Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had a request for the choir at the cornerstone ceremony for the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple. They had sung, “The Morning Breaks,” but he requested a change to the last line: Instead of, “The dawning of a brighter day/Majestic rises on the world,” he asked them to sing it again, but this time, sing, “Majestic rises on Haiti.”
As they did, their voices seemed to lift from the temple grounds, over the walls and into the city beyond. A new day was dawning for Haiti.
Recently, at the dawning of another new day, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles walked to an outlook over the Atlantic Ocean in the Republic of The Gambia. With him as the sun rose were some of the first members of the Church in West Africa — pioneers who were paving the way for those who followed.
The passing last month of Col. Gail S. Halvorsen — the Berlin “Candy Bomber” — at age 101 made me think of another pioneer: my grandpa Vernie Deardeuff. Like Halvorsen, my grandpa also served in the Berlin airlift after World War II, where he flew 97 rescue missions. He passed away in 2018 at the age of 96.
My grandpa was raised on a farm in Missouri and joined the U.S. Navy at the start of World War II, which, he once said, got a lot of people out of their towns and moved them around the country after it was over. The missionaries knocked on my grandparents’ door where they were stationed at a Naval base in California. Vernie and my grandma, Maxine Deardeuff, embraced the gospel even when their families back home showed no interest.
He relied on his faith through heartbreak — the death of his son, the death of my grandma of cancer at age 64 and the death of a young grandchild (my brother). He was obedient throughout his life, reading scriptures and keeping family records. He was loyal to his country, raising and lowering the American flag every morning and night.
After Grandma died, Grandpa married again, and together they served a mission in Florida and served in the Seattle Washington Temple for 16 years. He was a bishop and later a stake patriarch for 24 years, giving me and several of his grandchildren our patriarchal blessings.
My grandpa was a man of unwavering faith. My grandparents were pioneers for their family.
My five children also count in their heritage other pioneers from the early days of the Church, such as David W. Patten, an Apostle who died in the Battle of Crooked River in Missouri, and Franklin D. Richards, another Apostle who preached the gospel in England and helped lead the Saints across the Plains.
This July is the 175th anniversary of when the first pioneers crossed the Plains and entered the Salt Lake Valley. It will undoubtedly become a time of speaking of all those who came before. But it’s not just those pioneers we can remember — it’s the pioneers in every land.
Like Samson Amako, who performed some of the 11 baptisms completed in Gambia during Elder Christofferson’s visit, nearly doubling Church membership in the country. And like Daniel Amako, who had been looking forward to that visit and plans to serve a mission soon.
Like Bernardo and Marie Claire Jean-Jacque. I met them in August 2019 when I was in Port-au-Prince for the dedication of Haiti’s first temple.
Read more: Haiti temple dedication marks the beginning of a ‘remarkable’ future for the country
Their home had a picture of the Salt Lake Temple on the wall. The new temple meant they did not need to make the costly trip to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. They knew performing ordinances in the new Port-au-Prince temple would allow them “to live our life better and prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ.”
They were an example to their children, and to the rising generation of youth in Haiti who will change the nation for the better because of their service and their faith in Christ.
While on a mission in Recife, Brazil, my husband baptized a young surfer who became a pioneer for his future family. This young man grew up to be a faithful husband and father. He is currently serving in a bishopric, and his son recently returned from serving a mission. When my husband reconnected with this family through social media, they shed tears of gratitude to still find each other on the covenant path.
Another key point about my grandparents’ conversion story — they were looking for a church when the missionaries came by. And when the Navy moved their young family to Whidbey Island, Washington, they found a small branch of Saints meeting in a home. My grandparents were needed, and this is what they needed to serve and to grow their testimonies.
“My dad recognized the truth and never hesitated,” said my aunt at his funeral. “He moved forward with faith and never looked back.”
The pioneers of 1847 moved forward with faith. So have the pioneers in Africa, Haiti, Brazil and so many other lands around the world. Their examples light our way.
