Saturday, October 6, 2012
19?!?!
I am still giddy inside about girls being able to serve missions at 19. All of a sudden it just seems so much easier to be a woman in the church.
Now girls can go on mission at 19, have great spiritual experiences to take with them for the rest of their life, come home, get married, have the option of a big family at a decently young age without having race against the biological clock. What about their education? That was the one benefit, to me, of having girls wait till 21. But this inspired church is totally on top of that with its Pathways program so that even if a guy or girl comes home quickly and decides to jump into family, they don't have to be at an educational disadvantage.
I love that the future women of the church can have it all: a mission, a big family and an education.
Okay, okay, they can't really have it all because the church policy on polygamy is unchanged so Stephen is still all mine. ha!
Stephen and I have been talking all day about the implications of this for BYU, singles wards, and the church in general. To me, it feels like the church has finally spread its wings and is off the ground. I can't wait to see what happens in the church in the next 10, 20, 30 years when so many more girls have had an opportunity to be missionaries.
Personally I love the way life worked out for me. When I came home from my mission, I knew it had been good for me, but it is only now coming up on 5 years of being home that I see how much I would have been missing had I not gone---#1 on that list would be Stephen. I realize that some girls are already mature and serve in other ways so it's not necessary. But oh, a mission full of difficulties, joys, successes and relationships make a nice little marathon for any soul.
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6 comments:
I remember you hoping your parents would be called as mission presidents so you could go on a mission at 19. As soon as the announcement was made Carlos said, "A lot of young men's [and women's] plans have changed all of a sudden!" It's nice to give young adults more options in planning their lives, freedom to leave sooner if that's what's right for them. Of course, if the policy had been in place when I turned 19, I probably would have gone on a mission and wouldn't have met Carlos when I did.
Well written Rachel! We also have been talking a lot about the new young missionary age announcement. I would have gone at 19 if I had the chance. But at ages 20 and 21 I was too afraid to go - so didn't serve my mission until I was 22. It will be fun to see more sister missionaries over the next years.
I, too, am pondering about the difference this will make: both in transition (surge of missionaries) and what it will mean to have an increase of sisters in the mission field. Sisters were such a great part of the moving the work forward in the mission.
Oh...and I'm sure we will see more mission romances (Elders and Sisters meeting on their missions and getting married after their missions ;)
I know, Joseph and I are so excited and already planning Elle and Hyrum's new future:). My sister is also deciding now since she's 19, what to do now! I, too am glad that life turned out so I could serve a mission and still find Joseph, almost finish my education, etc..but now it will hopefully be easier and I know families and the church will be blessed by more moms with a mission experience for sure!
Neal and I talked about the changes and their implications all day too. That same day I had also looked at the new youth curriculum and together I could see that these things mean big changes. Young women's will be so much more focused on mission preparation! When my mom heard the news, she totally cried (not a common occurrence). She had tried to serve a mission as a 21 year old but was short-circuited by a bishop who adamantly opposed women serving. So this change was very meaningful to her. (I am more interested in it from a sociological/cultural perspective since I did not want to serve a mission at 19 or 21 :)
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