"Called to Serve" LDS Church Policy Change Elicits Huge Response from Local Youth

                Since the announcement by LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson on October 6th of last year inviting worthy young men to serve a mission as soon as they are 18 and graduated from high school, and worthy young women to serve if they so desire as young as 19, a lot has happened. 

                Globally, the numbers of couples, elders, and sisters are up.  Right after the announcement, more than half of the new applications came from sisters.   That dynamic has shifted now that thousands of 18-year-old boys have graduated from high school and are serving or have calls to serve.

                By fall of this year, the church is projecting that the number of missionaries serving worldwide will have jumped 47 percent in one year.  This will bring the number of full-time missionaries in the field to over 85,000 according to church spokeswoman Ruth Todd. This number blows through the previous record of those serving at one time- by more than 20,000 missionaries!  Compared to the 58,000 missionaries serving at the time of the announcement in October, there were obviously some changes that needed to be made to accommodate the training and service of so many willing young men, women, and seniors.  Below is a time line detailing some of these adjustments:

• Soon after the announcement: bed capacity at the Provo MTC temporarily increased from 3,000 to 4,800.
• January 15th, 2013: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland dedicates three new buildings at the MTC
• January 29th: the Church announces the creation of another MTC- this one in Mexico (it appears there were 15 MTC's operating prior to this addition bringing the current total to 16)
• February 22nd: the number of missions around the world is increased from 347 to 405 as 58 new missions are announced.
• March: the Church announces that about 2,000 missionaries will move to the Wyview and Raintree Commons in Provo in May where they will eat, sleep, worship and workout.
• (Training time in the MTC has been shortened by about 30 percent for both same-language and foreign-language assignees, which will allow more missionaries to go through the MTC.)

Locally

                Jim Joy, executive secretary for the North Ogden Coldwater Stake, reports that last October the stake had 3 sisters and 16 elders serving full-time missions.  By October of this year they will have at least 7 sisters and 27 elders serving.

                The Ben Lomond Stake had 3 sisters and 16 elders serving at the time of the announcement.  President Doyle Obray projects that by end of July there will be 15 sisters with their calls or already in the mission field, and 49 elders in the same position.  He reports that there are also 2 full-time couples serving and many seniors serving part-time missions as well.

                Matt Lund, recently returned from the California, Anaheim Mission.  When asked what he would say to young men and woman who are considering serving a mission is, "Just go!  Take whatever desire you have and work to make it happen!"  He mentioned that his enthusiastic testimony of the gospel grew a great deal on his mission.  When he left he said he didn't have a full understanding or belief, but rather just a hope that the gospel was true, but the Lord made up the rest.