Who are Mormon Missionaries?
When people think of Mormons, they often think of Mormon missionaries–the clean-cut young men who travel together in pairs wearing white shirts, ties, and a square, black name tag above the breast pocket.
As of 2006, there were over 56,000 missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the entire world. The young men represent about three-fourths of the missionary force. The other fourth consists of young women and elderly couples.
All young men are counceled to serve a mission, though some do not. Young men usually begin their mission at 19 and serve for two years. This is one of the great miracles of the Church. Jeffery R. Holland said, “The rolling forth of the restored gospel is a miracle in every sense of the word, and not the least of the miracle is that a significant portion of it rolls forward on the shoulders of 19-year-olds!” (“‘Abide in Me,’” Ensign, May 2004, 30). Because I was one of these 19-year-old missionaries, I can speak from personal experience. I hope you don’t mind if I take a moment and talk about how I felt when I became a missionary.
I left for my mission a few months after I turned 19. It was hard because I had never been away from home before for such a long time. I knew I was going to be gone for two years. I was going to miss my family.
I also didn’t really know anything. I had graduated from high school the year before, and spent the year before my mission earning money to pay for it. Yeah, you got it: not only are missionaries not paid, but they pay for their missions. My parents were nice. Instead of letting me use my life savings–the money I had saved as I had grown up and the money I had earned during that year of working after high school–they paid for my mission for me. There were also some others in my congregation who helped me financially.
Still, it was hard to go. Did I really want to do this? Did I really want to work about fourteen hour days six days a week for the next two years without getting paid for it?
I said earlier that I didn’t know anything when I left. You might wonder how I taught anybody. The real answer is I didn’t really do the teaching. Yes, I had studied the scriptures. But the most important thing a missionary can learn, I think, is that they are doing God’s work. The Spirit is the real teacher. He is the one that testifies, and the goal is to have people go directly to God, their Father in Heaven, through sincere prayer. He is the source of truth.
Young women usually begin their mission at the age of 21 or later and serve for eighteen months in the field. Men and women must be single to serve.
Elderly couples may also serve missions. These couples are usually retired. They serve proselyting missions, as well as other kinds of missions. These include humanitarian missions, family history missions, etc.
As I prepared for my mission, I had to get interviewed by my local Church leaders to see if I was keeping the commandments. I also had to see the doctor to make sure I was healthy. Then I sent a letter to Church headquarters in Salt Lake City requesting a mission call. A few weeks later I received a letter, a call “to the New York New York South Mission.” I was to preach the gospel “in the Spanish language.” I did not know spanish. I could barely count to ten, and that is only because I watched Sesame Street when I was a kid. I was scared.
A few months later I went to the Missionary Training Center (also called the MTC) in Provo, Utah. Before I left home, I met with my ecclesiastical leader one last time. He laid his hands on my head, set me apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and gave me a blessing by the power of the Holy Melchezedek Priesthood. The Spirit testified to me that this work is true and that what I was doing was right. It was hard to say goodbye to my family at the MTC. But I again felt the Spirit of the Lord testify to me that what I was doing was right before Him. I knew I would be okay. I knew that my family would be okay.
In the MTC, I was given a crash course in Spanish. We were in class about 12 hours a day 6 days a week. We were also taught principles of the gospel by a recently returned missionary. I was there for 2 months. If I had been called to an English speaking mission, I would have only been there for 3 weeks.
For the next two years I went to sleep at 10:30 pm and woke up at 6:30 am every day.
I said earlier that missionaries aren’t paid, but that isn’t entirely true. The payment you receive when you’re a missionary is joy. You receive joy from seeing people’s lives change from hearing and being faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You see people make some of the most drastic changes just to get baptised by one having authority. It may sound strange, but those two years away from home and family and friends were some of the happiest of my life. It was hard, but it was worth it. Before I left, I didn’t know how happy I would be on my mission. I didn’t know I’d get paid, in that sense. I went because I knew that the message is true. Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world. God is our Eternal Father, and “how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth!” (2 Nephi 2:8).