Elder and Sister Jeffery from Washington, Utah U.S.A. are serving as Church-service missionary photographer and videographers, sharing the gospel using their photography passion and talents.
Church-service missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serve voluntarily and at their own expense all over the world. The Church is currently in over 160 countries and is taught in over 170 different languages; the need for members to serve is great. There are over 20,000 members who serve part time as Church-service missionaries. The Church also has 85,000 full time proselyting missionaries. They all give their time to the Lord through missionary service.
This missionary force helps many Church departments and operations fulfill the Church’s divinely appointed responsibilities. Many service missionary opportunities center around helping members live the gospel of Jesus Christ, caring for the poor and needy enabling salvation of the dead, and sharing the gospel.
Church-service missionaries must be physically, mentally, and emotionally able to fulfill their calling. Most live at home, though some serve around the world.
Elder and Sister James and Celia Jeffery are currently on a swing throughout Asia. Their travels began in Tokyo and Kyoto Japan. They then moved on to Siem Reap Cambodia, and to Singapore, Megalang, Bali and Jakarta.
Their photos and videos help fill the LDS Media Library, and Church media databases with safe, high-quality photos, and video clips. Members can use these in sharing the gospel online and Church designers can use them in Church projects. The voluntarily willingness of these missionaries to assist special requests from Church departments for photos throughout Asia is providing a photo database, including Asian members as they worship, and serve; bringing photographs of Asians in their homelands across many countries.
The Public Affairs full time missionaries from Cambodia caught up with Elder and Sister Jeffery in Siem Reap, Cambodia where they were able to share with the Jefferys the experience of them taking Church-service photographs in Cambodia to add to the Church’s media database. Elder and Sister Jeffery filmed video segments and photos of members of the Church in Siem Reap, Cambodia, also as members watched the recent broadcast of the Church’s General Conference in their beautiful new chapel. During the following days of their Cambodian visit, they attended members Family Home Evenings, and Self Reliance classes. The Jeffery’s photographed member’s homes, families, their church meeting house including various church meetings and the beautiful country. Elder and Sister Jeffery are examples like so many who give their time and talents in service for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world through their sacrifice and selfless service.
Many of the photographs Elder and Sister Jeffery have submitted as Church- service Missionaries, have and will be used in Church publications. To find out more on how you can participate in Church-service, go to; https://www.lds.org/topics/service/create?lang=eng.
“While service missions vary in terms of assignment and length depending on the missionary's abilities, they involve real work, real service, and real sacrifice that make a difference in building the kingdom of God on earth.”
—Elder Adrián Ochoa Second Quorum of the Seventy