ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the effects of the personnel shortages and recruiting difficulties on the spirituality of the peninsular monasteries. There definitely were significant effects, as shown by the vigorous resistance mounted by many provincial and local officials against the recruitment of missionaries from their territory. These officials felt they could not afford to lose the men who had already agreed to go, and they actively tried to prevent recruiters from convincing anyone else to volunteer. The chapter examines the effect of recruiting difficulties on missionaries in New Spain. They constantly struggled and failed to meet their personnel needs in central Mexico and fell ever further behind as the colonial territory expanded. These shortages caused several major problems for the missionaries. The effects of the mission enterprise were not limited to the mission field itself, but instead reached back into the peninsular houses of those who stayed behind.
