Elder and Sister Hamula Say Farewell to People of Pacific

Elder and Sister Hamula Say Farewell to the People of the Pacific

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND —

Elder James J. Hamula, Pacific Area President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his wife Sister Joyce Hamula, said farewell to the people of the Pacific Area today, during a devotional with staff and missionaries at the Church’s Pacific Area Administration Office.

The Hamulas arrived in New Zealand in August 2009 and will leave for the United States in the coming days.

Elder Hamula has been serving as the Church’s Pacific Area President for the last three years. Prior to that he served as a counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency for two years. Elder Hamula will continue to serve in leadership assignments at the Church’s headquarters in Salt Lake City.

Elder O. Vincent Haleck, who currently serves as Second Counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency, expressed love and appreciation to the Hamulas for their devotion to the Lord and their examples of humble, dedicated service to others.

Sister Hamula conveyed her love to the people of the Pacific Area, and to all those who had helped her personally and her family. She shared her feelings regarding the gospel of Jesus Christ and the joy she experiences as a member of the Church.

When the Hamulas arrived in 2009 they were accompanied by their 13-year-old twin sons and a 17-year-old daughter. The three children are now serving as missionaries in various parts of the world.

Elder Hamula shared with the group how much he has enjoyed meeting members of the Church throughout the Pacific Area.

“Wherever the sons and daughters of God are located, we need to be there too,” he said. “There is no place in the Pacific that is beyond the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ. There is no place He doesn’t know.”

Elder Hamula said he and his wife will leave the Pacific knowing better how to love.

“You know how to love, how to give, how to sacrifice, and how to make others happy,” he said. “People throughout the Pacific have been so generous and so kind, often with very little of their own.”

Quoting from scripture, Elder Hamula stated that the promises of the Lord to those in the isles of the sea are great. “From the very beginning,” he said, “the Lord wanted to speak to you.”

“Wherefore, prepare ye for the coming of the Bridegroom; go ye, go ye out to meet him. For behold, he shall stand upon the mount of Olivet, and upon the mighty ocean, even the great deep, and upon the islands of the sea, and upon the land of Zion (Doctrine and Covenants 133:19-20).

“The Lord is coming here,” Elder Hamula said. “He will stand here because He loves the people of the Pacific.”

ENDS

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