Two New Mission Presidents Called

Jul 2010 Issue

By Danielle Ellis
Todd Larkin and Stan Nielson of Las Vegas have just been called as new mission presidents. President Larkin will preside over the Seattle Washington Mission, and President Nielson will preside over the Warsaw Poland Mission. These men aren’t just from the same city, they are from the same stake. In fact, President Larkin was recently released as the president of the Lakes Stake. President Nielson was his first counselor in the stake presidency. His second counselor, John Bunker, was called to preside over the California Santa Rosa Mission a year ago. So the entire Lakes Stake presidency will be serving as mission presidents. The general authority who released the presidency last year told President Nielson recently that he was unaware of any other time when two members of the same stake presidency had been called simultaneously as mission presidents, let alone that all three men had been called.

President Larkin will preside over a fairly typical American metropolitan mission, with nearly 200 young missionaries and 30 senior couples covering an area roughly 35 miles by 35 miles. President Nielson, by contrast, will preside over not just his 72 missionaries, he will “effectively be the stake president of Poland,” he says. The Church has only been organized in Poland for twenty years, and it currently has about 1200 members organized into districts and branches.

President Nielson and his wife Judi will leave their four grown children and nine grandchildren while they serve. He says, “Kids won’t remember whether or not grandma and grandpa were at their birthday parties. They will remember that grandma and grandpa served a mission!”

President Nielson’s great love for missionary work is contagious; he’s already recruited two couples to serve in their mission! He is almost unable to contain his excitement about senior missionaries. “People think they don’t have anything to contribute to the work of the Lord,” he says, “but they don’t realize in places where the Church is newer that it means the world to have couples who have been members of the Church for decades, and can fellowship, teach people how to lead music or present a lesson. Senior couples are phenomenal.” He adds, “I’ve seen what missions do for people. It changes their lives. It becomes the best thing they’ve ever done.”

President Larkin and his wife Laura will take two of their three children with them to Seattle, while their oldest son is leaving for his mission to Japan when they leave. He says he is most excited “that my wife and I will be able to work together all day, every day, to build the kingdom of God away from the distractions of the world.” He adds that they are “absolutely excited. We can’t believe we’re lucky enough to have this opportunity. This is a dream come true!”