MEDINA: Mormon youth in Medina for missionary work

March 20, 2008 01:25 pm

— Stuart Durrant and Derek Maughan are spending two years of their lives living only for others.
Young missionaries with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Durrant and Maughan have been traveling throughout the Western New York and Rochester areas serving and teaching as elders. Their current post is in Medina.
“It’s a real treat to serve here,” said Durrant, a 20-year-old from Mesa, Ariz., “I love winter weather.”
Durrant has been looking forward to volunteering for missionary work since he was a small child, he said. He saved up for the trip over the past couple of years, working at a sub shop and an events hall during high school and pouring concrete after graduation, he said.
Maughan, 19, grew up in Lehi, Utah, as the oldest of three children. He worked on a ranch for three and a half years as a horse trainer, saving money for the trip, he said.
“My parents were encouraging me to save since I was a small kid,” Durrant said.
Durrant’s older brother, Joshua, recently served in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he said. Durrant has already spent a year in the area — three months in Palmira, where the church was founded, nine weeks in Albion, a month and a half in Hornell, three months in Williamsville and a month and a half in Medina.
Maughan, who arrived in Medina just last week, spent the first three and a half months of his journey in Warsaw.
The two spend their days teaching and knocking on doors, they said. They reside in an apartment owned by the church and are paying their own expenses.
Their day often starts about 10 a.m. and doesn’t end until 9 p.m.
Monday is their day off to clean and ready themselves for the week ahead.
Time away from home not only allows them to learn how to take care of themselves, but to reflect on possible future careers, they said. Durrant hopes to return to Arizona to become a jeweler, while Maughan’s love of horses has inspired him to become a veterinarian.
“You get a lot of life experiences,” Durrant said of his time in the area doing missionary work. “You get to meet a lot of people.”
“We’re giving back,” Maughan said.
Contact reporter Nicole Colemanat 798-1400, ext. 2227.

Photos

LOCAL MISSIONARIES: Stuart Durrant, 20, of Arizona, left, and Derek Maughan, 19, of Utah, right, are spending some time in Medina doing missionary work.