Skip to content

What is a Mission?

For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sharing the Gospel is one of the most important and rewarding ways we can spend our time. Thousands of young men and women leave their homes and families each year for this purpose. There are currently approximately 50,000 full-time missionaries serving all over the world.

The geographical area that a missionary is assigned to is referred to as a "mission". It is presided over by a mission president and his wife. It is this couple's job to coordinate the efforts of the young missionaries by assigning them to “companionships” (two or three missionaries who live and work together), providing training and leadership, and making sure that the missionaries have their material needs cared for.

Young men and women in The Church of Jesus Christ are not required to serve a mission, although many do. Missionaries are not paid for their service and, in fact, pay all expenses incurred during their missions, often with the assistance of their families and/or members of the church where they live. Young men (between the ages of 19 and 27, but mostly 19-21 years old) serve for two years; young women (usually 21-24 years old) serve for a year and a half.

A missionary will usually spend his/her entire term of service within the boundaries of one mission, but will be transferred by the mission president every 1-6 months to a different area. A missionary may work in anywhere from three to ten different areas during his/her mission, and may have over a dozen different companions.

Senior couples are also encouraged to serve missions once their children are raised and they have the financial means to do so. Senior couples typically serve for 1-1/2 years, and have proven invaluable in many areas, including training, reactivation, fellowshipping, temple service, etc., as well as proselyting.

The purpose of these Mission Alumni Pages is to provide a way for those who have served in their respective missions to stay in touch with each other via e-mail, reunions, snail-mail, etc. Also, young men and women and senior couples who are preparing to serve missions may find the information on these pages useful in their preparations.

For more information about The Church of Jesus Christ, please refer to the Church’s official World Wide Web site, see the Deseret News LDS Info Page, talk to one of your Latter-day Saint friends, or look under The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the telephone directory.

You may obtain a free Book of Mormon by calling 1-800-528-2225 (local missionaries will deliver the book and answer any questions you may have), or contact the local congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ.