In an April 2022 general conference talk, President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said, “The gospel of Jesus Christ has never been needed more than it is today.” Impelled by that need, the Church’s Missionary Department has developed new resources, tools and invitations to reach God’s children on this earth.
This expansion includes integrating service missionaries into teaching missions, a new edition of “Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ” and the most recent announcement of expanded opportunities for senior single missionaries.
On this episode of the Church News podcast, Church News reporter Mary Richards is joined by Elder W. Mark Bassett, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Missionary Department, and David N. Weidman, managing director of the Missionary Department, to discuss how “if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work.”
Listen to this episode of the Church News podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, bookshelf PLUS, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.
Transcript:
Elder W. Mark Bassett: So, every missionary knows, and they can memorize this, but there’s more to it than that; but their purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ, His Atonement, repentance, baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost. And that really is the “why” behind all that a missionary does. So before they get to the “what” and certainly focus on how to talk to people and how to teach, but “Why do we do it?” And so beyond the memorization of a few lines — they’re powerful, certainly — but to understand when it gets into a person’s heart, it changes what they do and how they look at other people, that every individual out there in the world is a child of God, and we can bring them back home through making covenants.
1:06
Jon Ryan Jensen: This is Jon Ryan Jensen, editor of the Church News. Welcome to the Church News podcast. Today, we are taking you on a journey of connection as we discuss news and events of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
1:19
Mary Richards: President Russell M. Nelson has said, “The gospel of Jesus Christ has never been needed more than it is today.” In April 2022 general conference, as he invited more young and senior adults to serve, he said, “All missionaries teach and testify of the Savior. The spiritual darkness in the world makes the light of Jesus Christ needed more than ever.”
I’m Mary Richards, a Church News reporter and a missionary mom, hosting this episode of the Church News podcast. I’m joined by Elder W. Mark Bassett, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Church’s Missionary Department, and Dave Weidman, managing director of the Church’s Missionary Department, to talk about missionary work.
Elder Bassett and Brother Weidman, thank you both so much for joining the Church News podcast.
Dave N. Weidman: It’s great being here.
Elder W. Mark Bassett: We’re thrilled to be here, and a great topic.
2:11
Mary Richards: Isn’t it, though? This is the best topic. I did have to say in the beginning I was a missionary mom, because this is so near and dear to my heart and to so many who are listening who are missionaries, who have missionaries in their family, who have served missions. They’re very interested in this topic.
Where is our missionary force at now? What kind of numbers can you share with us?
2:29
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Well, we’re right around 80,000 missionaries, which is a high mark. We haven’t had that many serving in quite a number of years. And it goes up and down. Missionaries are coming home every day and going out frequently, but it’s about 80,000. And that includes young teaching missionaries, service missionaries and full-time seniors as well.
2:49
Mary Richards: And Dave, this is seasonal too, then, right, when you see these fluctuations in numbers?
Dave N. Weidman: Yeah. There’s some seasonality to it. In the summertime, we see a lot of missionaries coming home to get ready for school, and a lot of missionaries — young men primarily — graduating high school and starting their missions. Our highest point in the year, though, is this time of year. This is the time of year when a lot of missionaries are out in the field and settling in, and the work is really moving forward in the winter of the year.
3:21
Mary Richards: So, our young people leave home, and they commit to 18 to 24 months to service. How does this change their life? And then also, how does this help the Church?
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Wow, that’s a great question, and you’re waiting to see that, right? As your son comes home from a mission, how has he changed? But I’ll tell you: Certainly a missionary goes out to invite others to come unto Christ. That’s the role. But there are so many other things that happen to a young man, a young woman. And I think I would first focus on sacrifice.
It’s very unique for a young person today — for any of us — to be looking outward and thinking of others. We’re always focused on, “What am I going to do today? What do I need to study in school?” or “What do I need to accomplish at work?” And it’s all about ourselves. For missionaries, we try to clear those things out of the way so they can focus on others. They’re focused on the Savior. They’re focused on our Heavenly Father’s children and inviting them to come unto Christ. And so sacrifices is one.
Discipleship — I mean, they come to know who Jesus Christ is, and they have a greater desire to serve Him. And skills. Dave, what do you think? There’re — a lot of skills are developed as missionaries serve for those 18 months or two years.
