For Sister Littleford and Sister Boyle, serving a mission is
about bringing the light of Christ to others.
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| Littleford, left, and Boyle, right, decorate for a Nativity at the church on December 6th. |
Littleford and Boyle are representatives of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They go by the title “Sister” as a
reflection of their belief that all human beings are brothers and sisters in
Christ.
They do have first names, however. This is just a title they
adopt for the 18 months that they will labor for their faith in the mission
field in the Bowling Green, Ky.
“In our church we believe we are all brothers and sisters,
because we are all spirit children of our Heavenly Father, and so it’s just
kind of a church term,” Boyle said.
Family is an important aspect of their value system, and
this shows in the relationships between the 14 missionaries assigned to work in
the Bowling Green area.
Missionaries in their church (often called the LDS church
for short) are usually around college age.
Men, called Elders instead of
Sisters, are eligible for missions at 18 years old and women at 19 years old.
This is new, since in October 2012, church leadership
lowered the age of eligibility for missionaries, previously 19 years old for
Elders and 21 years old for Sisters.
The change drastically increased the number of missionaries
in the field, jumping from 58,000 to 80,000 just within the past year,
according to Littleford and Boyle.
These missionaries are all over the world, in almost every
country, “doing the same thing we do here in Bowling Green,” Boyle.
Serving a mission means different things in different
religions, but for the LDS church this means
spending time away from home
sharing their beliefs with others through service, proselyting and fellowship.
The Elders are well known around Bowling Green, wearing
white shirts and ties and often riding bikes around town, Littleford said. But
“[people] are actually shocked to see Sisters in the area.”
The Sisters wear skirts or dresses, and both genders will
wear a black name tag with the name of the church emblazoned in white. They
have this dress code so they can keep a professional appearance and show
respect for their mission.
“We, as missionaries, are representatives of Jesus Christ,”
said Boyle. “We try to act our best and behave our best and dress appropriately
as well, because we’re representing Him and we don’t want to look sloppy.”
The Elders are on their mission for two years, while the
Sisters serve 18 months. They have the same schedule and purpose, but approach
their work differently.
All of the missionaries see each other frequently — almost on
a daily basis — and help each other when they can.
“That’s one of the greatest things about the mission—you
have such a great support system of peers your age who believe the same things
and are all striving for the same goals,” Boyle said.
The family dynamic is important both as a member and as a
missionary. The Elders are like “brothers to us,” Boyle said.
Sometimes Littleford and Boyle playfully refer to their own
relationship as “mother and daughter,” as Littleford was helping to train Boyle
how to be a missionary when she first arrived. This terminology is part of the
worldwide missionary culture and reflects the bonding of each as they go out in
the world to teach about their faith.
“She’s training me, actually,” Littleford said jokingly.
The first 12 weeks of a mission are spent in training, and
there is much to learn.
Each missionary must learn techniques of how to share their
message effectively, as well as the guidelines of the mission.
There also is a set of standards or rules meant to keep the
missionaries safe, Littleford said.
The guidelines include a schedule for each day, which begins
at 6:30 a.m. They are allotted time to exercise for 30 minutes, then an hour
for breakfast and preparation for the day.
They will spend an hour on personal Scripture study,
followed by an hour of companion study. The Sisters enjoy having that time to
share insights with each other, which has helped them grow personally and
spiritually.
“We’ve learned a lot together,” Boyle said.
If a missionary is learning a new language, they will spend
another hour studying that language.
Once all morning preparations are finished, they go out and
“get to work,” Littleford said.
This includes finding people to teach, teaching at
appointments they have already made, doing service, visiting members of the
church that need help, and looking for general ways to help people.
Curfew is 9:30 p.m. Then they will plan their next day’s
schedule and are in bed by 10:30 p.m.
They will repeat this schedule until the end of their
mission, Littleford said.
The guidelines are mostly for safety, said Littleford. The
Sisters believe it is important to follow these rules so they can be effective
missionaries.
“We’re putting apart these 18 months to serve the Lord
wholly and completely, and so it’s just a small time in our life where we
follow these rules and guidelines that makes it worth it,” Boyle said.
They have breaks during their day for meals, too, but those
vary based on their schedule. Monday is
preparation day, or P-day, as they call it. This day gives them a chance to do
their laundry and clean, meet with the other missionaries for recreation, and email
their families back home.
