While in the Missionary Training Center I got to hear the thoughts of a lot of missionaries as they prepared to go out and teach the world the truths of the Gospel. We were to be the mouth pieces of the Lord's church throughout all kindreds, tongues, and people, and what did we have to say about women, for example?
Nothing especially admirable. As it turns out, the choice young men who were called to serve managed to throw sister missionaries rather easily into a few groups: the sisters who couldn't get married either because they were too ugly or too crazy, and the sisters who could but wouldn't because they were too strong-headed and deviant. The only worthwhile female peers, according to many missionaries, seemed to be those who had either gotten married already or who hadn't given up yet by choosing to go on a mission.
I was appalled not just by the thoughts expressed but by the frequency of these conversations. I tried to dismiss it as typical immature boy talk but I had to recognize that these ideas were coming from somewhere from within the Church. Who's ideas were these missionaries repeating? Who had convinced them of such blatant sexism?
Hopefully the lowering of the age requirement for sister missionaries will help level the social playing field among the Church's missionaries.
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