The contact person for any young man, young woman, or couple going on a mission is their Bishop or Branch President. The bishop works with them in determining whether they have the proper spiritual training and resources to serve a mission. He begins the mission process. He determines whether a person is worthy to serve a mission. He checks on all aspects of their health from physical to mental. Bishops need to certify that missionaries are ready in all aspects.
In a letter dated December 11, 2002, the First Presidency instructed Church leaders about the principles of eligibility for full-time missionary service. The instructions stated: “Full-time missionary service is a privilege for those who are called through inspiration by the President of the Church. Bishops and stake presidents have the serious responsibility to identify worthy, qualified members who are spiritually, physically, and emotionally prepared for this sacred service and who can be recommended without reservation. Those individuals not able to meet the physical, mental, and emotional demands of full-time missionary work are honorably excused and should not be recommended. They may be called to serve in other rewarding capacities.”
Bishop Richard C. Edgley said: "I believe that priesthood leaders should be focusing priests on missions—letting them know what is required and helping them get prepared."
As early as 1974 President Spencer W.Kimball instructed bishops: "The bishops of the Church have the stewardship for 213,000 plus young men. This is the reservoir for future missionaries of the Church. The degree in which the bishops fulfill their stewardships will determine the percentage of these young men who fill missions."
M. Russell Ballard in 2005 asked Bishops to have more searching interviews with potential missionaries. Donald Doty said: "Any unresolved sins can affect both the mental and physical health of individuals. These should be resolved through full repentance as potential missionaries meet with their bishops before receiving a call." David A. Edwards agree with them: "Do not delay seeking help from your bishop or branch president if needed. An unresolved transgression will impede the Spirit and hinder your work as a missionary. If you put off a confession until later in the process or after you’re in the mission field, your mission call could be postponed or canceled or you could be sent home in order to allow time for full repentance."
In 2007 M. Russell Ballard said about the process: "First, the bishop or branch president interviews the young man or young woman and makes a recommendation. Then the stake or mission president interviews the person. Most missionary applications are sent electronically to Church headquarters. A photo accompanies the application. When the application arrives, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles looks at the photo and carefully reviews the prospective missionary’s attitude as evidenced by what the local priesthood leaders have written, the young person’s grades, and any expressed willingness to learn a language. The Apostle also considers the needs of all 344 missions around the world and then receives a spiritual impression of where the missionary should serve. All this is done under the direction of the President of the Church, and the call comes from him."
Brother Evans says about filling out the forms and the application process: "Start early. At least four months before you’re able to leave on a mission, set an appointment with your bishop for a personal interview. He will explain the steps to you and will give you the information you need to log on to the online missionary recommendation system, or, if the online system is not available in your area, he will give the recommendation forms to you. The online system speeds up the whole process. It allows you to give more complete and accurate information up front by automatically calling your attention to any required information you haven’t filled in or any problems you need to resolve.
Make appointments right away with your dentist and doctor for evaluations. If you see them early, you’ll have more time to resolve any problems that may arise during the evaluations.
Be thorough. In your recommendation you’ll fill out background information about yourself, including your desire and ability to learn a language, your schooling, and how your mission will be financed. To make sure you portray yourself thoroughly and accurately, fill out this information yourself—don’t just have your mom or dad do it. Be open and honest about your desires and abilities, and make sure you and your doctor are thorough and frank about your health.
Get a good photo. The recommendation asks that you attach a photo of yourself. Make sure that in this photo you are dressed and groomed according to missionary standards. Keep in mind that a member of the Quorum of the Twelve will look at this picture, along with the other information you fill in, as he seeks inspiration on where you are to be called. Also, this photo will be sent to your mission president.
Set the last appointment. After all of these forms are completed and any health problems resolved, set another appointment with your bishop for your last interview with him before your application is sent in. If he feels that you are worthy and ready, he’ll refer you to your stake president for an interview.
Processing Your Recommendation
After your bishop and stake president have confirmed that you’re worthy and ready to serve, they’ll complete their part of the recommendation and send it to the Missionary Department at Church headquarters."
