LDS Church Releases Video Detailing First Sister Missionaries

The Church released a video last week entitle “This Grand Opportunity” as part of the LDS.org Church History site detailing the history of how and when women were first called to serve missions.

Following the remarkable announcement back in October 2012 that the eligibility age for women to serve missions had dropped from 21 to 19, the number of sister missionaries has exploded. The number of missionaries grew from 58,990 at the end of 2012 to 83,035 by the end of 2013. But as the video states, not many know that the work of sister missionaries began with one valiant woman who went to England to do some Family History work.

Elizabeth McCune’s dedication to the truthfulness of the gospel of Christ and her love for missionary work and the people of England helped to pave the path for thousands of sister missionaries who followed after her. The video quotes Joseph W. McMurrin of the British Mission Presidency regarding Elizabeth and other sisters, saying, “There have been instances where our sisters cheerfully arose in our meetings and bore testimony to the truth of the gospel. Their very presence does a great deal toward removing prejudice from the mind’s of people.”

As the missionary work of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to move forward with greater strength, this video reminds us of the powerful work that the sisters of the Church have contributed to the Church throughout its 184 year history. We celebrate the efforts of our missionaries all over the world and are extremely grateful to them for their dedicated and faithful service.