Archive for June, 2009
LDS Mission Cost
Jun 25th
Many of my readers have wondered: how much does an LDS mission cost? The current LDS mission monthly cost for young men and women in the United States is $400 a month. That comes out to a total of $7,200 for 18-month long missions for sisters, and $9,600 for young men who serve two-year missions.
Mission Costs Vary for Some People and Places
I specify that the figure above is for young men and women in the US, because mission costs vary for senior couples and for young people outside the US. To find out the current cost of an LDS mission outside the United States, please see your bishop or other Church leader in the country. For senior missionaries in the United States, the average cost of a mission for couples who do not live at home is approximately $1,500 per month. Mission costs for senior missionaries range from $800–$4,000 per month (which includes expenses for housing, utilities, food, and transportation), but about 80% of all missions cost less than $1,800 per month.
Missionaries Pay Their Own Expenses
Missionaries are expected to pay their own expenses while on the mission. When my parents were young, each missionary paid his or her own actual living expenses. So a mission to Japan, for example, could have been much more expensive than a mission to Argentina. In 1990, though, a new program was introduced to equalize the financial responsibility for each missionary. Now, all young missionaries pay a flat monthly rate into the Church missionary fund. Each missionary, then, is allocated what he or she needs for the expenses in that mission. This approach has reduced the burden on the missionary, and his or her family, who may have been assigned to work in a more expensive area of the world.
Expenses Covered
The monthly allowance missionaries are given is designed to cover food, lodging, transportation, and other mission related expenses. Missionaries are asked to bring extra personal money for additional items they would like to purchase such as souvenirs. Church members around the world are asked to invite their local missionaries to meals to help reduce the overall cost of the missionary program.
Start Saving Early
Young people in the church are encouraged to save money throughout their childhood and teenage years to pay for as much of their mission as they can. Parents, family, and friends may also contribute financially to pay for a missionary’s expenses. Missionaries who cannot save the required funds may also obtain assistance from their home ward or stake, though personal and family sources of funds should be exhausted first.
Supplemental Financial Assistance
For many countries outside the US, if authorized, there is supplemental financial support available from the Church. If the missionary candidate cannot be supported fully from personal, family, ward or branch, or stake or district funds, then a request can be made for this financial assistance. Missionaries are asked not to request this special assistance until they, their family, and ward or branch and stake or district have committed themselves to provide all the financial support they can.
Source of Funds Section of Mission Papers
When filling out the mission application form, missionary candidates are asked to indicate the source of the funds that will pay for their mission. They are asked how much money will be contributed per month in support of the mission from: Self, Family, Ward or Branch, and other sources. So be prepared to answer that question.
Do all that you can to save for your mission. Start saving at an early age so that you can serve a faithful mission for the Lord and not be a financial burden on your family. The Lord will bless you many times over for the sacrifice of time and money you make to go on a mission.
Why Mormon Missionaries Serve
Jun 20th
From its beginnings, the Mormon Church has been a missionary oriented church, sending out missionaries to all parts of the world. Perhaps you have wondered why the Church asks so many missionaries to serve a Mormon mission? And perhaps you have also wondered why so many young people (and some older missionaries too) are willing to put their life on hold and work to spread the gospel? I thought I would devote today’s post to explaining why Mormon Missionaries serve.
It’s a Commandment
Missionary work is a commandment from the Lord. When the resurrected Jesus Christ met with his apostles he said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matt. 28: 19) The Lord has reiterated that commandment in modern times when he said to Joseph Smith the Prophet, “Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor” (Doctrine & Covenants 88:81).
It Brings Us Joy
When we experience the blessings of living the gospel of Jesus Christ, we naturally want to share those blessings with others. The Lord spoke of the joy that comes into our lives when we sha
re His gospel when he said, “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God…And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!” (D&C 18:10,15).
The Book of Mormon also has a great illustration of this principle. In his vision of the Tree of Life, when Lehi had partaken of the fruit and tasted of its goodness, his first desire was to share it with his family. (see 1 Nephi 8: 12)
Why I Served My Mission?
I served a full-time mission for the Church in Rosario Argentina from 1995 to 1997. Prior to my mission, there were several factors to contributed to why I wanted to serve. I had been raised in the Church and had actively participated in Church activities all of my life. I believed the teachings of the Church to be true. I knew Christ was my Savior, and that the Mormon Church was His Church. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon was the word of God. I knew I had a priesthood duty to share the gospel with others. 