M. Russell Ballard said he felt there could be more missionaries if bishops would work closer with parents: "Now we have a special request for you bishops and branch presidents. We are aware that you already know those who have cleared the bar and are preparing to accept mission calls during this year. What we are asking leaders in every unit to do is to counsel together with parents and pray to find at least one more young man, above those already committed, who can be called to serve. If the over 26,000 wards and branches in the Church will send all of those whom they are already planning to send into the mission field plus one more, the ranks of our full-time missionaries will swell and we will move much closer to our divine mandate to take the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Of course, these missionaries need to be worthy, faithful, healthy, and fully committed. Perhaps this one more may not be ready right now. So we ask parents and stake and ward council members to rely upon the discerning power of the Holy Spirit to know whom you can help to be ready for a call this year."
Bishops are challenged by David F. Evans to "do everything we can to help the young people of the Church become worthy of the blessings of missionary service". . . .
Elder Evans further said: "A year ago, Elder Ballard asked that parents, bishops, and branch presidents work together and help at least one more young man, in addition to those who would normally be prepared to serve, become worthy and be called from each ward and branch of the Church (see “One More,” Liahona and Ensign, May 2005, 71). Many have responded. As leaders, we should all recommit ourselves to following this inspired request.
Brothers and sisters, many good bishops have been doing for a long time what Elder Ballard asked. Thirty-six years ago, Bishop Matheson called my home and invited me to his office. Because of world circumstances, the number of missionaries any ward could send was limited, but an additional space had become available, and he had the responsibility to recommend one more missionary. He told me he and his counselors had been praying. He told me that he was impressed that now was the time that the Lord wanted me to serve my mission. I was stunned. Never before had anyone said to me that the Lord had something He wanted me to do. I felt the Spirit of the Lord testify to me that I should go and that I should go now. I said to the bishop, “If the Lord wants me to serve, then I will go.”
For me, everything changed. The fog really did lift, and happiness and joy came into my life. In one way or another, every good thing that has happened to me since that day has come because of the commitment made to serve the Lord and His children and give two years of my life in His service."
M. Russell Ballard in the Ensign in 2007 explains how missionaries are called: "the bishop or branch president interviews the young man or young woman and makes a recommendation. Then the stake or mission president interviews the person. Most missionary applications are sent electronically to Church headquarters. A photo accompanies the application. When the application arrives, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles looks at the photo and carefully reviews the prospective missionary’s attitude as evidenced by what the local priesthood leaders have written, the young person’s grades, and any expressed willingness to learn a language. The Apostle also considers the needs of all 344 missions around the world and then receives a spiritual impression of where the missionary should serve. All this is done under the direction of the President of the Church, and the call comes from him."
L. Tom Perry tells us that bishops can be important in influencing a decision to go: "Bishops and branch presidents, you can have that powerful impact in the lives of the missionaries you encourage and prepare as well as in lives of their posterity. Use your Aaronic Priesthood quorum leaders and the advisers, as well as the high priests, elders, and women leaders to help you prepare to call as many worthy missionaries as you can. From the use of the new missionary resources, many more missionaries you recommend arrive in the field better prepared and highly motivated to serve. While most potential candidates can with little effort be ready, a few need substantial adjustments in their life to qualify. With the support of parents, help them meet the standards.
Pray about which couples can be encouraged to submit papers for a call to full-time missionary service. There is an urgent need for them."
One of the roles of bishops is to bring to members attention missionary opportunities. They do this by encouraging members over the pulpit to serve or through sacrament programs geared around the blessings of missionary service. They meet with individuals privately and ascertain their desire to serve.
Robert D. Hales says that bishops can make a public call for senior couples to serve a mission: "Now, may I extend a challenge to bishops and branch presidents throughout the world? Over the next six months, would it be possible for each of you to consider recommending one or more missionary couples beyond those presently planning to serve? Your greatest resource in meeting this challenge will be those senior members of your ward who have already served missions. In my own ward, an inspired bishop called a special meeting of prospective and returned missionary couples. As we bore our testimonies of sacrifice and service, the Spirit witnessed to us all that a call to serve is indeed a call to “know the richness of [the Lord’s] blessing[s].”
