"Along with the need for young elders and sisters, there is a growing need for couples in the mission field. Older married couples are doing a wonderful work in the missions. Many more are needed. . . . With an increasing number of people retiring while they are still possessed of health and vitality, there are many who can fill a tremendous need in the work of the Lord."
President Gordon B. Hinckley
The Church is in need of couple missionaries. While the minimum age for serving a mission as a couple is 40, there is no maximum age as long as both the husband and the wife are in good health and can financially afford a mission. Many couples in their seventies are successfully serving missions. Couples who desire to serve missions may not have any dependent children at home and are not allowed to bring pets. If a couple has the responsibility to care for aging parents, they will need to make arrangements for the care of their parents while they are away.
Couples may serve missions in the following areas: Leadership, Temple, Family History, or Other Specialized Missions.
Leadership Missions include proselyting missions where they are involved in tracting and teaching people the gospel. It may also include working in the mission office or in a visitors center. Some couples may also serve medical missions where they help attend to the medical needs in an area.
Temple Missions include serving as ordinance workers. We have couples in our ward that serve in the temple each week as ordinance workers. They live at home, but since the travel time to the temple is 2 hours, most of the couples spend a night in a local hotel so they can serve the next day without traveling. We have a couple on our extended family that actually splits time between two different locations so they can serve in the temple for a few days and then spend the rest of the week attending to business and family duties.
Family History Missions may include serving in the Salt Lake City Genealogical Library helping patrons locate their genealogy, or couples may be involved in microfilming, preparing documents, or assisting in family history centers around the world. A member of my ward shared an experience last week of trying to translate some records from Italian and trying to decipher the handwriting.
Other Specialized Missions may include working with the Church Education System helping to set up Seminary and Institute programs, farm and agricultural help, public affairs, humanitarian services, or managing facilities. A bulletin is distributed regularly that calls for help in specialized areas and gives the requirements necessary for service in these areas.
Unlike young, single missionaries, couple missionaries can choose the amount of time they wish to serve. Couples usually serve 12, 18, or 23 months.
While it can be a difficult choice to leave family behind, the Lord needs couples to serve missions. My husband and I both hope to serve a mission together. It may be many years down the road (we’ll have dependent children for a long time) but we’re hopeful that with careful financial planning we’ll be able to serve.
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Showing posts with label Senior Missionaries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Senior Missionaries. Show all posts
Friday, June 27, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Senior Missionary Couples
When we think about missionaries, we generally envision young men in suits and white shirts and young women in simple, modest clothing serving the Lord before they marry. To the world, our missionary force seems to be viewed as one of young people. However, many senior couple missionaries also serve.
My mother-in-law served a mission with her husband in Boston, Massachusetts. They worked in the office and both of them enjoyed their time in the mission field immensely. A couple in my ward served a mission in Texas. They both speak fondly of the time they spent there, teaching people about the Book of Mormon. In fact, they shared a story about their mission just last week in Sunday School. Couples who choose to serve missions can provide valuable service to the Lord.
Of course, it’s hard to think about Mom and Dad or Grandma and Grandpa leaving to serve a mission because they might miss out on births, weddings, graduations, ordinations, or other important family events. We have been promised that though they may miss some of these special family times, not only will they be blessed for their service, but so will the entire family.
When older couples consider serving a mission, they need to take some things into consideration.
Health
Both the husband and the wife should be in good health and be able to maintain a rigorous schedule. Not all senior couples will be tracting, but the daily schedule is similar to what is expected for the young missionaries. Couples need to carefully consider their health and what it takes to maintain good health, especially if their mission call should be in a country where healthcare may not be what they’ve experienced in their home country.
Finances
The cost for couple missionaries varies from mission to mission, but couples should have enough money to easily live a year or more in another country. Couples may begin saving for a mission many years ahead of time, or the family may consider financially helping the couple to serve. In any case, there needs to be enough funds so that money issues do not arise while serving and the couple can concentrate on their mission not their finances.
Family
All the members of the family should be encouraged to support the missionary couple. Yes, family members will miss the couple, but they will learn valuable lessons of service as they watch older family members sacrifice to serve the Lord. When couples feel that their family supports their decision, they can leave the family without hesitation and trust that the Lord will care for their family while they are gone.
Senior couples who desire to serve missions should meet with their bishop to determine if they are ready to serve. The call for senior couples has been issued many times and those of us who are in that season of our lives should strive to serve a mission if at all possible. Couple missionaries can offer something to a mission that young people can’t, and there may be those in that area who can only be touched by a senior couple.
Join the Neighborhood Newsletter . . . Subscriptions are free and joining is easy. Just by signing up and maintaining your subscription to receive the yourLDSneighborhood.com newsletter, you become eligible for our "Thank You" prizes. Our dozens of giveaways range from a trip for two to China, to iPods® (each with a $50 gift certificate for LDS music), cruises, and more.
Learn about our amazing monthly, quarterly, and annual giveaways by clicking here.
Return to the neighborhood.
My mother-in-law served a mission with her husband in Boston, Massachusetts. They worked in the office and both of them enjoyed their time in the mission field immensely. A couple in my ward served a mission in Texas. They both speak fondly of the time they spent there, teaching people about the Book of Mormon. In fact, they shared a story about their mission just last week in Sunday School. Couples who choose to serve missions can provide valuable service to the Lord.
Of course, it’s hard to think about Mom and Dad or Grandma and Grandpa leaving to serve a mission because they might miss out on births, weddings, graduations, ordinations, or other important family events. We have been promised that though they may miss some of these special family times, not only will they be blessed for their service, but so will the entire family.
When older couples consider serving a mission, they need to take some things into consideration.
Health
Both the husband and the wife should be in good health and be able to maintain a rigorous schedule. Not all senior couples will be tracting, but the daily schedule is similar to what is expected for the young missionaries. Couples need to carefully consider their health and what it takes to maintain good health, especially if their mission call should be in a country where healthcare may not be what they’ve experienced in their home country.
Finances
The cost for couple missionaries varies from mission to mission, but couples should have enough money to easily live a year or more in another country. Couples may begin saving for a mission many years ahead of time, or the family may consider financially helping the couple to serve. In any case, there needs to be enough funds so that money issues do not arise while serving and the couple can concentrate on their mission not their finances.
Family
All the members of the family should be encouraged to support the missionary couple. Yes, family members will miss the couple, but they will learn valuable lessons of service as they watch older family members sacrifice to serve the Lord. When couples feel that their family supports their decision, they can leave the family without hesitation and trust that the Lord will care for their family while they are gone.
Senior couples who desire to serve missions should meet with their bishop to determine if they are ready to serve. The call for senior couples has been issued many times and those of us who are in that season of our lives should strive to serve a mission if at all possible. Couple missionaries can offer something to a mission that young people can’t, and there may be those in that area who can only be touched by a senior couple.
Join the Neighborhood Newsletter . . . Subscriptions are free and joining is easy. Just by signing up and maintaining your subscription to receive the yourLDSneighborhood.com newsletter, you become eligible for our "Thank You" prizes. Our dozens of giveaways range from a trip for two to China, to iPods® (each with a $50 gift certificate for LDS music), cruises, and more.
Learn about our amazing monthly, quarterly, and annual giveaways by clicking here.
Return to the neighborhood.
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