Rumors of 19 year old females going on missions

[RC Vikings]

If men go to hell (so to speak) for not serving a mission then like 70% of my ward is going to hell for not doing the home teaching. Why isn't the same pressure given to men that don't do their home teaching in the church?

Because we know better.

[Uncle Ted]

Because we know better.

Yes, we know that it is only a priesthood duty and not a commandment. Therefore, no matter want the hell our EQP/HPGL says we are not going to hell for not doing it. We may miss out a few blessing here and there but at least we are not going to hell.

[statman]

Missionary applications up 471%. Church expects to have ~80K missionaries in near future - some in LDS HQ are expecting the current number to double to over 100K. At the current average of 5 baptisms per missionary per year, it could mean over 500K converts a year...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...alf-women.html

[Northwestcoug]

Missionary applications up 471%. Church expects to have ~80K missionaries in near future - some in LDS HQ are expecting the current number to double to over 100K. At the current average of 5 baptisms per missionary per year, it could mean over 500K converts a year...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...alf-women.html

Interestingly, that article ends with a reference to the nixed plans for the MTC expansion. Weird that it was included in a British newspaper.

[Indy Coug]

Missionary applications up 471%. Church expects to have ~80K missionaries in near future - some in LDS HQ are expecting the current number to double to over 100K. At the current average of 5 baptisms per missionary per year, it could mean over 500K converts a year...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...alf-women.html

Do you really think convert rates per companionship will remain level after a large influx of missionaries?

[jay santos]

He thinks living away from home and learning to function without your parents around is an important part of being ready to be a missionary. Granted, his sons didn't experience any of the potential drawbacks of waiting. None of us got in any trouble ecclesiastically and none of us got on academic probation our freshman year. Academic probation came after the mission, and we were a perfect 4/4.

If my goal for my son was to have the most successful mission possible, I would agree. In fact, I would have him go after he graduated from college. He'd be even more mature and have more life experience to draw on. If my goal was to have him serve, get the life benefits you get from a mission, but fit it in his life in the optimal point, I would want him to go right after high school before college.

[Northwestcoug]

Do you really think convert rates per companionship will remain level after a large influx of missionaries?

I probably shouldn't wade into an actuarial discussion, but...

At least in developed countries, is there possibly any more exposure the church can generate? It is all over in the media. Are there a lot of interested non-members who have not been reached by the church's message? And will the increased numbers of missionaries find those interested, and baptize significantly more people? I'm not sure that there's many interested people who are not finding their way to the church. I'm skeptical that increased missionaries will significantly increase convert rates per companionship (again, in developed countries).

Now if a lot of the increased missionaries go into developing countries, I assume that there will be a significant increase in converts and convert rates per companionship. The church's media reach is likely not as extensive in those areas.

As far as the article goes, I highly doubt we can extrapolate the recent jump in missionary applications to the future. It was an exciting change for many, but it won't last. I'll bet that the current rate will drop significantly, but still level off higher than what it has been historically.

[Indy Coug]

Now if a lot of the increased missionaries go into developing countries, I assume that there will be a significant increase in converts and convert rates per companionship. The church's media reach is likely not as extensive in those areas.

The church could easily significantly increase their conversion rate in developing countries, but the church has chosen to manage their growth rates there to allow time for leadership to be trained, "infrastructure" to be built and not flood the members with more people than they can possibly serve/fellowship/assimilate.

The Philippines and Latin America are notable examples of what happened when the church didn't manage early growth well.

[Northwestcoug]

The church could easily significantly increase their conversion rate in developing countries, but the church has chosen to manage their growth rates there to allow time for leadership to be trained, "infrastructure" to be built and not flood the members with more people than they can possibly serve/fellowship/assimilate.

The Philippines and Latin America are notable examples of what happened when the church didn't manage early growth well.

Right. I understand this argument. But I'm skeptical that convert rates will increase significantly in developed countries.

[jay santos]

Total missionaries with baptisms per missionary.

Kind of interesting to see the trends. I think baptisms per missionary is not affected by missionary count, and more affected by other issues. I would predict baptisms per missionary does not drop too much even if we upped the number of missionaries significantly, ie + 30%.

[Surfah]

Total missionaries with baptisms per missionary.

Kind of interesting to see the trends. I think baptisms per missionary is not affected by missionary count, and more affected by other issues. I would predict baptisms per missionary does not drop too much even if we upped the number of missionaries significantly, ie + 30%.

I destroyed the averages my years.

[jay santos]

I destroyed the averages my years.

My two years are the highest on the table. :rockon1:

[TripletDaddy]

My two years are the highest on the table. :rockon1:

Didn't you go to Asia? You guys were probably dragging the averages down.

[jay santos]

Didn't you go to Asia? You guys were probably dragging the averages down.

They will bow down at my knees in the halls of the celestial kingdom when they hear I was on a mission during the great 1989 baptism explosion.

[Indy Coug]

They will bow down at my knees in the halls of the celestial kingdom when they hear I was on a mission during the great 1989 baptism explosion.

Big growth in Eastern Europe and Africa during that time.