Mormon Missionaries. Chances are you have come across them at some point in your life {or tried to avoid them ☺}.
Did you know that all of our missionaries serve voluntarily? Most missionaries are young, though some older couples who no longer have children at home also serve. They pay their own way. They give up two years of their lives {18 months for women} to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no dating, no television or movies, no school. Those who serve in other countries have to learn a new language in a short amount of time (months). They don’t visit home or even call except for on Mother’s Day and Christmas. They really dedicate their lives to solely serving the Lord. Not the typical life for young adults!
To become a missionary they must be living the strict standards of our church. You can read about them here on the For the Strength of Youth Website. Before turning in their missionary applications these young people go through an interview process with local church leaders who gauge their spiritual preparation and a lot of medical examinations to make sure they are physically prepared for the rigors of missionary work.
For many years the beginning missionary age of service for men was 19 and for women 21. In our October General Conference a policy change was announced that has and will continue to make a HUGE impact on the missionary program. The ages of beginning service was lowered to 18 for boys and 19 for girls. The excitement for this change was instantly palpable. The numbers of applications after the announcement soared, from 700 applications per week to 4,000, with women comprising more than half of the applicants. Prior to the announcement, approximately 15% of missionaries were young women.
Once those applications are sent to church headquarters in Salt Lake City the waiting and guessing begins. One of the Twelve Apostles assigns each missionary to one of the 347 missions around the world. You can read more about that process here: The Divine Call of a Missionary. You can imagine the excitement of these future missionaries and their families as their calls arrive in the mail.
This video shows the whole range of emotions – excitement, nervousness, overwhelming gratitude – as they open their mission calls. It is truly moving to see young men and women who have lived clean and worthy lives now ready and willing to go and teach others about Jesus Christ. How many 18 year old boys do you know would tear up reading where they have been called to serve the Lord for the next two years of their lives?{Girls crying is usually a given} The amazing thing about this video is all the missionaries featured {over 80} are from one Utah high school’s 2012 graduating class. It is long {14 minutes} but so worth the watch!
Several blogs I follow {some family, some friends, some just because} have written about their own child’s missionary calls coming. Each story is moving. If you have time I encourage you to go read!
Abide With Me: The Day Jane Gets Her Mission Call
Scenes From the Wild: Russia!
Simple Inspiration: The Call
Beautopotamus: Baboo’s Call
And here’s an infographic that tells a bit more about the life of a missionary.
Ah…Missionaries are near and dear to my heart. Mine is serving in Atlanta, Georgia. There are many that are surprised to realize that not only do they volunteer their time, but that they also pay their own way.
Here is the beginning of our missionary journey:
http://hamershappenings.blogspot.com/2012/03/thirty-two-steps.html
Oh, and by the way, that video totally made me cry.
Oh I love this!! My brother is on a mission right now <3. This is near and dear to my heart 🙂
xoxo,
Kiana
kianabates.blogspot.com
This made me cry also! My son turned 18 one week after the announcement. He has been called to serve in the Uganda, Kampala mission. He is going to the MTC in South Africa. We are so excited and grateful!!
My missionary son comes home tomorrow!!!!!!
By the way, I love your blog. I’ve been homeschooling for 21 years now and I know that sometimes I feel like I live on an island. I’ve never had any close friends or family who homeschool. I’ve enjoyed reading your blog and feeling that I’m not the only one on this island after all!
What a joyous day you will have today! It’s so exciting when they come home from serving after all that time.
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Aunt Sue
Love your blog, and would love chocolate, but it does not love me. So I am stuck with white chocolate and carob.(Lindt is the best). So I was hurt when you insulted white chocolate. Have a care for those of us who must make do. Your family seems so awesome, and their names are so clever! How do you remember all their names? Do you have a Rosetta Stone list by your computer? or is your memory one of the Seven Modern Wonders of the World? Keep on doing your work of sending great recipes, great Mormon family life, and chocolate recipes out into the universe.
Awesome post on missionary work! My son just turned 18 last week and has not given a definitive answer on going on a mission. I just keep hoping and praying. I can’t wait to show my daughter the video. She was watching a bunch of mission call videos the other night.
changed out lives! We are down to weeks now, she is so excited.
It was fun to see a few missionaries she will be serving with in Rome.
While celebrating Classic Rock’s 10th birthday dinner, our doorbell rang and I opened the door to find three very nicely dressed, but very soaked, young men. I knew immediately they were “The Mormons” and I invited them to bring their dripping selves inside. They’d picked a night with a deluge to do their work 🙂 They stepped in and asked me if I knew who they were – sheepishly, as if expecting to be thrown back out. I told them I knew who they were and [I whispered] “I’m a Catholic do you want to run out?” They laughed, accepted towels to dry off and joined our celebration. They sang a great version of Happy Birthday – with harmonies! – but declined my homemade brownies. The Italian mother in me was really offended! They chose not to share their faith stories, respecting our choice, but also seeing that our hospitality and acceptance meant we’d already found the same Savior.
love the video!!! I look forward to my sons and daughters mission call! My husband served Winnipeg I am a convert so I look forward to serving later in life! Thanks so much for this post!
My son is serving in Ontario Canada and has 9 more months til he comes home. It’s such an amazing time for them to learn and grow.
I have 2 nieces with their calls, one to Chile, and one to the Philippines. I have another niece ready to submit papers and a nephew just waiting for the call to arrive.
It is such an exciting time. Thrilled that it is now easier for our young women to both serve a mission and not delay starting a family. My own 16 yo even said that she is now considering a mission. She didn’t before because she just wanted to be a mom and didn’t want to wait so long. I’m thrilled that so many more mothers will have a solid spiritual foundation on which to mother.