It always seems to happen at the most inconvenient times -- a knock at the door that interrupts supper with the family. On the other side of the door is a gangly, smiling Mormon missionary in a white button up and a black tie ready to share a special religious message.
Savanah Smith, now known as Sister Smith, and other female missionaries around the world are changing that stereotype. In 2012 when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lowered its age requirements for females from 21 to 19, the number of female missionaries grew to 23,000, nearly triple from before.
Sister Smith is finishing her mission in Regina where out of the 24 missionaries, four are female.
“People are very kind here,” Smith says. “Especially to us – I don’t know if they’re not kind to other people. Maybe it’s because we’re girls.”
There are over 80,000 missionaries in the world today. Sister Smith has a cousin in Fiji, and friends in Montana, Brazil and Bolivia. When Smith opened her call letter in September 2013 she didn’t exactly know where she was going to spend the next 18 months of her life.
“I had never been to Canada and to be very honest, I had no idea what Winnipeg was or where it was,” she said laughing.
Smith was called to the Canada/Winnipeg mission which covers parts of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Minnesota. Since December 11, 2013 Smith has served as a missionary in Saskatoon, Winnipeg and is finishing the last stint of her mission in Regina before it ends on April 29.
“It was really crazy because the first thing everyone started saying was, ‘You’re going to die! It’s so cold there,’” she said laughing. “When I arrived I was very surprised, not pleasantly, by minus 40. As I got off the plane in Winnipeg I said to myself, ‘This is not OK.’ It’s cold in Utah but not like this.”
From American Fork, Utah, Smith was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before her mission, she spent three years at Brigham Young University studying theatre.
When Smith was eight, her parents divorced and their involvement in church dwindled, but she continued attending on her own.
“It brought peace to my life. My parents stopped going and I could see the difference. They were going through a divorce and other things which made life hard enough. I could see that their life had only become harder since they left church because they were no longer getting help,” she said. “They had to do things on their own and it was painful to watch, so I didn’t want that.”
While most of her family still did not accept the church, Smith’s mother began to attend regularly after remarrying.
Smith’s step-father is a Christian, but was not a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Smith says his conversion to Mormonism is what inspired her to become a missionary.
“I was 17 and we all met with missionaries every single week for several months and I watched my step-dad get taught the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that is when I decided I was going to serve a mission because it changed my family,” she said.
“He was humbled and was turning to God more at that time which allowed for his heart to be softened and brought a lot of blessings ... the missionaries really changed a lot for my family and so I knew then that that was what I wanted to do for other people,” she said.
With just over a month of her mission left, Smith says that she’s been able to do exactly that.
“I love these people so much,” she said. “As far as the response to a message about Jesus Christ, even those people who aren’t interested, which there are a lot of, are still always kind to us. They always commend us on wanting to do good and wanting to spread love. It’s been a really wonderful place.”
Smith and her companion Sister Ashley Tomkinson spend 24 hours a day together. They share a phone, a car, and sleep in the same room.
“I have a twin sister so I guess the Lord prepared me for this. Maybe he knew I was going to go on a mission some day so he gave me a twin to prepare,” said Tomkinson, originally from Orem Utah.
“Sister Smith is really, really wonderful. She’s one of my best friends,” she said. “The main thing that helps us get along is that we have the same desire. We came out here for a reason. It wasn’t for anybody else but for us and the Lord ... we have felt joy and that’s what drives us. That’s why we get along so well. We work well together because we have the same goal.”
The missionaries live together in an apartment paid for by the church. They have a prepaid card that is credited with $200 every month which is used for laundry, groceries and other necessities.
They live on a strict schedule which means they are up by 6:30, studying scriptures until 10, and spreading the word of the church and giving lessons until curfew at 9:30.
Smith says that during their mission, they are “100 per cent focused to serving others and inviting them to come unto Christ,” which means that anything that doesn’t fulfill that purpose is prohibited.
“Things like movies, radio, recreational sports, any type of entertainment in general, we don’t participate in. We don’t date, we don’t travel outside our area. No swimming,” said Smith.
They are able to email their families once a week and are allowed to Skype with them twice a year which is on Christmas and Mother’s Day.
“I thought it was going to be hard for me, but to tell you the truth, it has not been hard at all,” Smith says.
Since she has left on her mission, Smith says that every member of the family have become heavily involved with the church.
“It’s the best blessing ever. I told my mom that I wish I would have gone on a mission a long time ago and that I don’t want to go home because there have been so many good things that have happened since I left.”
