Giving to the LDS Missionary Fund
In last weekend’s General Conference, Church President Thomas S. Monson encouraged members to give to the LDS Church Missionary Fund. This is what he said:
“My brothers and sisters, I thank you for your faith and devotion to the gospel, for the love and care you show to one another, and for the service you provide in your wards and branches and stakes and districts. Thank you, as well, for your faithfulness in paying your tithes and offerings and for your generosity in contributing to the other funds of the Church.
As of the end of the year 2010, there were 52,225 missionaries serving in 340 missions throughout the world. Missionary work is the lifeblood of the kingdom. May I suggest that if you are able, you might consider making a contribution to the General Missionary Fund of the Church” (President Thomas S. Monson, It’s Conference Once Again, April 2011).
What is the LDS Church Missionary Fund?
Many years ago, even before my time on a mission, each missionary paid his or her own actual living expenses. So a mission to Japan, for example, would have been much more expensive than a mission to South America. But in 1990, a new program was introduced to equalize the financial responsibility for each missionary by setting up the Church Missionary Fund. Now, all young missionaries pay a flat monthly rate into that fund, and each missionary is then allocated from that fund what he or she needs for the expenses in their particular mission. This approach has reduced the potential burden on individual missionaries and their families who may have been assigned to work in more expensive areas of the world.
Helping Families Afford a Mission
The Church Missionary Fund is also used to help individuals with financial needs to be able to service a mission. From LDS Philanthropies’ Missionary Fund Donations page…
“There are more than 15,000 young men and women from international areas outside the United States who, at great personal sacrifice, are serving full-time missions in their own lands and in the U.S. Many of these missionaries come from homes where the total family income is less than $1,000 annually. Serving missions, therefore, puts a severe—if not impossible—strain on family finances. Along with family support, the Church expects their local wards and branches to pay what they can. If the family and local support is not sufficient, arrangements can be made for the General Missionary Fund to take care of the remaining expenses associated with missionary service.”
Donating to the Missionary Fund
To donate to the LDS Church Missionary Fund, go to LDS Philanthropies, fill out the amount you want to give, and fill out other required information. The website allows you to make payments through all major credit cards and PayPal.
Thank you.
Thanks for the reminder!
This missionary work is so wonderful. It is amazing how many worthy young men and women are willing to serve like the Lord in such a way. I have been working on my mission papers and everything is done except for the funding part of it, but I know that the Lord always provides ways for those who truly desire to serve him.
A very dear friend of mine, who is Mormon, passed away recently, leaving his wife and their five children behind (until they’re reunited). One of the requests was that in lieu of flowers, one could make a donation to the local ward for mission funds for the two youngest sons. They ask that money be sent directly to the local Ward. In reading about missions, it appears that there are general funds set up to help those who may not be able to afford all of a mission’s costs. A “general” fund. My question is–if I were to donate money to this fund, in honor of these two boys, would the money go to their own fund–or would it be available to anyone in need? I appreciate that there are others who may need support, but donating to something like this would be out of respect for my friend. Thanks very much for your insight.
The general Church missionary fund is governed by General Authorities at
Church headquarters. For missionaries who cannot afford a mission, there is a process to apply to the Church to have these funds used to help a specific missionary. Generally, this is done outside the United States. In the US, generally family, friends, and local ward members are asked to support missionaries and not use the general missionary fund. If you want your donation to go to these two boys, the best way to do that is through a local donation to their ward. I hope this answers your question. Let me know if you need anything else. God bless.
A reader pointed out to me privately something that you should know regarding donating to the mission fund of friend’s children. When you donate money to the Church, though you can ask for it to go toward a specific cause, the Church makes no guarantees, and once donated, the Church reserves the right to use the money how they see best. Now, having said that as a qualifier, I can assure you that if you work with the family’s bishop, he will make sure these missionaries get taken care of. But you may want to reach out and talk with the bishop before you make the donation. Depending on several circumstances, such as the donation amount and time it would take to use the funds for their missions, he may advise a different course of action, such as setting up a bank account for these missionaries.
I am a senior missionary living in Cameroon. We have some righteous young men desiring to serve a mission but do not even have the finances to make the necessary preparations. My question is: what is the process to access the General Missionary Fund in behalf of these young men?
Cynthia, I do not know the process. Your bishop might know how, and if he doesn’t, he could ask the stake president. If the stake president doesn’t know, then he should contact the office of the area presidency and I’m sure they will know how to apply for financial assistance so these good young men can serve missions.
Thank you so much for your response.We don’t have wards or stakes here, but we do have an area presidency and I will ask them.
Introduction:
Hello this is Ans Amin a servant of Christ from Pakistan serving lord Jesus Christ since 2018 among my people in Pakistan.
l have a big passion for the youth of Pakistan. I’m fully related for the youth and there lives of church and church to the need of it’s youth. I’m involve to lead youth so that they can recognized the call of God in their daily life and conducted all program for youth “come back to home” and arouse our youth for the love of Christ.I’m an active member of my local church in my town and my pastor is encouraging us to uplift the youth of Pakistan.
Appeal:
I humbly request all of you that I need your humble prayer and financial support for the youth of Pakistan I assure you to provide all the necessary information.
Looking forward to hearing from you Ans Amin In Christ,
Evangelist Ans Amin.