Guest Post: Missionaries served God and country in WWII

M* is pleased to share the following guest post from Brother Alfred Gunn.

Brother Gunn serves on the Gig Harbor Stake Public Affairs Council and in that capacity writes a monthly religion column for his local paper, The Peninsula Gateway. Be sure to check the “Worth Reading” section for links to Brother Gunn’s articles.

Three years ago I stood at the foot of Brazil’s iconic statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado Rock overlooking Rio de Janeiro-a magnificent representation of the resurrected Christ, arms outstretched, the marks of atoning sacrifice in his hands.

In my tour group was Barlow Briggs, then a spry 86 years old, who had been a Mormon missionary in Brazil as a young man. He recalled how one Sunday after church he and his companion rode the Corcovado train up to admire the statue, erected only 10 years before. The next day, he said, bold newspaper headlines announced “War in the Pacific.” Pearl Harbor had been bombed that Sunday.

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