Look after “the one,” says Elder Mark Dundon

Elder Mark Dundon, newly-called Area Seventy from Sheffield, truly cares about people. He learned at an early age the importance of accepting and encouraging others rather than judging them. He wants to treat others as Heavenly Father would treat them.

When he was about 12 years old, he had some challenges that led him to seek God. He wasn’t raised in a religious family, but believed there was a God who could help him during difficult times. He said, “I would pray and I would have answers to prayers; things would happen when I would ask, so I know there was a God.” 

He wanted to understand the purpose of life, so asked local ministers for their insights, but he never got answers that felt right to him. When he was 15 years old, he and his friend were introduced to the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by two young women in the Church. As he learned about the gospel, he said, “I got all my answers, and everything that I know about Jesus Christ, my relationship with Him, is from reading the Book of Mormon. I'm very grateful for that book and I absolutely know that it is a book of truth. It changed my life. I was living a very different life and the Lord placed me in a very new life, for which I'm very, very grateful.”

As a young man attending church on his own, his new congregation [ward] took care of him and made him feel welcome. “The ward leadership and the members really taught me about looking after the one.” He has never forgotten how it felt to be cared for and included in that way. They helped him see his potential as a son of God. He says you never know what challenges another person may face, so we should embrace them rather than judge them.

Elder Dundon served a volunteer mission and then went to university where he met his wife, Lucy. They have four daughters, Laura, Phoebe, Isobel and Poppy, and one son, Isaac. He loves being a husband and father; his family is everything to him. He served as a bishop and a stake president before being called as an Area Seventy, a senior Church leader serving within the Europe North Area.

Elder Dundon enjoys cycling, running, swimming, and participating in triathlons. He owns a consultancy that helps company boards understand their technology needs and opportunities which helps them leverage technology to solve complex problems.