Dr. B. answered...

The cost of serving an LDS mission are paid for by the missionary herself or her family and friends. Being a convert of one year I was able to work and earn about two thousand dollars needed for my mission. This lasted me about six months of my mission. My father who was not a member of the Church contributed about twenty-five dollars a month for the two years I was on a mission. Church members contributed the rest as a ward missionary. Mormon missionaries and or family and friends pay a monthly equalized amount of $400 that goes to housing and food and transportation. In less developed areas of the world members in more affluent areas donate money for young people's mission. The church provides transportation to and from the mission and some of the literature from donations to the missionary fund that members give generously. Every young man or young woman that serves tries to save enough money to pay their full mission. My four daughters who went on missions worked hard to save enough money but sometimes it was not enough. Recently due to the cost of having eight children with four in college and one needing dental work I had a hard time contributing the four hundred dollars for the first month when she entered the MTC. Her sister who is a senior in high school and her brother who is a sophomore both who work part-time paid most of her monthly expense since I had to pay another daughter's tuition for college. My children have sacrificed to help one another serve a mission.