Missionary Age Change - More Practical Consequences

[_Stormy Waters]

I think women will also be worse off because of the change. I think you you can safely predict that more women will serve a mission. Women before had roughly three years of independence before they had to decide. Some women right out of high school will decide that they are going to serve a mission at 19. They may go to school for a semester or two. Perhaps none. They serve 18 months so they'll be back at 20-1/2. If they marry quickly after their missions and start having kids it will be very difficult for them to finish school.
Anecdotally I've usually seen women get two or three years into school before they get married and oftentimes it serves as an incentive to finish their degree. If they get married with little or no school I think it will be easier for some to call it quits.

[_Harold Lee]

A Mormon mission is just 2 years that a person will miss out on learning how the real world works.

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But to the point of it ... I think it is probably one of the best learning experiences for the individual going on the mission.

I've heard so many times that it's one of the best learning experiences for a young man, but I'm not sure how much I agree with that anymore. I never hear non-mormons say that, because their own children transform into adults when they move out and act/are finally treated as such as well. Specifically within Mormon culture, the change may be psychological. Ie you're not treated like an adult until you're a missionary or RM, so you don't act like it either.

If as a non-mormon you stay out of trouble and do well in college, stay actively involved you'll learn just as much without the adverse side effects of being brainwashed, you'll have a great transformation as well. Many friends I grew up with at a baptist church have great careers, homes, families, and morals, and many other skills. Pound for pound they're doing much better than my Mormon friends and seem very happy.

The other time a Mormon is no longer treated like a child is when he/she becomes a parent and has a child of their own, and to be honest there's a comparable 'transformation' there seen within mormondom. I'd place the effect of transformations from boys to men within two years of door Old Testament door talking about church at least partially a cultural effect within Mormon culture.

[_Drifting]

Speaking of practical consequences...

Saturday was supposed to be about NCAA football for Southern Utah University President Michael Benson.

But news out of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints promptly changed the subject less than three hours before the Thunderbirds’ kickoff against Sacramento State.

Instead of boasting about the mighty arm of quarterback Brad Sorenson, Benson spent the morning fielding questions from trustees and alumni about how reduced ages for missionary service will affect the Cedar City school.

"I had more questions about it than I knew how to handle," Benson said. "We’re in the nascent stages of trying to figure out what policies we can come up with to accommodate them. It will impact our recruiting and scholarship policies."

He also expects a dip in enrollment next semester if many students, who now qualify for Mormon missions under the new policy, opt to leave school. Currently, nearly a fifth of SUU’s freshman class leaves on missions each year.

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