Local Carson City men, women called to serve full-time missions

Congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Carson City are pleased to announce several voluntary representatives (young men and women) who have received mission calls and will soon embark on a journey of faith, service and personal growth.

Each missionary will dedicate 18-24 months of their lives to their mission, during which time they will immerse themselves in the culture and language of their assigned areas. The individuals will serve in various locations around the world, spending the majority of their time leading people to Jesus Christ, contributing to humanitarian efforts, community service and spiritual teaching.

Among the three congregations in Carson City (including the Carson River Ward, Clear Creek Ward and Hot Springs Ward), the following have been called to serve (alphabetically by last name): Bennett Card, Samuel (Sam) Davis, Dylan Olson, Samantha (Sami) Schofield and Luke Syndergaard.

The son of Keith and Andrea Card, Bennett will serve in the Texas Houston East Mission, proselyting in Spanish. The Texas Houston East Mission spans the eastern part of the Houston area and parts of Louisiana. Bennett will report to the Missionary Training Center in Mexico City, Thursday, July 4, 2024. He graduated from Carson High School in 2023 and attended two semesters at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah. He is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys mountain biking, hiking and camping. At the conclusion of his mission, he wants to pursue a career as an oral surgeon.

The son of Dan and Janie Davis, Sam, will serve in the Missouri Independence Mission, proselyting in English. His mission serves the greater Kansas City area and includes some parts of Iowa and Kansas. Independence, Mo. holds special historical significance for Latter-day Saints as it is home to Adam-ondi-Ahman and Liberty Jail. Sam will report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. He graduated from Carson High School in 2023 and attended two semesters at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He enjoys music, plays the violin and piano and ran Track and Cross Country at Carson High.

The son of Kevin and Teah Olson, Dylan, will serve in the Kansas Wichita Mission, proselyting in Spanish. The Kansas Wichita Mission includes the majority of Kansas but also parts of Oklahoma and Colorado. Dylan will report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. He was a national merit scholarship recipient and graduated from Carson High School in 2024. He enjoys music, plays an assortment of instruments including the guitar and played on the Carson High Tennis team. He plans to attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah after his mission.

The daughter of Matt and Danielle Schofield, Sami, will serve in the Romania Bucharest Mission, proselyting in Romanian. The Bucharest Mission lies in Romania's heart and borders with Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and the coast of the Black Sea. Sami will report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. She was the student body president at Carson High during the 2022-2023 school year. She graduated in 2023 and attended two semesters at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She enjoys reading and spent a month serving in Africa to help build a maternity clinic the summer before her senior year of high school.

The son of Ben and Carly Syndergaard, Luke, will serve in the Montana Billings Mission, proselyting in English. The Montana Billings Mission covers the majority of Montana and a large portion of Wyoming. As a recently diagnosed diabetic, Luke has been learning to manage his average blood sugar levels. As long as his A1C is below 8, he will report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, August 5, 2024. He graduated from Carson High in 2023 and attended two semesters at Brigham Young University in Rexburg, Idaho. He is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys fishing, particularly fly fishing.

In addition to the five recently called to serve, there are five full-time missionaries from Carson City serving around the globe. Those include the following (alphabetically by last name).

McKenna Budd, serving in the Colorado Denver South Mission, proselyting in English, will return home in November of 2024.

Halen Harrison, serving in the Taiwan Taipei Mission, proselyting in Mandarin, is expected to return home in June or July of 2025.

Ethne Myler, serving in the Canada Toronto Mission, proselyting in English, is expected to return home in April of 2025.

Luke Pedersen, serving in the Argentina Buenos Aires East Mission, proselyting in Spanish, is expected to return home in September of 2024.

Olivia Syndergaard, serving in the Argentina Salta Mission, proselyting in Spanish, was honorably released for health reasons and returned home in December of 2023.

Nathan Thornton, serving in the Bulgaria/Greece Mission, proselyting in Bulgarian, is expected to return home Wednesday, July 24, 2024.

Missionaries leave families and friends, embrace new cultures, learn new languages and spend the first years of adulthood spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. While on a mission, they forgo dating, live chastely and adhere to healthy lifestyles by abstaining from drugs, alcohol, tobacco, coffee and black and green teas. Communication with friends and family back home is restricted. They commit to stay focused on their work and refrain from worldly entertainment and are generally not permitted to watch television, listen to the radio, go to the movies or use the Internet (with the exception of the use of email and some social media channels for their work).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints strongly encourages but does not require missionary service for young men or women. All missionaries serve voluntarily, do not receive a salary for their work and typically finance missions themselves or with assistance from family or other church members. Many missionaries save money during their teenage years to cover mission expenses.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a long-standing tradition of missionary service. There are more than 72,000 full-time missionaries (including proselyting missionaries, service missionaries and senior missionaries) serving in more than 450 missions worldwide. The church integrated service missionaries, those who don’t serve proselyting missions because of health issues, on Jan. 1, 2024. Missionaries cover a wide range of activities, from providing disaster relief and clean water projects to offering educational and spiritual guidance.

For more information about the missionary program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, please visit churchofjesuschrist.org.