Families across Draper's 10 Latter-day Saint stakes have a new number to mark: 88,500 full-time missionaries are serving worldwide, the most in the Church's 196-year history.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the record on Monday, July 14, with Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles sharing the milestone in a social media post. Rasband, who chairs the Missionary Executive Council, said the all-time high reflects the "faith and devotion of a rising generation of disciples of Jesus Christ."
The previous record of just over 88,000 missionaries stood since 2014.
What's driving the surge
The jump traces directly to a policy change announced November 21, 2025, when the First Presidency lowered the minimum missionary service age for women to 18, effective immediately after high school graduation. The first wave of those 18-year-old sister missionaries entered the field this summer, pushing the total past the 2014 mark.
Church President Dallin H. Oaks foreshadowed the record at the 2026 Seminar for New Mission Leaders on Saturday, June 20, in Provo. "Missionary work is soaring to new heights," Oaks told the gathering. "In the coming weeks, we will have more missionaries than at any time in the history of the Church."
The milestone also coincides with the creation of 55 new missions effective July 1, bringing the Church's worldwide total to 506, according to the Church newsroom.
Local context
Draper is home to 10 LDS stakes as of April 2026: Corner Canyon, Crescent View, Eastridge, Meadows, Mountain Point, River View, South Mountain, Draper Utah Stake, Suncrest, and a Young Single Adults stake. All 10 are assigned to the Utah Salt Lake City East Mission. The Church does not publish city-level missionary counts, but Draper's stakes sit within a state that claims more than 2.2 million members as of 2024 Church data — the largest LDS population of any U.S. state.
Prospective missionaries from Draper congregations can now submit applications up to 150 days before their availability date, and the nearest missionary training center is in Provo. Families preparing missionaries can find updated guidelines through their local stake president.
