Every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power (Doctrine & Covenants 90:11).

Thus, the missionaries who are teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ learn the language of the people whom they will serve.

Where Do Missionaries Learn Language Skills?

Missionaries begin their 18-month or 24-month service by reporting to one of 15 Missionary Training Centers around the world. The MTC provides rigorous instruction in both gospel teaching and language, if needed. Native speakers spend 3 weeks at the MTC while those learning a new language spend up to 9 weeks.

The main MTC is in Provo, Utah, on the campus of Brigham Young University. Missionaries who train in this facility will serve in missions throughout the world, and can be trained in one of 56 languages—31 of which require the maximum period of 9 weeks in the MTC. The Church of Jesus Christ also operates 14 additional MTCs in Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Ghana, England, New Zealand, Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, the Philippines, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, South Africa and Spain—which teach a total of 7 languages. According to the Mormon Newsroom:

Each instructor who teaches a language is either a native speaker or is fluent thanks to his or her own missionary service. In addition to language instruction, teachers provide cultural training to help missionaries make a smoother transition into their assigned foreign country.

How Do Missionaries Learn?

The question that many people have is how do Mormon missionaries learn another language in such a short period of time? After all, 9 weeks just isn’t that long. NPR thought so too. National Public Radio aired a piece on how Latter-day Saint missionaries learn languages at the Provo MTC. It focused on a group of missionaries learning Mandarin Chinese. Mormon Newsroom explained:

These young men and women will head out to their assigned areas of service after only nine weeks of study—a small time frame, NPR notes, compared with the U.S. military’s 64-week course in Mandarin taught at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California.

 

How does the Church teach effectively in such a short time? They accomplish it through intense classroom instruction from teachers who are former missionaries, daily practice in realistic teaching situations, and learning by and following the Holy Spirit. As one missionary tells NPR, “Everything we do is trying to learn by and with the Spirit.”

 

“Many other students said the same thing in one way or another,” NPR adds, “and whether you share their faith or not, the results speak for themselves.”

Learning by and with the Spirit is the key—in addition to hard work. It isn’t always easy. After visiting the Provo MTC, President Thomas S. Monson said,

Vaguely familiar to me were the conversations in Spanish, French, German, and Swedish. Totally foreign to me and perhaps to most of the missionaries were the sounds of Japanese, Chinese, and Finnish. One marvels at the devotion and total concentration of these young men and women as they grapple with the unfamiliar and learn the difficult.

 

I am told that on occasion when a missionary in training feels that the Spanish he is called upon to master appears overwhelming or just too hard to learn, he is placed during the luncheon break next to missionaries studying the complex languages of the Orient. He listens. Suddenly Spanish becomes not too overpowering, and he eagerly returns to his study.

But there is one language that every missionary at the MTC must learn and know. President Monson said,

There is one language, however, that is understood by each missionary: the language of the Spirit. It is not learned from textbooks written by men of letters, nor is it acquired through reading and memorization. The language of the Spirit comes to him who seeks with all his heart to know God and to keep His divine commandments. Proficiency in this language permits one to breach barriers, overcome obstacles, and touch the human heart.

To hear returned Mormon missionaries speak the language in which they testified of Jesus Christ on their missions, check out this video:

A recent focused study of about 1000 households in the United States showed that 89% have Bibles in the home and more than the majority of those, include the presence of the King James Version of the Bible. Those statistics drop significantly for Bibles in the homes across the globe. Yet, we recognize that the sheer presence of The Holy Bible on our dining room tables doesn’t automatically bring more understanding of the purpose of life, God’s plan of happiness for His children, or joy in knowing the Savior: In fact, there is still a group of 28% of those under 35 years of age within the US alone, who have never read the Bible, and millions in other nations who are also biblically illiterate.

We, as Latter-day Saint Christians, love and revere the Bible. We encourage increased Bible learning, advocate seeing more Bibles opened, read with prayerful minds and hearts, and promise treasures for living, peace, and direction found within its pages. It is our desire that everyone have a copy of The Holy Bible and that they come to know Jesus Christ through the power of the Spirit that accompanies prayerful study.

Please accept this as our way of encouraging each of God’s children, and especially the rising generation, to have and to know of the authenticity and revelatory power of reading the Word of God, the Bible, personally. Request your copy of the Holy Bible today.

