With The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints adding tens of thousands of young men and women annually to its contingent of full-time missionaries, the Church provides standards and training to help missionaries protect themselves physically, spiritually and emotionally in their day-to-day service.
“The well-being and safety of these missionaries are our priority, and each missionary is expected to complete training and following missionary standards to help protect them and reduce risk while they serve,” states an article titled “How the Church of Jesus Christ Keeps Missionaries Safe,” published Nov. 4 on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Subtitled “A summary of the safety program for missionaries serving worldwide,” the document serves to assist journalists and the public with questions and concerns regarding the safety and well-being of missionaries.
Nearly 80,000 young people are serving in one of 450 missions worldwide for a period of 18 to 24 months, some assigned locally near their homes and others traveling to assignments around the globe. The volunteer missionaries serve at their own expense, sharing the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, seeking to follow His example and serving God and His children.
Under the heading of “Missionary Standards,” the article lists the following practices for full-time missionaries:
- Living the commandments, including moral purity, honesty and healthy living.
- Taking care of one’s physical health and exercising regularly.
- Focusing on one’s mental health and emotional well-being.
- Staying together in assigned companionships.
- Communicating regularly with family members.
- Following guidelines before entering someone’s home, including ensuring a missionary or companionship is not alone with a member of the opposite sex.
- Returning home by 9 p.m., or earlier, depending on local circumstances.
- Using technology wisely and avoiding disclosing personal information.
- Not carrying cash or anything of significant material value.
- Avoiding contact sports or other high-risk activities, including swimming.
- Reporting promptly any safety threats, including assaults and harassments.
- Following service guidelines, which include not handling dangerous machinery.
The online article provides a similar list of training topics, noting that principles of missionary safety are reviewed regularly and repeatedly in a variety of settings, including at missionary training centers, in mission training conferences, and in daily personal and companion study.
The training topics include:
- Automobile safety, which includes driver certification programs and use of seat belts as well as driver-monitoring systems in some locations.
- Bicycle safety, including the use of helmets and other safety equipment.
- Carbon monoxide and smoke detectors in residences.
- Courtesy and cultural awareness.
- Diet, hygiene and exercise, including food preparation and safe drinking water.
- Electrical safety.
- Insect-bite protection.
- Pedestrian safety.
- Proper behavior with children.
- Safe housing.
- What to do in the course of natural disasters or political unrest.
- Situational awareness.
- Stress management.
Besides the booklet “Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ,” missionary safety and well-being are also addressed in 12 “SafetyZone” videos that were released in 2019 to inform missionaries about potential hazards. The videos are shown in missionary training centers and viewed periodically by missionaries throughout their service.
“Even with precautions and safety guidelines, some missionaries experience accidents, crimes or unforeseen medical issues,” the article concludes. “Tragically, at times these incidents have resulted in the serious injury or death of a missionary. In these difficult situations, the Church works to provide help and support to the missionary and their family.”
