The impact of Christ-centered sacrament meeting worship and attendance on both Church members and those receiving missionary instruction was demonstrated by Elder Jonathan S. Schmidt, a General Authority Seventy and Secretary of Missions, and his wife, Sister Alexis Schmidt, at the 2026 New Mission Leadership Seminar.
The Schmidts, who led the California San Diego Mission from 2014 to 2017, offered their advice during a seminar session on Thursday, June 18, at the Provo Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.
The Schmidts emphasized the importance of the sacrament and sacrament meeting, encouraging mission leaders and their missionaries to have a meaningful experience through the ordinance of the sacrament and to encourage those they teach to attend sacrament meeting.
Referring to 3 Nephi 20:8, Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt discussed ways to encourage the soul to be “filled” as we partake of the sacrament.
One Sunday, after hearing the sacramental prayer, the Schmidt family’s primary-aged son asked, “Mom, the sacramental prayer said that I was willing to take the name of Jesus Christ. Does that mean my last name is Schmidt and I am Christ?”
Sister Schmidt cherished this “sacred experience.” She noticed that her son was “filled with the Spirit.”
She emphasized that the sacrament, which symbolizes the atonement of Jesus Christ, has the power to move people to action. For those who have been taught by missionaries, it may increase their desire to be baptized. For new converts, it can give them a strong desire to continue on the covenant path. For missionaries, it can renew purpose.
Elder Schmidt said that along with those who begin making covenants at baptism, “we as missionaries have a similar obligation to help our friends keep their promises.”
Elder and Sister Schmidt spoke about a passage from 3 Nephi 19 where many people gathered around the risen Savior and partook of the sacrament.
To gather people to participate in sacred ordinances, missionaries must first find them, the Schmidts taught, pointing to Chapter 9 of Preach My Gospel, which details practical and effective ways to find people to teach.
“The important ‘red line’ is to invite people to worship Jesus Christ with us in church,” Sister Schmidt said.
Elder Schmidt said missionaries need to use multiple methods to find individuals and continue to understand why they are serving.
“When missionaries deeply understand their purpose and exercise faith to find people and bring them to sacrament meeting the week they are found and every week thereafter, we see miracles in their work,” he stressed.
Through several missionary role-playing scenarios, the missionary’s willingness to find out helped determine the missionary’s success.
One companion passed a person, but decided not to turn around, more concerned with their own personal comfort.
“Missionaries need to exercise their faith in the Savior by opening their mouths and speaking to everyone in order to find people to teach,” Sister Schmidt said.
Her second date tried to return to her apartment, but decided to talk to the man on the way. They invited him to come to church and then moved on.
So Elder Schmidt encouraged the missionaries to try again.
In a final attempt, the missionaries invited the man to attend sacrament meeting with them. He accepted, and the missionaries began discussing Jesus Christ with him.
They also followed up with their new friend over the next few days until Sunday.
“We can’t just hope that people will come to sacrament meeting; we need to help them come,” Elder Schmidt said.
That “help,” he said, seems like a clear invitation to use the scriptures, promise blessings, and share testimonies. This also includes working with local members, offering chapel tours, and following up on daily communications to ensure individuals keep their commitments.
Sister Schmidt concluded with two invitations to new mission leaders.
The first was to help missionaries “have meaningful sacramental experiences that draw them closer to Jesus Christ and live out their daily purpose.”
The second was to help missionaries “achieve their purpose by finding people to teach and helping them attend sacrament meetings during the week they were found and every week thereafter.”
In doing so, Sister Schmidt promised mission leaders that as their missions invite and help church friends to come to Christ, they will “be filled with the Holy Spirit and have access to the power to sustain the Lord.”
Elder Schmidt concluded by sharing his testimony of how individuals are fulfilled when they fully participate in sacrament meeting.
“When we eat bread and water in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are filled. We are filled with His saving love and filled with hope and joy.”
