Elder Dallin H. Oaks took to Facebook and Twitter to share some pictures and his personal thoughts on how general authorities make missionary assignments.
“I recently assigned missionaries, a sacred responsibility for which we always come fasting. I assigned 240, my share of the 1,047 (which includes young missionaries, senior couples, and senior sisters) whose papers were ready for assignment last week. We are assisted in this sacred experience by a member of the Missionary Department staff, who keeps records and manages the computer screens on which we view the essential information on elders and sisters and the needs (including languages) of our more than 400 missions in the world.
“These pictures show Dwayne Saviano and I at work in that missionary assignment meeting.
“To those of you who have served or will serve missions, thanks for your willingness to serve. We pray that the Lord will bless you in and for your missionary labors.”
Sarah FlakeJune 2, 2015
Although this task looks very clerical, I have a strong belief from my own experience that the call of a missionary is very personal and truly comes from God. He orchestrates placement of the missionaries through these servants to the place they are meant to serve. So grateful for the opportunity I had to serve!