Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are familiar with early Church members like Edward Partridge — the first bishop of the restored Church — and the pioneers who traveled by handcart to Utah.
But how familiar are they with trailblazers like the young man from Pakistan who left home and walked through Iran and Turkey, eventually boarding a boat to Greece, where he could live his Christian beliefs?
Or the woman who was barred from attending any church during communist rule in Romania but later learned from Latter-day Saint missionaries that she was a child of God?
As Church history missionaries in Europe, Elder Richard Ward and Sister Marianne Ward have interviewed over 100 Church members with stories like these — stories of modern-day pioneers.
“We all know how much we love the inspiring stories of the early Saints in Kirtland, Nauvoo and the Salt Lake Basin — their commitment, their perseverance, their faith. These are meaningful to us as a Church community,” said Elder Ward. “Well, it’s 1830-ish in eastern Europe.”
Church history in the making
Elder and Sister Ward, from Midway, Utah, began their mission in September 2024 and were assigned to live in Bucharest, Romania. They collect the stories of Saints from the Church’s Europe Central Area — specifically Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Greece and Cyprus, all in the area’s eastern side — which are later uploaded to the Church History Department archive.
They also seek out artifacts such as old hymnals, letters, photos and copies of the Book of Mormon, in addition to training branch leaders on using the Unit History Tool — a new history-keeping tool for wards and branches — found on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
“In a nutshell, our responsibility is to search out all of the people, places and events that had anything to do with establishment and growth of the Church in our area of responsibility,” said Elder Ward.
The goal is to share these stories and artifacts with people around the world so they can be inspired by pioneers of Europe the same way many people learn from the early Saints of Joseph Smith’s day — the stories have certainly had that effect on the Wards.
“This mission has allowed us to go into very sacred places — people’s hearts and their innermost thoughts and personal experiences. We do not take this privilege lightly,” said Sister Ward. “The courage, commitment to God, endurance and understanding of who God is to these people has been life-altering for us.”
Simple yet profound testimonies
Sister Ward said the testimonies of those they interview — many of whom are refugees — are “very simple, yet so profound.”
For example, the Wards interviewed a young man from Albania whose mother kicked him out of the house following his baptism.
With no money for transportation, he traveled from Albania to Greece by foot, hoping to find a Latter-day Saint congregation to worship with.
After searching for some time with no luck, the young man was on the verge of giving up hope and returning home, where his mother would not allow him to attend Church.
At last, he found Latter-day Saint missionaries on the street, who connected him to the local branch, where he has been a “pillar of strength,” according to Sister Ward.
When the Wards asked the young man why he chose to stay part of the Church, even in the face of opposition, he answered, “Because it is true.”
Every member a pioneer
Not every pioneer journey requires a trek.
For instance, the Wards interviewed a man who, as a teenager, started recognizing inconsistencies between what he read in the Bible and what he learned at his church.
While pondering these contradictions, he saw Latter-day Saint missionaries teaching on the street and approached them, asking to 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 foundation of the Church in Hungary.”
During a 2024 celebration commemorating Latter-day Saint pioneers’ entry into the Salt Lake Valley, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said it is important to know and celebrate modern-day pioneers.
“Every convert to the Church is a pioneer in his or her family,” Elder Bednar said. “The new members of the Church in Africa, the Philippines and in countries around the world are pioneers. A person who is coming back to the Church after a period of having been away is a pioneer for all of his or her posterity.”
