Rumors of 19 year old females going on missions

[Indy Coug]

We had these also. They were called Travelling Sisters.

That sounds erotic.

[LA Ute]

I've been wondering about something. Are the callings of District Leader, Zone Leader and AP all priesthood callings? Obviously that is how they are run at this point, but is there any doctrinal backing saying they have to be staffed by Elders instead of Sisters?

If the Church comes out and says there is no such requirement and allows Sisters to be DL's, ZL's and AP's I predict women will get the priesthood within my lifetime.

We had a sisters' district in my mission back in 1975. There were six sisters in it and one of them was the DL.

[statman]

I've been wondering about something. Are the callings of District Leader, Zone Leader and AP all priesthood callings? Obviously that is how they are run at this point, but is there any doctrinal backing saying they have to be staffed by Elders instead of Sisters?

If the Church comes out and says there is no such requirement and allows Sisters to be DL's, ZL's and AP's I predict women will get the priesthood within my lifetime.

I don't think they're callings. They're appointments. I was never set apart as a DL - just told - you're the DL.

And I just heard about a mission with female APs. I'm pretty sure it wasn't my son who told me about it. Could it have been from that show The District? Or it's possible I dreamed it...

[statman]

Mitt Romney had a female Executive Secretary when he was SP in Boston.

[Clark Addison]

In the SLC Temple Square mission, sisters serve as DL's, so it isn't a priesthood calling. I guess it is one of those things that women can do if there aren't any men around to do it at the time, kind of like being in the WNBA, or the partner of Anne Heche.

Also, I just received an email from a missionary in the MTC, so I can report that the announcement was received very favorably there. There was even some scattered applause and quiet exclamations of "Yeah!". I assume this was mostly from Elders who are thinking that they will soon be serving with 19 year old sisters.

On that note, and from this email, I also learned that the elders in the MTC are so desperate to hang out with girls that they will sit and sing hymns with sister missionaries on Sunday night. I am a pro-church music guy, and the choir director in my ward, but if my wife ever said to me Sunday evening "Why don't you turn off "Football Night in America" and come sing some hymns with me", I doubt that I would be as accommodating as the MTC elders apparently are.

[statman]

In the SLC Temple Square mission, sisters serve as DL's, so it isn't a priesthood calling. I guess it is one of those things that women can do if there aren't any men around to do it at the time, kind of like being in the WNBA, or the partner of Anne Heche.

Also, I just received an email from a missionary in the MTC, so I can report that the announcement was received very favorably there. There was even some scattered applause and quiet exclamations of "Yeah!". I assume this was mostly from Elders who are thinking that they will soon be serving with 19 year old sisters.

On that note, and from this email, I also learned that the elders in the MTC are so desperate to hang out with girls that they will sit and sing hymns with sister missionaries on Sunday night. I am a pro-church music guy, and the choir director in my ward, but if my wife ever said to me Sunday evening "Why don't you turn off "Football Night in America" and come sing some hymns with me", I doubt that I would be as accommodating as the MTC elders apparently are.

Unless "sing hymns" has some secret spousal connotations (to one couple I know, "Playing Yahtzee" has NOTHING to do with dice.), I'm watching football too...

[All-American]

The missionary department in Salt Lake City typically gets about 600 applications per week from incoming missionaries. These are given their assignments and put back in the mail at the end of the week.

This week, they received 3000 applications.

[falafel]

The missionary department in Salt Lake City typically gets about 600 applications per week from incoming missionaries. These are given their assignments and put back in the mail at the end of the week.

This week, they received 3000 applications.

That's it?

[DU Ute]

That's it?

I'm sure it will spike in a week or two and keep up for a while. Between stuff like physicals, interviews and planning around school and life, there is a lot to do before the papers hit a desk in SLC.

[doctorcoug]

I've got a 19 year old female on the schedule today for a missionary physical.

via a galaxy s3 far far away

[Moliere]

We had the sisters over for dinner last night and the whole time I kept thinking how great it will be when this new policy is fully implemented.

[Uncle Ted]

I'm sure it will spike in a week or two and keep up for a while. Between stuff like physicals, interviews and planning around school and life, there is a lot to do before the papers hit a desk in SLC.

And don't forget the fact that some actually have to earn over $7000 to finance their missions rather than freeload off their parents and the church.

[All-American]

I'm sure it will spike in a week or two and keep up for a while. Between stuff like physicals, interviews and planning around school and life, there is a lot to do before the papers hit a desk in SLC.

In fact, that's what surprises me about 3,000 in a week. That's a five-fold increase, and it comes in a week. The announcement came on a Saturday, and the next week, six weeks worth of applications hit the mail. Those applications had to have passed the bishop's interview, stake president's interview, immunizations, physical, etc. That stuff does not get done between Saturday and the day the application needs to get in the mail in order to make it as part of the 3,000 number. My guess is that most of those applications were in the works or waiting to be sent off once the applicant was close enough to the 19 and 21 year deadlines. We probably haven't seen many applications from the ones that weren't already in the process when the announcement hit.

[PharmCoug]

Just a thought...I know that many have said here that the announcement will not really effect the men, but just the women. It would have made a big difference for me.

At 18 I was ready to go. I graduated at 17 and had a good full year to go to school before the mission. Well, that summer I broke up with a girl and then all my friends moved away to college. I went to the local school and failed nearly every single class. I got deep into porn and word of wisdom issues. I fell into a deep depression that lasted until I was 20.

Luckily I was able to pull out of it and got myself on a mission. If I could have gone at 18, I can only imagine how much further in life I would be now. I would have been able to start school at 20 without having to retake all of the failed classes instead of at 22 with a full year of retakes. That's 3 years down the shitter not to mention the sin I dealt with.

I can't say I would have been free from issues if I had gone at 18, but I think they would have been less.

[Paperback Writer]

A concern I have as a parent of several YM is how will universities not familar with LDS students deal with college admissions. Usually, a student can obtain a leave of absence from a university if he is in good academic standing. So taking a break after the Freshman year usually works out. But how will college admissions deal with a student who gains acceptence to a competitive university? Will they allow for a deferral? I see a potential porblem when a student works hard for 4+ years to get accepted at an excellent university only to put that on hold and go on a mission instead.

Also, I have concerns that if a male student elects to enroll at a university and attend college 1-2 years before serving a mission; his home ward or LDS circle of family friends will assume he opted to go to college instead of serving a mission.

Overall, I think it's good that an 18-year old HS graduate is given more flexibility. I worry about how State U (non-Mormon west universities) accommodate it and how attending college pre-mission will be viewed by LDS culture at large.

On a personal level, one of my son's is already starting to worry about this. His goal is to attend Rice U. or Carnegie Mellon U. and he's already worrying that his Bishop will tell him to go on a mission right after graduation. If those universites don't allow for an enrollment deferral, he might feel guilty for attending school pre-mission.

But the 19-year age would continue to work well with femal missionaries. Maybe the COB is just better accommodating YW college education