Gary Jorgensen felt like he was on his mission again. "The only purpose I had here was to help people," he said. "We weren't an occupying or peacekeeping force. We were a group of people helping another group of people."

A sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, Brother Jorgensen is a scout sniper, trained to lurk in shadows and observe the enemy from great distances.

But for three days in April, the 25-year-old from Utah took center stage as he and other Marines of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit renovated an abandoned radio station into a community youth center in Dili, East Timor, a country in the Pacific's Asian Rim torn by recent strife. The project was sponsored and directed by the United Nations.

"The condition of the building was poor," Brother Jorgensen said. "It was structurally sound, but there was no glass or screens in the windows, no furnishings and no electricty. The concrete was cracked and there was trash strewn all over the area. The paint was peeling or totally worn off in places."

Brother Jorgensen's language and diplomacy abilities put him at the center of the project. Skills honed as a missionary in the Brazil Sao Paulo South Mission in 1995 taught him how to communicate personally, which helped him gain the confidence of the people, and taught him to communicate technically, which helped share information between the local workers and the Navy Seabees.

"In East Timor we had to be diplomatic and earn the chief's trust. Being able to speak his language was a huge asset, just like in Brazil." (For centuries, Portugal ruled what is now East Timor.)

Having Brother Jorgensen at the site with his bilingual language skills meant that a translator from the United Nations or another civilian translator was not necessary. It also offered the site commander peace of mind knowing his message was properly translated.

Throughout the project, Brother Jorgensen spoke with local leaders and workers. On one occasion, with the sun strong and waves of humidity rising from the lush, green vegetation like smoke from a campfire, Brother Jorgensen wiped sheets of cascading perspiration from his brow while listening to a local leader express his concerns in mixed Portuguese. "I felt like a missionary," he said in an email to his wife, JaNae. "When I saw the community center go up, I had the same feeling I had when I saw families baptized in Brazil. I haven't been able to feel like that in a long time."

Another in a series of "Shining Moments."

Illustration by John Clark.