Full-time and part-time senior missionary opportunities: transcript
This transcript is a draft under review and may contain errors. Time links return to that point in the video.
00:00:00 Welcome. Today we're going to talk about
missionary opportunities for seniors.
00:00:06 There are two types of missionary
opportunities. One is to serve as a full-time
00:00:10 missionary away from home. We refer to
those as senior missionaries and those
00:00:15 that live at home and serve either in
their home virtually or at a local church
00:00:20 facility are referred to as senior
service missionaries. If you're going to
00:00:26 serve away from home, you must
be at least 40 years of age and
00:00:30 have no dependent children. Couples,
single sisters, and single brethren are
00:00:35 eligible to serve. If you are going to
serve a service vision, then you can be
00:00:43 either married or single, and it
doesn't matter if you're a brother or a
00:00:49 sister.
00:00:49 You must be at least 26 years of age,
and you can serve by yourself even if
00:00:54 you're married. There is no maximum
age for either type of missionary. Now,
00:01:00 senior
00:01:00 Senior missionaries typically serve away
from home, and there is a great need
00:01:04 for senior
00:01:04 missionaries throughout the world, and
the greatest need is outside of the
00:01:09 United States.
00:01:10 A way from home service is preferred
when family, health, and financial
00:01:15 circumstances
00:01:16 permit.
00:01:17 There are a myriad of types of senior
missions out there, including the Church
00:01:23 Educational
00:01:23 educational system, missions, family
history, legal support, self-reliance,
00:01:29 storehouses and
00:01:29 canneries, temple, visitor centers and
church history, even construction and
00:01:35 maintenance.
00:01:39 The best way to look at some of the
options that are out there is to go to
00:01:44 seniormissionary.churchofJesusChrist.org.
00:01:48 And if you click on search opportunities
there, you can search for either
00:01:53 senior mission
00:01:54 opportunities or senior service mission
opportunities. Now on the senior
00:01:59 mission
00:02:00 opportunities, the ones that are serving
away from home, you have the ability
00:02:05 to
00:02:05 check different types and restrict your
search to certain parameters. The one
00:02:12 thing that we caution people is to be
cautious about their expectations of
00:02:16 getting your choices, your service
assignment will be influenced by your
00:02:21 health and medications. Some sites and
some assignments are in high demand and
00:02:28 so
00:02:28 it's not always possible to fulfill
everybody's wish list. So it is good if
00:02:36 you make a broad preference list to
avoid disappointment or frustration. What
00:02:43 are the chances of being assigned to a
particular assignment? Well first it's
00:02:47 guaranteed that your preferences will be
reviewed and your assignment will come
00:02:51 by
00:02:51 revelation but it is not guaranteed
that you will be assigned your first
00:02:57 preference. Now how do you get started?
Well if you're going in and away from
00:03:02 home mission we suggest that you start
with talking to your bishop and don't
00:03:05 wait for him to come to you. It is
appropriate for you to appropriate
00:03:10 your approach your bishop and talk
to him about your availability.
00:03:19 Now one of the things that's important
to point out is senior missionaries are
00:03:24 not the
00:03:24 same as the youth proselyting
missionaries or even the youth service
00:03:28 missionaries.
00:03:30 How are away from home
senior missions different?
00:03:33 Well, first you can communicate with
your family as often as you want.
00:03:38 The companions, including married
companions, don't have to have the same
00:03:41 assignment as
00:03:42 each other, and they may have different
assignments throughout the workday,
00:03:46 both of your senior
00:03:47 companions.
00:03:48 And for couples, you won't be waiting
until the next transfer for a better
00:03:52 companion because
00:03:53 you're going to have the same
companion, your whole mission.
00:03:57 Some senior sisters may serve by themselves
in selected assignments, and senior
00:04:03 missionaries
00:04:04 do not have to have the same
schedule as young missionaries.
00:04:08 You can even arrange with your mission
present to leave mission boundaries, and
00:04:11 even for special
00:04:12 events you can return
home at your own expense.
00:04:16 One of the concerns that senior missionaries
have is, do I get to interact with
00:04:21 my family
00:04:22 and the simple answer is yes.
00:04:25 Let's look at this video.
00:04:27 As I thought about serving a mission,
I thought about leaving my family, my
00:04:32 children, but especially
00:04:33 especially my grandchildren.
00:04:34 Grandchildren.
00:04:35 Grandchildren.
00:04:36 Grandchildren.
00:04:37 Were we going to miss any major events
with our kids, baptism, graduation from
00:04:42 high school?
00:04:43 For grandchildren, we're
baptized while we've been gone.
00:04:46 We participated in both of
those events by a FaceTime.
00:04:49 Well, Grandpa might have to
help with that when we get home.
00:04:52 You can stay in touch with
them every day if you want.
00:04:55 We try to be very flexible with senior
missionaries to identify certain key
00:04:59 family events.
00:05:00 And even here in the Philippines, which
for most of them is a half a world
00:05:04 away, we've arranged
00:05:05 for missionaries to travel
home for a couple of weeks.
00:05:08 We do also encourage families to come
and see their parents while they're
00:05:14 serving.
00:05:15 And I've had a niece and
two nieces actually come.
00:05:17 Thank you to my two, thank
you for all that you've done.
00:05:20 I got to tell you, from the moment we
got here, I struggled with Savior's words
00:05:28 to Peter.
00:05:31 love us thou these and in my mind I'm
thinking my grandchildren more than me.
