Appeal for single sisters along with senior couples to serve full-time missions

Email to Stake Presidency, Aug 8, 2017

Brethren,

You can read the emails below. It reminds me that in all of our efforts to encourage senior couples to serve full-time missions, we may have many single sisters who could and would serve if we only asked them. As you can see, Keli (I home teach her…so I’m very ashamed to say I never approached her about serving a mission) she was waiting for someone to “call” her.

I was so grateful she spoke up at dinner last night. And thankfully she went home last night and didn’t think, “What did I just say?” but her excitement just continued to grow. 

Will you please help me communicate to our stake that the Lord desires more senior members (only couples and sisters are eligible) to serve full-time missions? Just as we expect the wards to willingly to “give up" members to serve in stake leadership positions, I want us to demonstrate the same spirit of freely “giving” by encouraging more and more seniors to serve full-time or church-service missions regardless of their church position. (The Chuck Allens and Scott Hansens were especially good examples of this.)

I welcome all of us prayerfully considering members of our stake to recommend to bishops and branch presidents to help every adult member set a date as to when they plan to serve.

I also encourage all of us in our interviews that we plant a “seed” in everyone’s heart and encourage them to set a date…and, if older, consider serving now.

Thank you,

Crismon

Bishop May,

We had the privilege of having Keli Lowe in our home for dinner along with four missionaries. She shared how much she has wanted to serve a mission “now or in the future, it doesn’t matter.” She just was waiting for someone to “call” her :)

Will you please open an online file for her immediately and instruct her how to begin completing the missionary recommendation? 

Her preference is a humanitarian mission, but she noticed online last night that apparently only couples are called to the humanitarian effort.

What a wonderful blessing this will be for her and our stake!

Gratefully,

PrL

Dear Sister Keli,

Thank you so much for desiring to serve…wherever and in whatever capacity. We have a single sister in our stake now serving at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii and she’s loving it so much (who wouldn’t :) she asked to extend her mission. I think you’ll find you’ll be very pleased with the call you receive, though I will still put in my comments that you desire to serve in a humanitarian service, if possible.

I’ll ask Bishop May immediately to open a file online for you. Then when you log into www.lds.org you can begin to fill out the recommendation form. It’s a very friendly application and once completed, you’ll interview with the bishop and then myself. 

We look forward to helping you on this journey. Congratulations and thank you for your example to others in our stake!

President Lewis

Hello President Lewis,

So, after sharing with you the greatest desire of my heart last night about serving a mission. I came home and looked up mission opportunities for single sisters. The church has no humanitarian, or proselyting missions available to single sisters, which is a real bummer. But I still want to go. Where do I start?

Keli