Clarence H. Tingey succeeded Hyde as mission president, but during his presidency the number of missionaries in Australia declined due to the Great Depression in the United States. Sons and fathers were unable to leave their families during the difficult financial times. Despite these challenges, Tingey achieved great success by turning over leadership in individual congregations from missionaries to local members, which allowed missionaries to focus on proselyting rather than the administrative duties of local congregations. Moreover, Tingey developed a personal relationship with each missionary by exchanging letters and instituted fast days in order to distribute more copies of the Book of Mormon. He also established a missionary publication in 1930 called Austral Star, which was published until 1955. In 1930, Horace H. Woodford and J. Kenneth Rule were the first Australians to serve as missionaries in their country. Additionally, Tingey created genealogical organisations in 1931 to teach members about temple work and genealogical research. During this time, the average number of converts increased to 3.1 in 1931 with an average rate of 2.6 between 1933 and 1934. He also assigned 11 local members to serve two-year part-time missions to aid the full-time missionaries. From 1926 to 1951, church membership increased from 1,169 to 2,187 with an average of 58 baptisms per year.