4:35
Dave N. Weidman: Tons of skills. You know, Elder Bassett, when they leave at 18 years old, imagine: It’s the point in life when they’re pretty self-centered. They’re pretty focused on “me,” and they’re given the opportunity over the next 18 or 24 months to turn outward, to lose themselves in the Lord’s service. They’re learning how to become a disciple through that. And they’re also gaining, as you point out, some very practical skills: how to plan, how to set goals, how to get along with companions, how to get up in the morning, how to buy food, some very basic things that are important for them as they go throughout their life, both as a husband or a father, a mother, in a professional setting — a lot of skills are learned during that time, service as a missionary.
5:22
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Yeah. And that’s one of the reasons, this idea of sacrifice, that is challenging to return home. They come home, and all of a sudden, immediately, they have to focus on themselves. “I need to register for school. I need to earn money,” and it’s about them, and it’s not as fulfilling. It’s necessary, but we would hope that as they become greater disciples of Christ, that they will find other ways to bless others and to serve and act like the Savior would act.
5:52
Mary Richards: You know, they are learning so much and growing so much. Obviously, they are bringing others to the Savior. This is how this helps the world, to have missionaries out in the world?
Dave N. Weidman: It is. The Savior’s great commission, I just love it. He said, “Go ye into all the world and baptize people, and help them become disciples.” And He said that just before He ascended to heaven. He has never rescinded that great commission. And as missionaries reach out and fulfill that commission, they change, the Church changes, the world changes. They’re truly bringing peace and joy and happiness to God’s children and asking God’s children to exchange the fears and regrets and sorrows for the peace that is only found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s remarkable.
6:46
Elder W. Mark Bassett: And that had to be overwhelming for those disciples to hear that: Go ye into the world — all the world — and bring them to Him, and feeling like, “How do I do this?” Well, in the Doctrine and Covenants, He promises that He’ll be with them, all those that go out, and our missionaries aren’t alone. Certainly they have a companion, but they have the Holy Ghost with them, and the Savior going before their face and being on their right hand and on their left, the Spirit in their hearts and angels round about them to bear them up (see Doctrine and Covenants 84:88). And it’s just a blessing to have an opportunity to be outward focused and to come to know the Savior, to recognize the Holy Ghost and bless the lives of others.
7:29
Mary Richards: And this is unique, isn’t it? You think when you talk to people who are not of our faith, and they say, “Wait, they voluntarily go?” Youth in this time in their life, but also our senior couple missionaries and senior missionaries who could be retired and doing anything else. This is pretty unique, isn’t it?
7:48
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Yeah, it is. And not just going out; they sacrifice their own resources, paying their way and using their own funds. And a lot of people of other faiths look at that and think, “How does that happen? How do you convince them to do that?” Well, we don’t. We don’t convince them. A Prophet of God calls them, and they accept, and they have a desire to serve God.
8:12
Dave N. Weidman: It’s a remarkable culture of faith, and we see it here. We see it in the “pioneer corridor,” where there’s a tradition of faith that goes back generations. I’m astounded by first-generation countries — Africa, Caribbean, other places in the world — where many that are serving joined the gospel of Jesus Christ, joined the Church, within the last several years, and they are beginning to establish that culture of faith within their countries or region. That’s true faith, where there isn’t that tradition, there isn’t that expectation, and they step forward and serve. And I’m astonished by what they do. It’s truly remarkable.
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Yeah, they’re pioneers themselves.
Dave N. Weidman: They are.
8:55
Mary Richards: So, when somebody fills out their paperwork and they’re going to go on a mission, talk us through that process of how they are assigned to labor, how they get their call and how that comes. Elder Bassett, if you want to begin.
9:07
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Sure, I’d be happy to. Well, every missionary is called by the Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson today, and they are assigned by a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Even if a missionary is out for a time and maybe has a challenge, becomes ill and is reassigned to a mission in their own country, that change is assigned by an Apostle. A missionary never leaves a mission without an Apostle looking at that individual and determining where the Lord would have them serve.
And so I love knowing that missionaries can have confidence that wherever they are called to serve, that is where they need to be. And often it’s, certainly, it’s attached to a geography, but also attached to people, and that’s what they’ll bring home from this experience, the people that they served with, the missionaries, the mission leaders, the people they teach. It’s about individuals and not always about geography.