Richard G. Scott adds the following about missionary couples and how bishops can work with them: "There is an urgent need in the Church today for missionary couples, not to go first-contacting or teaching the discussions, unless you want to do so, but for meaningful missionary service in all of the activities of the Church throughout the world. There is far greater flexibility in the service opportunities of couples than for single elders or sisters. In consultation with your bishop, you can indicate your own preferences for missionary service. We must train a growing number of fathers and mothers and priesthood and auxiliary leaders throughout the world who want very much to serve the Lord but simply do not know how to do it. You can help them as a leadership missionary couple. You can serve in temples, family history, educational and medical activities, welfare service projects, public affairs, and visitors’ centers. There is a need for almost every discipline of life. There is undoubtedly a need somewhere in the world for your unique capacities and talents. Often special health considerations can be accommodated. The feelings you express to the bishop are communicated in a recommendation for a call. The President of the Church has made it possible for those calls to be inspired of the Lord, taking into consideration your special needs and desires as a couple. Stake presidents and bishops are kept aware of current full-time missionary needs. If you cannot find anyone locally to identify potential missionary opportunities, write to the Missionary Department at headquarters. We will send you a list of the current needs. I encourage each couple with available time to prayerfully consider a full-time mission. You will be greatly blessed for the courage to accept a call. . . .
You stake presidents and bishops have the privilege to prayerfully seek guidance to identify and call individuals to prepare to serve a full-time or part-time mission. While some will approach you, a greater number can be identified and encouraged to submit papers for a call through your prayerful efforts. Church service has always been based on an inspired call rather than volunteerism."
L. Tom Perry also attributed his own daughter's decision in going to the influence of her bishop: "As a bishop or branch president, through motivating interviews you can bless the life of every young man in your ward as well as appropriate couples by encouraging them to prepare for full-time missions. Not only will you bless those potential missionaries but you may answer the prayers of parents who have a maturing son not yet committed to a mission despite their efforts to encourage that desire. For example, from childhood through maturing years, our daughter Mary Lee heard her parents speak of our treasured missionary experiences. We had explained how challenging missionary opportunities had enriched our lives and laid the foundation for all that we treasure in life. Yet we taught that it was her decision whether she would serve or not. Through her growing years, it was clear that she intended to be a missionary. However, as missionary age approached, her exciting experiences in the university began to present attractive alternatives. Once when she mentioned wrestling with that uncertainty, she was counseled to talk to her bishop. An appointment was arranged. As she sat down before a choice bishop, she asked, “What do you think of my serving a full-time mission?” The bishop jumped from his chair, clapped his hands on the desk, and said, “That is the greatest thing I could imagine for you.” That comment tipped the scales.
Mary Lee served a most effective mission in Spain that unveiled hidden capacities, matured her spiritual development, and caused to flower capabilities that have blessed her as a wife and mother. The bishop that had such a profound influence in my daughter’s life is J. Willard Marriott Jr., currently an Area Seventy. But we remember him most for what he did for our daughter Mary Lee. Now in her own family with the strong examples of a returned missionary father and mother, a son and a daughter have fulfilled exemplary missions."
When I lived in Las Vegas my bishop was very missionary minded. He met with every boy eighteen and young woman twenty who was unmarried in to his busy interview schedule. Out of fifteen potential people thirteen people went including me. He would hold quarterly interviews checking on your decision to go and trying to answer any concerns. Once he had a firm commitment he would check on your status in terms of money, scriptural preparation, and worthiness. Bishops should start when a boy is a deacon and a girl is a beehive to encourage them to think about going. They should continue the process throughout the teenage years. He was a character he even made recommendations on where we should be sent I remember five of us went to his recommended places. Bishop's also need to respect the decision of each person whether it is in the affirmative or the negative. Good bishops are involved with young adults and senior couples in offering them a chance to serve.
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