Mission (LDS Church)

The mission president must be a married high priest in the Melchizedek Priesthood; his wife is asked to serve alongside him.

[3] Mission presidents are typically in their forties or older, and usually have the financial means to devote themselves full-time to the responsibility for three consecutive years.

The church provides mission presidents with a minimal living allowance but it normally requires them to supplement it with their own funds.

Once a district becomes a stake, the mission president is only responsible for the proselytizing missionaries in the area, not the local members of the church.

By the early 1970s, the MEC consisted of Spencer W. Kimball, Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson and Bruce R. McConkie, all members of the Quorum of the Twelve.

[8] On 19 August 2015, it was announced that Bonnie L. Oscarson, the church's General Young Women President, had been invited to become the first female member of the MEC.

In 1840 they were moved again to Liverpool, largely so the mission leaders could play a role in organizing the emigration of Latter-day Saints to America.

[11] The headquarters were moved to London in about 1930 since by this time the church was no longer encouraging Latter-day Saints to emigrate from Britain.

Although the church's missionaries served in many parts of the Eastern United States of America from 1830 on, no mission was organized until 1839.

On the eve of the American Civil War missionary work made much progress in New York City as well as other eastern metropolises.

The California Mission thrived for a short time with the presence of such men as Parley P. Pratt and George Q. Cannon.

Organized in 1855 with Henry W. Miller as president, this mission mainly focused on teaching the Cherokee in what is today Oklahoma.

He also presided over the mission, focusing his efforts on gaining friends in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The headquarters of the mission remained in San Francisco, but by August 1895 a branch had been organized in Los Angeles.

The origins of the Northwestern States Mission go back to the Oregon Lumber Company which was run by David Eccles and Charles W. Nibley.

Many Latter-day Saints worked in the company's offices in Baker City, Oregon, and a branch was organized there in 1893.

Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Southern Idaho and Western Wyoming, all areas which by that time had large Mormon populations, were not in any mission.

[18] With Eyring's departure the following year little missionary work occurred until 1877 when Matthew Dalton and John Hubbard served in the Indian Territory.

During the ten years Ballard was president the mission began teaching groups of Native Americans within its boundaries.

With the organization of stakes in California, the mission still sent missionaries into those areas although it no longer had jurisdiction over the local units.

[34] It was not until the 1870s, after Meliton Trejo and Daniel Jones had translated the Book of Mormon into Spanish that missionary work began on a permanent footing in Mexico.

[citation needed] A few years later one of Taylor's converts, Louis Bertrand, returned to the mission and organized a Mormon newspaper out of Paris.

David M. Kennedy was a special representative of the church who visited with Portuguese officials in Lisbon during August 1974.

These officials granted Kennedy's request to establish the church in Portugal and to allow missionaries to enter the country.

In the past 40 years, Mormon missionaries have been visiting remote Aboriginal communities in the Central Desert region, including tiny outstations such as Mulga Bore and Angkula in the Northern Territory.

Local artists provide interpretations of teachings from the Book of Mormon using Indigenous Australian art techniques.

After the 1978 revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy males was received, the church proceeded to open missions in West Africa.

However, after a short time it was decided to initially focus on building up the church in Côte d'Ivoire, and so the mission headquarters was moved to Abidjan.

As the missionaries come from many different parts of the world, it is common that the reunions are held in Utah, especially during church general conference weekends, as it provides for the probability of the largest number of attendees.

Several web sites have been created by church members with the express purpose of allowing mission alumni to keep in contact.