10:08
Dave N. Weidman: We’ve heard several of the Apostles describe the process and how it occurs, and Elder Bassett and I have had the opportunity to be in the room when that occurs. It’s a very thoughtful, a very inspired process. The picture of the missionary comes up, background information comes up on a screen. All of the missions in the world that those missionaries could serve in comes up as well. And as the Apostle collects that information and seeks inspiration, it’s not rushed. It’s a very thoughtful process.
I had the opportunity to talk to a couple on the day that they assign, and after they assign, it’s spiritually exhausting for them to go through it, and they prep around that process. It’s really unique that in the gospel of Jesus Christ, an Apostle of the Lord looks at every individual one by one and on their behalf seeks inspiration. It’s powerful.
11:11
Mary Richards: I love that. As a mom of a missionary, when he opened his call — and there can be this tradition of gathering people around you and opening a call — and he read out loud where he was going, and we all really just did feel this rush of, “This is where you are called,” and everything. And he was reassigned while waiting for his visa. And the same time, we thought, “This is where you’re supposed to be.” And I was grateful for that confirmation for our family.
We tried to prepare our son the best we could. He had missionary preparation classes on the stake level. I even had him go through the Emotional Resilience course with me from the Self-Reliance Department of the Church.
So, what resources are available for families, for wards and stakes to help these young men and young women prepare to serve missions?
11:54
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Yeah, I’m impressed that you used the Emotional Resilience courses. What a great thing. That’s one of the challenges for young people going out and leaving home, some for the very first time, and being able to understand their own body, emotions and mind and the stresses, and even to recommend that we have young people just get out and talk to people and get away from their mobile device and look people in the eye and shake a hand and practice that at church, and just to be engaging.
But primarily, there’s something we can announce now, that we have a new missionary preparation course that will be coming out in January, and this is something that we’ve worked on with several other departments in the Church, and this is a Churchwide curriculum, and it’s for wards, stakes, even institutes. It’s based on “Preach My Gospel”; “Preach My Gospel” is the manual for every student and every missionary. But this course helps teachers teach in a way that will be engaging and will allow the young people to participate. And we really feel great about it and think it’ll be a great resource for our teachers that are in these classes.
13:07
Dave N. Weidman: Mary, and I’ll add to that. This course is not just for teachers or instructors; it’s for parents.
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Yeah, good point.
Dave N. Weidman: It can be done as a self-study program as well. I was going through the material the other evening. It is remarkable. There are modules that are set up that can be combined in a family home evening or in a small-group setting to help teach basic principles from “Preach My Gospel.” There’s great visual content to it, there’s great questions, there’s go-and-do activities and efforts. It is remarkable, and I’m excited to see the impact it has on homes, on wards, on stakes, in helping prepare young men and young women to serve a mission.
13:48
Mary Richards: This sounds like something that matches exactly with our home-centered, Church-supported — this idea of taking control, because I did feel like, “Well, maybe it’s just up to his Young Men’s leaders to prepare him for a little bit,” and then I was rebuked. “I’m the mom. Let’s do something about this.” This sounds like a wonderful resource.
It sounds like you’re both very excited to get this out there.
14:12
Elder W. Mark Bassett: We think it’s long overdue, and it’ll be a great blessing for many. The better prepared a missionary is, the faster they can jump in and feel like they’re really being a blessing to others. And it helps them to understand, when they go to the missionary training center, what the experience will be like and what they’ll be focusing on.
14:34
Mary Richards: Yeah. This “Preach My Gospel” — in June 2023, President Russell M. Nelson announced the new edition of “Preach My Gospel,” and it’s called “Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
And so what kind of impact has this had for the missionaries, for missionary work, for Church members? Because this is for us as well, right?
14:55
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Well, I think that’s why we see that title change. It’s not “Preach My Gospel for Missionaries.” It’s, as you said, “A Guide to Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Well, who is to do that? All of us. And “Preach My Gospel,” this second edition, is just a blessing, because it can help families and individuals and particularly missionaries as they go out and invite others to come unto Christ. I remember President Nelson, as it was announced at the Seminar for New Mission Leaders, he said something inspiring. Dave, do you remember what that was?
