Some people might think Vietnam was introduced to missionary work by Mormon servicemen who were there during the war, but the first missionary couples sent there by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints didn't happen until 1993.

Even then, proselyting missionaries were not allowed, but the church called Stanley and Mavis Steadman, of Salt Lake City, along with LaVar and Helen Bateman, of Provo, to establish a presence in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Steadmans recently recalled the hardships they experienced in attempting to harmonize church relations there. The Steadmans and the Batemans were called on a mission to teach English and traveled to Hanoi with a group of doctors going to Vietnam to fix cleft palates over a two-week period.

The Steadmans did not initially know how long they would be allowed to remain in the country, but they did know they would be teaching English since the Vietnamese government was amenable to that idea.

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