Sign 27 – Preaching the Gospel in the Whole World

Year:1830

“In April 1830, immediately after the Church was organized, the first formal missionary activity began. Samuel H. Smith, a brother of the Prophet Joseph, filled his knapsack with copies of the Book of Mormon and traveled through neighboring towns in upstate New York to acquaint people with the newly published book of scripture. He sold a copy to Phinehas H. Young, who read the book and later joined the Church. The same book came into the hands of Brigham Young and, in conjunction with additional contacts, led to his conversion.

“In the fall of 1830, four brethren, Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, Jr., Parley P. Pratt, and Ziba Peterson, were called to undertake a mission to the western frontier to preach to the Lamanites. They met with several Indian tribes, but their work was hampered by government Indian agents, and their principal success was among the white settlers in Ohio…. By the end of December 1830, several hundred people had joined the infant Church, including such leaders as Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams, later named as counselors to Joseph Smith, and Edward Partridge, its first Presiding Bishop.

“Through the efforts of several beginning in 1830, missionary work extended into Canada. John Taylor, who later became the third President of the Church, was an early convert there in the spring of 1836.

“In 1837 Heber C. Kimball was called to open the first mission abroad. He and Orson Hyde were set apart to begin the work in the British isles. In that same year, Parley P. Pratt issued his pamphlet Voice of Warning, the first tract published for missionary use in the Church. In April 1839, in response to revelation (D&C 118), the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and others departed for a mission to Great Britain…. Thousands of converts joined the Church, and great numbers of them emigrated to America during the 1840s and strengthened the Church as it endured dissension within and persecution from without.

“By the 1850s, missions had been opened in Chile, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Hawaii, India, Italy, Malta, Scandinavia, South Africa, the South Pacific, and Switzerland. Many of these were discontinued after only a few years; but in the final decades of the nineteenth century, a time when the Church was facing severe persecution and extreme financial difficulties, additional missions were founded in Mexico, Samoa, Tahiti, and Turkey.

“In 1901, President Lorenzo Snow renewed the emphasis on taking the gospel into all the world. Heber J. Grant of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated Japan for the preaching of the gospel. Over the next two years, Francis M. Lyman, also of the Twelve, dedicated the lands of Africa, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Palestine, Poland, and Russia for missionary work.

“In 1920-1921, David O. McKay of the Twelve traveled some 56,000 miles in a world survey of Church missions for the First Presidency. He made stops in the Pacific islands, New Zealand, Australia, Asia, India, Egypt, Palestine, and Europe. While in Asia, he dedicated China for the preaching of the gospel.

“In December 1925, Melvin J. Ballard of the Twelve established a mission in South America, with headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina, predicting, ‘The work of the Lord will grow slowly for a time here just as an oak grows slowly from an acorn. It will not shoot up in a day as does the sunflower that grows quickly and then dies. But thousands will join the Church here. It will be divided into more than one mission and will be one of the strongest in the Church. The work here is the smallest that it will ever be. The day will come when the Lamanites in this land will be given a chance. The South American Mission will be a power in the Church’. (quoted in Melvin J. Ballard: …Crusader for Righteousness [Salt Lake City, 1977], p. 84) By 1990, Central and South American converts had emerged as one of the largest segments of the Church.

“During President McKay's administration as President of the Church, he instituted a vigorous missionary effort that increased the number of full-time missionaries from 5,000 to 13,000 and soon transformed the Church from an American institution into an international one. Preparation and training for missionaries were formalized and intensified. The first seminar for mission presidents was held in June 1961. A new teaching plan of six lessons was introduced and his ‘every member a missionary’ program coordinated missionary efforts of Church members. In November 1961 a language training institute was established at Brigham Young University in Provo for missionaries called to Spanish-speaking missions. This institute became the Language Training Mission in 1963 and the missionary training center in 1978. During the 1960s and the 1970s, the Church built visitors centers at many temple sites and other locations, including major pavilions for the New York World's Fair in 1964-1965 and the expositions in San Antonio, Texas, in 1968; Japan in 1970; and Spokane, Washington, in 1974. A large visitors center was opened on Temple Square in August 1966.

