In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe in giving service. Senior missionaries can be called to serve around the world, but many missionaries will serve while living at home. In some situations, it may be more effective for them to serve in their home country or area.
The Church’s 27,000-plus senior service missionaries help assist in Church Communication, mission offices, distribution centres, FamilySearch centres and libraries, self-reliance programmes, BYU-Pathway Worldwide, employment centres and many other places. They may also have a customised mission based on their skills and interests.
DOWNLOADThe Church is launching a new worldwide Senior Missionary Management system to help seniors throughout the world find or create a service mission opportunity. Under the direction of Elder Robert Gale and Sister Leslie Gale, Area coordinators are being called around the world to help senior missionaries figure out which mission might be right for them.
Service missionaries serve eight to 40 hours per week for six months to two years. Missionaries may be married or single. They may drive a few miles to their service location or sit in front of their home computer to complete their tasks.
DOWNLOADElder Peter Kopp and Sister Beatrice Kopp worked as service missionaries in welfare and self-reliance close to their home in Switzerland. During this time, they gained a firm testimony of the self-reliance initiative of the Church. They said about their service mission, “Since we knew almost all the stake leaders we were called to work with, we had easy access to all of them. They had an open ear for us and felt our excitement for this part of the work.”
DOWNLOADAs a qualified therapist-counsellor, Elder Robert Durkin had a custom-made mission. He was called as a Pre-mission Assessment Coordinator. Originally, he wanted to serve and live in Germany, so he was planning to move from the UK to Frankfurt, where he would have paid his own expenses as a service missionary rather than paying the monthly missionary fees. Due to COVID, he stayed in the UK and completed his mission from his own home. He says he was able to do everything he needed to do while living at home. He encourages others to serve a mission. He says, “Don’t miss the opportunity. A mission is a great way to get closer to the Lord.”
Prospective missionaries can choose from many service mission opportunities, or they can work with their Area coordinator, or stake or mission president to create a mission based on their personal or professional skills. If they have experience in local politics, they might serve a mission in key opinion leader outreach to help the Church build relationships in the community. If they love to write, they could serve a mission writing articles, reaching out to the media in their local area and posting articles on social media. If they are active in the service community, they could help develop JustServe opportunities to post on the website in their area. They could even teach BYU-Pathway Worldwide in Africa while living at home in Europe.
DOWNLOADVisit the new service missionary portal on the Church website by following this link seniorservicemissions.