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David Geens
Back on the 22nd of May, 2018, I received an email from David Geens, a listener to the podcast in Belgium. He told me a little bit about his experience in coming into the church, and how an early calling as branch mission leader in his branch in Belgium prompted him to start using social media to generate referrals for the missionaries in his mission. His successes with his approach brought on the attention of the mission president, and then on to the Area Presidency in Europe. Today, some 7 years since being baptized, Brother Geens has a calling coordinating digital missionary work for his part of the Lord’s Vineyard producing literally thousands of referrals for the missionaries each year. Click here to listen to David’s Mormon Podcast (hint: Its in Dutch, so brush up to get the full effect.)
In this episode he tells us his compelling conversion story, some of his experiences in the church in a small branch, and how we can follow his footsteps in generating thousands of referrals for the missionaries in our various areas of the world. It was so cool to have a Skype interview with someone on the other side of the planet, yet feel so connected in this great cause of missionary work. He also tells the story when his efforts resulted in a personal invitation to meet with Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve.
Elder M. Russell Ballard and David Geens – Belgium
It was incredibly rewarding for me to do this interview and to hear the nice things he was saying about our podcast. As a podcaster, we don’t always get a large audience. Its not easy. Radio stations that produce their content have a staff of people to produce a show, where most podcasters have to do on their own. So, when you add up the amount of work that goes into doing a podcast, the fact that most of us aren’t getting paid to put these together, and that we are doing this by ourselves, sometimes there arises some doubt as to if it is all worth the effort. The fact that someone in Belgium was able to hear and be inspired to reach out and share their story with us, then to hear all those nice things he was saying at the end, was such a reward for me. Its also a lesson for all of us. We really don’t know sometimes the impact of what we do, nor is seeing the results of our actions the only reason that we should be doing them. But, as was the case here, it is always a nice reward and blessing to see some good come of all the hard work. I made a new friend through the gospel of Jesus Christ that I would have not likely have met in any other way.
David Geens in Salt Lake City Temple Visitors Center
So, thank you so much for listening to this episode of LDS MissionCast. Remember, you can listen to this episode, or any of our past episodes at LDSMissionCast.com
The Herreys were the Mormon Band that was mentioned in the interview with David. These boys were proud of their membership in the church, so much so that they inspired David’s wife to get a Book of Mormon. That same book was later given to her husband, David, who then joined the church (and then joined our podcast.) This was their hit song, Diggiloo Diggiley.