15:27
Dave N. Weidman: Yeah, he said, “This new edition comes at a time when the world is rapidly changing. [It] reflects a sensitivity to many of those changes. It contains some of the best instruction I have ever seen to help people accept the Lord’s invitation to come unto Him.” In putting the document together and writing the “Preach My Gospel” second edition, there was significant focus on establishing the principles in a very clear fashion, very simple fashion.
And the second area of focus was to help define very clearly what the missionary purpose is and how to apply the missionary purpose, if you’re a missionary or someone who’s sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with others. It’s a remarkable tool, and it’s made for the Church and the environment that we’re in today.
16:22
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Can I say something about the missionary purpose, Dave?
Dave N. Weidman: Yeah, love it.
Elder W. Mark Bassett: So, every missionary knows, and they can memorize this, but there’s more to it than that; but their purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ, His Atonement, repentance, baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost. And that really is the “why” behind all that a missionary does. So before they get to the “what” and certainly focus on how to talk to people and how to teach, but “Why do we do it?” And so beyond the memorization of a few lines — they’re powerful, certainly — but to understand when it gets into a person’s heart, it changes what they do and how they look at other people, that every individual out there in the world is a child of God, and we can bring them back home through making covenants.
17:20
Mary Richards: I love that. So, how are people responding, then, to that, Dave?
Dave N. Weidman: Just remarkable. We’re seeing continued growth in the number of God’s children who are accepting the invitation to enter into a covenant. And not just enter into the covenant of baptism, but to keep that covenant as well and to continue to progress in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is remarkable. Across the world, every region of the world, is seeing an acceleration in the growth of convert baptisms, the likes of which we haven’t seen for decades. It’s positive, and it’s really remarkable.
17:56
Elder W. Mark Bassett: In that, Dave, you’re right to consider that; that there are more missionaries serving now than we’ve seen in decades. There are more people joining the Church today than we’ve seen in decades. And retention of new converts, we have a new key indicator that missionaries focus on of during the first year of baptism, that we keep track of them and invite them to church every Sunday and make sure they’re there. And so, because of that effort, we’re seeing so many more new converts continuing to participate and attend sacrament meeting and to be engaged in the path. And so that’s really exciting.
So all this good news comes at a time where it feels like, particularly on social media, that there’s bad news everywhere, that there’s so many challenges and that even in the Church, that people are struggling. But the reality is more people are coming to the Church of Jesus Christ than we’ve seen in decades.
18:54
Mary Richards: We talked briefly before this about algorithms, and it’s our little plug to people listening that the more good you see on social media, the more you interact with those posts, the more you will see those. If you’re paying attention to bad posts, you’ll see them in your feed. And so you might start to think, “Oh, everything’s bad news out there.” But it’s really good news. Start following missionary accounts, start following friends of your missionaries in their missions, and you start to see all that good. I’ve noticed it in my own life; it’s been really, really exciting.
You talk about inviting to church and to sacrament meeting. That’s such a big thing for my son. Every time we talk to him on his preparation day, his P-day, on Monday, he’ll be so excited to tell us, “Oh, our friends came to church yesterday. We were so thrilled to see them,” and that sort of thing.
Talk about this invitation to sacrament meeting from the early, early days of meeting someone who might express an interest in learning more about the gospel. What does an invitation to sacrament meeting, especially, do?
19:48
Elder W. Mark Bassett: That’s a great question. And we’ve discovered that the quicker that an individual goes to a sacrament meeting, the more engaged they’ll be in learning. And is that because of members that are there to welcome them, and they find friends that are their neighbors? Is it because certainly the ordinance and experiencing the power of godliness? Yes to both and all things.
But the other piece of that is when I was a young missionary, it was normal to talk to someone on the street or go to a house and say, “Can I come into your home and teach you? Could I meet you at your home?” And they would invite us in. But today, that’s a little odd. We have our Ring doorbells and different things, so if someone rings my doorbell, I immediately look at my device, right? Who is it, and turn out the lights. And we’re more nervous today about who comes to the door. But an invitation that is readily accepted is: “We have a church right here in the neighborhood. It’s just around the corner, it’s just up the street,” or wherever it might be. And, “Would you like to join us for a service? We have friends in your neighborhood that attend there, and we’d just love to have you.” And people accept that invitation, and it’s been a blessing to focus on sacrament meeting.
