RBC | Allie Sanders from Meeker has accepted a call to serve as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She will receive missionary and language training before reporting to her mission area in October, and will serve in this capacity for 18 months. Allie has been assigned to the Mexico Villahermosa Mission in the state of Tabasco, where she will preach the gospel in the Spanish language. Allie states “During this time I hope to bring others closer to Jesus Christ and share my testimony of God’s love.” During her mission Allie will be referred to as “Sister Sanders” to emphasize her consecrated service as an emissary of the Savior, and her relationship to all those she will encounter as fellow children of God. She will defer university attendance until her return from her mission and then resume her education.
Justin Allred from Rangely has accepted a call to serve as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He will be serving the Lord in the Tempe Arizona Mission. Justin will start missionary training at home on Sept. 9 and will report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Sept. 18. While on the mission he will be known as Elder Allred, reflecting the priesthood office he will be ordained to before departing. Elder Allred will serve in this capacity for 24 months.
Missionaries (frequently with the help of family and friends) fund their own missions — an approximate cost of $10,000 to $12,000 per missionary. They also do their own laundry, exercise daily, and stay in touch with family and friends via weekly emails. The church covers transportation costs to and from the assigned location and provides vehicles at some mission areas.
The missionary effort is based on the New Testament pattern of missionaries serving in pairs, teaching the gospel and baptizing believers in the name of Jesus Christ (see, for example, the work of Peter and John in the book of Acts. Following the pattern Jesus Christ established in the New Testament, full-time missionaries are sent out two by two (see Mark 6:7). They spend all day, every day, with an assigned companion, and may be reassigned within the mission area as frequently as every six weeks, as inspired by the Lord.
More than 53,000 full-time missionaries are serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most missionaries are young people under the age of 25, serving in 407 missions throughout the world.