On May 19, 2000, when I was serving as mission president of the Fiji Suva mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Fiji experienced a political coup. The parliament building in Suva was stormed and the prime minister and several cabinet members were taken hostage. Rioting and looting ensued downtown and buildings were burned down.

Suddenly our best laid plans for an impending visit by church prophet and president, the late Gordon B. Hinckley, were in doubt. He was scheduled to dedicate the Suva Fiji Temple in a matter of weeks.

When the coup erupted, I was in Vanuatu, one of the seven island nations that encompassed the mission. When I heard this troubling news, I was immediately concerned about the welfare of my wife, children and the 100 young missionaries and others under my stewardship. Martial law had been declared and the mission was in virtual lockdown. Our Fijian members still had faith that our beloved prophet would be there.

Despite the turmoil and potential danger, Hinckley announced he was coming as scheduled. This was so typical of this wonderful then-90-year-old church leader. Traveling many times around the globe in the Lord's service over the years, he had just returned from Japan where he had dedicated another temple. And during his 12-year tenure as leader of the church, Hinckley, who died at age 97 last month, visited members in 60 countries.

Hinckley and his wife were able to arrive on schedule June 18. Our prayers and the many prayers of the Fijian members of our church were answered many times during this ordeal.

The small contingent in attendance at the new temple were moved by Hinckley's dedicatory prayer. In the prayer, he indicated that no longer would there be a need "to travel far across the seas to do that work which thou hast established as sacred and necessary."

Hinckley also stated, in his dedicatory prayer, "that these beautiful islands may be blessed with peace, that there shall be no abridgment of the great freedom of worship afforded by the government of this land."

After that, he promised that peace would come again to Fiji, perhaps not immediately, but it would come.

So many blessings came out of adversity as we experienced these milestone events. The missionary work flourished in the island nation of Fiji after the coup and many individuals and families became members of the church and were able to go to the temple to receive the ordinances that would bless them to be together forever.

We loved our three years in the Fiji Suva mission and the greatest joy came to us as we witnessed families receiving the full blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives. We felt it a great honor to serve the Lord as a missionary family in the great nations and territory of the Fiji Suva mission.

We will always hold in dear remembrance our time in the Fiji Suva mission among the wonderful people of the Pacific Islands.

Roy G. Bauer is the Hilo stake president for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.