{"id":3675,"date":"2026-07-14T19:12:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T19:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3675"},"modified":"2026-07-14T19:12:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T19:12:53","slug":"latter-day-saints-hit-new-record-with-88500-missionaries-heres-why-and-what-it-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3675","title":{"rendered":"Latter-day Saints hit new record with 88,500 missionaries. Here\u2019s why and what it means"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A change in an age requirement. A surge of new missionaries. A record.<\/p>\n

The missionary force of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reached 88,500 this month, the largest it\u2019s ever been. Women are fueling this rise.<\/p>\n

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Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and chair of the Missionary Executive Council announced the church record in social media posts on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

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First surge<\/h3>\n

The church\u2019s previous record of 88,000 missionaries was set in 2014. <\/p>\n

In 2012, church leaders lowered the age for missionary service from 19 to 18 for men and from 21 to 19 for women. That resulted in a massive surge of missionaries, with the total force rising from 58,990 in 2012 to 88,000 in 2014.<\/p>\n

That was an increase of 49%.<\/p>\n

Women fueled the growth. The percentage of the missionary force that was women spiked to 30%, up from 13% before the surge.<\/p>\n

A 2019 study found that 45% of female Latter-day Saint millennials had served a mission.<\/p>\n

Second surge<\/h3>\n

This month\u2019s new record is the result of a second surge of missionary service by women. This one was caused by the lowering of the age requirement for women from 19 to 18, which was announced in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe First Presidency is pleased to announce that effective immediately, young women who choose to serve a full-time mission may begin their service at age 18 following graduation from high school or its equivalent,\u201d wrote President Dallin H. Oaks and his counselors in the First Presidency, President Henry B. Eyring and President D. Todd Christofferson.<\/p>\n

Young women immediately signaled their desire to serve missions at the earlier age, but the swell in numbers was delayed until they could graduate this spring.<\/p>\n

The church had 78,596 missionaries in 2025. That means this new surge is a 12.6% increase in the mission force.<\/p>\n

The church opened 55 new missions around the world two weeks ago, and the surge of nearly 10,000 new missionaries has filled those missions. There are now 506 Latter-day Saint missions worldwide.<\/p>\n

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The new missions are in Africa (16), the United States (14), South America (seven), the Philippines (five), the Pacific (five), Europe (four), Canada (two), Asia (one) and Mexico (one).<\/p>\n

President Oaks signaled the new missionary record was imminent during a talk to the new mission leaders in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is inspiring to see the number of young church members who continue to answer the call to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world,\u201d President Oaks said then.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese missionaries are helping to bless the lives of hundreds of thousands of people every year who are choosing to be baptized into the Lord\u2019s church.\u201d<\/p>\n

What else is fueling the surge?<\/h3>\n

Other factors fueling the new record include a bump in the number of Latter-day Saints who are 18, which is expected to be followed by a national demographic cliff in that age group.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the record arrives after a year in which new highs were set in the church for seminary and institute attendance.<\/p>\n

The church\u2019s seminary program for teenagers and institute program for college students are aimed at helping build discipleship among Latter-day Saint youth and young adults.<\/p>\n

Church leaders have repeatedly said that Latter-day Saint young people are increasing their faith in an era marked by people leaving organized religions.<\/p>\n

\u201cCounter to the narrative sometimes heard that young people are leaving their faith, the numbers actually show that youth and young adults in the Church Educational System are flocking to their faith,\u201d Elder Clark G. Gilbert, now a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, said while he was the church commissioner of education.<\/p>\n

Read more Second fatal ICE shooting in less than a week leaves man dead in Maine<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Church of Jesus Christ has the largest missionary force in its history with 88,500 missionaries. Here\u2019s why and what it means.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith"],"yoast_head":"\nLatter-day Saints hit new record with 88,500 missionaries. 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