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, 2007 . Commonly referred to as Mormon missionaries, most LDS Church missionaries are single young men and women in their early twenties, who are assigned to a Mission Of The Church that is usually far from the missionary's home. Mormon missionaries do not receive a salary for any of the work they undertake. PREPARATION TO SERVE roof with inscription: ''And this gospel shall be preached unto every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.'' The Salt Lake Temple appears in reflection.]] Basic qualifications , 2007 . Women who would like to serve a mission must meet the same standards of worthiness and be at least 21 years old; women generally serve shorter 18-month missions. Married retired couples are encouraged to serve missions as well, but their length of service may vary from 3 to 36 months depending on their circumstances and means. Standards of worthiness All missionaries must meet certain minimum standards of worthiness. Among the standards that a prospective missionary must demonstrate adherence to include regular attendance at Church Meetings , regular personal Prayer , regular study of the Standard Works , adherence to the Law Of Chastity , adherence to the Word Of Wisdom , and payment of Tithing . Other exclusionary factors In addition to spiritual preparedness, church and members who have fathered or mothered a child out of wedlock are usually excluded from missionary service, as are men under 26 and women under 40 who have been divorced''Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 1: Stake Presidencies and Bishoprics'', Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2006, p. 92. and anyone who has participated in "homosexual activity" after the age of 15.''Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 1: Stake Presidencies and Bishoprics'', Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2006, p. 94. Mission call After application to the church and the requisite approval, prospective missionaries receive a "call to serve"—an official notification of their location assignment—through the mail from the President Of The Church . The mission call will also inform the prospective missionary what language he will be expected to use during his mission. Members of the Quorum Of The Twelve Apostles are responsible for assigning missionaries to a particular mission. Temple attendance Before beginning their mission, prospective male missionaries are Ordained to the office of an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood (if they do not hold this office already). All missionaries are "set apart" by the Laying On Of Hands to preach the gospel; this is usually performed by the missionary's Stake President . Prospective missionaries also attend the Temple for the first time to receive their Endowment if they have not already done so. Training Newly-called missionaries attend a short training period at one of almost two dozen church . Missionaries who will not be learning a language in order to serve their missions spend three weeks at an MTC and are trained in the use of proselytizing materials, taught expected conduct, and study the Scriptures . Missionaries bound for foreign-language missions spend eight to thirteen weeks at an MTC, depending on the language to be learned. During this period, they are encouraged not to speak in their native tongue but rather to immerse themselves in the new language. COST Missionaries are expected to pay their own expenses while on the mission, often with assistance from family and friends. In the past, each missionary paid his or her actual living expenses, but this approach created a disproportionate burden on missionaries who were assigned to more expensive areas of the world. In 1990, a new program was introduced to equalize the financial responsibility for each missionary and his or her family. Now, all young missionaries pay a flat monthly rate which is then redistributed according to regional costs of living. The cost of a mission as of January 2006 is USD $400 per month, which covers food, lodging, transportation, and personal items. As families now contribute to a general fund for missionary expenses, the sum is deductible under many nations' tax policies regarding charitable gifts. Young people in the church are encouraged to save money throughout their childhood and teenage years to pay for as much of their mission as they can, although nearly all receive assistance from parents, family, or friends. Missionaries who cannot save the required funds may obtain assistance from their home Congregation or from a general missionary fund operated by the church and contributed to by Latter-day Saints around the world. Married couple missionaries are expected to pay their own costs. "Frequently asked questions" , Mission and Service Opportunities for Senior Adults and Recommended Young Adults. In many areas, church members often invite locally-assigned missionaries over for meals to help reduce the overall expenditures of the missionary program. DRESS AND GROOMING Full-time Mormon missionaries are required to adhere to a dress code: for men, conservative, dark trousers and suit coats, white dress shirts, and ties are generally required. For women, modest and professional dresses or blouses and skirts must be worn. In some areas these standards are altered slightly. For example, in hot, humid climates, suit coats are not required and dress shirts may be short-sleeved. Casual clothes may be worn when missionaries are providing manual labor or during "preparation day", when the missionaries are involved in recreation, cleaning, shopping, and laundry. All full-time missionaries wear a name tag that gives their surname with the appropriate title ("Elder" or "Sister" in English-speaking areas). The name tag also bears the church's name, unless the Mission President considers this inadvisable due to circumstances in the area (e.g., adverse political conditions). SCHEDULE A missionary's day Missionaries follow a very structured program. Missionaries are assigned a time scheduled to go to bed and to wake up that varies depending on the local culture. This is a typical missionary's daily schedule:
