So, a week to the day that my parents flew to Africa, I got an inbox on Facebook from a man named Douglas Lee McAllister that asked if I knew Lee Martin Kimball who served his mission in Australia in the 60's. He asked if I was possibly a daughter. I hurried and responded that yes, Lee was my dad and asked this man how he knew him. His response, (a little lengthy, but really cool):
"This is probably a bit long but here I go anyway.
My parents, Brian & Jacquie McAllister lived in Brisbane in the early 1960’s and were Elder Lee Kimball knocked on their door (I guess), taught them the gospel and they were baptised. I’m guessing that this would have been about 1964?? At this time my parents would have had 2 children, Russell (4yrs) and Lisa (1yr). I was born next in 1966 and I was named Douglas Lee McAllister. My middle name, ‘Lee’ was always explained to me as being named after one of the missionaries that baptised my parents. Stuart was born in 1968 and Paul in 1970.
My dad Brian progressed well in the gospel for a time but by about 1975 our family was inactive. In 1980, Brian and Jacquie separated and divorced. Brian was excommunicated and for a short time Mum returned to the church with myself, Stuart and Paul only, as the older 2 (Russell and Lisa) had no desire to be back at church. Eventually, Mum stopped attending church claiming that she felt uncomfortable as a single mum there. Myself and my 2 younger brothers (Stuart and Paul) were young teenagers by now and enjoyed the youth programmes, church sport, dances etc. and continued to attend church.
In about 1982, Mum married a non-member (Graham) who she worked with and she became Jacquie Christensen. Graham was also a divorcee with 2 boys who joined our family. Both of these step-brothers (Stephen & Scott) joined the church. Scott eventually went less active but Steve continued to stay involved.
In 1986 I left for the Philippines to serve a mission and returned 2 years later in 1988. Unfortunately while I was away, Stuart and Paul became less active. When I returned, I was able to get Paul back to church but Stuart claimed he had no further interest in any religion.
In 1987 my stepbrother Steve Christensen served a mission to the Cook Islands in the Pacific. He returned 2 years later, married in the Temple has 5 kids and lives in the States and is still very active in church. He trains people in ice cream making and has a website: icecreambloke.com
My other stepbrother, Scott is still not active and is an artist. His website is www.scottchristensen.com.au
I was married in the Sydney Temple in 1993 to Beverley and shortly after this, Paul served a mission to New Zealand.
Paul returned after 2 years and married in the Temple. Paul is currently 2nd counsellor in the Bishopric in his ward. He has 3 kids and he’s actually taking his son Caleb to Priesthood Session of Conference in about a week. Caleb has just turned 12 and Paul thought it would be a great intro to the Priesthood for him. I’m 2nd counsellor in the Branch Presidency in our branch here in Bundaberg, Australia. We have 2 kids, Beverley works part time as a dental assistant at the local hospital and I’m an insurance loss adjuster.
Mum (Jacquie) still lives in Brisbane, which is about 4 hours by car away from Bundaberg. Dad (Brian) also still lives in Brisbane. He has re-married and doesn’t seem to talk much about church to me, although he’s not negative towards the church at all.
Having served a mission myself, I can appreciate that teaching and baptising someone is really just the beginning and not all who accept go on to travel the right path. Certainly this is the case with our family. But mixed in with the disappointment of less active family members and the excommunication of Dad, there is gratitude for what Lee Kimball did all those years ago by teaching my parents the gospel. Had he not served well and been in the right place at that time of his life, perhaps I, Paul and Steve Christensen would not have the blessings we currently enjoy. Your Dad, Lee Kimball has always been a bit of a legendary figure in my mind and the fact that my parents gave me his name as a middle name, shows the love and respect they had for him at that time for sharing the gospel with our family.
I e-mailed Mum that I found the daughter of Lee Kimball and she sent me this photo (below) that she had kept all these years and asked me to let you know of the blessings that members of our family enjoy because your father knocked on her door. Mum can’t believe that your parents are in Africa and immediately went ‘on-line’ to research Liberia. I think it’s great that they’re serving again but I imagine you and your siblings must worry about them both.
Anyway, thanks for letting me send this brief history to you. Please pass onto your parents our warmest regards.
Douglas Lee McAllister"
My parents, Brian & Jacquie McAllister lived in Brisbane in the early 1960’s and were Elder Lee Kimball knocked on their door (I guess), taught them the gospel and they were baptised. I’m guessing that this would have been about 1964?? At this time my parents would have had 2 children, Russell (4yrs) and Lisa (1yr). I was born next in 1966 and I was named Douglas Lee McAllister. My middle name, ‘Lee’ was always explained to me as being named after one of the missionaries that baptised my parents. Stuart was born in 1968 and Paul in 1970.
My dad Brian progressed well in the gospel for a time but by about 1975 our family was inactive. In 1980, Brian and Jacquie separated and divorced. Brian was excommunicated and for a short time Mum returned to the church with myself, Stuart and Paul only, as the older 2 (Russell and Lisa) had no desire to be back at church. Eventually, Mum stopped attending church claiming that she felt uncomfortable as a single mum there. Myself and my 2 younger brothers (Stuart and Paul) were young teenagers by now and enjoyed the youth programmes, church sport, dances etc. and continued to attend church.
