Word: mormons
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Long before he ever dreamt of attending Harvard. Eric Carter '84 had his sights set on being a missionary. Raised as a devout Mormon. Carter was guided by his father's example, not in his choice of colleges, but rather in his decision to drop everything and go out converting souls...
...images of civilized, altruistic Christians devoting their lives to instructing ignorant tribesmen in the rudiments of modern medicine. Others think in terms of the colonial exploitation of an economically dependent Third World. But negative stereotypes do not daunt the Church of Latter-Day Saints, popularly known as the Mormon Church, which currently boasts a missionary population of 32,000-35,000 youths...
...Alan Parrish of the Harvard Institute of Religion explains that the church uses missions as a means of spreading the gospel and as an invaluable learning experience for missionaries. Young Mormon men are strongly urged--but, contrary to common belief, are not required--to fulfill a mission when they are between the ages of 19 and 26. Nearly all of them do, and Harvard undergraduates are no exception. Of the 50 to 60 active Mormons in the College, virtually every male spends two years as a missionary after his freshman or sophomore year...
Until several months ago, the Church was conspicuously mute on the issue of female missionaries. This silence sheds light on a fundamental tenet of Mormon gospel. Marriage and child-rearing are extolled both as a sacred duty and as the source of great personal fulfillment, and the average age at marriage among Mormons is considerably lower than the American national average. To be female and to spend one's marriageable years as a missionary, therefore, was tacitly to admit one's lack of suitors--and, by extension, one's failure to fulfill the highest purpose of any Mormon...
Very recently, with the mean age of newlyweds rising in Mormon communities, the Church has begun to encourage its young women to undertake missions. It remains to be seen whether the policy shift will have significant effects. So far, only a very few Harvard women have served as missionaries...