First let me say that I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That is the actual and proper name for our church. Our church is often referred to as the LDS Church, or the Mormon Church. This series of posts was at the request of some of my friends on Facebook. You can read more about that here–on my Landing Page or introduction for the Write 31 Days Challenge.
From the Young Church-Service Mission website:
What Is a Young Church-Service Mission?
The purpose of the Young Church-Service Missionary Program is to provide opportunities for members to give their time to the Lord through service missions. Church-service missionaries serve at least eight hours per week. They normally serve for 6 to 24 months.
What Are the Requirements to Serve a Young Church-Service Mission?
Serving a young Church-service mission is encouraged if a full-time proselyting mission is not possible due to health or other considerations. All Church-service missionaries must meet the following requirements:
- Be worthy to hold a temple recommend.
- Meet the standard mission age requirements (18-25 for young men, 19-25 for young women).
- Be honorably excused from a full-time proselyting mission (applies to young men only).
- Be physically, mentally, and emotionally able to fulfill the specific call and its related duties.
- Provide their own transportation.
- Be responsible for their own financial support, including living expenses and insurance.
- Be responsible for their own medical and dental needs, including eye care and prescription drug expenses.
- Be endorsed by bishop and stake president.
A worthy young man or woman returning home early from a full-time proselyting mission for reasons other than worthiness may also serve as a YCSM.
There are lots of opportunities for young church-service missionaries. Here is a list of some of them:
- Family History: research, image processing, indexing*, FamilySearch support*, assisting at the Family History Library
- Information and Communication Services (ICS): information technology–related opportunities*
- Publishing Services: media support
- Mission Offices: referral management, materials management, office support, administrative assistance
- Meetinghouse Facilities: building maintenance, inspection, and repair
- Seminaries and Institutes: office work, computer Support, student recruitment and enrollment, special needs assistance, event support
- Welfare Operations: assignments in bishops’ storehouses, Deseret Industries stores, employment resource centers, canneries, and so forth
(* These assignments can be fulfilled while serving at home with a personal computer and a high-speed Internet connection.)
Salt Lake City and Wasatch Front
For those living in the greater Salt Lake City and Wasatch Front area, there are a number of additional operations at or near Church Headquarters that use YCSMs, including:
- Bishops’ Central Storehouse
- Temple Square and Conference Center Events
- Deseret Manufacturing
- Food Services
- Garden Aides
- Global Service Center (including member locators)
- Information and Communication Services
- Publishing Services
- Orem Digital Processing Center (Family History operation)
- Welfare Square
- Other Church Headquarters Departments and Welfare Production Operations (for example, Deseret Manufacturing, Deseret Soap and Deseret Pasta)
Choosing to serve a Young Church-Service Mission has been a great blessing for our son, Chandler, and our family. He has only been serving his mission for a little over a month and I have never seen him happier. He has grown a lot as well. He has been a great blessing to the Seminary & Institute program in our area as he has been able to do things for them that they haven’t had time to do in the past. It’s a total win-win. I’ll share more about his mission in a couple of days.
You can find out more about the Young Church-Service Missionary program from the official website.
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