said.
When sister Lania spoke to young people and young single adults in Perth, Australia, she explained that listening to spirits is personal and said that they can endure knowing God’s plan for each of them.
In Hamilton and Auckland, New Zealand, on September 16th and 17th, sister Runia concentrated her message for youth on the identity and joy of God found in obeying Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, a Pacific Newsroom reported.
“If you are in a dark place, pray. If you are struggling, pray. Keep praying. Don’t forget that even Jesus prayed as a resurrected being,” she said.
Elder Peter F. Mels, 70 years old and president of the Pacific Region, invited the young people to look to their Savior.
“I hope that by doing Saint Cra every Sunday, you will realize your healing power,” he said.
Later in Tonga, in an interview with Radionukualofa 88.6 FM, sister Rania invited the young to remember their values as children of God and to lay the foundations of faith in Jesus Christ.
