October 2012 Announcement

At the general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in October 2012, a historic announcement was made that lowered the minimum age of missionaries from age 19 to 18 for men and from age 21 to 19 for women.  Here is the announcement given by President Thomas S. Monson:

For some time the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have allowed young men from certain countries to serve at the age of 18 when they are worthy, able, have graduated from high school, and have expressed a sincere desire to serve. This has been a country-specific policy and has allowed thousands of young men to serve honorable missions and also fulfill required military obligations and educational opportunities.

Our experience with these 18-year-old missionaries has been positive. Their mission presidents report that they are obedient, faithful, mature, and serve just as competently as do the older missionaries who serve in the same missions. Their faithfulness, obedience, and maturity have caused us to desire the same option of earlier missionary service for all young men, regardless of the country from which they come.

I am pleased to announce that effective immediately all worthy and able young men who have graduated from high school or its equivalent, regardless of where they live, will have the option of being recommended for missionary service beginning at the age of 18, instead of age 19. I am not suggesting that all young men will—or should—serve at this earlier age. Rather, based on individual circumstances as well as upon a determination by priesthood leaders, this option is now available.

As we have prayerfully pondered the age at which young men may begin their missionary service, we have also given consideration to the age at which a young woman might serve. Today I am pleased to announce that able, worthy young women who have the desire to serve may be recommended for missionary service beginning at age 19, instead of age 21.

We affirm that missionary work is a priesthood duty—and we encourage all young men who are worthy and who are physically able and mentally capable to respond to the call to serve. Many young women also serve, but they are not under the same mandate to serve as are the young men. We assure the young sisters of the Church, however, that they make a valuable contribution as missionaries, and we welcome their service.

When Collin heard about this change, he immediately began to contemplate how it affected him.  He had been planning most of his life to follow in the footsteps of his dad, and recently his brother Tayler in serving a 2 year mission.   This change effected his plan considerably, as he had thought he would attend BYU for a semester or year before his mission.  As the months wore on, and after he turned 18, his desire grew even stronger, and he decided he would serve as soon as possible.

He had many end of the school year and summer activities to accomplish such as graduation from high school, seminary graduation, his Eagle Court of Honor, his senior piano recital, a multi-stake dance festival, a high adventure replacement-Camp Helaman, and a family reunion.  He submitted his application papers in May, and 2 weeks later he received his call-just prior to his high school graduation.  We were all amazed at how fast the call came, and that his earliest availability date was chosen--August 14.

Collin's mission call letter.

His mission president and wife.

Since his determination to serve his mission early, Collin has been focused on preparing himself mentally and spiritually.  He attended months of missionary prep classes which were held at 7 AM Sunday mornings once a month.  He attended seminary daily before school and took every opportunity to help out our local ward missionaries, and he served as a youth ward missionary.  Of course he attended to his personal scripture study and study of the Preach My Gospel manual which is used in the mission field as well. After his call came, he began studying Spanish by reviewing lessons that he downloaded to his phone. 

As parents, it was hard to let him leave early because we will miss him so much.  However, we are so confident that is prepared and ready to serve.  He has a firm testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, he is a responsible person, and he's been doing his own laundry since he was about 10!  We know he can handle himself!  It will be a growing and defining 2 years for him, and it will be invaluable for his life.  That said, we are missing him already.  He has left an empty spot in our daily life, but not in our hearts. We know God will bless him and us as he serves his mission.  All will be well.

We are looking forward to those weekly emails, and we will be posting them here for you to read.