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Elder Amesimeku
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Who are the young men you see around town wearing white shirts, nametags, ties and carrying a blue book? They are the volunteer missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) who are sometimes referred to as the Mormon missionaries because of the blue book they carry, The Book of Mormon. Currently in Lilburn, those young men are Elder Amesimeku and Elder Halcomb (Elder refers to their priesthood title) who are each serving for two years as voluntary missionaries. Elder Amesimeku is from Ghana, Africa and has been serving in northeastern Georgia for about a year. Elder Halcomb arrived seven months ago from Gilbert, Arizona.
They are just two of the 52,454 missionaries who are serving in 348 areas or missions throughout the world. There are three LDS missions in Georgia. These elders serve in the Georgia Atlanta North Mission. Their purpose as missionaries is to invite everyone to come unto Jesus Christ by helping them receive the same gospel that Jesus Christ himself established when He lived on the earth. Latter-day Saints believe His church has been reestablished in our day through modern day prophets and is the same organization that Christ himself established in the Primitive Church with apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
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| Elder Halcomb |
Both Elders Amesimeku and Halcomb say that they had a great desire to serve a mission because they wanted to follow the counsel of the living prophet, Thomas S. Monson, who has invited all worthy young men of their faith to serve missions. “When you have knowledge of the true gospel of Jesus Christ, it makes you want to share the joy of this message with everyone,” stated Halcomb. “This message is one of hope and can bring joy and happiness to all of God’s children.”
Many people think the LDS missionaries spend their days riding bicycles from place to place, knocking door-to-door in an effort to proselyte, but they are involved in much more than that. They rise by 6:30 a.m. to exercise and have breakfast. They begin personal scripture study at 8:00 a.m. where they study the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and other church publications to broaden their personal understanding of the doctrines they teach. At 9:00 a.m. they study together for an hour. The remainder of the day they meet with people who are interested in learning more about their understanding of Jesus Christ and His life and sacrifice and how people can apply His teachings to bring peace to their lives.
They also spend time meeting with church members (there are more than 72,000 LDS members in Georgia), performing voluntary community service, helping at community events and speaking at other churches upon invitation. Recently Elders Amesimeku and Halcomb were joined by other missionaries in the area and planted flowers for the City of Lilburn along the walking trail from Old Town Lilburn to Rockbridge Road. “The more we serve the more we get to know and love the people here,” said Halcomb. “Being visible in the community always leads to questions about who we are and why we are here.”
“There are many people who have great questions we can help answer,” said Amesimeku. “Many people have concerns about how religion can help us today. We feel we have the answers through scriptures and modern day prophets. We believe God reveals His will to his prophets today just like He did in the Bible. God truly is a loving and caring Heavenly Father. Because we are literally His spiritual children, we know he would not leave us alone. That is why we have prophets on the earth to help us today.”
Among many other great questions, the missionaries stated they are asked:
Is there really a God?
Does God know me?
Does God have a plan for me?
Does God answer prayers?
What is my purpose in life?
Is there more to life than this?
Is there life after death?
How can a belief in Jesus Christ help me?
Can my marriage continue after I die?
Does God really care about me and my family?
Why does God allow evil and suffering to occur?
How can I find true joy and peace?
“The answers to life’s great questions can all be answered through the teachings of Jesus Christ and the scriptures written by His holy prophets. We are grateful to be here to answer questions and to serve the people in the Lilburn area. We invite everyone to ask us their questions,” concluded Halcomb.
