President Monson's Big Announcement!

President Thomas S. Monson, the Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced this morning that the minimum age requirement for Sister Missionaries has been lowered to 19 starting today!!! I had to wait until I was 21 years old to serve a mission. I felt like I wasted three years of my life waiting to turn 21 before I could go on a mission. Yea, I was going to school, at BYU and Snow, but I also had two more years after mission, so I really could have done all my university education after mission if I would have been allowed to go at 19. I really feel like my life started after mission, the really interesting/cool stuff that is. If I could have gone at 19 my life would have started two years sooner. President Monson made a plea 2 years ago for more missionaries. There was a 12% increase in Sister Missionaries! What do you think the increase will be now?

During the press conference, after the announcement during General Conference, Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated, "God is hastening his work. And he needs more and more willing worthy missionaries to spread the light and the truth and the hope and the salvation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to an often dark and fearful world. In the vernacular of the day, this announcement I say to these young people is not about you. It is about the sweet and the pure message you are being asked to bear and the ever greater numbers God needs to bear it." So if you are wondering why change now? This is why. If that statement didn't make the hairs on your neck stand up, it should have. One more step closer to the Second Coming.

One of the reporters asked about earlier Relief Society experience for these future Sister Missionaries. I've thought about that for a while now. The Young Men are expected to help with Home Teaching, so the Young Women should be expected to help with Visiting Teaching too! I also have thought that Regional YW leaders are needed too, especially in areas where there are not as many experienced YW leaders. When inexperienced ward and stake YW leaders have questions, who do they turn to? Their Bishop or Stake President who also have no experience in YW's? There needs to be a intermediate between the General YW Presidency and Stake YW Presidencies. Maybe have the Mission President's wife be the intermediary?

Pictures of me in the South Africa Cape Town Mission:

The seven Sister Missionaries in East London with President and Sister Markus and Elder Christofel Golden (he was announced as the first South African member of the Quorum of the Seventy a couple of weeks after this picture was taken)

Sisters Proctor, Moliga, and I at the East London chapel

Karen and Duane's wedding at the Port Elizabeth chapel

 First time at the Addo Elephant Park outside Port Elizabeth

 Linda's birthday dinner with Sisters Nicolaou and Van Dyke

 Waterfall near King William's Town with Sister Moliga

 Typical African tree, in East London

 Ostrich farm near Paarl

 Making funny faces at Sister Truter

 Teaching English at a township school near Port Elizabeth

 Monster motorcycle in Port Elizabeth with Sister Minster

 Seaview Game Park near Port Elizabeth (btw, giraffes are awesome!)

 Playing cricket at the township school near Port Elizabeth

 Holding baby lions at Seaview Game Park near Port Elizabeth

 Port Elizabeth chapel with Sister Robbins

 At the beach with Sister den Dulk near Port Elizabeth

 President and Sister Armstrong, my first Mission President

Storms River Bridge near the Tsitsikamma National Park