The Book of Mormon is a second witness to the Bible that Christ is our Creator and Redeemer, that He did indeed live, was crucified for our sins, and was resurrected. Along with the Holy Bible, it is the key scripture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (referred to as “Mormons” by friends of other faiths.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints distributes free copies of The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

Mormon missionaries teach the basic principles of Mormonism. The official name of the “Mormon” Church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many people of other faiths refer to members of this church as Mormons because Latter-day Saints believe in a book of scripture called the Book of Mormon, which is a companion book of scripture to the Bible. Because this nickname has stuck, people continue to call the religion Mormonism, but the tenets of the faith all focus on Jesus Christ.

Mormon missionaries teach about the Godhead, which Mormonism teaches is God the Father,  Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost: three separate beings. Mormon missionaries teach  the “Plan of Salvation,” which is a road map for salvation, explaining where we have been, why we are here on earth, and where we are going.  They teach the importance of prophets and their ability to receive continuing revelation. Missionaries teach about the importance of family relationships and serving others. Mormon missionaries teach the laws of salvation and exaltation–if we accept Jesus Christ and live according to His teachings, we can dwell with Heavenly Father forever.

Missionaries teach about Joseph Smith and the “first vision.” In the early 1800s, during a period of great religious fervor in the northeastern United States, Joseph Smith found himself in a quandary regarding his possible religious affiliation. Mormonism teaches that Joseph Smith prayed to know which church to join. Upon doing so, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him not to join any of them. He was instead called to restore the true Gospel of Jesus Christ upon the earth. For hundreds of years, the truth and the authority to act in God’s name had been lost. Mormons call this the “Great Apostasy.” After Christ’s crucifixion and the death of His apostles, churches rose up without authority, and preached the philosophies of men, mingled with scripture. Through inspiration from God, Joseph Smith found an ancient record and translated what is now known as the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is a record of ancient inhabitants of the Americas, who migrated from Israel at the time of the Babylonian captivity. Christ visited these people after His resurrection, so the Book of Mormon substantiates the Bible and is a second witness for Christ.

Missionaries use the Book of Mormon to teach basic principles of the Mormonism. The main purpose of the Book of Mormon is to help believers strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ and to convince others to come unto Christ.  The Book of Mormon was written for our generation in this day to bring men unto Christ. If the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith is a prophet, and the restoration of Christ’s gospel is occurring.

Missionaries encourage those they teach to ponder the words of the Book of Mormon and ask Heavenly Father sincerely through prayer if the Mormon Church is right for them. Thus, a missionary’s role is not to “sell” the gospel. Instead, the missionary teaches the principles of truth and then sends the investigating person to the Lord in prayer. The Lord Himself reveals to the sincere supplicant through the Holy Ghost that the gospel is true. When the investigator has learned about the gospel of Jesus Christ and has gained a testimony of its truthfulness, the missionary asks if he or she wants to be baptized. Being baptized and confirmed a member of the Mormon Church is a major event in one’s life that brings much happiness and peace. Confirmation brings the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, the distinguishing aspect of membership in the Church.

Most missionaries are young men who serve between the ages of 18 and 21.  Male missionaries serve for approximately two years. Prophets and leaders of the Church have strongly encouraged young men to serve missions, unless they are enlisted in the military.  Young men who are enrolled in college at age eighteen are encouraged to interrupt their schooling in order to serve missions.  Young men have also chosen to interrupt sports careers and entertainment careers in order to serve missions.

Standards for worthiness are increasing, and include keeping the Word of Wisdom (health laws of the Church), being modest and chaste, and maintaining high standards of honesty and integrity.    Bishops help prepare young men to serve missions.  For those young men who have committed past transgressions, bishops can provide counsel and support to help with the repentance process.  Although the Church encourages all young males to serve a mission, a mission is not to be seen as a rite of passage for Mormon young men.  Only young men with a sincere desire to serve should consider a mission.  Pressure from community or family is not a good reason to serve.

Single young Women can serve at the age of 19.  Because the Church does not require women to serve, “sister missionaries” were considerably fewer in number than male missionaries when the service age for women was age 21. Since 2012, when the service age was lowered to 19, the percentage of female missionaries has risen from 14% to 51%.  The “sister missionaries” serve for a year and a half.

The opportunity of serving a mission is also open to retired couples and singles, both men and women, who have a desire to serve.  Most senior missionaries serve in a companionship with their spouses.  Senior missionaries serve in a variety of capacities.  They share the teachings of Mormonism, volunteer in church libraries or visitors’ centers, and participate in service projects.  There are also humanitarian missions and education missions.  They can also be called to train younger missionaries.  Senior couples must be physically, emotionally, and financially capable of serving a mission.  A senior couple must be prepared to make the commitment to be away from family for a long period of time.  Something unique about senior couples is that they are often allowed to choose what type of mission they are interested in serving and where they are interested in serving.  Senior missionaries generally serve from one to two years.

