Mormon Mission
June 5, 2007 by DH
Filed under Mormoncopia
After countless questions about my own mission and the fact that I have 2 brothers serving missions (Wes is in Idaho and Dillon in Chile) I thought it would be a good idea to explain what a mission is all about…
When, Who, and is a mission Required?
A Mormon Mission is 2 years for males (referred to as Elders) and 1.5 yrs for females (referred to as Sisters). Boys can serve from ages 19-25 and girls can go anytime after age 21. A mission is a privilege and not a right. Prospective missionaries have to go through several interviews to ascertain that they are living a righteous life and obeying all that the Church teaches in order to be “worthy” (in Mormon lingo) to serve a mission. Not every person who wants to serve a mission is able to if they aren’t willing to live by the Church’s standards. A mission is voluntary and not obligatory. Though it is strongly encouraged and expected for boys to serve and accords with Christ’s mandate to teach the gospel to all the world there are boys who choose not to serve. (Really being willing to serve a mission is an act of faith as one has to put everything on hold and forget about oneself to serve others for this period of time.) Furthermore, one must pay for his mission by himself or by the help of his family. In some cases monetary help can be received from others in the congregation or the Church itself but it is strongly encouraged that a person work and save enough money to pay for his/her own mission. Missions approximately cost 10,000-15,000 for the two years.
Where?
After a person decides they want to serve a mission they then go through the set of aforementioned interviews. In addition to being “spiritually worthy” prospective missionaries generally have to be in good physical, emotional and mental health as a mission is a demanding task in all facets of life. For those that can not serve a mission despite being worthy spiritually (ie. if someone has problem with depression or any other things that they may not be able to control and it is no fault of their own) there are other options to be able to serve but not in a full time capacity. Part of the process of receiving a “mission call” is filling out medical and dental forms, and other personal information that is reviewed at each level. (i.e. One question asks if you have studied a foreign language in school and if yes, for how long? Furthermore, it asks if you would be interested in learning a foreign language on your mission?) These papers and interviews help the local and higher leadership within the church determine if you are ready/able to serve a full-time mission. Upon being approved by local leadership (Congregations are split into geographic boundaries with all members living in one area attending what Mormons call a “ward.” A ward is overseen by a Bishop. 5-15 wards are called a “Stake” and overseen by a Stake President. So interviews are first done with the Bishop of your own ward and then the Stake President.) the papers are sent to Salt Lake City, headquarters of the LDS Church. Twelve men, who we believe to be Apostles just like the original twelve chosen by Christ during His time on Earth, use the aforementioned papers to aid them in deciding where each missionary is to go. These papers are simply an aid so they know a little about the missionary and his possible needs/capacities. Mission calls are done by inspiration/revelation. By revelation I mean that we believe that these 12 Apostles by inspiration from the Lord select where the Lord would want us to go. Many missionaries, if not all, can attest to very spiritual experiences or just a general feeling/confirmation of the fact that where they served was the right spot. This “call” is then sent along with a long detailed list of what to bring/pack as it varies from mission to mission around the world. This call will tell you when you report to the Missionary Training Center (referred to as the MTC.) located in Provo, Utah. The majority of missionaries from North America or those going to serve in North American Missions go to this training center though there are several others located around the world. The time period from when you start filling out papers through the interview process to receiving your mission call and then reporting to the MTC is a period of roughly 3-6 months.
MTC
The MTC is an intense but brief period of learning and training for the missionary. At this point missionaries begin to live the rules that I will mention at a later point. It is kind of like a world within a world where approximately 2000 missionaries are learning to become effective missionaries. Days consist of classes from 7 am to 9 pm of the foreign language (if necessary) and gospel lessons that will be taught to those interested in the Church. Exercise periods and a little rest time is built in but not much as the focus is on mission preparation. Those learning a new language are in the MTC for 8 weeks. Those going to serve in a mission that does not require them to learn a new language stay there for only 3 weeks. From the MTC it is on to your actual mission for the remainder of your 2 years. (Or 18 mos. for the Sisters) Days tend to be long in the MTC but the time passes quickly as there is much to be learned in a short period of time before you are in the real world and on your own to be effective missionaries. Overall the MTC is a very spiritual place and a wonderful experience.
