Recently, a stake president reported to Pres. Terry J. Spallino of the England Birmingham Mission that a small branch within his stake boundaries needed something to help it grow.

It needed, the stake president explained, a missionary couple."The stake president said, 'If we can put a couple there to work with the young leadership and less-active members, we can meet our goals,'" Pres. Spallino recounted. "Couples have the ability to gain trust quickly. They are loved very quickly."

Mission presidents around the world are receiving similar requests from local Church leaders who have witnessed the impact that couple missionaries - who bring years of experience, leadership, stability and strong testimonies into the mission field with them - can have on Church work.

More than 1,600 couples are currently working in the mission field, but mission presidents and Church leaders say they "desperately need many, many more."

The missionary department indicates many more couples are needed, especially now, when the number of couple missionaries in the Church is decreasing instead of increasing. At the present time there are hundreds of missionary assignments throughout the world that are not filled because there are not enough couple missionaries being called to serve.

Couples who are in good health, with no permanent debilitating illnesses and who do not have dependent children at home, or are not in their childbearing years, can serve a mission for 12, 18 or 24 months.

The missionary department indicates a great need exists for couples who can help train local leaders, activate members and fellowship new converts. Some couples serve in mission offices as secretaries, financial clerks and vehicle coordinators. In addition, some couples are also needed to work in family history, public affairs, welfare, temples, Church education, and a variety of Church service assignments.

Quinn and Wilma Washburn decided in the 1950s that they would serve a mission when they were older. Today they are in Hong Kong, serving their third mission.

"We think every couple should serve a mission for their own benefit, as well as being able to help other people," they wrote in a letter to the Church News. "Most couples, because they have such wonderful experiences, have a great desire to go again - and sometimes again and again."

Troy and Marian Durtschi Butler of the Driggs 2nd Ward, Driggs Idaho Stake, are one of those couples. Currently in Quito, Ecuador, they have also served in Argentina, as well as in other South American countries. Sister Butler, who worked as a nurse before entering the mission field, said she feels indebted to the Lord for all He has given her and wants to show her gratitude.

Today, she is assisting the mission president's wife in handlingcommon medical problems, such as colds and flus. In this assignment, her training as a nurse is useful.

But it is not easy, she emphasizes. The Butlers have 48 grandchildren, to whom they write regularly. Before they left on their mission, the couple gave each grandchild a bottle filled with a piece of candy for every day they would be gone. They instructed them to look at the bottle daily, think about their grandparents, and "think about what they can do to help the Lord's work." Then they eat a piece of candy.

"It is difficult to leave," Sister Butler said, "but the joy of a mission overshadows that."

Colleen Asplund, Laramie (Wyo.) 1st Ward, who is serving a full-time mission with her husband, Owen, at historic Nauvoo, Ill., agrees.

"There are times when we get very lonesome for our familiy," she said, adding that her missionary experience - explaining Church history sites and participating in a nightly musical performance for visitors - has been a highlight in her life.

Elder Asplund agreed. "It has been a wonderful, wonderful experience," he said. "We have, for the first time in our life, spent 24 hours a day, seven days a week together. We have learned so much. We have had the opportunity here to study history and journals."

Eldon C. McKell, president of the Alabama Birmingham Mission, called couples "absolutely vital" to the success of his mission in some areas. "They take these little branches and hold them together," he said. "They bring stability, character, integrity and trust. Any mission president could use more couples."

Noel Burt, president of the Connecticut Hartford Mission, said couple missionaries not only keep small areas of his mission running but also they keep the mission office running. "They comment, `We are here to serve the elders and sisters so that they can do a better job.' They do just that," he said. "They work their hearts out."

Pres. Spallino said he can still remember the feelings he had for the couple missionaries serving when he was a young elder 25 years ago. "I was in Italy and these couples could not speak the language, but I remember the love they could give, and the members and missionaries felt that love."