When Mark Lippert, from East Grinstead, Sussex, first met the missionaries, he was finishing a music degree, was the leader of a band and was a self-confessed atheist. It was through band mate Rebecca Seehootoorah, of Sittingbourne, Kent, that Lippert first learned about the Church and was introduced to the missionaries.
As Lippert listened to the missionaries, he said he felt something waking up inside him, like he already knew the things they were teaching him. He accepted the missionaries’ challenge to pray, exercise faith and be baptised.
Lippert soon felt the desire to serve a mission. It was while going out with the local missionaries that he met Jason Boyce, of Blindley Heath, Surrey, whose past was quite similar to Lippert’s. Boyce started attending the local Institute class with Lippert and was later baptised by him.
While at Institute, Lippert and Boyce made friends with Joshua Field, of Haywards Heath and Jaqueline Walsh, of Eastbourne. Jacqueline had invited a nonmember school friend, Shea Kelly from Bexhill, to attend the Institute class as well. They all became very close.
It wasn’t long till Lippert was called to serve a mission for the Church in the Romanian Moldova Mission and Field was called to serve in the England Leeds Mission.
Walsh later received her mission call as well, to serve in the Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission. She invited Kelly to attend her being set apart as a missionary, as he had expressed a greater interest in learning more about the Church.
“I had no idea what was going on, but during the setting apart, I had the strongest feeling ever in my chest, my stomach, everywhere, and I felt proper good and felt good all that next week,” recalled Kelly. “It was explained to me that it was the Spirit.”
Boyce later baptized Kelly into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“It was definitely one of the best decisions I’ve made,” said Kelly. “I never knew about religion before at all, so with Jason's example and taking massive faith, I got baptised. I noticed how the gospel had changed Jason’s life but also was noticing how much it was changing mine and I was loving every minute of it. I had times while driving to work and thinking about the gospel that I realised how lucky I am. I cried with so much joy because I hadn’t felt this good in years.”
Not long after, Boyce was called to serve in the Greece Athens Mission, with Kelly serving in the Canada Calgary Mission.
Through these young adults’ associations and friendships, they have blessed many lives. People around the world have come to the knowledge of the Church through a chain of young people ready and willing to share the gospel with others.