How are missions paid for?

[Bini]

I know that families able to afford missions for their kids pay it themselves but what about lower class families? Does the LDS church fund it for those in low-income families? Or is only a percentage donated from the church? How is it decided who is eligible for assistance and who isn't?

My husband got into a discussion about setting up a college fund for our daughter with a guy he works with that has a child a few months older. He said that he was setting aside money for a mission. How much do missions cost on average? Will the church cover one's mission, or assist, so there's still money available after the mission has been served, for college? Just wondering how this works and how families that can only pay for one (mission or college) afford both.

[Jennarator]

There is a general mission fund. People contribute to it, aside from tithing and fast offerings. This is an optional donation. Also if someone wants to support a particular missionary, they can state that, and the money will go to that missionary.

[RMGuy]

Short answer?

Sacrifice.

In order of preference:

1. The youth works and then sacrifices their savings

2. The parents or family of the youth sacrifice other needs/wants to fund it

3. The members of the local ward sacrifice things that they need/want to pay the into the mission fund

4. General membership of the church world wide sacrificed things that they need/want in order to pay into the general missionary fund.

How are missions paid for? Through sacrifice.

-RM

[BenRaines]

RM, not to quibble about words but I think of sacrifice being giving up of something very important or valuable to benefit others.

I think of missionary service of making a commitment to serve The Lord. I worked and saved money for that purpose. My parents took on a part time job doing custodial work to help pay what I came up short of.

Ward members do help those who can't pay for their own and after that then the General Missionary Fund steps in. None of these are automatic other than your own money.

Bishop, Stake President determine if potential missionary has done all they can to prepare.

Ben Raines

[john doe]

I know that families able to afford missions for their kids pay it themselves but what about lower class families? Does the LDS church fund it for those in low-income families? Or is only a percentage donated from the church? How is it decided who is eligible for assistance and who isn't?

My husband got into a discussion about setting up a college fund for our daughter with a guy he works with that has a child a few months older. He said that he was setting aside money for a mission. How much do missions cost on average? Will the church cover one's mission, or assist, so there's still money available after the mission has been served, for college? Just wondering how this works and how families that can only pay for one (mission or college) afford both.

It used to vary depending on the mission, but then church decided to standardize costs so that the missionary pays a set amount each month and the church pays for the costs of the mission. The last number I heard was $400/month, but I wouldn't be surprised if it has hit $450. The missionary is encouraged to pay for as much of the mission as possible. If he/she falls short, the family is then asked to help as much as they can, and the bishop can also ask members of the ward to help out if possible. I estimate that it will probably cost around $12k to send my son on a mission in 4 years. And it will be a financial burden on us, but we feel the effort and costs are totally worth it.

As for school, we hope he gets scholarships and summer jobs to pay for the bulk of it. If not, then I guess we'll get student loans.

[classylady]

I had two children go out at the same time on their missions. We were very blessed with the assistance that we received. We had an anonymous donor from our Stake who paid every penny of my sons mission costs. For our daughter, I'm not sure who donated, but I believe we received assistance from members of our wards' Elder's quorum and the ward mission fund. We couldn't have done it otherwise.

[Maureen]

Short answer?

Sacrifice.

In order of preference:

1. The youth works and then sacrifices their savings

2. The parents or family of the youth sacrifice other needs/wants to fund it

3. The members of the local ward sacrifice things that they need/want to pay the into the mission fund

4. General membership of the church world wide sacrificed things that they need/want in order to pay into the general missionary fund.

How are missions paid for? Through sacrifice.

-RM

This makes it sound like it is such a task to save for a mission, that the action of saving is such a burden. I doubt that all families see it like this. I'm sure some see it as something wonderful to save for or contribute to. Some might even do it sincerely out of the goodness of their heart.

M.

[Jennarator]

It is possible that my husband and I will have three, and for a couple months 4 missionaries out at the same time!! Yikes!! # for a good year and a half, tho, that really adds up! That would be 1350 a month, for three of them then for 18 months, if cost doesn't go up, and I am sure that by then it will go up! Ex's won't help, so it will be up to us and any money our kids will save, and so far that is zilch!

