It is a dream finally realized for Woodland residents Mike and Viola Fong as they head out on July 1 to serve a mission as a couple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the church’s South America South area, sharing their much-needed expertise in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“We each served a mission when we were young, me in Houston and Mike in Hong Kong, but we had always hoped to be able to serve a mission together when we retired,” says Viola, adding, “To be able to take all that we have learned along the way in our life with us this time to help others makes it even more meaningful.”
Mike, whose Woodland roots run deep as a farmer of organic row crops and processing tomatoes for 35 years in the area, will be serving as a humanitarian missionary. Viola, who is an attorney, will serve as an associate area legal counsel for the church in the area.
Viola has been an active part of the community since she moved to Woodland from Ontario, Canada to marry Mike ten years ago, helping to establish several opportunities for residents to serve each other. Viola followed Bill Marble in working to get non-profits set up on justserve.org, a free website and app where anyone can go to find local volunteer opportunities to contribute to the community.
Woodland’s Bob Pratt is taking over the initiative of Just Serve as Viola leaves. Pratt also succeeded Viola in serving as secretary of WEMM (Woodland Ecumenical and Multi-Faith Ministries), who are major sponsors of the successful 3rd Thursday Humanitarian Day, an event that Viola initiated in 2022.
3rd Thursday invites the community to come together to wrap diapers for the Yolo Diaper Bank, pack lunches for Empower Yolo, make and fill comfort bags for children in the foster care system, make blankets and toiletry bags for unhoused residents or comfort bags, cut and sew dog and cat mats for Yolo Animal Shelter, and more.
Dena Erickson has taken over Viola’s role in the Third Thursday Humanitarian Day. For more details, see woodlandwemm.org or justserve.org.
Other Woodland couples who have chosen to spend part of their retirement in services as senior missionaries of the LDS church include Bill Marble and Sandy Marble, who served an LDS mission in Peru and Jaunty and Becky (formerly Burnham) Rutter who are currently serving a mission in Germany.
Source link : https://www.dailydemocrat.com/2024/06/15/woodland-couple-extends-open-hearts-and-talents-on-mission-to-south-america/amp/
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Publish date : 2024-06-15 13:01:47
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