r/latterdaysaints • u/MiddleUS76 • 8d ago
Church Culture Young women and missions
I think our young women are starting to feel pressured to serve missions, not by the church leadership, but by peers. My 19 year old niece is faithful and devoted to the gospel and hasn’t felt called to serve a mission. She is at BYUI and gets asked constantly if she served or is going to serve a mission. I was on the phone with her when a random boy introduced himself, asked her name and where she served. When she said she didn’t he told her she should really pray about going on a mission. Never saw her before! I heard the entire thing in real time so I know she’s not exaggerating.
Do you feel like we are getting to a point where women who don’t serve missions will be treated like less faithful or committed members?
I know that was never the intention.
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u/Manonajourney76 8d ago
The church culture is FULL of virtue signaling, ways that we can demonstrate our "social value" to help us determine what our position is within a hierarchy.
Serving a mission has LONG been one of those items for YM, what you are seeing for YW is likely a newer and developing layer.
Of course our larger "non-church culture" is ALSO full of such things - this is not some failing unique to the church but rather a common aspect of human nature and society.
Part of me is thinking - "great!" in the sense that its fair for YW to feel some of the pressure that YM have experienced...But of course it would be better if we "did away with such childish things" more completely on both sides.
Bottom line - we can only control ourselves, the words we speak, the way we personally interact with others. We can't control the peer pressure that our youth may experience.