New video takes viewers inside a Latter-day Saint missionary training center

A new 20-minute video takes viewers inside the doors to see what young people do at the largest missionary training center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The video — released on YouTube with faster cuts than most church videos — lands at a time of historic interest in Latter-day Saints.

Actor and convert Danor Gerald uses the same type of tiny handheld mic in vogue with social media influencers to talk with missionaries as young as 18 years old at the MTC in Provo, Utah, before heading out to assignments across the globe to share the gospel of Jesus Christ for 18 to 24 months.

Latter-day Saint missions are a topic of interest across the United States in sports broadcasts, media reports and reality TV shows.

The young Latter-day Saints serving those missions have become a bold counterpoint to the trend of youthful Americans turning from religious practice.

The church now has 84,000 missionaries, close to its historic high in 2014.

Convert baptisms jumped 25% last year to a record 385,490. Nearly 900,000 converts joined the church in the past three years. They make up nearly 5% of total church membership, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reported at the faith’s October general conference.

The new video was filmed in November, a product manager for the Church Communications Department told the Church News.

“We wanted to make YouTube content that was engaging and interesting to members and friends, showing them things they haven’t seen before,” Ben Taylor said. “Missionaries are such a visible part of the church, we thought taking folks inside the MTC to show them the process of training to be a missionary would be an eye-opening and enlightening experience.”

More than 40,000 young men and young women train at the Provo MTC each year. The church has 10 other MTCs spread around the world.

Missions allow young Latter-day Saints to grow spiritually as they teach the gospel in what many describe as a life-changing experience, a narrator says at the start of the video.

The church has sent out well over 1 million missionaries during its history.

Single men ages 18 to 25 and single women 18-29 are eligible to serve missions. Married couples and singles over 40 are also eligible. Men serve for two years. Women serve for 18 months.

The video shows their training from start to finish, including the way they learn foreign languages, work out physically, eat in a cafeteria and practice teaching the gospel.

Training can last one week or up to two months for those learning a new language. The video was designed to show the entire training experience from arrival to stepping on an airplane to leave for the missionary’s assignment.

The video will help those outside the church better understand the missionary experience and help prospective missionaries know what to expect.

“We want people to know what the experience will look like, and we want people to feel the excitement of missionary work,” Taylor told the Church News.

Gerald asks missionaries to talk about their decision to serve a mission, the sacrifices they are making and what they are learning.

The number of missionaries has surged over the past five years, after a steep decline in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 2018: 65,137
• 2019: 67,021
• 2020: 51,819
• 2021: 54,539 
• 2022: 62,544 
• 2023: 67,871 
• 2024: 74,127 
• 2025: 78,596

Church leaders have rejoiced over the surge of faith among young members, who also are attending the faith’s seminary classes for high school students and institute classes for college students in record numbers.

“What we are witnessing today is more than growth in numbers,” Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated Monday in a social media post. “Across the world, missionaries are demonstrating a deep devotion to the Savior and a sincere consecration to his work. An increasing number express that their fundamental reason for serving is their love for Jesus Christ and their desire to join him in his work — an inspiring reflection of the faith and commitment that characterize today’s missionary force."

The church will open 55 new missions across the globe on July 1 to make room for the growing number of missionaries.

The following chart shows the increase in convert baptisms over the past eight years.