Latter-day Saint female missionary activities informally began in the early 1830's, remaining numerically unconstant until 1879, when a significant increase began. Between 1830 and 1898 over two hundred women had been involved in missionary work, laboring mostly in California, New York, Hawaii and England.Before 1865, Latter-day Saint women did not have any official missionary status. After 1865, Church officials began the practice of setting them apart. Finally, in 1898 women were "certified" as missionaries which placed them on an equal status with their male counterparts.Some lady missionaries performed household chores, taught school, preached sermons and presided over female auxiliary organizations. There were some who suffered extreme illness and even death. Others experienced dangerous modes of transportation and extremely poor living conditions. The extraordinary faith and courage demonstrated by many Latter-day Saint lady missionaries has rendered an important contribution to the missionary work of the Church.

The history of the South African Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1853-1970) describes the progress of the Church in South Africa from its inception until the present time. Missionary proselyting activities in the land are traced, and the major historical developments of the mission are discussed. In 1853 three missionaries began Mormon proselyting activities in the Cape Province and within six months they had baptized forty-five persons, established two branches, and organized the first conference of the Church. Despite mob violence and opposition from the clergy, civil authorities, and the press, the Church continued to progress. This study also considers the visit of the General Authorities to South Africa and includes information on the membership and growth of the Church in that mission.

On 14 February 1901, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the opening of the Japan Mission and the selection of Elder Heber J. Grant as its first president. The idea of sending Mormon missionaries to Japan had earlier been entertained by President Brigham Young and several other church leaders and lay members. Until 1854, Japan was closed to western nations and their religious influences. Finally, Commodore Perry forced the Japanese to open their borders and minds to the economic and political entreaties of the United States. In time, other western nations and their Christian theology were admitted into Japan. Aware of their technological inferiority when compared to the West, the Japanese government set out to westernize their nation. During the second half of the nineteenth century, Mormons and the Japanese made a series of positive contacts. On two occasions, plans were made at the highest church levels to send missionaries to Japan. Both ended in failure. Finally, in 1901, the Church again committed its resources and one of its finest leaders, Elder Grant, to open the Japan Mission. After accepting his own calling, Elder Grant began the selection process of his own companions. He chose Horace S. Ensign, Louis A. Kelsch, and a young man from his home ward, Alma O. Taylor. Eighteen-year-old Alma was raised with the best Mormonism had to offer. His parents blessed him with education and position. He was also blessed with a sharp mind and a determined soul. Alma served in Japan for over eight and a half years. During this time he kept detailed journal entries of his experiences and impressions. The body of this thesis is devoted to making his writings available to other scholars and church members interested in the foundational events of the Church in Japan.

The history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Japan from 1948 to 1980 is a study in cross-cultural interaction. Compared to the earlier attempts of the Church in proselytizing the Japanese in the period 1901 to 1924, there are some significant contrasts. The earlier mission is seen as an attempt by a small, relatively unknown, provincial religion, in financial straits, just emerging into the twentieth century, trying to establish itself in a non-christian, fiercely nationalistic, culturally closed nation. From very humble beginnings, starting with second and third generation Japanese in Hawaii, and with LDS members of the American occupation armed forces, the Church grew slowly, but consistently. Around 1960, Church membership growth became significant. By the latter 1970s, Church growth in Japan was among the ten most rapid in the world, there were nine missions, and a temple was constructed in Tokyo.

I was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I was eight years old. You could say I was sort of born into it, as my father, mother, seven other siblings, and both sets of grandparents are all members as well. I grew up in a small, rural town in Southern Idaho where vegetation is almost as sparse as non-LDS families. As children we were never quite sure which denomination these families belonged to: that they were not Mormon was the only distinction we made. As I was growing up my parents saw to it that I attended the three-hour long Church services every Sunday, the weekly youth activities, and our local four-year seminary program. After completing high school, I chose to pursue my academic studies at two Church-owned and operated institutions of higher learning, first at Ricks College and then Brigham Young University. But it seemed that the pinnacle of my Church education would take place when my twenty first birthday finally enabled me to become a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The purpose of this work is of course to fulfill thesis requirements, but more important to me is a desire that those who read it may gain a greater understanding of the mission in Japan. The membership of the church seems to have shared the traditional American opinion that the Far East is of little consequence in our affairs, and have given the area little attention. Missionaries have been and still are reluctant to go there; feelings of failure have persisted because of the early experiences in Japan. However, those who have seriously given their attention to missionary labors in this land feel differently.

