Number of Latter-Day Saint Missionaries Jumps 22% In April 2022, President Russell M. Nelson issued a call for more missionaries from among the young single adults of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thousands responded. The church had 54,539 missionaries at the end of 2021, according to its annual statistical report. On June 14, the church had 68,000 missionaries serving, according to Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. That’s an increase of 22%. “And we really do feel like we’ll exceed 72,000 by the end of the year,” Elder Cook told the Church News. More missionaries leads to more work for the Quorum of the Twelve and to more baptisms. Normally, two apostles meet weekly to assign new missionaries to one of the church’s 411 missions. The new surge of missionaries has required four or five apostles at a time to extend as many as 300 new mission calls a week, Elder Cook said. Convert baptisms increased 25% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022, he said. President Nelson said one end of increased missionary work and conversions is more peace in the world. “Brothers and sisters, the gospel of Jesus Christ has never been needed more than it is today. Contention violates everything the Savior stood for and taught,” he said 14 months ago. “The only enduring solution for peace” is the gospel of Jesus Christ, he said, adding that global conflicts and spiritual darkness in the world emphasized the urgent need for missionaries to spread Christ’s message of peace. His call was direct. “Today I reaffirm strongly that the Lord has asked every worthy, able young man to prepare for and serve a mission. For Latter-day Saint young men, missionary service is a priesthood responsibility.” He also invited young women to serve, if they felt called, and said missions bless both the missionaries and those they serve. President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve, echoed that belief. “Of all the training I have received in my church assignments, none has been more important to me than the training I received as a 19-year-old elder serving a full-time mission,” he said at the same April 2022 conference. President Ballard added his voice to President Nelson’s. “As an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I call upon you young men, and those young women who desire to serve a mission, to begin right now to talk with your parents about serving a mission,” he said. “I also invite you to talk with your friends about serving a mission and if one of your friends is not sure about serving, encourage them to talk with their bishop. Commit to yourselves and to Heavenly Father that you will serve a mission …” President Nelson’s call for worthy, able young men to serve missions was a reference to President Spencer W. Kimball’s statement at the April 1974 general conference: “Every LDS male who is worthy and able should fill a mission.” Every Latter-day Saint prophet since then has repeated the same call. “If you look at the youth, their activity rate is higher than it has been,” Elder Cook said. “So they have responded in a wonderful way to the clarion call of a Prophet — both in his April 2022 general conference address and in his invitation as president of the church for youth to gather Israel on both sides of the veil.” | 