“France Lyon Mission!” announces 19-year-old Jennifer Receveur (’18), holding back tears. Gathered in a Heritage Halls lobby in early December with roommates, friends, and family—some via cell phones or video chat—she was finally able to tear into that impossible-to-open big white envelope, a freshman rite of passage traditionally enjoyed only by males. Receveur was sitting in the Conference Center on Oct. 6, 2012, when Church President Thomas S. Monson made the announcement lowering the mission-eligible age to 18 for men and 19 for women. She immediately thought, “That’s me! I have to go!”
Receveur wasn’t alone in starting her mission papers right away—many of her 19-year-old female classmates have already received their calls. “It’s such a blessing that they changed the age,” Receveur says. With a French last name and five years of French under her belt, Receveur thinks France is perfect for her—“I couldn’t see myself going anywhere else.”
Photography by Bradley H. Slade (BFA ’94)
