ON SHARING THE SCRIPTURES OF THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS

NO TWO post-secondary plans are the same. Some high school graduates head straight to a four-year university, some opt for trade school or community college and others take a gap year to travel or work — but students like Palo Alto High School senior Allison Dayton are called to embark on religious missions.

Dayton is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — a faith colloquially known as Mormonism — and she plans on serving an 18-month mission after her first year of college.

The Church of Jesus Christ defines a mission as a “period of volunteer service… when Church members devote themselves part-time or full-time to proselytizing, humanitarian assistance or other service.”

Missions are generally 18 months long for women and 24 months for men, and are spent serving at one of the Church’s hundreds of locations across the world. According to the Church, 36,639 members embarked on a mission in 2021.

Men and women are allowed to start their missions at ages 18 and 19, respectively, meaning members often spend a year at college before departing.

Though this may disrupt what many perceive as the “normal” four year college path, schools with large Latter-day Saint populations like Brigham Young University offer a flexible calendar with courses throughout the year to accommodate stu-