Mormon Missionary

Every month, of the reprocessed single people or couples, members of the Church of Jesus-Christ of the Saints of the Last Days, is called as missionaries and envoys for 18 or 24 months to preach the Évangile with their own expenses or with the support of their family or their parish. Thus more: 50000 Mormon missionaries are permanently in activity in approximately 145 countries.

The call

Since their more young age, the young men are encouraged to leave, when they have at least 19 years, to preach the Gospel during two years in their own country or abroad. The young women do not have the same duty with respect to the service missionary but can also postulate and are sent if they have at least 21 years. They are called for 18 month. Several centers distributed in the world prepare the missionaries to preach the Gospel and with speaking the language about the country where they are sent. These easily identifiable missionaries with their traditional behavior (dark costume, white blouse, tie), with their badge with the name of the Church and with the fact that they go two by two, have a life organized missionary (strict payment and schedules, planning, reports, etc). Their time is devoted to proselytism, with the teaching of the Gospel to the people who receive them, and the services rendered to the community. In their local churches they give free courses of American English.

The organization

The “missionaries full-time”, such as they are designated, are to be distinguished from the members of the local parishes of which they account for only 4 with 8 % of manpower and which they attend only a few months before being sent in another parish. A president of mission, which is called for one period of 3 years, the organization of several tens or hundreds of missionaries full-time in a given area manages. It comes from another area or another country with his wife and their children. They remain on mission during 3 years then are replaced by another couple. Since the beginnings of the Church in France and until 2006, eight French were useful like chair mission in France or abroad. The first of them, Louis Auguste Bertrand, chaired the French mission of 1859 1864, period during which it published Mémoires of a Mormon (Hetzel Collection, E. Dentu, bookseller, Palais Royal, Paris, 1862).

Statistics

at the end of 2004: 51.067 missionaries in activity (“Statistical Carryforward, 2004”, Ensign , May 2005, p. 25)
at the end of 2005: 52.060 missionaries in activity (“Statistical Carryforward, 2005”, Ensign , May 2006, p. 24)
Fin at the end of 2006: 53.164 missionaries in activity (“Statistical Carryforward, 2006”, Ensign , May 2007, p. 7)
At June 15th, 2007: 53.868 missionaries in activity; a third of them comes from areas apart from the United States and Canada; they preach in 145 countries and 164 languages.
Between March 1995 (when Gordon B. Hinckley became president of the Church) and March 2007, is in 12 years, 387.750 missionaries entered the field of the mission, which represents nearly 40% of the missionaries called since the organization of the Church in 1830 ( Liahona , May 2007, p. 60)
In June 2007, the number of missionaries called since 1830 had reached a million (lds.org/ldsnewsroom)
In France, in 2007: 400 missionaries divided in 120 cities

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