The following is excerpted from the Deseret News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
A prophet asked for more teenagers to serve Jesus Christ and others. So many answered the call to serve missions that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will open 36 new missions around the world on July 1, 2024.
The church has 16,000 more missionaries than it did two years ago, an increase of more than 28%, despite a demographic dip and in the face of a worldwide trend of decreasing religiosity among young people, church leaders said Wednesday.
The new missions will give the church 450 total missions, the most in church history, said Elder Quentin L. Cook, chair of the Missionary Executive Council and member of the the church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
The rise in missionaries and missions comes about 19 months after the church’s prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, issued a call encouraging members to serve missions in a talk at the church’s April 2022 international general conference.
“Your decision to serve a mission, whether a proselyting or a service mission, will bless you and many others,” he said.
President Nelson also said the gospel of Jesus Christ “is the only enduring solution for peace. His gospel is a gospel of peace” and that “the spiritual darkness in the world makes the light of Jesus Christ needed more than ever.”
“The saints really respond to the prophet,” Elder Cook said. “It’s really been remarkable to see because the number (of young people in the church) who are of age to go has been down a little bit, and yet we’re having enormous growth.”
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.