21:06
Dave N. Weidman: In the world today, as Elder Bassett said, it’s different than it was years ago when I served a mission. I’m as old as the crust of the earth, but there was just so much focus on teaching people in their home. People at that time made decisions in a more private way. In today’s world, the decisions are made in a much more public way. So by inviting to church, they’re able to see and observe others who are going through some of the same challenges in life that they’re going through, and they see that they’re receiving power in the meeting that they’re in. And in that meeting, we’re worshipping Christ, we’re taking emblems of His sacred sacrifice, and the Spirit is there. The Spirit is what converts people. The Spirit changes hearts. And in that meeting, we found tremendous, tremendous change in people’s lives just by attending one meeting in the church.
So it’s a significant focus for all of our missionaries now, and we’re so grateful for members, because suddenly they’re seeing people come into their congregations that may have never met with the missionaries before and not have an awful lot of background in what this is all about. But the members are so great in welcoming them and accepting them and inviting them over for dinner and being involved in their spiritual journey as it starts in the Church, instead of with a group of missionaries in their home. It’s a remarkable time.
22:35
Mary Richards: This is how members can really be involved then, right?
Dave N. Weidman: Absolutely.
Mary Richards: This work of love, share, invite.
Dave N. Weidman: Yes. Yes. It’s the — oh, sometimes we think sharing the gospel is this complicated thing, and at the end of the day, it’s just being normal and natural, being yourself and extending the love that you have in your heart towards other individuals in any way that is normal and natural for you, being a little more open and sharing your beliefs, your faith, how God impacts and influences your life. And in the world we’re in today, where we’re more of a sharing society than we’ve been in the past, I think. And then at the appropriate point in time, inviting them. It may not be to a Church activity. It may be inviting them to work out with you, walk the mall, or whatever it happens to be, or come over for dinner. Love, share, invite. Very simple, normal and natural, but it has profound impact.
23:36
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Can I say something about the simple part of that? It needs to be normal and natural. It’s not that “OK, today I need to be a missionary. I have to go accomplish something.” No, it’s just your normal routine. But the point about the simplicity of it, we have a new tool that was announced by Elder Quentin L. Cook, who is the chairman of the Missionary Executive Council for the Church. And at general conference, in the leadership meeting, he announced a new tool that we call “activity sharing.” It makes inviting simple. And what this tool does, it’s integrated with our Church calendar so that a ward council can have an activity or sacrament meeting or anything that’s already happening, they can put that in the Church calendar, and then it will be populated on a website.
And so when people go in and say — in fact, I’ll give you an example. There’s a ward in Texas that just jumped on this when they heard about it, and they posted a trunk or treat activity. And then that gives members the opportunity to share that on Instagram and WhatsApp and however they want to. But also, it creates an opportunity because neighbors can just find it on their own when they search. “What kind of Halloween activities are going on that would be good for children?” This activity would come up, and we say where it is and who’s invited, and then an opportunity also to RSVP. So this ward in Texas did this. They received 42 RSVPs, so people just finding them on their own. Then eight families came on their own, and then several of those families came to church on Sunday.
25:21
Dave N. Weidman: In fact, the response was so great, they ran out of food. It shocked them.
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Yeah. And so did they do anything different? No. They had an activity, they made others aware of it, certainly some shared it in their feeds or when they were talking to friends. But the community was looking for something, and they came.
25:43
Mary Richards: Wow. I see also some great fruits from young single adults sharing, where, “What’d you do this weekend?” “Oh, actually, I —” you know. And then, as you naturally, normally talk about it, you’re drawing others to this in that way.
25:56
Dave N. Weidman: Absolutely. The use of social media by members is one of the key things. In fact, our missionaries are finding more and more people through those type of sharing experiences. When we look at what goes on in North America, we have well over 50% of those who are baptized into the Church come through use of technology of one type or another. So technology is really core to what we do in missionary work today. It’s changed. The pandemic has been an incredible blessing for us. We had to use technology. We had to learn how to do missionary work in a way that was different than we’d done before. And this, this is not just missionaries, but it’s also members. And the work that we’re doing today, it’s really, really different than it was 10 years ago when Rachel and I were in Los Angeles.