A missionary's week Missionaries perform their work as normal every day of the week except for one (which varies according to mission) which is called "preparation day". This day (often nicknamed P-day) is for preparing for the week. The missionaries also use this day as a day to rest from their rigorous daily schedule. Common preparation day activities include buying groceries, doing laundry, cleaning their living quarters, playing sports, writing letters, and visiting tourist attractions. Missionaries living close to an LDS Temple may be permitted to attend temple services on preparation day. Preparation day usually ends at 6:00 pm, after which missionaries carry out their missionary activities as normal. Missionaries are also instructed to maintain the same morning routine on preparation days, including individual and companionship study. Sunday also differs for missionaries in that they interrupt their normal activities to attend at least one three-hour block of Worship Services Of The Church . ORGANIZATION Missions and mission leadership See Also: Mission (LDS Church) Every part of the world is assigned to be within a ''mission'' of the church, whether or not Mormon missionaries are active in the area. An adult male Mission President presides over the missionaries in the mission. Most missions are divided into several ''zones'', a zone being a geographic area specified by the mission president. A zone encompasses several more organizational units called ''districts''. Each zone and district is presided over by leaders drawn from male missionaries serving in that area. Zone and district leaders are responsible for gathering weekly statistics and assisting missionaries in their areas of responsibility. A district typically encompasses four to eight missionaries, and may or may not comprise more than one proselytizing area. In addition to the leaders mentioned above, the mission president has two or more assistants. Assistants to the President (APs) are typically missionaries who have previously served as district and/or zone leaders. They assist the president in administering policies and helping missionaries throughout the mission. Companionships A ''missionary companionship'' is the smallest organizational unit of a mission. Every missionary is assigned by the Mission President to be another missionary's ''companion''. Missionary companionships are generally maintained for months at a time and most missionaries will have served with multiple companions by the end of their mission. Only in rare instances will missionary companions have met prior to the start of their missions. A missionary's companion is always a missionary of the same gender, with the exception of married couples, who serve as each others' missionary companion for the entirety of their mission. Missionary companions are instructed to never be apart during the day or night (with the exception of time allowed for bathing and use of the toilet). Companions share the same living quarters and the same bedroom (but not the same bed, except in the case of married missionary couples). When companions have conflicting personalities or interests, they are encouraged to try to resolve them themselves. If they are unable to do so, mission leaders may be used to help resolve the differences. Sometimes the only resolution is reassigning the missionaries to new companions. PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS Contact with family and friends Missionaries are encouraged to write a letter to their parents weekly. Because almost all of their time is otherwise occupied, other communication is limited. However, a missionary may use preparation day to correspond with any person that is resident outside of the boundaries of the mission. Missionaries do not go on vacation and are generally only permitted to telephone their parents on Christmas Day and on Mother's Day (some Mission President s also allow missionaries to telephone their parents on Father's Day ). Missionaries are provided with a free church e-mail account to correspond with their parents and other relatives, but a missionary may only access their account on preparation day using a computer in a public location, such as at a Public Library or an Internet Café . Romantic relationships Single missionaries are prohibited from dating or courting while serving missions. The requirement of companionships staying together at all times is intended to discourage these activities. While missionaries may interact with members of the opposite sex, they may never be alone with them or engage in any kind of intimate physical or emotional activity (e.g., kissing, hugging, holding hands, flirting). Missionary companionships are also asked to not visit with single members of the opposite sex apart from an initial first visit. If further visits are required, those contacts are usually handed over to a companionship of the same gender as the contact or to married couple missionaries. Missionaries may have ongoing romantic heterosexual relationships with persons residing outside of the mission, but missionaries are prohibited from meeting with them or telephoning them while serving their missions. They may, however, write to these persons once a week by postal mail. However, missionaries often end their romantic relationships before serving their missions, as many see it as the best option for both parties involved. Some missionaries, on the other hand, choose to continue their romantic relationships while on their missions. This can, of course, lead to a "Dear John" Letter . Marital status In the early days of the LDS Church, men were called to serve missions regardless of marital status. Today, however, married young men are not expected to serve missions, unless called to oversee a mission as a Mission President . A call to be a mission president is typically extended to the married couple, and in turn, the entire family of the chosen mission president. Older retired couples also may serve as missionaries. NUMBER OF MISSIONARIES AND NUMBER OF CONVERTS As of December 31 , 2006 , there were 53,164 Mormon missionaries serving in 344 Church Missions throughout the world. Their work, often in cooperation with local members, resulted in 272,845 convert Baptism s in 