Missionary service has been a staple within BYU Athletics since its inception. More than half of all BYU students serve missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While those within the Church understand the details of what a mission entails, they can be foreign to those not of the faith.
In an effort to help our new friends in the Big 12 Conference, media members and others understand a bit more about missions, we hope the following is helpful.
What is a mission?
The Church’s missionary program is one of its most recognized characteristics. Latter-day Saint missionaries can be seen on the streets of hundreds of major cities in the world as well as in thousands of smaller communities. Missions typically last between 18 months to two years, with other service mission opportunities also available for briefer durations. Missions are voluntary and self-funded. BYU student-athletes who chose to serve missions do so out of a love for Jesus Christ and a desire to serve others. Some BYU student-athletes elect to fulfill their missionary service after they graduate high school and defer their enrollment to BYU. Others take a break from studying and competing at BYU and perform their missionary service partway through their time as a student-athlete. Missionaries receive their assignment from Church headquarters and are sent to countries all throughout the world where governments allow the Church to operate. Missionaries do not request their area of assignment and do not know beforehand whether they will be required to learn a language. Due in part to the many international missionary service experiences among BYU students, more than 60 percent of the student body speaks a second language.
I have been called to serve in the Brazil São Paulo Interlagos Mission! I am so excited to give my life to God for the next two years after this football season and to serve as an official representative of Jesus Christ! pic.twitter.com/Ls4EVRWFZn
— Emerson Geilman (@EmersonGeilman) August 19, 2025
Why serve a mission?
Ultimately, missionary work is about serving God and serving His children, dedicating one's life to that service for two years. Missionaries often talk about serving a mission as a small way to show appreciation to God for all that He has given them in their lives. As missionaries learn and work and serve, they also gain essential life skills in areas of study, planning, logistics, interpersonal communication, relationship building, cross-cultural competence, patience, resilience and time management. A mission can serve as an important foundation for the rest of one's life, ultimately benifitting those who serve in their future education, family life, work life and Church service.
Dos and don’ts in how to talk about missions
- We request that those referring to missions use terms such as as “serving a mission,” “full-time mission,” “two-year mission,” “missionary service,” "Latter-day Saint mission," and “a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”
- We request that those referring to missions do not refer to missions as “mission trips,” “Mormon missions” or “LDS missions”
- See more information about using the full name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Church’s style guide