[pam]

My parents really gained a testimony of the blessings of supporting a missionary. When my brother went on a mission it was before the set amount now used. My parents were paying about $600 a month (if memory serves me) for him. My parents had NO idea how they would be able to do this but they knew they had to find a way.

During the entire 18 months my brother served (he went when they had the option of 18 months), they never once had a problem with coming up with the money. It always seemed to be available.

Fast forward through the 18 months; when he came home they had the idea that they would have this $600 as a bonus as they didn't have to put it out any longer. Didn't work that way. They never seemed to have an extra $600 a month. But through their sacrifice and knowing the importance of what they were helping with...they were blessed with being able to support my brother through his mission.

[Just_A_Guy]

This makes it sound like it is such a task to save for a mission, that the action of saving is such a burden. I doubt that all families see it like this. I'm sure some see it as something wonderful to save for or contribute to. Some might even do it sincerely out of the goodness of their heart.

M.

Agreed that God loves a cheerful giver; but there's no reason that something can't be both a sacrifice and (put in perspective) not viewed as unduly burdensome.

[RMGuy]

This makes it sound like it is such a task to save for a mission, that the action of saving is such a burden. I doubt that all families see it like this. I'm sure some see it as something wonderful to save for or contribute to. Some might even do it sincerely out of the goodness of their heart.

M.

that is not the way that it is intended Maureen. Rather we are taught to believe that sacrifice brings blessings. The point is that missionaries, and their families, the ward members, or even those who donate to the general mission fund all have to sacrifice in order to take the gospel into all the world. That is a beautiful thing. This was not criticism.....this is awe.....that individuals sacrifice their time, families and ward members sacrifice financially to send these young women and men out on missions. What a wonderful ting, but make no mistake about it....it is still sacrifice.

-RM

[pam]

This makes it sound like it is such a task to save for a mission, that the action of saving is such a burden. I doubt that all families see it like this. I'm sure some see it as something wonderful to save for or contribute to. Some might even do it sincerely out of the goodness of their heart.

M.

My thoughts on this as well. Sacrifice doesn't equate to burden.

Some families might have to sacrifice their yearly vacation to pay for a mission. Others might badly need a new car but they sacrifice that to use those funds to pay for a mission. Many would sacrifice other things to make sure their son/daughter has the opportunity to go on a mission. And they do it gladly.

A teenage boy working to put money away for a mission might also think it would sure be nice to be putting that money towards a nice shiny new sportscar. But they sacrifice those things knowing they are putting the money towards something much more important.

Perhaps we are looking at sacrifice in a different way.

As was mentioned. With sacrifice comes great blessings.

[Vort]

My son, who leaves in just over two weeks for his mission, has worked for almost two years to save the necessary funds. He has enough money to cover his entire mission -- a wonderful blessing and something that I certainly did not manage to accomplish at his age.

[CookieC]

We have a son out on a mission now and, quite frankly, supporting him financially is quite a sacrifice for us. That said, it is something that we, as a couple, decided that we would do many years ago and it is not a burden. This is our third missionary to serve. My husband and I decided to fund their missions so that they could focus on first high school and then college rather than working many hours to save up what can be a daunting sum of money.

And, this is MY opinion, but the real sacrifice of having a child go on a mission has nothing to do with money. It is very difficult to have a child thousands of miles away, to have limited contact and to worry about every tsunami, cyclone and earthquake that hits the South Pacific! *said tongue a bit in cheek*

We're planning, once we get this last mission paid for (four months! Wahoo!), to begin to save for our grandchildren's missions so that the total burden for their expenses doesn't land on their parents.

[applepansy]

We use the words sacrifice and burden and attach negativity to those words. When we pay for a mission its a choice and for us it wasn't a sacrifice or a burden even though it was hard. But when it came right down to it the choice was easy.... A new car or a mission? A vacation or a mission? Hands downs the mission will win every time if I have the opportunity again (grandson).

If we give with a willing heart the blessings far outweigh anything we could have done differently with the money. This applies not only to missions but to every form of giving.

