When Auckland man Adolf Johansson was asked why he had spent 20 to 30 hours each week for the last nine years — in addition to his family and employment responsibilities — as a volunteer leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he said, “I am trying to follow Jesus Christ.”
Mr Johansson recently completed nine years’ service as a Mormon stake president, leading around 3,000 Latter-day Saints in nine congregations in Auckland’s Mt Roskill area.
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Mormon Newsroom states that "a stake president is the lay leader of a stake, which is a geographical subdivision similar to a Catholic diocese. A stake president is a man who is asked to serve as a volunteer in this position. He oversees Church programs in a defined geographic area composed of individual congregations called wards and is responsible to help the members of his stake in their efforts to follow Jesus Christ. He also oversees the activities of the bishops or ward leaders, counseling them as needed."
Mr Johansson says he accepted the call to serve as stake president "because it came from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“I believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ, to love and serve one another, and above all to help the poor and the needy.”
Mr Johansson’s full-time job is as a translation manager.
He has been married to Martha Roy for 20 years. They are the parents of four children — James, Hyrum, Martha Jr. and Adolf Jr.
Both Adolf and Martha served as missionaries for the Church before they were married.
Watch a new video featuring Mr Johansson describing a typical week in his life as he served as a stake president.
Earlier this year the Australian edition of Mormon Newsroom published an article titled, 'A week in the life of a Mormon stake president.' That article sparked a national radio interview on ABC Radio, featuring Newcastle Australia Stake President, Ian Leneham.