Mormon President Thomas S. Monson lowered the age at which young adults could apply to become a missionary from 19 to 18 (for men) and 21 to 19 (for women) and applications are booming. This means they’re receiving around 700 applications per week.
“Slightly more than half of the applicants are women,” LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter said Monday (Oct. 22).
That represents a massive shift. Typically, women make up fewer than a fifth of the LDS missionary force, which currently stands at more than 58,000 worldwide.
Ultimately, Mormon leaders hope more missionaries will translate into more converts. Indeed, that may happen.
According to the article, each missionary has baptized, on average, “six converts, though that number has dipped to five during the past decade.” The church reports nearly 300,000 converts last year and…
If it sustains the current ratio of one missionary for every five converts a year, Martinich said, there would be 300,000 such baptisms when the number of missionaries reaches 60,000; 350,000 if the number of missionaries reaches 70,000; and 400,000 if the proselytizing force reaches 80,000.
Fascinating numbers, fascinating article. Here’s the link.
