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I find that I have a tendency to get too easily caught up in “stuff”–and i really don’t like being this way. I feel like I am questioning a lot of things—I really want answers, but I don’t want to let myself get too uptight and worried about things before I find an answer or an explaination—and I really don’t want to come across as a trouble maker. I have adrenal insufficiency (hypopituitarism) and hypothyroidism, along with numerous endocrine issues, and part of the condition makes me overly sensitive to things.
My most recent pondering is the new missionary age. It seems like so many people have jumped on boys being able to go at 18 years old, after they have graduated from high school—but they seem to not have heard that in almost the same sentence, it was also said that not every young man will be ready for a mission at 18.
My daughter is 18 and graduating in may. The kids are at the end of the year when it is already a struggle not to slack off of their grades and their work—and our school does some ridiculous senior project, besides their regular classes, as if so many kids don’t already have enough to do!!
My daughter is telling me that there are a lot of boys at school that already have their mission calls. It seems to me that having a mission call, and preparing for a mission during the last few months of your senior year of high school would be somewhat distracting from getting the last of the high school requirements done.
Are the rest of you seeing this same trend in your high schools? Am I concerned about something that is not that big of a deal?
My son will turn 18 at the start of his senior year—but I certainly hope he will work for the summer after he graduates to help earn some money to pay for his mission—which would put him going on his mission at about 19.
As a leader I stress that they should not feel pressure to go at 18 and that it is absolutely ok to wait a year or two longer if needed. How not to get caught up in “stuff”? Be aware of the tendency and work to recognize it when it happens. As for the mission age, I remind people that President Monson and Elder Holland both said 18 should NOT become an expectation. Many members are going to make it one, I know, but it’s another case of going beyond the mark. I simply would repeat exactly what has been said by the leadership – that it now is an option but is not intended to be the new norm.
Sorry about the health issues you are dealing with. Health issues can make handling other situations more stressful. I’m a convert so the whole mission thing seems so foreign to me. If I someday end up lucky enough to have a son who wants to go on a mission at 18, I’d be pretty happy. When I was 18 I just wanted to go to college and party, which I did.
My only concern about missions are how they could delay a young mans education and career. I don’t want to have to support an adult child. That scares me.
Best of luck to you and your son!
18 was the norm outside the US before this change due to their graduation age differing from the US. Plus many nations have compulsory military. It definitely should not be the norm. I wish they would also allow women to choose 2 years instead of 18 months if they choose, or to move them all to 18 months.
Ray—-I did not remember them saying it was not intended to become the new norm. I wonder if everyone will calm down a bit, after all the initial excitement of the new ages being told, and not be quite so anxious to get their boys out the door as fast as they can once high school is out? Old-Timer wrote:As for the mission age, I remind people that President Monson and Elder Holland both said 18 should NOT become an expectation. Many members are going to make it one, I know, but it’s another case of going beyond the mark. I simply would repeat exactly what has been said by the leadership – that it now is an option but is not intended to be the new norm.
I left for the mission when I was 20 ½ and turned 21 in my first area. I believe that my extra maturity was an asset to my MP in feeling confidence in the assignments that he might give me. I was “pushed” to serve by my bishop, my HT, and various YW (but never immediate family). It wasn’t until all the pushing died down that I was able to analyze my own feelings on the subject and decide that I wanted to go. I believe the fact that I was self directed to serve a mission also helped me to be a better missionary.
hawkgrrrl wrote:18 was the norm outside the US before this change due to their graduation age differing from the US. Plus many nations have compulsory military.
It definitely should not be the norm. I wish they would also allow women to choose 2 years instead of 18 months if they choose, or to move them all to 18 months.
Totally agree.
Military service + missionary service is a long time. Someone could be away three or four years doing both of these.
I went at 19 almost immediately after my birthday. I was far from ready to cope with a mission. Of course if I had waited I never would have gone. It is somewhat of a tragedy that we send men and now women into the system right at maybe the most critical time of their lives.
My hubby and I were talking about this last night. He feels we should be encouraging our young men to go on missions as they are growing up—but that we should not pressure them about going when they get older. I have a son that never would have survived a mission—-I sometimes wonder if it might have something to do with him being totally inactive now. I think the thought of a mission terrified him, and if he was active, he would have been expected to go. I know that the church acknowledges that there are some young men, that for one reason or another, cannot serve a “regular” mission. There are other things they can do to serve instead of a mission, that would be considered just as commendable as going on a mission. i wish this information would be gotten out to the membership of the church a little better. I have read an Ensign article that talked about this, and we also had a member of our stake presidency talk about it to us in Relief Society.
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