Married couples who are “seasoned” servants in the Church are sometimes called to be mission presidents, having the responsibility of supervising missionaries and running the missions on a local level.  Mission presidents receive basic financial support from the Church and may take their children with them to the “mission field.”  Many of the Church’s worldwide missions require foreign language abilities, so some mission presidents return to the country where they served in their youth.   Mission presidents usually serve for three years.

A potential missionary receives a call to serve after he has stated a desire and made any necessary life adjustments with the help of the bishop of the “ward” (parish) in which he resides.   The “call” arrives as a letter from the First Presidency of the Church.  The potential missionary can request a locality where he desires to serve, but all mission calls are the result of prayer and inspiration, so his request might be ignored if inspiration dictates that there is a better place for him.

Missionary service begins at an “MTC” or missionary training center.  There are missionary training centers in Provo, Utah; Preston, England; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Mexico City, Mexico; Santiago, Chile; Bogotá, Colombia; Lima, Peru; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Hamilton, New Zealand; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Madrid, Spain; Accra, Ghana; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Manila, Philippines.  A missionary destined to serve in an area where he will be speaking in his native tongue will spend only a brief time in an MTC.  There, he will learn more about the gospel, and will prepare to teach and to serve.  Those missionaries who need to learn a foreign language in order to serve receive intensive language instruction at the MTC and are there longer.

After preparation and instruction at an MTC, each missionary is sent to the mission where he will serve.  Once in the mission field, the missionary is assigned a “companion.”  Companionships are an important aspect of missionary service.  Missionaries serve “two-by-two” for their own safety and spiritual well-being.  Usually, one member of a companionship will be more experienced and can help a “green” missionary learn the ropes.  Companionships are temporary.  Often, missionaries are transferred to other locales within the mission.  This provides new experiences for the missionaries and keeps people who are new to the gospel from relying too much on one person for their connection to the Church.  Missionaries learn much from their companions; often, patience is the most important personality characteristic fine-tuned in a companionship.

The main purpose of most Mormon missionaries’ service is to share the gospel with those who are searching for meaning in their lives.  Missionaries are instructed to teach everywhere, and to everyone who desires to hear the message, although missionaries don’t venture beyond the boundaries of the missions to which they are assigned.  Missionaries are well-known for their door-to-door approach of sharing the gospel, but proselyting missionaries use every opportunity to teach, whether it be on the subway or in the supermarket.  Other missionaries are there specifically to serve the community and do no proselyting.  Mormon missionaries also serve fellow Mormons in their congregations.  Missionaries often teach lessons in church services.  They also participate in local service projects, community service, and help those with special needs.  Members of the Mormon Church are expected to support the missionaries in their area.  In most wards, members invite missionaries over to dine with their families.

Missionaries live a disciplined life, waking everyday at six or six-thirty and retiring early to bed.  Mormon missionaries engage in daily scripture study with their companions.  They pray daily to have the Holy Ghost direct them to those who are ready to hear the gospel.  Their days are spent going door to door and teaching those who seek to learn more about Mormonism.  Most missionaries use bikes as their main mode of transportation.  In some areas, missionaries use cars to get from place to place.  Male Mormon missionaries are easy to recognize in their dark suits and name tags.  Sister missionaries always wear dresses.

While on a mission, Mormon missionaries literally leave the world behind to focus on the Lord’s work.  They don’t speak with their family or friends from home, except through letters, or infrequent emails, or two phone calls home each year.  They don’t listen to radio or worldly music.  They live humbly, with few material possessions.  This may seem like a lot to ask of young men and young women,  but by leaving the things of this world behind, missionaries can be more focused on proselyting and becoming more spiritually connected to the Lord.

Missionary experience changes young men and women for the better.  By serving a mission, young people learn to be kind, service-oriented, and Christ-like.  Missionaries strive to enrich the lives of those around them, and in so-doing, develop a deep love for the people and countries where they serve.  They develop the ability to fellowship other people with sincere warmth, while they develop leadership ability as well as the ability to follow direction that comes from above.  These talents, along with fluency in a foreign language and culture, translate very well to the marketplace upon the missionary’s return home.  Former missionaries are in great demand in the business world, as employers have recognized their desirable qualities.

Spreading the Word: An article about Mormon missionaries in California.