Kerry Christensen wondered “what could I do on a mission?” when he learned The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had expanded opportunities for senior single missionaries — single men and single women ages 40 and older — in November 2024.
Christensen, whose wife had died three years earlier, had served in Guam as a young missionary in 1974, and longed to return.
Already serving as a service missionary at Temple Square, Christensen reached out to the mission, talked to his bishop and submitted his papers. A call to Guam soon arrived. Within weeks, he had trained as an office missionary and was serving in the Yigo Guam Temple.
Elder Christensen loved serving with the other senior missionaries and even reconnected with people he had taught as a young missionary 50 years earlier. He described his experience as “a dream come true.”
Not long into his mission, Elder Christensen learned that his brother and sister-in-law had decided to serve together. They listed no geographic preferences — and were called to the same mission, in the same position.
When a tumor diagnosis cut Elder Christensen’s missionary service short, he knew the Lord was mindful of him.
“I feel that the Lord saw this coming, so he sent my brother to take my place,” he said in an article in the Liahona magazine. “I just had to trust in the Lord that He had a different mission for me and a different time frame.”
Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles tells Elder Christensen’s story in his article “The Joy of Sharing the Gospel,” published in the September 2026 issue of the Liahona. He is among a growing number of single men and single women over 40 who have answered the call since November 2024.
“Brothers and sisters, what mission does the Lord have for you? He knows your capacity to serve, and His Church offers a variety of lengths, assignments and locations for senior missionaries,” Elder Rasband wrote. “If you, like Elder Christensen, wonder whether you are needed, the answer is a decisive yes. The Lord needs your experience, knowledge and maturity to build His kingdom.”
Read the full article at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Also, read about Paul Newton, the first-called senior single male missionary who served for 12 months in the Adriatic North Mission, on TheChurchNews.com.
