Since April 2025, an ongoing initiative from Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (S&I) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has highlighted a simple and effective way for youth and young adults to participate in the gathering of Israel by inviting their friends to seminary and institute. Thousands of friends of other faiths have since enrolled.
Enrollment among members is at a record high. “The ‘invite a friend’ [initiative] ... brought a new level, just by encouraging both seminary and institute students to invite their friends,” said Becky Scott, associate administrator of operations for seminaries and institutes, during a recent Church News podcast.
“This last year, we’ve seen more than 72,000 friends of [the faith] in both seminary and institute enroll in our classes. That’s an incredible number. The impact of one friend inviting another friend can affect an entire family.”
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Invite a Friend
Additional resources are now available to support youth and young adults as they continue to invite a friend to seminary and institute, including banners, door clings, posters, pass along cards and stickers. They are being translated in 35 languages around the world and are available now to download in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.
Invite a friend 2
Several versions of pass along cards are available for Latter-day Saint youth and young adults to use to help them invite their friends to join them in seminary and institute.© 2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.In the same Church News podcast, Brother Chad H Webb, administrator for Seminaries and Institutes of Religion and the First Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency, said, “I think it’s an easy invitation for the youth and the young adults to invite their friends ... , and then they have a chance to start to study the gospel, and they feel some things and are drawn to want to come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through the things that they’re learning.”
Last year, about 10,000 participating friends of the faith chose to enter a covenant relationship with their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ by choosing to be baptized.
Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recently spoke about the growth of the Church around the world, including the addition of new members. “In the first six months of this year, conversions have risen by more than 20% over the previous year in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Pacific and Latin America,” he said. “In North America, we have seen a 17% increase” (“The Lord Is Hastening His Work,” October 2025 general conference).
If the current trajectory of seminary and institute enrollment holds, including the growing number of participating friends, seminary and institute will have one million enrolled this year — the same year that the program celebrates 100 years of institute.
Leaders, teachers and students are inviting every youth and young adult to “Be ONE in a Million” by joining their growing global community centered on Jesus Christ. Gathering near high schools, major universities, in local meetinghouses, and online across time zones and cultures, all are invited to join this group — whom Elder Ronald A. Rasband described as a “mighty and righteous battalion, gaining strength from each other as they learn of Jesus Christ, follow Him, and testify of Him as the Son of God.”
Whether preparing for a mission, future education, launching a career, newly married, or at any stage of life, youth and young adults can find a place to belong, build friendships and strengthen their faith together.
Learn more at MyInstitute and Seminary.
Download Seminary Poster | Download Institute Poster
Download Seminary Pass Along Cards (English) | Download Institute Pass Along Cards (English)
