Elder Paul Newton has been called a pioneer and a guinea pig—appropriate for the first-called senior single male missionary since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently expanded missionary opportunities for single men 40 and older.
And he is starting a pilot program as part of his 12-month service in the Adriatic North Mission.
Elder Newton’s pioneering journey spans more than just the physical distance from his Salem, Utah, residence to the nearby Provo Missionary Training Center and on to the mission office in Zagreb, Croatia.
The real journey has been the past half-dozen years, first when hopes and plans for a senior mission with his wife, Kathleen, were dashed by disease and death, followed by the Nov. 1, 2024, announcement that single senior men could serve and then the nearly several weeks needed to complete his online application, which required Missionary Department assistance.
Read more about how serving as a full-time missionary helped Elder Newton after his wife’s death on the Church News.
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