Missionary Work: Calls
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In the early days of the Church, missionaries were interviewed by a General Authority before they went on their missions. These days you are interviewed to serve as missionaries by your bishops and stake presidents, and most of you will go through your entire lives without being interviewed by a General Authority. That is simply a reflection of the reality in a worldwide church of more than 15 million members. I know I speak for my brethren when I tell you that we wish it were possible for us to know all of you personally and to be able to tell you that we love you and that we support you. Fortunately the Lord has provided ways for us to reach out to you. For example, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve assigns every missionary to his or her mission. Although this is done without a traditional face-to-face interview, technology and revelation combine to provide an experience that is remarkably intimate and personal. Let me tell you how this happens. Your photograph comes up on a computer screen, together with key information provided by your bishop and stake president. When your picture appears, we look into your eyes and review your answers to the missionary recommendation questions. For that brief moment, it seems as if you are present and responding to us directly. As we look at your photograph, we trust that you have cleared in every way the “raised bar” required today to be a faithful, successful missionary. Then, by the power of the Spirit of the Lord and under the direction of President Thomas S. Monson, we assign you to one of the Church’s 406 worldwide missions. No, it isn’t the same as a personal, face-to-face interview. But it’s close.
Elder M. Russell Ballard
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I'm happy to be here today in the missionary assignment room in the Church Administration Building in Salt Lake City, Utah, where members of the twelve apostles and members of our missionary department staff come frequently to assign the many thousands of missionaries that are applying to serve all over the world. I come in the spirit of fasting and prayer and our staff has prepared where the most urgent needs of all these missionaries are. And as some of you may remember, I spoke on this at a general conference in 2010 when I told of the experience I had maybe in this very room with Elder Henry B. Eyring, at the time, when we assigned missionaries and I was given my first opportunity then to assign missionaries throughout the world. Prayerfully we consider every one of them. We look at whether they've learned languages. We look at where their ancestors are from. And we read their priesthood leader comments and in the spirit of prayer and fasting, we assign them to somewhere in the world that the Lord needs them to serve and that they're needed. And that's a great privilege for us every week. I want to reassure everyone in the Church that every missionary is called by the president of the Church. He has assigned to the Quorum of the Twelve that we assign every missionary. I testify to all of you that the process of doing this is inspired. It's revelatory and I love it with all my heart as I love all of you, especially those of you young people who are considering serving a mission at this very moment. May God bless us all in this great work of the gathering. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Elder Ronald A. Rasband
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