Mission
A mission (like a ward or stake) is a geographic area presided over by a Mission President. This President is someone that is a very experienced and faithful member and usually tends to be older and more temporally well-off men. (As they have the resources to give 3 years of service as they are not paid and they leave everything behind just like the missionaries they watch over. They are chosen and assigned in a very similar fashion as the missionaries themselves. They are also volunteers and paying to serve.) The mission president and his wife are in charge of anywhere from 80-250 missionaries within this geographic region. Each missionary is always paired up with another missionary. (Obviously there are no companionships that consist of a male and female.) When a missionary first arrives to the “mission field” (the geographic region where he will spend the remaining 22 mos. of his mission) he is assigned a companion who is usually someone that has been serving for quite some time. (Companionships are determined much the same way as mission calls are issued. The mission president through prayer and inspiration makes these decisions.) The “senior companion” then is able to teach the new missionary the “tricks of the trade” so to speak, a foreign language where applicable, how to live in a foreign country, the area they live in etc. Companions stay together anywhere from 6 weeks to 4.5 mos. at a time before they are rotated around to be with other missionaries. Missionaries live in humble apartments in the area they are serving in at the time. Missionaries are also rotated around each 6 weeks to 6 months from area to area within the mission boundaries. Within the mission itself there is a hierarchy of missionary leaders that are asked to serve in that position (again by inspiration and under direction from the mission president) so as to provide a support system for other missionaries and to carry out the Mission President’s plan to build up the Church in that area. (District leaders oversee a group of 4-8 missionaries. Zone Leaders over see 8-24 missionaries. A zone is a smaller geographic region within the entire mission boundaries. This handful of Zone leaders report to 1-4 assistants to the president who then report to the mission president himself. Hopefully that makes some sense!)
Missionary Rules!!!
A mission (contrary to popular belief I think) is a very demanding a
nd challenging two years and anything but a vacation. Missionaries are expected to live an extremely dedicated and regulated lifestyle for these two years as they represent the Church and Jesus Christ Himself. Furthermore there are a plethora of rules so as to keep missionaries focused on the task at hand instead of thinking of home and/or giving up. Some but not all mission rules include: (Rules vary from mission to mission as Presidents have some leniency on what to do within their mission.)
—-Always with your companion-24/7/365. You are never alone on your mission.
—-Suit/Shirt/tie/slacks and missionary plaque to be worn at all times. (Except for some P-day activities.)
—-Parted hair and clean shaven
—-No TV, Radio, internet, phone calls etc. You are completely dedicated to the work at hand and are expected to leave all worldly pursuits/activities behind for your 2 years.
—-Obviously nothing along the lines of dating, dancing, clubbing, partying etc
—-Arise 6:30 and Bed 10:30
—-Missionaries are allowed to email once a week to their families and call home twice a year-once on Mother’s Day and once on Christmas for 45 minutes (Again time limits vary from mission to mission)
—-No worldly books, magazines etc
***These rules are in addition to the standards by which all members already live such as no alcohol, drugs, tobacco, coffee, tea, pornography, pre-marital sex, masturbation, swearing, etc***
A typical day
Following is a pretty typical day for a missionary:
6:30 am: Arise
6:30-9:30-10:30: (varies from mission to mission) Personal and companionship study time for the scriptures, lessons to be taught that day, foreign language if applicable. Prayers, shower, breakfast, planning the day etc
10:30-9pm: Proselyting with a one hour lunch. Missionaries do various things to generate a pool of people to teach. These may include: talking with people in parks, in the street or at commercial centers, knocking door-to-door, standing up on buses or other public speaking, doing English classes, displays at schools or clinics, guest speaking etc
9pm -10:30: Missionaries are to be in the house by 9pm and report to the missionary leaders. All missionaries in the mission are accounted for on a daily basis. Fill out daily progress reports and paper work of what you did and plan out the next day. Bed at 10:30 sharp.
One day a week you have a preparation day. (Referred to as P-day) On this day missionaries are allowed to go grocery shopping, do laundry, one hour of internet on a Church owned/run email server to email only family, (no surfing the internet) sleep, relax, visit museums and other local sites, do certain activities with other missionaries, write/read letters, etc. This is basically your one day off though it is usually a very busy day and over before you know it. In my mission we still had to be in shirt and tie and our P-day was from 9-4pm. At 4 pm it was back to teaching and serving others. On a weekly basis missionaries also generally volunteer 4-10 hours a week in the community.
Two cents
As one can see a mission is anything but a two year vacation in a foreign country to date and dance with the pretty girls and pickup a language while there. It is actually a very difficult experience whether speaking a new language or not. Many people don’t want anything to do with the Mormons or religion at all and proselyting day after day can be a very difficult, repetitive and discouraging thing to do when no one wants to listen. Despite its enormous difficulties, the fact that you live by many rules, put your life on hold for two years, pay to do this, etc 99.9% of missionaries talk of their mission as their happiest and most worthwhile two years. I personally would not trade the experiences I had nor the people I got to meet-other missionaries or people that I helped to convert to the Church- for anything in the world. If I were able to rewind time I would do it 100 out of 100 times as it has set the foundation for my life and given me two years of eye opening experiences, a foreign language to boot and a stronger testimony that God does love us and know us as we are all His children. I saw too many things to call them coincidences and know that God played a large part not only in the pre-mission process but throughout my mission. I have no doubt of my testimony in things such as Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and the veracity of this Church as I saw these things change people lives in extraordinary ways.
Hopefully I didn’t miss anything and you all got an idea of what a Mormon mission is!