26:54
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Well, and how it’s different is people now are because of technology, because of ads we run that come into, show up on people’s feeds, they’re coming and reaching out to us. And not just “I want a free item, and please have it delivered.” No; it’s this information that we’re putting out there is “This is who we are, and we have missionaries up in front. We would like to invite you to come to church, and we’ll come to your house, and we’ll teach you about these principles that bring happiness to your life.” And so people reaching out saying, “I want missionaries. I want to learn.” And when they do, these individuals really want to understand what we have, and it’s just a great blessing.
You mentioned young single adults. They’re naturals. So many are returned missionaries, but they know how to invite. They know how to just be normal and have others come with them to different activities. They’re great. But not just young singles. But we just recently, the First Presidency announced that single senior men, older men, can now serve full-time missions. That hasn’t been the case for a long time. Single senior sisters have been able to serve, but not men. So we’re really excited about that, that these single men can have an opportunity to serve, and just grateful for that blessing and hope that many will jump on that opportunity and get out there and fill the needs that exist.
28:24
Mary Richards: I’m glad you brought that up, Elder Bassett, because I was wanting to ask about what do we hope to see from this? And maybe a pitch to those who are listening about their valuable role and what they can do and they can accomplish if they serve a mission.
28:37
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Yeah. Everyone has a talent, and some of those talents could be professional skills or just their life experience that might be unique. And there are needs everywhere, whether it be in mission offices or area offices, helping with finances or the cars that missionaries are using or doctors and those with legal backgrounds. But then just anybody, if you have a desire to serve God, “ye are called to the work” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:3). And we just are so excited that everyone can be a part of this.
29:14
Mary Richards: What would you also like to say about young service missionaries?
Elder W. Mark Bassett: OK, you’ve got me started now. And this is something that’s just near and dear to my heart. I mentioned there’s, in the fourth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, there’s a verse that says, “If ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work” (verse 3). That is more true today than it has ever been. Anyone can serve. If they have that desire and they’re worthy to serve, we will find an opportunity. And service missions allow that to happen, and it has been a great blessing to serve. And it’s a mission. It’s no different than a teaching mission or anything else.
President Nelson said, when he was talking about missionaries, he said, “Your decision to serve a mission, whether a proselyting or a service mission, will bless you and many others.” It doesn’t matter where you serve; it’s really how you serve. And a champion of this — Dave, you know this — is Sister Amy Wright. Sister Wright is one of the members of the Missionary Executive Council, she and President Emily Belle Freeman. And their contributions are tremendous on the Missionary Executive Council, as I watch them interact with Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder Ronald A. Rasband, who are on that council, and they counsel together, make decisions and recommendations to the full Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency.
But Sister — as I mentioned — Sister Wright has personal experience with this, having one of her sons serve a service mission, and has witnessed the benefit and taught that all around the world as she goes out to encourage others to accept an opportunity if it comes to be a service missionary. It is a tremendous blessing.
31:00
Mary Richards: And Dave, our young service missionaries also have the name of Jesus Christ on their chest.
Dave N. Weidman: Oh, they do.
Mary Richards: They also have a missionary purpose.
31:07
Dave N. Weidman: They do. And their missionary purpose is aligned with the gospel of Christ, of serving and blessing others. There’s no difference in God’s eyes between a service missionary and a teaching missionary. It’s the same work, and they’re blessed in the same way.
I want to come back to one thing that Elder Bassett said about the role of the Missionary Executive Council and the role of our sisters. There’s two Apostles on the Missionary Executive Council and two sisters on the Missionary Executive Council as well. And these are true councils. About a year and a half ago, the decision was made to integrate service missionaries into missions, and that integration is global now. It’s remarkable. It really has changed both the service missionaries, the teaching missionaries and the culture of the mission overall. In the decisions leading up to the recommendation, which went to the First Presidency, the sisters’ input was significant in the way that it was crafted and put together. And Sister Wright, in particular, with her experience, brought perspective that was invaluable in what was done.
32:21
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Well, in their experience and their background, but also just as mothers, to have that experience; because we’re talking about young men and young women, and it was just a great experience for me to watch that.
