community
august2
2018
Missionaries Serving in Vernonia
efforts. “They are here to help people
who are interested in learning more
about the Mormon Church, and also to
assist people who might need help in the
community, because we do both things,”
explains Nebergall about the project.
“The sisters are the ones on the ground
talking to people. My job is to support
them in that role.”
The sister missionaries have
generally been serving in Vernonia for
12 week assignments and then rotating
to a new community, so every six weeks
one of the sisters could change; Sister
Bonzo has been called to stay in Verno-
nia for longer.
“Missionary work is an integral
part of the Church of Latter Day Saints,”
says Nebergall. He says Mormon mis-
sionaries have several responsibilities
when they are placed in a community:
help the members of the church be better
members, introduce the principles and
doctrines of the Mormon faith to other
people who might be interested, and to
help everyone they meet. “We take that
last part very literally.”
The sister missionaries do want
to help local Vernonians who can use
their service. Sister Bonzo and Sister
Alvey say they have done some paint-
ing, some yard work, helped with farm
animals, and helped with moving while
in Vernonia, and are always looking for
other ways to serve in the community.
“Our mission is definitely a learning ex-
perience,” says Sister Alvey. “We get
to learn from all the different people we
meet and from the different places we
go to serve. Sometimes the people we
meet are what we need to grow, spiritu-
ally and as people. I’ve definitely seen
that during my mission – growing from
different trials, but they’ve helped me.”
“We serve other people spiritu-
ally but we also help ourselves as well,
to learn and grow as people and as chil-
dren of God,” says Sister Bonzo. “It’s a
great experience and I really enjoy serv-
ing on a mission.”
There are some restrictions on
what the sister missionaries can and
can’t do: they can do basic yard work,
gardening and weeding, stacking fire
wood, raking and clearing brush, and
cleaning or helping organize. They can-
not use any type of power tools, includ-
ing lawn mowers or weed wackers, or
work on ladders or roofs. “Their safety
is always of primary concern for us,”
says Nebergall. He adds that they also
cannot watch children.
Anyone looking for assistance
from the sister missionaries should con-
tact them directly to schedule service.
Nebergall says if someone needs help
with a larger project beyond the scope
and restrictions of the sisters, the Mor-
mon Church is always willing to try
and help. “They can contact me and I
can get help from other resources in our
branch,” says Nebergall. “We can’t do
structural things or things that would
need to be inspected. But if there is an
older person or a disabled person in the
community that needs some help with a
project – mowing their lawn, cleaning
out their gutters – as a branch we’re here
to help. It’s not an inexhaustible supply
of yard maintenance, but we can help.”
Nebergall explained how Mor-
mon missionaries are selected and placed
in communities. Young men who are 18
or older, and young women who are at
least 19, can express interest and apply
to be sent on a mission. A leader in the
church then reviews each individual ap-
plication and makes an assignment to a
mission area; Vernonia is located in the
Oregon Salem Mission. Nebergall says
Mormon missionaries can be called to
almost anywhere in the world; a young
man from Vernonia just returned from
a mission in Thailand, Sister Alvey has
friends serving in Argentina and Italy,
and Sister Bonzo has friends who have
served in Russia, South America, and
Canada.
Once a missionary has received
their assignment they are sent for two
weeks of training, to either Provo, Utah
if they are being sent somewhere Eng-
lish speaking, or to a training center in
the part of the world where they have
been assigned. “At the training center
they receive basic instruction about
how to be a missionary where they
are going, and then they are sent to
their mission home, which for us is
Salem,” explains Nebergall. “From
there they are given a specific as-
signment of where they are going to
serve.”
“There’s always a reason
why we are placed where we are,”
says Sister Bonzo. “That’s been a re-
ally great thing to see as we’ve been
serving. We might think, ‘Why am I
in this area to serve? Who am I sup-
pose to help? What does the Lord
want me to do here?’ And then the
longer we’re here and as we help
people do things, we see what it was
we were suppose to do. These people
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continued from front page
needed us, or maybe I needed these ex-
periences.”
Nebergall says specific assign-
ments can last anywhere from six weeks
up to 36 weeks, sometimes even longer.
There are also senior missionar-
ies, usually older married couples, who
also serve, but for longer periods of time
in one location. Their assignments can
last from 18 months to two years. Ver-
nonia had a missionary couple serving
here several years ago, the Levesques,
who stayed in the community for two
years.
Nebergall says that if a commu-
nity member wants to know more about
the history of the Mormon Church or
about their own family history, (because
the Mormon Church as an organization
has access to a lot of genealogy records)
the local church branch can help with
that. “That’s not really what the sisters
are here for,” explains Nebergall. “If
people have more in depth questions,
we’re always happy to talk with them.
The sister missionaries are here to an-
swer simple questions about what we
believe.”
“We love helping others through
service, because that’s what Christ
would do – he would help others,” says
Sister Bonzo. “We try to help those that
need it most, but we will help everyone,
because we love everyone.”
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
Photography
Scott Laird
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CLASSIFIED ADS
HELP WANTED
You can reach the sister missionaries
serving Vernonia at (503) 990-0512.
For more information about the Verno-
nia Branch of the LDS Church and their
mission program contact Tim Nebergall
at (971) 248-6585.
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CIALIST
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For any questions call (503) 366-
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