After 20 years, Latter-day Saint missionaries get updated manual

PROVO — After almost 20 years, the guidebook for missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is getting an update.

The second edition of "Preach My Gospel" is available online and within the church's Gospel Library app.

President Russell M. Nelson said the update is coming while the world is "rapidly changing" and the new manual is sensitive to that.

"It contains some of the best instruction I have ever seen to help people accept the Lord's invitation to come unto him," President Nelson said Thursday. He encouraged all members of the church to study the new manual, and enjoy how their testimonies can be enriched.

"You'll sense the privilege it is to assist our Father in Heaven in his holy work. As you study and apply the teachings from 'Preach My Gospel' second edition, from the scriptures and from living prophets, you will be blessed. Your own testimony will be enriched. Your capacity to share the Savior's gospel will increase," President Nelson said.

The second edition is currently only available digitally in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish, but it will later be available in other languages and in print.

A news release from the church said this new edition will inspire and help members and missionaries, and help bring the healing power of Jesus Christ into their lives and the lives of the people whom members and missionaries teach.

The update was announced in conjunction with a mission leader seminar at the Provo Missionary Training Center, where 138 mission leaders who will be going to 60 different countries on July 1 for three years of service are being trained.

President Bonnie H. Cordon of the Young Women's Presidency said mission leadership were "enamored" as they came in from lunch and saw the new manuals sitting on their desks, and saw the photos and the quotes from current church leaders.

"It's fascinating to see how the Spirit really moved this forward," she said. "This could not be a better time. And we are so grateful for all the work and the insights that went into this," she said.

She said there is a spirit of the book the leaders could feel before they even opened it, because the words are read and approved by the church's First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

President Nelson said the Lord's commandment to "go ye therefore and teach all nations" is still in force, and was "made vital again" by the restoration of the gospel in its fullness on the earth.

"We have the sacred and covenant responsibility to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and bless the lives of all of God's children," he said.

Sister Amy A. Wright, first counselor in the Primary general presidency and a member of the Missionary Executive Council, said all members can find greater joy and meaning in the gospel using the missionary guide.

"'Preach My Gospel' is a key resource for missionaries, but Latter-day Saints should remember that every member of the church is a missionary, and some of our choicest converts are found within the walls of our own home," she said.

President Cordon said the manual won't just help young men and young women prepare for missions, but it will help prepare them for life, wherever they live in the world. She said this manual can help them articulate what they believe at school now. President Cordon also said it will help families.

"I'm excited for every mother that's going to be able to pick this up and be able to work with her children," she said.

She said the message is the same, but the new manual changes the resources and methods to be more relatable for those who are seeking the gospel. President Cordon said Preach My Gospel is a good resource for all members to study in-depth the reason for making covenants with Jesus Christ.

What changed?

The new manual includes guidelines for using technology to share the gospel, and aligns with the General Handbook published by the church in 2020 and 2021, along with other new policies.

The edition emphasizes messages from current church leaders. It also adds scripture references, art and other visuals that were not in the first edition.

Content from each chapter is updated — but the news release from the church said the "chapter order and core teachings" remain consistent between versions.

The new "Preach My Gospel" features the same cover photo, a 1988 painting by Greg Olsen of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus, but it has a new subheading "A guide to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ." The previous edition's subheading was "A guide to missionary service."

How missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints preach the gospel has changed over time. Initially, missionaries were not given formal training, but between the 1950s and 1980s the church produced standardized missionary discussions. In 2004, "Preach My Gospel" kept the unified curriculum developed with the missionary discussions, but encouraged missionaries to teach in their own words, using guidance from the Holy Ghost.

The second edition of the manual is a development to that same effort to encourage missionaries to teach the same lessons, in their own words. Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said the new edition "stands on the shoulders" of the 2004 edition.

"There's strength and power and inspiration and guidance throughout ... the current 'Preach My Gospel,' the second edition," he said.

He said there is a lot about sharing, inviting and member involvement that will help every member of the church.

"I think there's more in it for members than there's ever been," Elder Cook said.

He noted that 5 million copies of the previous "Preach My Gospel" were printed and sold, and the first printing flew off the shelves, even though the print run anticipated that many members would be interested.

Elder Cook said every member of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles helped, significantly, with revising and guiding the new edition, and missionaries using pilot copies have been very pleased with the resource.

Elder Marcus B. Nash, of the Seventy, and executive director of the missionary department, said church leaders have been working on the update for a long time.

"It has truly been revelatory, really amazing," he said, adding that the doctrines and principles of the gospel in the book have stayed the same, but are explained in a clearer and more simple way. He said it is written in a way to address the needs of people.

Although the book is about the same size, Elder Nash said the word count has been decreased by about 11%, and those words have been replaced with visuals.

"The world is rapidly changing, both technologically and in many other ways. We need to be able to communicate through those new ways to reach people who are searching and finding. … We need to communicate digitally as well as in person," Elder Nash said.

He said pamphlets used by the missionaries are being updated to align with the new "Preach My Gospel" manual.

As members of the church use the manual to share the gospel, it will multiply their joy, Elder Nash added.

"His gospel holds the only really truly enduring solution … to the world's needs," he said. "Use it, learn, read it — it'll make a big difference."

The missionary effort is growing

Elder Nash said more missionaries are serving now. There were 56,000 fulfilling assignments across the globe at the end of 2021, and 68,000 this month. By the end of this year, the church projects there will be more than 72,000 missionaries serving.

"It has been so fun to watch this … it's just nothing short of miraculous," Elder Nash said.

Missionaries currently serve in 150 countries and teach in 60 different languages around the world, according to church spokesman Sam Penrod.

Elder Cook said there are six new missions opening in July to accommodate the growing number of missionaries, and he expects more missions to open because so many young people are responding to a "clarion call" from President Nelson to serve. Since that call, he said, church leaders and parents have been helping prepare youth to serve, and youth have responded to the call from a prophet.

"The gospel of Jesus Christ brings peace and hope and healing. That's the great blessing that people get, and we have it as members but we want everyone to have that same peace and hope and healing that we feel," Elder Cook said.

He said serving missions blesses people and prepares them for the next phase of their lives.

"By having served a mission, it'll mean so much to them, and it'll mean so much to their posterity," Elder Cook said. "There's just enormous blessings."

Correction: In a previous version, Elder Quentin L. Cook's name was incorrectly spelled Quintin.

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