Since 1925 Mormon missionaries have proselyted in Catholic Argentina. Yet the Argentine mission has grown very slowly and encountered many difficulties. Did the missionaries' North American image affect the missionary work? Did the predominance of the Catholic Church stunt the growth of the new sect? How did the impact of bitter U.S.-Argentine international relations during the Second World War, and the advent of Peron affect the reception of Mormonism in Argentina? These questions concerning the history of the Mormon Church in Argentina since 1940 can best be understood by considering the episodes of Argentine history which bear directly on the history of the Church in that country. Hence, this thesis will offer a broader interpretation of the official history of the Argentine mission than that written by the mission secretaries and historians. Moreover, it will concentrate on the years between 1940 and 1968, which seems the most significant era since it embraces the Church's confrontation with the Second World War, Peron, and increasing membership.

In view of the aforementioned emphasis on the missionary program of the Church there was a felt need by the author, with encouragement from Ernest Eberhard Jr., of the Department of Education, to do a follow-up study to determine what effect the seminary program has had and is now having upon the lives of its graduates now in the mission field. Only the missionaries who arenow in the mission field and who are seminary graduates of four selected seminaries are used in this study. There are three major areas of seminary influence and effectiveness that this study attempts to determine. They are: (1) The effectiveness of the seminary program in influencing the missionaries to have lived the gospel in their lives before going on thier missions. (2) The influence the seminary program had on the missionaries' desires to go on missions. (3) The effectiveness of the seminary program in helping to prepare these missionaries to be more successful in their present missionary work. These findings are determined from the results of a questionnaire that was sent to each missionary.

Since the instigation of the first language training mission in December, 1961, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been vitally interested in the language instruction of its missionaries. As the number of missionaries called to foreign missions increased, the need for more facilities and instruction grew rapidly. During the week of January 18, 1969, Elder Spencer W. Kimball, Chairman of the Church Missionary Committee, announced expansion of the language training mission program that would go into effect on February 8 of that same year. Languages would not only be taught at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, but also at Ricks College, Rexburg, Idaho, and at the Church College of Hawaii at Laie. Seven languages are taught at the Language Training Mission in Provo; five languages are taught at the Language Training Mission in Rexburg; and seven languages are taught at the Language Training Mission in Laie. The programs to train missionaries to speak a foreign language are diversified and thorough. One of the reasons the missionaries are successful in learning their target language is because of the training they receive at the language training missions. These programs have expanded and grown over the years. Although the main goal of all the language training missions is the same, that of teaching the missionaries the various languages, the roads to that goal are somewhat samewhat different. There is a definite need to compile and correlate the different materials and programs used by these three language larguage training missions. A comparison of the programs might be helpful to mission leaders in gaining new ideas about how to better train missionaries to learn their target languages more effectively. Perhaps such a comparison would also generate many more ideas to further other facets of the missionary program. An attempt will be made to show only a comparison between the programs of the three missions. There will be no attempt to draw any conclusions as to how the work should or should not be accomplished. Goals common to all of the missions will be analyzed separately, and an explanation of how each of the missions attains that goal by the use of various programs will be discussed.

Since becoming a student at brigham young university in September, 1965, the writer has been interested in the area of persuasion as it relates to public speaking, and especially as it relates to stake missionary activities. The purpose in this thesis is to determine selected characteristics of converts as listeners from Brigham Young University to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and compare them with characteristics determined by Audience Analysis by Wayne C. Minnick in his book "The Art of Persuasion".