Both happen to be from Utah, but stressed that missionaries
come from — and go to — almost every country in the world.
They are allowed to contact their family once a week through
email and call them twice a year, but can handwrite letters back home to
friends and family even more often.
Being away from home can be hard, Boyle said. “But it would
probably be more hard if you talked to them all the time, because it distracts
you from what you’re doing and it would make you more homesick.”
Boyle is from a small town in Southern Utah and Littleford
is from Cedar City, Utah.
They are a part of the Nashville, Tenn., mission, which
covers much of Tennessee, parts of southern Kentucky and part of eastern Illinois.
Both of them love being in the south. “People [here] are so
hospitable and friendly,” Boyle said.
“We love it in Bowling Green,” Littleford added.
None of the missionaries are being paid for what they do. In
fact, most of them are funding their entire mission on their own. The LDS
church has a fund in place to help those who cannot pay for their whole
mission.
These costs include paying for the designated missionary
apartment. Many missionary pairings also receive a cell phone or car to share
between the two of them. Because costs of living vary around the world, the
missionary fund allows each missionary to pay the same amount, worldwide.
“You try to fund as much as you can from yourself or your
family, and, if a missionary wants to serve, there’s a lot of members who are
willing to help them out,” Littleford said.
For Boyle, coming on a mission was a way to give back to God
for what He has done in her life. Her first year of college was hard.
“I really had to rely on God a lot,” Boyle said.
Though her first year of college was so difficult, she felt
really grateful to God for helping her through it and wanted to give that
service back to him.
“I can never pay him back, but… [I wanted] to devote this
small time of my life to serving Him, and that’s why I decided to go,” Boyle
said.
Littleford added that to go on a mission is a choice. For
young men, it is a responsibility, and they are more strongly encouraged to
serve. But for girls, it is a choice, one that they both were excited to
make.
“I know what kind of person I want to be when I get home,”
Boyle said, and going on a mission has helped her along her way to becoming the
person she eventually wants to be.
They have learned many practical skills, as well, such as
social and communication skills as they go out and teach.
They also have learned to study better, Boyle said, as they
study Scripture every morning. This will help Boyle when she returns to college
after her mission.
The mission has given them the chance to learn to live on
their own, far away from home. Living with a companion has also given them many
chances for growth.
Littleford has had “so many good experiences” living with a
companion, because it has allowed her to learn about other people and their background.
“That in turn helps you learn about yourself, your strengths
and weaknesses,” Littleford said.
Her mission also has taught her that she can handle
difficult things in life.
Even though their mission is hard, it is only temporary.
Soon, they will return home to school, work, dating and family.
“When we go home, we go lead normal lives,” Boyle said.
If learning how to be a missionary was an adjustment,
learning how to be back at home will be difficult, too.
“[It will] probably take a while to adjust back to normal
life,” Boyle said. “… Hopefully we’ll never go back to the life we lived before
completely. Hopefully we’ll be better people. … [and our lives will be]
enhanced by the experience we’ve had.”
For Littleford, the best thing about serving a mission is
the people she has met. The hardest thing is seeing people go through difficult
circumstances because of choices they have made and not being able to help
them.
The hardest thing for Boyle is facing rejection so
frequently, especially on a subject she is so passionate about.
“There’s a lot of misconceptions about Mormons,” Littleford
said, and this can cause people in the area to be unwilling to hear the message
the Sisters are here to share with them.
“Mormon” is a nick-name given to their church. The LDS church has another book of Scripture
called the Book of Mormon that goes along with the Bible, and part of their
mission is to “add to the faith that Christians here in the south already
have,” said Littleford.
The missionaries’ message is always focused on Jesus Christ,
Littleford said. “We love being in an area where everyone knows about Christ
and loves Him.”
“People here are already very religious and we can share
that common belief with a lot of people,” said Boyle.
Littleford’s advice for those who are unsure about what the
missionaries have to share is to keep an open mind and at least be willing to
listen to their message.
“We’re not trying to force our message on anyone,”
Littleford said. “All we ask is that we get the chance to serve you, to help
your faith grow in Jesus Christ and if you don’t want to hear more, we respect
that, we don’t bother you. But just letting us tell you a little bit about the
church and inviting you to learn more. Don’t be afraid of us.”
Overall, the Sisters are pleased with the experience they
have had here in Bowling Green, despite its challenges.
“My relationship [with] and my faith in God has just grown
so much,” Boyle said.