2006. "Statistical Report, 2006" As a measure of missionary effectiveness, there is some concern within the LDS Church that the number of convert baptisms per missionary per year has fallen from a high of 8.03 in 1989 to just 4.67 in 2005. One author has argued that the number of converts would increase if Mormon missionaries made greater efforts in meeting new people; he points out that the average companionship spends only four or five hours per week attempting to meet new people.David G. Stewart, Jr. (2007). ''The Law Of The Harvest: Practical Principles of Effective Missionary Work''. (David Stewart). ISBN 0979512107. TYPES OF MISSIONARIES The most visible and most common type of missionaries are typically those who Proselytize door-to-door and ride Bicycle s for transportation, but not all missionaries engage in these activities. There are "service missionaries" who solely perform volunteer work in impoverished areas, do genealogical research, or are tour guides or hosts at Temple Square and other historical church sites. In many areas, even proselytizing missionaries spend most of their day responding to incoming phone calls and queries, delivering requested media from the church's television and radio commercials. Many missionaries also use Public Transportation , Walk , or in some areas drive automobiles owned by the church. The LDS Church also has a strong welfare and humanitarian missionary program. These Humanitarian Missionaries typically serve in impoverished areas of the world and do not actively proselytize; humanitarian missionaries will not wear any identifying tags if local law forbids it. This allows them to operate in countries where religious organizations are typically forbidden, such as in predominantly Muslim countries or in Southeast Asia . Regular proselytizing missionaries are asked to engage in welfare activities and Community Service for a minimum of four hours per week. In 2007, 80% of all Mormon missionaries were young, unmarried men, 13% young single women, and 7% retired couples.Peggy Fletcher Stack, "Mission metamorphosis" , ''Salt Lake Tribune'', June 30 , 2007 . Senior missionaries All retired couples and elderly single women of the Mormon Church who are able both physically and financially are encouraged to go on missions. For those with health or financial limitations, many other opportunities of service in their home congregations are available. Senior missionaries, also called Elders and Sisters like their younger counterparts, pay their own expenses, though they may receive some assistance from family. They have more choice in the placement and purpose of their mission, particularly if they have unique skills such as medical expertise or knowledge of foreign languages. Many serve Humanitarian Missions in which they are sent to specific regions and help with agriculture, food procurement, medical missions, or clean water initiatives. These are run through the Humanitarian Services arm of the LDS Philanthropies first begun in 1955. The LDS Church has recently begun immunization projects and a wheelchair initiative with much of the volunteer work being performed by senior missionaries. Some senior missionary couples serve as leaders in areas of the world where there are few experienced church leaders. Part of their responsibility includes training local members to be effective leaders. Senior missionaries represent a small percentage of the total full-time missionary force of the Mormon Church. As of 2004, there were approximately 5,000 senior couple missionaries in the Church out of more than 56,000 total missionaries. However, senior missionaries form a large part of the Church’s part-time missionary force. In the last couple of decades, the LDS Church has stepped up its call for senior couple missionaries. Leaders have encouraged this both as a responsibility all of us have to help our fellow men and as a cure to loneliness and depression which often affects the elderly. In 2002, LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley said,
COMING OF AGE For young Latter-day Saint s, completing a mission is often seen as a Rite Of Passage and most tend to regard it as a positive event: the phrase "the best two years of my life" is a common cliché among returned missionaries when describing their experience. Recent changes in church policy, however, discourage the "coming of age" philosophy in order to discourage those who may serve missions out of purely cultural, familial or societal expectations. RETURNED MISSIONARIES A returned missionary (often abbreviated "RM") is a term used by members of the LDS Church to refer to men and women who have previously served as Mormon missionaries. Once they return home, RMs are generally encouraged to begin dating seriously and to seek to get married, since marriage is highly esteemed in LDS culture. While technically a neutral term referring to any person who has returned from a mission, RM is most often used when referring to men who have returned. In Mormon culture, many stereotypes and jokes abound regarding newly returned missionaries most dealing with their difficulties in handling the reverse culture shock or learning to speak their native language again if they served a foreign-speaking mission. Other stereotypes revolve around the fact that as missionaries, they lived highly structured, disciplined lives and avoided contact with members of the opposite sex, so many RMs have difficulty readjusting to social life and dating.http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/daily/missionary/index.htm Other stereotypes include the supposed rush of many RMs to get married as soon as possible. Many families whose daughters are old enough to marry encourage them to date RMs since they are judged to be the most eligible. Returned missionaries are frequently called to assist in the local missionary effort and are encouraged to stay active within the LDS Church through callings and service.http://lds.about.com/od/mormonmissionaries RMs who served in the same mission frequently stay in touch and gather for mission reunions held in Salt Lake City to coincide with the semiannual LDS General Conference . LITERATURE
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