32:34
Mary Richards: Their voices are so needed and valuable on that council.
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Yeah, they are.
Mary Richards: I know that safety can be a topic of concern for parents, for mission leaders, for others. How are missionaries serving around the world, in these many different situations and places, how are they best kept safe from harm or evil?
32:52
Elder W. Mark Bassett: You know, I think they’re kept safe if they’ll just serve a mission, you know? Just living the commandments and living the standards, we call it “Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ,” and those principles and focusing on taking care of their body physically, emotionally. And just those things alone will help them be healthier and certainly safer. But we have so many resources for our young missionaries that mission leaders too, mission presidents, can typically will teach that every transfer, talk about some safety principle. And then we have some tools that missionaries have. And Dave, you can talk about those.
33:35
Dave N. Weidman: It is substantial, Elder Bassett. Training for missionaries on safety begins before they start the MTC. There’s material that flows to them through that. In their first meeting with the MTC presidents and parents, there’s discussions about safety there, and then it continues throughout their mission. And as Elder Bassett says, there’s tons of resources.
Maybe the biggest thing, though, when you’re talking about safety, the biggest thing missionaries can do, is one simple direction: Stay with your companion. And that protects missionaries physically, spiritually and, if you’re close with your companion, there’s also emotional protection there as well. There’s a lot of things out there, but I think Elder Bassett, in the discussions we have, staying with your companion all of the time can protect a missionary more than almost anything we ask them to do.
34:27
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Great, Dave. And also just being wise, just making good decisions and particularly listening to the Spirit. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t do that thing, or don’t go to that place. And just our own wisdom would help us as well. But it’s a No. 1 priority for the Missionary Department, and that’s why we have all these resources through — we have videos from the “SafetyZone,” and it says it’s a news desk, and they talk about safety, and then they show real-life experiences and then it gives the missionaries in field or even at home before a chance to discuss it and, “What would I have done in that situation?” We have other technology that goes right to their smartphones, their devices. And they’re fed, and it’ll be on a safety topic and many other topics as well, but it will be like a one-minute or a two-minute clip on some principle that they could focus on. And so it’s a major focus.
35:28
Dave N. Weidman: I might say one thing about online safety. In the last 10 years, technology has really become core to how we take the gospel of Jesus Christ to others. So the use of technology is essential for missionary work now. Today, in the new “Preach My Gospel,” there’s a chapter on safe use of technology, core principles that are taught. And as Elder Bassett said, it’s then repeated in field through training on their device, the mission president has training that they can do.
Our goal — and again, President Nelson said this almost a decade ago — is to inoculate our young men and young women so that they know how to use technology, and to control technology and not be controlled by technology; to inoculate them. Those are the words he said: “to inoculate” them. That now is mainstream, and it’s in the new “Preach My Gospel.”
36:29
Mary Richards: Elder Bassett, what are some of the good things that you are hearing and seeing in your role?
Elder W. Mark Bassett: We’ve talked about just the successes. And when I say success, I mean that what our Heavenly Father is doing right now. We learn in the Book of Mormon that He can do His own work (see 2 Nephi 27:20), and He also will hasten His work (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:73). And we’re just seeing that, and we get to watch it. Even participating, it’s still just happening around us.
The greatest blessing is to recognize that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, Their hands are fully engaged in this work — in the changes we see to missionaries that we talked about, but beyond that, the seasonal initiatives we have. Light the World and Easter, focusing on the Resurrection of Christ, His Atonement, has been great. As we mentioned, more people are attending church than we’ve seen in years. Recent converts are staying. More people are being baptized, more missionaries are serving, and that’s why we had to create 36 new missions. And now we have more missionaries than we had estimated, and it’s likely that will continue as more people respond to the call of a Prophet. It’s just a blessing to witness.
37:47
Dave N. Weidman: It’s a remarkable season in the history of the Church. I have the privilege of working with several thousand professionals who help our missionaries and our mission leaders and area presidencies and general authorities in their divine mandate to take the gospel throughout the world. These are instructors at MTCs, or individuals that are writing curriculum for training in the field, or the team that is helping the brethren in extending the assignments to missionaries.
