As soon as possible, service members should notify their bishop or branch president that they will be leaving for an extended training exercise or will be deploying in response to international tension or wartime operations. The stake or mission president should call a worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holder to preside over the service member group and hold Church services at the deployment site. Guidelines for calling group leaders and their responsibilities are outlined in the Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 1 (page 138) and in the Serving in the Church section of LDS.org. Occasionally, a service member may be the only Church member at the deployed location. If this is the case and if the service member holds the priesthood, he should ask his bishop or branch president for authorization to bless and partake of the emblems of the sacrament on his own.

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