Sister missionaries in all LDS missions can now wear pants
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Jacob Klopfenstein, KSL.com
SALT LAKE CITY (KSL.com) — Sister missionaries now will be able to wear pants in all missions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, church officials announced Thursday.
Sister missionaries will now have the option to wear dress slacks in all 407 missions across the world, according to an emailed statement from church spokesman Daniel Woodruff. The new rule for dress standards takes effect immediately.
The change is mostly motivated by concerns over the safety of the missionaries, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, a member of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, one of the highest governing bodies of the church, said in the statement.
“As we adapt these standards, we always carefully consider the dignity of the missionary calling to represent Jesus Christ, the safety, security, and health of our beloved missionaries, and the cultural sensitivities of the places where they serve,” Uchtdorf said in a statement on Newsroom, the church’s media website.
Bonnie H. Cordon, Young Women general president and a member of the Latter-day Saint Missionary Executive Council, elaborated on the changes for sister missionaries in the statement.
“There are a lot of vector-borne diseases because of mosquitoes and ticks and fleas,” said Cordon. “This helps the sisters to prevent any of those bites or at least minimizes them.”
Sister missionaries in roughly half of the Church’s missions have previously been wearing dress slacks during the wet seasons to help protect them from mosquito-borne viral diseases such as dengue fever, Chikungunya, and Zika. This latest change will allow all sister missionaries to do so year-round, based on their own discretion.
“This is truly optional,” said Cordon. “The sisters can wear dresses, they can wear slacks, whatever will help them in their service as they’re out amongst the people.”
The First Presidency, the top leaders of the church, approved the dress changes, Uchtdorf said.
This article was originally published by KSL.com. It is used here with permission.