In about 1982, Mum married a non-member (Graham) who she worked with and she became Jacquie Christensen. Graham was also a divorcee with 2 boys who joined our family. Both of these step-brothers (Stephen & Scott) joined the church. Scott eventually went less active but Steve continued to stay involved.
In 1986 I left for the Philippines to serve a mission and returned 2 years later in 1988. Unfortunately while I was away, Stuart and Paul became less active. When I returned, I was able to get Paul back to church but Stuart claimed he had no further interest in any religion.
In 1987 my stepbrother Steve Christensen served a mission to the Cook Islands in the Pacific. He returned 2 years later, married in the Temple has 5 kids and lives in the States and is still very active in church. He trains people in ice cream making and has a website: icecreambloke.com
My other stepbrother, Scott is still not active and is an artist. His website is www.scottchristensen.com.au
I was married in the Sydney Temple in 1993 to Beverley and shortly after this, Paul served a mission to New Zealand.
Paul returned after 2 years and married in the Temple. Paul is currently 2nd counsellor in the Bishopric in his ward. He has 3 kids and he’s actually taking his son Caleb to Priesthood Session of Conference in about a week. Caleb has just turned 12 and Paul thought it would be a great intro to the Priesthood for him. I’m 2nd counsellor in the Branch Presidency in our branch here in Bundaberg, Australia. We have 2 kids, Beverley works part time as a dental assistant at the local hospital and I’m an insurance loss adjuster.
Mum (Jacquie) still lives in Brisbane, which is about 4 hours by car away from Bundaberg. Dad (Brian) also still lives in Brisbane. He has re-married and doesn’t seem to talk much about church to me, although he’s not negative towards the church at all.
Having served a mission myself, I can appreciate that teaching and baptising someone is really just the beginning and not all who accept go on to travel the right path. Certainly this is the case with our family. But mixed in with the disappointment of less active family members and the excommunication of Dad, there is gratitude for what Lee Kimball did all those years ago by teaching my parents the gospel. Had he not served well and been in the right place at that time of his life, perhaps I, Paul and Steve Christensen would not have the blessings we currently enjoy. Your Dad, Lee Kimball has always been a bit of a legendary figure in my mind and the fact that my parents gave me his name as a middle name, shows the love and respect they had for him at that time for sharing the gospel with our family.
I e-mailed Mum that I found the daughter of Lee Kimball and she sent me this photo (below) that she had kept all these years and asked me to let you know of the blessings that members of our family enjoy because your father knocked on her door. Mum can’t believe that your parents are in Africa and immediately went ‘on-line’ to research Liberia. I think it’s great that they’re serving again but I imagine you and your siblings must worry about them both.
Anyway, thanks for letting me send this brief history to you. Please pass onto your parents our warmest regards.
Douglas Lee McAllister"
I forwarded the letter on to my parents and all of my siblings. Here's my dad's response:
"Julie, thank you so much for your last email, it meant a great deal to me. Douglas was born after I came home. I knew he was named after me. Our Brian was named for Douglas's father. When we moved from Wyoming I had received a short mail from Jacquie which indicated they had moved and which gave me their new address. Somewhere in the move I lost that letter and have been trying to find them since...
His parents are people who I love deeply and just reading what you sent brought tears to my eyes for what it said and the prospect of reestablishing communication with his folks."
And then in another email from my Dad:
"Those are two people I have been trying to find for 25 years and part of the reason I wanted to go to Australia for this mission was to find them. Then when we simply tell the Lord I'll go where you want me to go, he sends us to Africa and sends me a miracle."
And another email:
"It is a miracle and seems so significant to me that less than a week passed when we received the email from Julie. It was as if the Lord was saying to me, you went where I wanted you to go and now I will give you what you wanted to know. It has been a righteous desire of my heart for so long to find these two people that I love and cherish and I believe the Lord granted this knowledge to me because I was willing to do what he wanted me to do!"
The story doesn't end there... a few weeks passed and I got a message from Douglas' brother, Paul, telling me that his oldest son just turned 12 and got the Priesthood, and as a new family tradition, he was going to bring him to the states to see the Priesthood session of conference. He asked if he could come by and meet the family and of course, I said absolutely! He brought his son, Caleb, to Dave and Mare's (my parents) house on the 14th of April. Five of the seven siblings were able to be there and we had a great night. He's a very nice guy and we were able to get contact information for his parents to pass along to my dad.
I know that my dad considers this nothing short of a miracle and for me, it all happened at the perfect time. It was so hard to let my parents go and I miss them terribly but I know that they are in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. Sean gave a talk in Sacrament last week about obedience and told this story. Such a great testimony builder that Heavenly Father takes care of us! I love the phrase, "Divine choreography"... so fun to watch this dance unfold!
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2 comments:
such a great story! Lucky you to be a part of it.
that is an awesome story. thanks for sharing!
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