Mary Ellen Edmunds

Mary Ellen Edmunds (March 3, 1940 – May 21, 2026) was an American religious public speaker, author and nurse. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), she was the Director of Training in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah from 1978 to 1995. She also served as a member of the Relief Society general board. Edmunds also served as an LDS missionary in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Indonesia. She was the director of the Thrasher International Program for Children in Nigeria for a short time.

Early life and education

Mary Ellen Edmunds was born in Los Angeles, California, on March 3, 1940. When she was a teenager, she worked at Zion National Park for two summers. She would later teach at BYU. After graduating, she served as a missionary for the LDS Church in the Southern Far East Mission from 1962 to 1964.

Missionary Training Center and Relief Society Edmunds was called in 1978 to be the Associate Director of Special Training at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah. She was called to be the Director of Training that same year. She helped oversee the training of all Asian-language and welfare missionaries. She retired from that position in September 1995. During that time, she also worked as the Coordinator of Health Missionaries for the church from 1973 to 1975.

Awards Edmunds received the Alumni Distinguished Service Award from BYU in 1982 to honor her accomplishments. From that university she also received the Exemplary Womanhood Award in 1984 and the Humanitarian Award in 1986. She was made Elect Lady in 1989 by Lambda Delta Sigma, the national woman's sorority. She was also awarded the Presidential Citation by BYU in 1994. In 2005, the Mary Ellen Edmunds Nursing Endowment for the Healer's Art was made by the BYU College of Nursing to commemorate her.