Mormon missionaries
Since the earliest days of the restoration, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been an proselyting church, sending out missionaries to all parts of the world. Missionary work is constantly talked about in Mormon congregations, with Church members encouraged to share the gospel with their friends and neighbors.
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Formal Missionary Service
The formal missionary program for the Church is responsible for sending out over 56,000 missionaries to approximately 330 organized missions around the world. Missionaries are a common sight in many areas, often seen in white shirts and ties, riding bicycles through neighborhoods or doing service in communities small and large. These young men, typically 19 to 24 years old, are not the only missionaries that are fielded by the Church. There are missionaries who are old, young, male, female, proselyting, and service oriented.
Young Missionaries
Senior Missionaries
Proselyting Missionaries
Church Service Missionaries
Missionary Training Centers
Before leaving on a mission, each missionary attends a missionary training centers for a short time. These centers help prepare missionaries to teach the gospel and to orient them to missionary life. There are currently seventeen missionary training centers (MTCs) around the world:
- Provo, Utah (USA)
- Preston, England
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Santiago, Chile
- Bogotá, Colombia<br
- Lima, Peru
Guatemala City, Guatemala - Hamilton, New Zealand
- Manila, Philippines
- Tokyo, Japan
- Seoul, South Korea
- Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- Madrid, Spain
- Accra, Ghana
- Johannesburg, South Africa
Missionary training centers are like small universities or communities where missionaries learn teaching skills they will need while serving. If the missionary already knows the language of where they are going, then they will normally stay in the MTC for about three weeks. If they need to learn a foreign language, then the training time extends to eight weeks, with extensive language training being added to their studies.
