The Standard of Truth Has Been Erected

"The Standard of Truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame. But the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, 'till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, until the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah will say, 'The work is done.'"

-Joseph Smith-

There has never been a more powerful statement in terms of missionary work. I have recently heard a rumor that-since the age-lowering announcement made in October-there are more sister missionaries putting in their papers and answering the call to serve than there are currently sisters in the field. HOLY COW!!!! There has never been a better time to be a part of such a wonderful work! I am SO excited to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!

Yesterday, December 8, I along with over 200 other sisters went to temple square in Salt Lake to celebrate the call to serve. It started out as a small group on Facebook to celebrate our calls and connect with our sisters serving in our same missions. That small group has since expanded to nearly 2,000 women! Well, my friend Anna Finneran (Paris, France) had a marvelous idea that we should all get together, take a picture, and send it to the First Presidency thanking them and showing them how grateful we are for out wonderful Prophet, Thomas S. Monson! Soon, there were girls in Rexburg, Logan, Hawaii, and Provo planing to do the same! So yesterday my dear friend Ariel Quarez (Quetzaltenango, Guatemala) and I headed for Salt Lake. We all gathered around the reflection pond and sang "Called To Serve" and it was SO AMAZING! The Spirit was SO strong! It got me even more excited to serve! I also got to see some of my good friends: Kendall Babbitt (Berlin, Germany), Lysje Schmidt (Berlin, Germany), Cisalee Oldham (Los Angeles, California-spanish speaking), and Chelsey Stegelmeier (TBD). 

“Sisters, this is a call to arms, it’s a call to action, a call to arise. A call to arm ourselves with power and with righteousness. A call to rely on the arm of the Lord rather than the arm of flesh. A call to “arise and shine forth, that our light may be a standard for the nations. A call to live as women of God so that we and our families may return safely home. ”

-Sheri Dew-

I also want to add this beautiful account of Sister Katie Palmer, who was in the MTC at the time of the announcement of the age-lowering:

"Ok everybody, I am just going to cut right to the chase. Conference was divine. I wish everybody could have been in the MTC when that announcement was made! All of the missionaries watched conference together in the gym, so every missionary in the Provo MTC was in the same room when the announcement was made about the new age requirement for missionaires. I'm not sure I have ever felt like I was part of a divinely historic moment before, but on Saturday, I did. When President Monson announced that YM could serve at 18, the room exploded with the spirit and we all gasped and had giant grins on our faces. Then, as so

on as he said they had thought about the sisters as well, it got absolutely silent. It was amazing. NO ONE expected the age requirement for sisters to drop so drastically. But when they said 19 yrs old, we all stood and cheered. And I don't mean all of us sisters, I mean all 2500 missionaries in the MTC. It was as if the Spirit flooded into the room and God's army did a war cry because we knew that the biggest and the best, the strongest and brightest of God's warriors had just been called to the ranks. I so wish that every person in the world could have felt what we felt and known what we know. This is the beginning of an epic era. The gospel is going forth to the whole world and no one can stop it. God needs the mothers of His children to be return missionaries, and now that is more possible. Since then I have heard comments like "Every girl I know back home is wanting to serve now." and from one return missionary I met at the temple this morning, I heard that all of the Preach My Gospels are sold out at BYU and the Provo Deseret. I got chills up my arms when I heard that, because it meant that it wasn't just an exciting moment, but that the youth are actually taking action.

I am so proud to be one of God's chosen, going forth to make way for the tidal wave of missionaries coming behind me. The missionaries have the truth and the whole world is going to have the chance to hear it."

Enjoy the video! :)