[Maureen]

Short answer?

Sacrifice.

In order of preference:

1. The youth works and then sacrifices their savings

2. The parents or family of the youth sacrifice other needs/wants to fund it

3. The members of the local ward sacrifice things that they need/want to pay the into the mission fund

4. General membership of the church world wide sacrificed things that they need/want in order to pay into the general missionary fund.

How are missions paid for? Through sacrifice.

-RM

I think for me reading these words made it seem like the persons doing so must put on some sort of martyr complex to make it seem special. I can see how it can be a sacrifice but as others have mentioned, saving and giving toward something wonderful, whether sacrifice or not can be done with a happy heart.

M.

[Blackmarch]

I know that families able to afford missions for their kids pay it themselves but what about lower class families? Does the LDS church fund it for those in low-income families? Or is only a percentage donated from the church? How is it decided who is eligible for assistance and who isn't?

My husband got into a discussion about setting up a college fund for our daughter with a guy he works with that has a child a few months older. He said that he was setting aside money for a mission. How much do missions cost on average? Will the church cover one's mission, or assist, so there's still money available after the mission has been served, for college? Just wondering how this works and how families that can only pay for one (mission or college) afford both.

Ditto RM's post

as i understand it families who can't support all of a mission, support what they can and the church fills in the rest.

mission cost also depends where one goes.

I imagine that who is eligible or who isn't is decided on a case by case basis, and will be worked out between the family and stake president or bishop.

I seem to recall to having to save up to a grand or few to help pay for mine, family had to fill in on the rest.

where i was (per month)

rent: 400-600$

no idea what utilites were but i'd wager around 100-200 averaged out

70-100$ for gas in car areas

60$ for food, laundry, and bike repairs.

so per missionary pair the mission had to take care of about 1k$/month give or take a couple hundred dollars. so about 500$/mo per missionary.

Edited January 31, 2012 by Blackmarch

[lizzy16]

My son, who leaves in just over two weeks for his mission, has worked for almost two years to save the necessary funds. He has enough money to cover his entire mission -- a wonderful blessing and something that I certainly did not manage to accomplish at his age.

My brother has his own mission paid for whenever he ends up going. He worked every summer and often in school time doing manual labor for people.

And, since he's been getting his dental work fixed. He saved enough for college as well.

But, my brother is a go getter :) Not all young men are.

[Bini]

Alright, that gives me some insight on the matter. Just curious was all.

Lizzy, you're right. Not everyone is a go-getter. But funding a mission versus funding college is a huge jump!

[Blackmarch]

I'd also like to note that God gives a lot of blessings to families that have missionaries out doing the lords work.

[dahlia]

The step father of one of my elders refused to have anything to do with his mission and his father has no money. I understand that several members of his family contribute each month for him.

I also met a college-aged convert visiting our ward. His home ward said it would pay his mission costs when he was ready. What a blessing.

[pam]

My 2 boys will never go on missions. I wish though that I had the means to support a local missionary that had no way to pay for his mission. I'd do it in a heartbeat.

[rayhale]

When does sacrificing become a sin? Or does it? I’ve heard and read stories of missionaries, and people going to the temple for the first time, spend all their life savings, for that one event, and I just shake my head, and say to my-self, ‘I could have helped.’ Is it right to purposely go penny-less, when there are plenty of people willing to help you?

[dahlia]

My 2 boys will never go on missions. I wish though that I had the means to support a local missionary that had no way to pay for his mission. I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Pam, can you buy some extra groceries? I used to give a couple of bags of groceries when the guys came over for lessons. Once I became active and worked with the missionaries as my calling, I would often just buy them $50-100 worth of groceries. They were always grateful. Also, our guys often ride around on bikes, which makes it hard to get heavy groceries. I would buy the heavy stuff and deliver it to them, they could fill in with the lighter items as their funds permitted.

A couple of boxes of cereal, some milk, bacon and eggs will go a long way with these guys and not cost you too much.

[rayhale]

If you buy food for missionaries, please ask them what they want you to buy. You don’t want to buy food that they don’t know how, or have the means, to cook the food.