Hooks Serve for the 5th Time

For the 5th time in their 26-years of married life, Dean and Margaret Hooks will leave their home, three sons, a daughter and 9 grandchildren behind to serve the Lord as two of the church’s nearly 6000 fulltime senior missionaries.

Their first mission together took them to the Dakotas where Elder Hooks served as Mission President (1991-94). After moving from Tucson, Arizona where he had retired after 36 years as a petroleum jobber for Chevron, the Hooks’ served their second mission in the Family History Center in St. George - he for 4 ½ years, she for 5 ½ years.

They had hoped, their 5^th mission would be an 18-month call to Guyana, South America to replace the Sappington’s as PEF missionaries – an assignment they know well after back-to-back PEF missions (their 3^rd and 4^th) to South Africa. Alas, the Lord had other plans for them!

On July 30, the Hooks will leave for one year to serve a different kind of mission. They have been called to provide “member and leader support” to new or struggling branches in the Missouri Independence Mission.

Toward the church’s goal to have 25,000 seniors serving in any of hundreds of assignments in 334 missions around the world, an enthusiastic Elder Hooks encourages other seniors to consider this "adventure of a lifetime. There are calls to ‘preach the gospel, perfect the saints and redeem the dead’ in every part of the world - including welfare and humanitarian service; in temples, family history centers, mission offices, and historic sites . . . and, your grandchildren will still be here when you get back! Just go!!!"