During the mission, my reasons for serving grew and developed. The reasons above are more in line with the commandment to do missionary work, but as I was engaged in the work, the joy of missionary service took over. I realized that I had been called to serve a mission to bring the joy of the gospel to the Almada family in Parana, Argentina, and the Godoy family of Rosario, and dozens of other individuals and families. Helping these people to know of the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, of the reality of our Heavenly Father, and of the eternal joy of family life, not only helped them, it also brought me joy and satisfaction beyond description.
What is a Mormon Mission?
Jun 17th
What is a Mormon mission? On the surface, may seem like a silly question, but I believe it is worth analyzing, for the benefit of future missionaries as well as for non-Mormon friends that come to this site.
A mission, whether religious in nature or not, is defined as “a specific task with which a person or a group is charged.” A religious mission is “a ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate its faith.” Consistent with these definitions from Webster, a Mormon mission is when members of the LDS Church are given the task to actively share their faith with others.
Varieties of a Mormon Mission
Proselytizing Missions: Nearly all Mormon missionaries serve proselytizing missions in which they devote the majority of their time to teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. All missionaries do also spend time in community and personal service to others. Missionaries teach the fundamentals of the gospel of Jesus Christ:
- that God is our Heavenly Father, He loves us and has a plan for our eternal happiness.
- that Jesus Christ is our Savior and only by following his teachings can we receive salvation.
- that Joseph Smith was a prophet and the Lord’s instrument in restoring the gospel of Jesus Christ after a long period of apostasy.
- that repentance and baptism are the gateway to eternal life.
- that through prayer and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God guides each of us.
Young Men: At age 19, young Mormon men are asked to leave their homes for two years and dedicate their lives to missionary service. Former Church President Spencer W. Kimball was asked a few years ago, “Should every young man who is a member of the Church fill a mission?” He responded with this answer: “Yes, every worthy young man should fill a mission. The Lord expects it of him. And if he is not now worthy to fill a mission, then he should start at once to qualify himself.” (From “President Kimball Speaks Out on Being a Missionary,” New Era, May 1981) 
Every Church president since then has reiterated that call for all young men to serve a full-time mission.
Young Women: Young Mormon women can go on a one and a half year mission when they turn 21 years old. Former Church President Gordon B. Hinckley has said, regarding young sister missionaries, “They perform a remarkable work. They can get in homes where the elders [male missionaries] cannot. But it should be kept in mind that young sisters are not under obligation to go on missions. They should not feel that they have a duty comparable to that of young men, but some will wish to go. If so, they should counsel with their bishop as well as their parents.” (From “To the Bishops of the Church,” Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting, June 2004)
Senior Couples: When married couples are no longer in the full-time work force, they are encouraged to go on a proselytizing missions, humanitarian missions, and other types of missions. Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said, “I feel a deep responsibility to speak to you today about a pressing need in the Church. My greatest hope is that as I speak, the Holy Ghost will touch hearts, and somewhere a 
spouse or two will quietly nudge his or her companion, and a moment of truth will occur. I will speak on the urgent need for more mature couples to serve in the mission field.” (From Robert D. Hales, “Couple Missionaries: A Time to Serve,” Ensign, May 2001)
Church Service Missions, Temple Missions, and Others: The types of missions mentioned above are the most common, but there are a wide variety of other types of missions available for older single women, for young people who for health reasons can’t serve a full-time mission, and for others. The Church has a site that lists these types of Church Service Missions. “For those [youth honorably excused from full-time missionary labors] . . . , bishops may . . . identify appropriate local opportunities for Church or community service for a specified period of time (usually 6 to 24 months).” (From First Presidency letter, Jan. 30, 2004).
For more information on what is a Mormon mission, see this LDS Newsroom article about what do Mormon Missionaries do.
Preparation Day
Jun 13th
Preparation day (or P Day as it is often referred to) is a missionary’s once a week chance to do big shopping trips, play sports, do laundry and write letters home to family and friends. Preparation day is the one day a week in which Mormon missionaries get a break from their usual proselytizing labors. It is called preparation day because it is designed to help missionaries prepare physically for the week ahead. P day, in my mission, was on Mondays, though the day of the week may vary from mission to mission.
Preparation day ends around dinner time (about 6:00 P.M.), after which missionaries are expected to carry on normal proselytizing activities. At least those are the p day instructions in the missionary guide; when I got to my mission, I found a slight alteration to that policy. 
When I arrived in Argentina, it was late December and in the middle of a long, hot, muggy summer (remember the seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere). At the airport to meet us were a couple of the office Elders, and they took me and the other new Elders and Sister missionaries to the mission home located in the Rosario, Argentina suburb of Fisherton. The mission home was big and in a nice area of town and soon we met our mission president, Thomas Coburn, and his wife.
