Missionary milestone: 1 million members have served in this dispensation
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
PROVO, Utah — The fact that 1 million missionaries have now been called to serve in this dispensation gave pause for Elder M. Russell Ballard to recognize this unique milestone in history during a press conference at the Provo Missionary Training Center on Monday, June 25.
After paying homage, Elder Ballard lingered to meet the press, then, with other General Authorities, walked back into the MTC to resume training new mission presidents and the first of the next million missionaries.
Illuminated by the mid-day sun, Elder Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve and his colleagues Elder Richard G. Scott and Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, stood near the bronze statue of Samuel Smith, who is regarded as the first missionary of this dispensation and younger brother to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Occasionally turning to acknowledge the statue behind him, Elder Ballard noted what has come from such simple beginnings, when, as a lone missionary, Samuel slung a knapsack of 25 copies of the newly published Book of Mormon over his shoulder and, without purse or scrip, trudged across the rural countryside 177 years ago in June 1830.
Today, Elder Ballard said, 53,868 missionaries are serving from around the world, preaching the gospel in 145 nations, in 164 languages.
"This is only the beginning," Elder Ballard said, rehearsing President Gordon B. Hinckley's comment from the day before when he announced during the New Mission Presidents Seminar that reliable estimates indicate that the 1 millionth missionary entered MTC doors in early June.
Elder Ballard, as chairman of the Missionary Executive Committee, marveled that young men and women would put aside the cares of their youth to leave home and family to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to a world less and less inclined toward spiritual things.
"The only reason missionaries would make such sacrifice is because they know their message is true," Elder Ballard repeated to various news organizations who sought a private audience with him.
"They wouldn't do it for any other reason."
Approximately 40 percent, or 400,000 missionaries, have been called since President Hinckley was ordained president of the Church in March 1995.
An average of more than 30,000 missionaries have been called each year since 1996. The total number of missionaries peaked at 61,638 in 2002, but has declined in recent years due to a demographically diminishing pool of young men and women.
Among those invited to share their missionary experiences during the press conference were Joseph and Gladys Sitati from Bungoma, near Nairobi, Kenya.
He is the first mission president to be called from this east African nation where 7,000 members now reside. He has been called to preside over the Nigeria Calabar Mission.
Their conversion began through a curious set of circumstances when President and Sister Sitati met a fellow Kenyan who had joined the Church in the U.S. and returned to Nairobi.
The young Sitati couple was disillusioned with religion, but accepted an invitation from the man to visit Sunday Church services with about 20 members, including three Kenyan families and about a dozen U.S. expatriates.
They immediately felt comfortable, returning week after week. They completed their assignments to read and pray, and were baptized after six months on March 29, 1986.
To gain government recognition of the Church and be granted permission to have missionaries for Kenya, this small group of then about 14 members committed themselves to fasting, one member fasting each day on a rotating basis. Eighteen months later, in 1991, government recognition was granted.
Kenyans are ripe for the gospel, President Sitati said. "Their hearts are open." The problem, he said, is growth could outpace leadership.
In his comments, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve praised the missionary spirit that emboldens young people to sacrifice to share the gospel.
He recounted a moment recently when he witnessed missionaries in Frankfurt, Germany, singing to people on a busy street while other missionaries met the spectators. Children of these missionaries will eventually become a greater missionary force, he said.
"Missionaries preach, love and have joy," he said.
E-mail to: shaun@desnews.com
