They are as much a symbol of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Salt Lake Temple and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the clean-cut suit-clad young men on bikes or on foot going door to door with a gospel message.
In the San Antonio mission, over 150 men and women have left their families, homes and education at their own expense to dedicate two years of their life to teach the people of Texas about their faith. At a time when most young people are socializing and traveling, these missionaries have given up television, movies and video games and limited their contact with family and friends to letters and occasional phone calls on Christmas and Mother’s Day.
“Instead of thinking of themselves, these 19- to 21-year-olds devote all of their time to helping others,” said Charles Cutler, mission president of the Texas San Antonio Mission.
In fact, the work these volunteer missionaries perform is as diverse as the missionaries themselves. On any given day missionaries are working on everything from humanitarian projects and helping others trace their genealogy in family history centers to public affairs efforts and teaching the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
One of those missionaries is Elder Brady Jardine, who left his home in Twin Falls, Idaho, to serve the people of San Antonio for the last 22 months. He says he has grown to love and care for the people he has met in Texas.
“We offer any type of service that people here may need. We have painted houses, taken out trash, helped people move from their homes and done yardwork for residents regardless of whether or not they are members of our faith.”
Young men and women from Texas are also leaving the Lone Star State to serve missions in the United States and other parts of the world. Elder Jordan Zamora grew up in Cedar Park, Texas, and is now on a mission in Provo, Utah.
“I came from an active family and strong youth programs surrounded by kids who attended my Church,” says Elder Zamora. He says his high school friends began talking about going on missions years before they actually went.
“We just knew,” Zamora said. “When you turned 19, you were going on a mission and that is what we wanted to do.”
It’s this kind of attitude Church apostle Elder M. Russell Ballard says many young people have in the Church today. At a news conference a year ago celebrating the millionth missionary called to serve, he said: “From personal experience I can tell you that they study, they pray, they worry intensely about each child of God and especially the souls of those they are able to teach. They face rejection and sometimes verbal abuse. But they soldier on. They serve, they help others and they go the extra mile to lift and bless people in all walks of life and in all human conditions.”
Texas missionaries are part of a long tradition of Church service. In 1830, the year Joseph Smith organized the Church, there were only 16 missionaries called. Now, 178 years later, some 53,000 missionaries — young men, young women and senior couples — currently serve in nearly 350 missions throughout the world and teach in nearly 170 different languages.
The missionary effort is based on the New Testament pattern of missionaries serving in pairs, teaching the gospel and baptizing believers in the name of Jesus Christ (see, for example, the work of Peter and John in the book of Acts).
Prior to going to their assigned area, missionaries spend a short period of time at one of 17 missionary training centers throughout the world. There they learn how to teach the gospel in an orderly and clear way and, if necessary, they begin to learn the language of the people they will be teaching. The largest training center is in Provo, Utah, with additional centers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, England, Ghana, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, Spain, South Korea and South Africa.
Each missionary is unique, with his or her own story to tell. Together they make up a rich mosaic of personalities, backgrounds, cultures and experiences — blended with a common desire to serve God and their fellow human beings.