LDS Says More Work Done With Higher Standards for Missionaries

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints says although higher standards have resulted in fewer missionaries, more work is getting done.

Local News 8′s Dale Jakins takes a closer look at how missionaries are doing after the church raised the bar.

That glow that they have about them just tells you that they’re here for the right reasons.

They’re part of the 56,000 missionaries worldwide for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Missionaries are comprised of mostly 19-year-old men who devote two years of their lives entirely to the church.

In October, 2002, the church announced it would raise standards on qualifying missionaries.

But that meant a fewer amount of missionaries considered worthy to complete service for the church.

Fewer missionaries are doing the same amount of work that 192 missionaries did, so that will tell you that the standards in their own personal lives and the commitment to the Lord, it’s all been raised.

Colin Bricknell is a mission president presiding over a 155 missionaries.

He keeps track of how many people are taught and baptized in southeast Idaho.

They’re up and down, but overall over the last year, they’ve stayed the same and that is indicative of a fewer number of missionaries obtaining the same amount of baptisms.

Bricknell says numbers are not the focus of success for a missionary.

He says it’s something deeper than charts and figures.

They will know that they’ve been successful when they feel deep inside their heart that they’ve done their very best they can do for the Lord.

More prepared missionaries are being able to come out and serve God, we don’t have so many problems and hassles that they used to have.

The success is measured personally by the way you feel after you’ve done all that you can for the Lord.

The greatest number of missionaries the church had serving was 61,000 in 2002.

Bricknell says he expects to see the number of missionaries increase in the near future.

Read Another Article

Ahmadiyyas urge govt to stop fanatics
Manson Follower Van Houten Denied Parole

Related News Articles Topic(s): Mormonism/Mormon Church Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Mormonism/Mormon Church Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog