1 million missionaries for LDS Church — so far

PROVO — Samuel Smith set out 177 years ago this week with a knapsack full of copies of the Book of Mormon, the first missionary of a church organized two months earlier with six members.

Now, 1 million men and women of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have served missions, and the church has 13 million members — milestones announced Monday by the great-great-grandson of Smith's brother Hyrum, Elder M. Russell Ballard of the church's Quorum of the Twelve.

Standing in front of a statue of Smith and his knapsack at the church's Provo Missionary Training Center, Elder Ballard said the number of missionaries is rebounding after a decline in recent years and that missionaries must be better than ever to preach and teach in "a world that is unraveling, falling apart."

The total number of missionaries peaked at 61,638 in 2002, falling to 51,067 in 2004, a drop of 17 percent.

Today there are 53,868 full-time missionaries speaking 164 languages in 145 nations without pay.

Elder Ballard said church leaders expected the decrease in the number of missionaries when they instructed local leaders to "raise the bar," or set higher standards for whether 19-year-old men were spiritually, physically and mentally prepared to serve two years, or whether 21-year-old women were ready to serve 18 months.

LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley also asked presidents of missions in Latin America to slow growth and improve convert retention.

A third factor in the drop was a demographic quirk: The number of 19-year-old men in the church in North America dropped a few years ago and will remain low for a few more years before rising again, Ballard said.

The numbers could have been worse if the church had continued to rely heavily on American young men. Late church President Spencer W. Kimball emphasized mission service by college-age members in other countries. Now, 60 percent of missionaries serving in Brazil are Brazilians.

The church now has 16 missionary training centers spread around the world.

"There's been an explosion of young men, young women serving in their own countries," Elder Ballard said. "They can teach the gospel in their own language and own culture, and it's made a tremendous difference."

All do so at a high cost. Missionaries are expected to pay an average of $400 a month for living expenses, and the time away both delays education or careers and shortens each missionary's lifetime earning capacity.