“In April 1974, in his first major address as President of the Church, Spencer W. Kimball emphasized that every able, worthy young man should serve a mission. Under his leadership, the missionary force more than doubled in twelve years, and new missions were established in many parts of the world. The June 1978 revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy male members of the Church opened up additional missionary opportunities. (see Doctrine and Covenants: Official Declaration-2)

“Ezra Taft Benson, who became the thirteenth President of the Church in November 1985, continued to emphasize proclaiming the gospel as an important and basic part of the mission of the Church, emphasizing the role of the Book of Mormon as a necessary and powerful tool.

“Changing political conditions throughout the world in the final decades of the twentieth century opened nations previously inaccessible to missionaries-principally in Africa, Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe.”

(Encyclopedia of  Mormonism, 1-4 volumes, edited by Daniel H. Ludlow [New York:Macmillan, 1992] p. 916)

Scripture:

Daniel 2:44

44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

“The gospel of Jesus Christ is intended to bless all the peoples of the earth. Hence worldwide

growth, especially beginning with David O. McKay's administration, was essential to the Church's

fulfilling its mission and was also the fulfillment of prophecy. The Old Testament prophet Daniel

declared that in the latter days the Lord would set up a kingdom which would fill the earth (read Dan. 2:34 Dan. 2:26-45, esp. verse 44; compare D&C section 65). “ (Richard O. Cowan, The Church in the Twentieth Century [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1985] 444)

In 1830 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was established with 6 members.   That year there were 16 missionaries.  At the  end of 2014 the church membership was 15,082,028and there were about 84,000  missionaries in the field.

“From its inception, the Church has viewed missionary work as divinely mandated and thus has been committed to increasing its membership. Beginning with the six people who officially nineteen years. Growth was slower in the first half of the twentieth century, but picked up again after 1950. Membership stood at 7.76 million at the end of 1990….

“Although projections based on current growth rates are usually not precise predictions of the future, such projections do indicate future possibilities. Using past patterns of growth as a baseline, religious sociologist Rodney Stark has projected an LDS population of 265 million by the year 2080. Using this projection, Stark has predicted that the LDS Church will become the next major world religion. If growth rates for the total membership observed between 1980 and 1989 remain constant, the membership will increase to 12 million by the year 2000, to 35 million by 2020, and to 157 million by the mid-twenty-first century…. But some regions are growing faster than others. If regional rates of growth remain constant, growth will be even more dramatic in some areas.” (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 volumes, edited by Daniel H. Ludlow [New York:Macmillan, 1992] 1519)

The current missionary effort of the church is primarily to the Christian nations of the world.

The Cumorah Project (http://www.cumorah.com/) gives current information (2004) on the missionary effort and church in 252 nations, dependencies and territories. There are members in 180 of these places, which leaves 72 with no members of the church. The church has 404 missions located in 83 nations which leaves 162 nations of the world with no formal missionary effort. Most of the countries without members or formal missionary efforts are non Christian nations.

“In 1996, Bennion and Young wrote: ‘only on the Christianized or Westernized edges of the eastern hemisphere has the church established significant beachheads.’ (Bennion, Lowell C. and Lawrence Young. "The Uncertain Dynamics of LDS Expansion, 1950-2020." Dialogue. Spring 1996. p.19) ... An analysis of 2001-2002 LDS Church Almanac data demonstrates that another 10% of Latter-day Saints live in island nations like the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Only 4.4% of all LDS members live in the contiguous continental landmass of Europe, Asia, and Africa that is home to 80% of the world's population. The United States is home to less than 5% of the world's population, but nearly 50% of all LDS members. The U.S. is served by nearly one-third of all current LDS missions, and Central and South America with 8% of the world's population are served by another 30% of LDS missions.

Currently the following 77 countries are listed as not having any members.

Afghanistan, Algeria, Anguilla, Antarctica, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, China (see Hong Kong and Macau), Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cuba, Djibouti, East Timor, Eritrea, Faroe Islands, Gambia, Greenland, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Heard & McDonald Islands, Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Jordan, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mayotte, Monaco, Monserrat, Morocco, Myanmar, Niger, Norfolk Island, Oman, Pakistan, Pitcairn, Qatar, Rwanda, San Marino, Sao Tome & Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, St. Helena, St. Pierre & Miquelon, Sudan, Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turks & Caicos Islands, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State, Wallis & Futuna Islands, Western Sahara, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zaire (http://www.mormonwiki.com/Membership_Statistics).