00:05:39 And it's taken me months to work that
through in my mind and I've come to the
00:05:43 conclusion that through loving the
Savior and doing His work is the only way
00:05:50 that I can have the love of those
grandchildren throughout eternity. But
00:05:55 he's the one that's made that possible.
Elder Holland promises us that our
00:06:03 grandchildren will be just fine and I
like the final sentence on this slide
00:06:08 quote, what greater gift could
grandparents give their posterity than to
00:06:12 say by deed as well as word. In this
family we serve missions, close quote. Now
00:06:20 senior service missionaries serve
while living in their homes. They have
00:06:25 flexible
00:06:25 schedules you can work eight to forty
hours a week sometimes even less if
00:06:29 you're
00:06:30 circumstances are such that that's
appropriate and it works if you're not
00:06:36 retired if you're working or if you
have a spouse that's working one of you
00:06:39 can serve and the other one can still
work and single man or single woman can
00:06:44 serve a service mission. Now with
the selection of your service mission
00:06:50 assignment there's a lot more flexibility
because you can't and have a lot more
00:06:55 choices. And so you can serve from home
on a virtual mission or you can serve
00:07:00 close to home. And you can select a
specific service mission position with
00:07:06 approval from the operation. That's the
church organization you're going to be
00:07:09 serving under and your state president.
And so as President Nelson has pointed
00:07:15 out there are some situations where a
service vision is appropriate. Sometimes
00:07:21 Sometimes there's not enough financial
resources to serve it away from home
00:07:25 mission.
00:07:25 Sometimes there are family
needs that keep you at home.
00:07:29 Sometimes there are disabilities that
make a full-time away from home mission
00:07:34 inappropriate.
00:07:36 But there are opportunities for service
as a service mission that wouldn't be
00:07:42 available
00:07:43 for just for all of the
missionaries out there.
00:07:51 Let's watch this video
about service missionaries.
00:08:13 The Church Service Missionary Program
is an inspired program of the Church
00:08:16 that provides member resources to
Church operations to help enable them
00:08:21 to deliver the products and
services to bless people's lives.
00:08:24 One of the nice things about the
Hot Time Service Mission is because
00:08:27 because I still conserve in the
Boston Temple as an ordinance worker.
00:08:34 We're able to leave our home and fulfill
our responsibilities in the local
00:08:40 area.
00:08:44 My name is Sister Cable and I've been
working in the Church Service Missionary
00:08:49 Program Office
00:08:49 and I've really enjoyed every
experience that I've had.
00:08:53 What's your purpose in life?
00:08:55 You know, what gives your life meaning?
00:08:58 And I knew that I needed
something more than a TV.
00:09:03 Everything that the church service
missionary does, or says during their
00:09:06 service, should
00:09:07 in some way directly or indirectly
help bring souls closer to Christ.
00:09:12 I just had a phone call the other day
from a person asking to talk to the
00:09:18 previous manager
00:09:19 that had been here.
00:09:20 And I said, well, that
they had been released.
00:09:22 They were no longer in the con.
00:09:23 He said, well, I just want, if you talk
to them, let them know that I'm on my
00:09:26 way to
00:09:27 the temple to get my endowment.
00:09:29 When I knew him, I was a non-member
coming in and using the cannery.
00:09:34 And it's changed our life.
00:09:36 Because of what we saw and the
spirit and the things we felt there,
00:09:40 we investigated the church
and among way to the temple.
00:09:45 I have had just so many experiences
that the spirits directed me
00:09:49 and getting the answers that
we need for the patrons.
00:09:54 I had this sister who she couldn't sign
in and through working together we got
00:10:03 her
00:10:03 signed in while her whole family
cheered. They were in the background
00:10:08 cheering they were just so thrilled.
And I think the greatest benefit is the
00:10:16 blessings in your life. You go into the
mission field with the expectation of
00:10:25 doing for others. In reality, you end
up doing for yourself. And you grow, I
00:10:32 think,
00:10:32 more than the people. It's just served.
And it's just the way the Lord blesses
00:10:36 you
00:10:36 for being willing to serve you. You
can cut out all the emotion in there. I
00:10:43 would
00:10:44 appreciate it if I'm honored. We
started keeping a book, a journal on our
00:10:51 mission
00:10:52 of these tender mercies that happened.
00:10:54 So do I think there's blessings?
00:10:57 No, I don't think that I know it.
00:10:58 It's a real wonderful thing
that happened to your family.
00:11:06 Some of the best ways to get involved in
00:11:07 the church service missionary program
00:11:09 would be one look at our website,
00:11:11 the church service missionary
website on alleys.org.
00:11:13 Talk with your bishops
in your state presence.
00:11:16 See if they have some information.
00:11:17 The most important thing
is just to get going.
00:11:21 You can't just always wait
for somebody to ask you.
00:11:23 You need to volunteer.
00:11:24 here. But we're more busy than we have
the time and energy for actually and
00:11:29 we're just getting started.
00:11:32 We need you. Are you needed? President
Russell M. Nelson assures you that you
00:12:03 are. There is not a
00:12:05 mission present in the church who would
not love to have additional couples
00:12:08 serving in his mission.
00:12:09 Senior couples are often a literal answer
to the prayers of bishops and branch
00:12:14 presidents.
00:12:16 So, as President Nelson has said, anytime
we do anything that helps anyone on
00:12:22 either side
00:12:23 of the veil to make and keep their
covenants with God, we are helping together
00:12:27 Israel.
00:12:29 You are invited to serve.
00:12:31 Thank you for your time and attention.