This month of July I’m going to blog a bit about missionaries and pioneers. That’s because July is when a new batch of mission leaders start their three-year term for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for leading whatever mission they are assigned to. July is also the month of Pioneer Day, a state holiday in Utah which commemorates the entry of Brigham Young and his band of pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. I have many ancestors who were pioneers. My husband does too. I feel gratitude for my pioneer ancestors and all the pioneers who braved the trek westward.

Ok, back to missionaries. About 25 years ago we lived next door to a couple, Marcia and Kelly Ogden, who were called to serve as mission leaders in Chile. I remember hearing them give their homecoming talk at church when they were done serving. It was so wonderful to hear Sister Ogden talk about how she felt like she had been a midwife for three years, assisting in the spiritual birth of missionaries as they went through the “born again” process to be fully converted to Jesus Christ. She said the most important convert for any missionary to convert is him or herself. (Of course, the Holy Spirit is the real converter.)

The Ogdens wrote a book together about their mission leadership experience in Chile. I remember them giving our family a copy. I remember bringing it into my bedroom, and then it promptly got lost in my home of 5 children. I thought when we moved it would resurface but it never did. It is full of missionary stories which I was really looking forward to reading. I’m realizing, 20 years later, LOL, it’s time to just get another copy if I’m ever going to read it.

The Church recently hosted a training seminar last month to prepare the new leaders. This was an exciting time! President Dallin H. Oaks announced some wonderful news, that in the coming months, the Church will have the largest amount of missionaries it has ever had. See the article here. The photo above shows some of the statistics about the missionaries serving in the Church right now. Of course, my mama heart feels pleasure knowing that my son is one of those numbers.

President Oaks also gave a talk at the seminar about the three features that make the Church of Jesus Chirst of Latter-day Saints the only true church. Watch below.

The gathering of Israel continues! Hurrah for Israel!

If you want some missionary stories, go to the July section of my Celestial Family Devotionals Ebook, over here.