A Choice

            In the Mormon religion, the opportunity to go teach and serve others has always been important. However, women haven’t been as highly encouraged to serve as men. Why is this? I think mainly because women weren’t given the responsibility to hold the priesthood. That has been reserved for the men. As women, we have the sacred responsibility to bring God’s children into this mortal life, and to nurture them. The church places a heavier emphasis on women getting married than serving a mission.

            During my childhood I knew lots of boys who served missions and even some girls. It wasn’t necessarily uncommon for girls to serve, though the number of female missionaries compared to males was drastically smaller. When the age change happened, I knew that the number of female’s who would serve would jump, but I didn’t anticipate the expectations that followed. Women are encouraged to marry a man who has served an honorable mission. It now seems that men are starting to follow along the same guideline, which I don’t think is quite fair. When President Monson shared the news about the age change, he himself said, “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.”

            When my sister got engaged to her husband, many people that she expected to receive congratulations from instead gave condescending and negative feedback to her husband for choosing a partner who hadn’t served a mission. As our prophet himself has stated that women aren’t under the same expectations as the men, why does the rest of our culture seem to think that they are? People need to understand that while we are equal in terms of legal rights, we aren’t equal in terms of responsibilities. While I can share the good news with other people, I can’t ever bring it to them in fullness without the priesthood, which I don’t hold, and I never will.