Missionary changes
I was sitting with my daughter Miriam in Sacrament meeting on General Conference weekend (that's how we do it in Australia - we watch conference the week after it is held in Salt Lake), when Bishop Sandford made the announcement about the changes to the required ages for missionary calls. (See here for the official announcement from Church headquarters.) In a nutshell - boys can now go when 18 years of age and girls can now go at 19. Miriam leaned over to me straight away and said something like "Dad, I can go now!" Well, not now, she is only 15, but it now means she can plan to go when she is 19. Like many young women in the Church, missionary service has been seen as something that the boys do, and the girls sort of want to do but don't want to wait till when they are old - 21! I was so glad to hear this news. Both the announcement and Miriam's reaction to it. I have seen girls leave the Church too often in those last teen years. The focus in Young Women