Direction for full-time missionary involvement during period of limited Church participation

14 March 2020

Bishops and Branch Presidents,

Following our meeting this morning, I had a phone visit with President Bullen, of the Oregon Portland Mission.

There were some key take-aways that are important for stake and ward leaders to know:

1. Missionary work goes forward as it always has.

2. Full-time missionaries will be allowed to meet each Sunday to hold a brief, missionary-only sacrament meeting, as directed by the Area Presidency. There will be two meetings in our zone: the South district will meet in the Sandy building and the North district will meet in the stake center. The South district leader will contact Bsp Conklin (agent bishop for the Sandy building) for permission to administer the sacrament and the North district leader will seek authorization from Bsp Miller (agent bishop for the stake center).

BTW…we support this Area Presidency authorization for missionaries to hold weekly sacrament meetings. We have stressed with the zone leaders we very much need the full-time missionaries going into as many member homes as possible during this time of no meetings and activities and they are (1) to take the spirit of the sacrament covenant into every home, and (2) to deliver a gospel message each time they visit. 

2. The missionaries will begin on March 22 to meet weekly for a full-time missionary-only sacrament meeting, which they will conduct and the elders will administer the sacrament with the bishop’s authorization and under the direction of the district leader. 

3. Exceptions will be the following:

A) On March 29, which has been designated as “Sacrament Sunday” by our Area Seventy, the missionaries are to meet in a home in their assigned ward or branch and partake of the sacrament with a member family;

B) General Conference weekend, no sacrament administered;

C) On those occasions, when they have an investigator(s), the missionaries are to arrange with the Ward Mission Leader to assign a fellowshipping family or individual; once designated, the missionaries are to invite the investigator to attend a sacrament meeting in the home of the fellowshipping family or individual where the bishop or one of his counselors will be asked to attend and oversee the administration of the sacrament in the home. We hope this will help the bishopric member get acquainted with the investigator (a key element of helping interested persons desire to join the Church) and the bishopric member will take the opportunity to teach the investigator(s) during the home sacrament meeting about the purpose and blessing of the sacrament and covenants.

To recap…

...the missionaries will not meet for sacrament meeting tomorrow (March 15). 

…they will begin meeting March 22. 

…they will not meet on March 29, but attend a sacrament meeting in the home of a member family in their ward.

...If members complain that they’re not able to partake of the sacrament weekly, leaders can encourage them to invite a friend to be taught by the missionaries and then have them to their home the next Sunday for a home sacrament meeting with a member of the bishopric.

We appreciate your support of this direction going forward during this period of limited Church participation.

President Lewis and the Stake Presidency