The introductory meeting with President Coburn lasted an hour or two. He inspired and uplifted us, shared some scriptures, and reviewed the mission rules. One of the Rosario mission rules that differed from those in the missionary guide was regarding p day. In the missionary guide, it said to use preparation day to see cultural and historical sites in the countries where you serve. President Coburn said there really were no such sites worth seeing in our mission, therefore he was cutting p day short by two hours. Preparation day would end at 4 o’clock for us, and this would give us a couple of extra hours each week to do missionary work. 
This shortened preparation day was a disappointment to me at first, but I soon realized it wasn’t a big deal. I still had plenty of time to do my shopping, write my letters home, and I even got to play basketball a few times. And though there weren’t a whole lot of cultural or historical sites in the places I served, I did make it to the Argentina Monumento a la Bandera (Flag Monument).
Conclusion
I hope you future missionaries remember to make good use of your preparation day. Don’t forget to write a letter or email to your parents every p day. By making wise use of your time on this day, you will be better prepared throughout the week to do the work of the Lord.
Mormon Polygamy
Jun 9th
Today’s post is in response to a question received on the Web site. A young man who is preparing for his mission asked me how I would respond to his non-member friend who asked why Joseph Smith practiced polygamy. The polygamy question is one I got only a time or two on my mission, but one that missionaries should be prepared to answer. 
First, I would answer that polygamy is part of our past, but not part of the present Mormon Church. Joseph Smith began teaching the principle of plural marriage (polygamy) in the 1840s, but by the year 1890 (119 years ago), polygamy was officially discontinued by the Church. You can read President Wilford Woodruff’s official Church declaration ending polygamy on LDS.org. Also, last year, the Church created a site with a lot of good resources for people seeking the truth about Mormon polygamy. Bottom line, today there are over 13 million Mormons around the world, and none of them practice polygamy.
Now, having established Mormons do not now practice polygamy, it still doesn’t address the question of why Joseph Smith instituted the practice in the early days of the Church. To answer the why question, I’d like to quote the Church’s official statement on polygamy. It reads:
“At certain times and for His specific purposes, God, through His prophets, has directed the practice of plural marriage (sometimes called polygamy), which means one man having more than one living wife at the same time. In obedience to direction from God, Latter-day Saints followed this practice for about 50 years during the 1800s but officially ceased the practice of such marriages after the Manifesto was issued by President Woodruff in 1890. Since that time, plural marriage has not been approved by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and any member adopting this practice is subject to losing his or her membership in the Church.” (emphasis added)
The statement from the Church goes on to cite instance in the Bible where Abraham, Jacob, and others of the Lord’s servants had plural wives (see Genesis 16:1–3; 29:23–30; 30:4, 9; Judges 8:30; 1 Samuel 1:1–2).
Joseph Smith also asked God why he had been commanded to restore the practice of plural marriage and was told simply that the Lord has His reasons. One of those reasons given by the Lord is mentioned in the Book of Mormon: “If I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall [have only one wife]” (Jacob 2:30; see also v. 27). In other words, it was to bring more children into the world who would be raised up faithful to the Lord. (sourced, again, from the Church’s official statement on polygamy)
The polygamy question is a tough one to answer, and missionaries should know it’s okay to say they don’t know all the reasons why. We know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and we know it came as a commandment from God. As a missionary, the conversation should then turn to helping the investigator gain their own testimony of Joseph Smith which can be gained by reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know its truthfulness. (see my previous post on The Power of the Book of Mormon)
Finally, I’ll leave you with two video clips. The first is from President Hinckley’s October 1998 General Conference talk where he reiterated the Church’s position against polygamy. The second is from Truman Madsen where he explains more of the history of Mormon polygamy and the doctrinal reason’s why Joseph Smith was commanded to do it.
New Section: Mormon Missionaries in the News
Jun 5th
I’ve added a new section to the Web site called Mormon Missionaries in the News.
I have found, in my daily perusing of the news, that I often run across articles in which Mormon missionaries or LDS Church missionary service is highlighted. The Mormon Missionaries in the News page has about six articles posted there now, and I will add to that over time.
If you know of a news article about Mormon missionaries that is not listed below, please contact Mormon Mission Prep.com and I’ll add it to the page.
Also, don’t forget about the page of recommended reading on missionary preparation with LDS.org articles from Church General Authorities. I recently added a good article for the youth called Spiritual Crocodiles, and a good one on leadership skills called Jesus: The Perfect Leader.