I think all of us feel, in many ways, that we’re witnessing miracles on a day-in-and-day-out basis. We kind of feel like that young boy must have felt who was with the Savior and gave his two fish and five loaves and had an apostle, a disciple, at the time say, “What are these among so many?” And the answer was twofold. It was insufficient, yet in the Savior’s hands, it fed 5,000 with food to spare. That’s how we feel. We give it our all every single day, and it is two fish and five barley loaves. Yet in the Lord’s hands, we see all of this going on, and He allows us to have the joy and see the joy that there is as the work rolls forwards in ways that haven’t occurred in decades. We’re just grateful to be here. We don’t know why we’re so blessed.
39:25
Mary Richards: This really does lead so perfectly to our last question on the Church News podcast. We have a tradition of letting our guests have the last word. And so I’ll start with you, Dave, and then Elder Bassett, and I want to ask: What do you know now as our missionaries strive to bring the world his truth?
39:42
Dave N. Weidman: I know three things much better than I knew seven years ago when I started working in the Missionary Department. One, I know that there is a deep, profound faith in the body of the Church, a faith that I never knew existed. And that faith is in missionaries who are serving under the most trying and challenging personal situations that you can imagine, parents who are sacrificing and helping missionaries go out, waiting eagerly for that call on Monday, Mary, to talk with your son or daughter who’s out there. I know that there’s deep faith in the Church.
I know also that this work is directed by apostles and prophets who are called by God. They’re seers. They see around corners. They may not see clearly around corners, but they do see around corners, and we are well — both as a professional organization and as individuals — to heed their call, because they know the future. They sense what’s coming. And I know that Jesus Christ is head of this Church, and it’s through Him and because of Him that miracles are occurring today. Those three things I know more than I have ever known in my life, and I’m grateful for them.
41:03
Elder W. Mark Bassett: Thank you, Dave. Dave, when you mentioned that lad in Galilee on that hillside in that story about feeding the 5,000, you look at that story and recognize that it was the lad, that little boy, he was the only one in that story that gave everything he had. That reminds me of our missionaries; they do the same.
Another story from the New Testament is that widow, in the giving her two mites. I have a painting in my office that depicts that story, but it’s different from what I ever expected it to be, as I look at this painting, because the widow is a young mother. She’s holding a baby and has little children holding on to her dress, and she’s there at the treasury and dropping in her two mites, which are just like a piece of cardboard, almost. When others drop in their money in the treasury, it makes noise, and everybody knows how grand their contribution was. And this mother just drops this in, and it doesn’t make a sound. But yet the Savior recognizes her sacrifice and what she’s willing to do, even knowing that she has these children that need to be fed.
That’s what our missionaries do. They give all that they have, as that lad on the hillside in Galilee, and they give different levels of contributions. And we don’t ask for more than they can give. We ask them to give what they have and to make that sacrifice. And to the Lord, the sacrifice is tremendous. What I’ve seen is just the Lord’s hand in this work and lives blessed, both in the lives of missionaries and those they teach. And, as I mentioned earlier, the Lord is hastening His work.
And I have witnessed His hand in this, and I bear my witness that Jesus Christ lives, that this is His Church, that it is led by prophets, seers and revelators. And I witness that every day as I watch them and see them counsel and counsel with them and see decisions that are made. And it’s just a blessing to me personally to know that we have prophets of God on the earth, and that senior Apostle is President Russell M. Nelson. I’ll be with him in a couple of hours and making a presentation. And it’s a treasured experience to be with the First Presidency and to see their wisdom and the questions they ask, and it’s just remarkable. But to know that we are led by prophets has been a blessing to me, and that they are led by Jesus Christ, and I just bear that witness to this moment in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
44:01
Jon Ryan Jensen: Thank you for listening to the Church News podcast. I’m your host, Church News editor Jon Ryan Jensen. I hope you learned something today about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had your faith in the Savior increase by looking through the Church News window as a living record of the Restoration. Please subscribe, rate and review this podcast so it can be accessible to more people. And if you enjoyed the messages we shared today, please share the podcast with others. Thanks to our guests; to my producer, KellieAnn Halvorsen; and to others who make this podcast possible. Join us every week for a new episode. Find us on your favorite podcasting channels or with other news and updates about the Church on TheChurchNews.com or on the Church News app.
