Inside missionary assignment rooms at the Church Administration Building in Salt Lake City, members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles meet with staff of the Church’s Missionary Department to assign thousands of prospective missionaries to serve around the world.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles offered a rare view inside one of these missionary assignment rooms, in a two-minute video posted on his social media channels on Sunday, June 14.
“I come in the spirit of fasting and prayer, and our staff has prepared where the most urgent needs of all these missionaries are,” Elder Rasband said in the video.
In this particular assignment room, a large painting of Jesus Christ ordaining the Apostles hangs on the wall behind large computer screens. With a pointer stick in hand, Elder Rasband shows on one screen where a prospective missionary’s name, photo and other information is displayed for consideration.
“Prayerfully, we consider every one of them,” Elder Rasband explained. “We look at whether they’ve learned languages, we look at where their ancestors are from, and we read their priesthood leaders’ comments. And in the spirit of prayer and fasting, we assign them to somewhere in the world that the Lord needs them to serve and that they’re needed.”
Elder Rasband described this process as “a great privilege.” He also explained that each missionary is called by the President of the Church, who delegates to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles the task of assigning missionaries to specific missions.
“I testify to all of you that the process of doing this is inspired, it’s revelatory, and I love it with all my heart, as I love all of you, especially those of you young people who are considering serving the mission at this very moment,” Elder Rasband concluded. “May God bless us all in this great work of the gathering.”
‘The Divine Call of a Missionary’
This is not the first time Elder Rasband has spoken about the process of assigning prospective missionaries. In his April 2010 general conference talk titled “The Divine Call of a Missionary,” Elder Rasband shared an experience he had while assigning missionaries with then-Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Observing Elder Eyring in this session was part of Elder Rasband’s training as a newly called General Authority Seventy.
“As each picture appeared, to me it was as if the missionary were in the room with us,” Elder Rasband recalled in his talk. “Elder Eyring would then greet the missionary with his kind and endearing voice: ‘Good morning, Elder Reier or Sister Yang. How are you today?’”
Elder Rasband related that Elder Eyring liked to think of where the missionaries would conclude their mission, and this would help him know where they were to be assigned. Elder Rasband observed as Elder Eyring studied comments from the bishops and stake presidents, medical notes and other issues relating to each missionary.
Elder Eyring would refer to another screen which displayed missions across the world and then, as prompted by the Spirit, assign each missionary to his or her field of labor.
Elder Rasband continued: “After assigning a few missionaries, Elder Eyring turned to me as he pondered one particular missionary and said, ‘So, Brother Rasband, where do you think this missionary should go?’ I was startled. I quietly suggested to Elder Eyring that I did not know and that I did not know I could know. He looked at me directly and simply said, ‘Brother Rasband, pay closer attention, and you too can know.’”
As Elder Rasband and Elder Eyring reached the end of that assignment meeting, a picture of a certain missionary appeared on the screen. “I had the strongest prompting, the strongest of the morning, that the missionary we had before us was to be assigned to Japan,” Elder Rasband said.
“I did not know that Elder Eyring was going to ask me on this one, but amazingly he did. I rather tentatively and humbly said to him, ‘Japan?’ Elder Eyring responded immediately, ‘Yes, let’s go there.’ And up on the computer screen the missions of Japan appeared. I instantly knew that the missionary was to go to the Japan Sapporo Mission.
“Elder Eyring did not ask me the exact name of the mission, but he did assign that missionary to the Japan Sapporo Mission. .... I had a further witness that morning that every missionary called in this Church, and assigned or reassigned to a particular mission, is called by revelation from the Lord God Almighty through one of these, His servants,” Elder Rasband testified.
