Most missionaries are concerned about having a positive impact on the hearts and lives of those they are called to serve. Elder Eric Carter and Sister Allison Carter, a senior missionary couple from Highland, Utah, are unique in the fact that their concern for hearts is literal, not just metaphorical.
Elder Carter, a cardiologist, and Sister Carter, a nurse practitioner, have been serving a 23-month medical mission in American Samoa where they have strived to improve health services, especially cardiac services, in the U.S. territory.
When Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in October 2023 general conference invited Latter-day Saint adults to consider serving a senior mission, he noted that a “smorgasbord of opportunities” are available.
The Carters can attest to that as they’ve spent their mission developing a heart clinic, training local medical professionals and partnering in several initiatives and campaigns to educate the public about heart health — all tasks not traditionally associated with mission service.
The Carters told the Church’s Pacific Newsroom they have felt the Lord’s guidance, both in their call to American Samoa and in what they’ve been able to accomplish during their mission.
“[The Lord] inspired us, enlightened us as to what to do and when to do it” so their heart clinic could become a permanent part of the local hospital, Sister Carter said.
When deciding to serve a senior mission, Elder Carter said: “For us, the key was just wanting to serve and being available; knowing clearly in our minds and hearts what we were available to do. Then trusting that the Missionary Department would help us know where the best fit would be.”
That fit ended up being on a group of islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. American Samoa is the southernmost territory of the United States, situated 2,200 miles southwest of Hawaii.
The death rate from heart disease — which is the leading cause of death in the United States — is nearly twice as high in American Samoa. Rheumatic heart disease is about 10 times more common there than in the continental U.S.
When they arrived on the island, the Carters got to work in the territory’s only hospital — Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical Medical Center in Pago Pago.
The couple found a storage room, which they converted into a nurses’ station with a desk and computer, cleaned out a vacant exam room and Elder Carter began seeing patients and providing health screenings, consultations and treatments.
“We were embedded into the medical clinic system,” Elder Carter said. “In that capacity, we were rubbing shoulders with their healthcare providers, technical staff and the people of American Samoa. And to me, that was a big highlight — what we were doing there, trying to have some impact on altering health outcomes by better management.”
From the beginning, the Carters knew they wanted to make the clinic self-sustaining so it could continue long after they completed their mission.
Sister Carter explained that for 18 months, they partnered with a doctor and other staff. “It was training, training, and seeing patients, with a hope to work toward making it sustainable.”
The last few months of their mission, the couple stepped back from the clinic, taking a support role in the daily operations. “In the last few months, the heart clinic was running independent of us. We have high hopes that our work will be sustainable and that we were able to train [the staff] to a point of doing what we did,” Sister Carter said.
The Carters also spent much time and effort on increasing public awareness. Heart disease, in many cases, is preventable as individuals develop a healthy lifestyle, which includes not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, controlling blood sugar and cholesterol, and treating high blood pressure.
They collaborated with government entities and local organizations, including the departments of Health, Education, and Youth and Women’s Affairs, the American Samoa Community College and the American Samoa National Olympic Committee.
Something they will never forget, Elder Carter said, was helping plan and organize events surrounding American Samoa’s Heart Month last February. Declared by acting Gov. Talauega E.V. Ale in 2023, the monthlong campaign features a variety of activities, events and ads about heart disease prevention and treatment.
“In terms of planning and execution, Heart Month was our biggest mountain to climb,” Elder Carter said. “We worked with so many organizations and connected with so many lives during Heart Month with our screenings and public events. It was one of the big highlights.”
During Heart Month, the Carters provided screenings at local Church meetinghouses for obesity, diabetes and hypertension, which are major problems throughout the South Pacific.
Staffed by Latter-day Saint volunteers, the screenings allowed the Carters to educate individuals about how to improve their health. It also enabled local Latter-day Saints to improve relationships in their communities.
For anyone considering serving a mission, the Carters said to remember Luke 8:50 — “Fear not: believe only.”
