1 million missionaries for LDS Church — so far

Elder Brandon Soelberg, 19, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, is in the middle of 10 weeks at the MTC learning Japanese as well as teaching strategies from the recently introduced "Preach My Gospel" missionary guide before the church pays to fly him to Nagoya, Japan. He postponed his education at Brigham Young University and future studies at dental school to be a missionary for two years.

"It's a sacrifice, absolutely, but school will be here when I get back," he said. "I wouldn't pass up this opportunity to serve God for anything."

Elder Soelberg worked summers to save money for his mission. He's splitting costs 50-50 with his parents.

Elder Soelberg's MTC companion — missionaries always work in twos — is Elder Samuel Pelaquim, 20, of Curitiba, Brazil. Elder Pelaquim is being helped by his mother, uncle, grandfather, brother and the rest of his congregation.

"It's so great to feel all those people are helping and supporting me," Elder Pelaquim said.

The pair can expect difficulty winning converts in Japan. Elder Ballard said the job isn't easy anywhere.

The number of annual converts dropped from a high of 321,385 in 1996 to 243,000 in 2005, a 24 percent decline.

"A lot of people in the world don't care about God any more," he said. "They don't care about where they came from, why they're here and where they're going, the purpose of life."

That's exactly what missionaries want to share.

"I've been so blessed in my life with the gospel of Jesus Christ," Elder Soelberg said. "I want everyone to experience the joy and happiness I have and the love God has for them, that I've felt."

The first missionary left a Book of Mormon in a New York tavern in the spring of 1830. The book soon reached the hands of Brigham Young, who eventually succeeded Samuel Smith's brother Joseph as the church's president and led the Mormon pioneers to Utah.

Elder Ballard said church leaders don't know the identity of the "one-millionth missionary." President Hinckley first announced the number Sunday during a meeting for 118 new mission presidents at the MTC.

"It is reliably estimated that a million missionaries have served since the organization of the church," he said, according to a church press release.

Elder Ballard said President Hinckley was "really quite surprised" that nearly 40 percent of the 1 million, or 387,750, have served during his 12-year administration.

It likely won't take nearly as long to match the feat. About 30,000 new missionaries join the effort each year, including retired couples who often serve for 12 months. At that rate, the church will reach another million in 2040.

"It was hard to get the first million," said Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the church's Quorum of the Twelve. "The second million is easy. These young people in the church are growing up wanting to serve missions. It will grow, and it will grow fast."

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