The Early Mormon Missionaries Site contains a wealth of information – a lot of which has never before available to the general public. It reads: “During the century following the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830, almost 40,000 men and women served proselytizing missions. In their travels, they taught in 36 countries and spoke to millions of people. This database is a record of their service.”

I had always heard that my grandfather, Orson Clark, had served for five years on his mission to the Hawaiian Islands. FIVE YEARS! I found it verified on this site, along with a black and white photo I had never seen. The photo features my mustached grandfather apparently as the director of a missionary

mandolin group (band). Is this a great photo or what?!

How grateful I am for this devoted missionary and for my grandmother, who he married after her mission to Hawaii. They had met each other before their missions, but my grandmother was “promised” to someone else. She and my grandfather became better acquainted on the long ship voyage to Hawaii from the mainland and saw each other a few times while serving their missions. She returned to Utah after serving two years herself (mostly teaching children), broke up with her boyfriend, and waited for Orson to return after three more years!

My father was the youngest of four sons, all of whom were musical. My grandparents loved the gospel and loved each other.  They desired for their posterity to have this same love in their hearts, and to carry on their legacy. They have truly given our family example to follow.

Their oldest son, Arben, is one of the descendants of Orson and May who learned to play the mandolin. He is pictured here playing it at age 95! He had become quite proficient at it and loved to play for sing-a-longs which the Clark family had quite often.

Take a look at the Early Mormon Missionaries Site to see what treasures you may discover about your missionary ancestors.  For fun, add information from the Countries Page of The Family history Guide, and use Google Earth to get a closer look at the places your ancestors served.

Here is what I found out about Orson and May on the Early Mormon missionaries site:

Orson Clark
Hawaiian (Sandwich Islands)

September 1914–August 1919
Age Called: 21
Set Apart: 24 September 1914
Arrived At Home: 17 August 1919
Departed From Home: 25 September 1914
Mission type: Proselytizing
Marital Status: Single
Priesthood office: Elder
Called From: Logan, Cache, Utah, United States
Set apart by: S B Young

May Rasmussen Clark Hawaiian                                                                             (Sandwich Islands)

September 1914–July 1916
Age Called: 23
Hawaiian
Set Apart: 24 September 1914
End Date: 23 July 1916
Departed From Home: 25 September 1914
Called From: Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States
Set apart by: S B Young