Aging

“I’m 96 years old—I’m too old!”

As they approach later life, Latter-day Saints share many concerns with people of all faiths, such as financial planning, maintaining good health, and future association with family and friends. But some things are unique. Latter-day Saints live longer and have a different set of values than people of other faiths, which impels them toward a more active life of service and personal development. The high value they place on family life also makes a significant difference. Finding fulfillment in later life will depend on a number of factors, several of which are within our own volition. As we “embrace the future,” with all its opportunities and challenges, we should remember with Longfellow that “age is opportunity no less Than youth itself, though in another dress.”1

For many retired people, serving a senior mission can sometimes seem a distant dream, but recent changes to missionary service put this goal well within the reach of many couples. And no matter what your age, if you want to serve a senior couples mission, you can start preparing for it now. Read on to find out how.

It has sometimes been said that newer is better, but let’s celebrate the older parts of our Church—past and present.

After a highly successful 15-year career, LDS pitcher Jeremy Guthrie announced his retirement today. But his groundbreaking, historical firsts as an LDS pitcher in the MLB and how he demonstrated his faith will continue to inspire others.

My editors say I often bury the lede in my columns.

The start of a new year provides a great opportunity to look at your retirement accounts, whether you want to increase your contributions or simply begin to build your savings.

It’s July of 2003, and the track is nearly deserted. Only Mark Dangerfield braves the scorching Arizona heat, running lap after lap after lap.

Wayne Kimball, a retired BYU professor, is a master of a dying art form known as lithography. His work has been exhibited in all 50 states and throughout Europe.

Every day the Utah papers have their obituaries section, but notice the ages. The leading cause of death in Utah, by far, is old age. And most of those dying are well into their eighties and nineties.

Greater life experience does not always equate to complete confidence in one's abilities to serve. Nerves often set in for those preparing to serve. The good news is there are many things prospective senior missionaries can begin doing now in preparation to serve.

The types of missionary experiences available to seniors are as diverse as the people who fill them. Options exist both at home and abroad, in the field and at Church headquarters, for long periods of time or for a few hours a week. If the options seem overwhelming, here’s a simple list of 10 mission opportunities for seniors. Learn more about these opportunities by visiting LDS.org.

Just save $300 a month. It's a challenging number, since few of us can find an extra $300 a month without some effort and sacrifice. But it’s doable, and it's enough to make a real difference in your nest egg by retirement.

There is a great need for more senior missionaries, but a few myths about serving have kept some senior members from signing up. Learn the truth behind what it takes to be a senior missionary:

The other day I was chatting with a girlfriend in another state, and she happened to mention an 80-year-old woman in her ward who is the Young Women’s President. It reminded me of another senior sister I knew, with the same calling, who surprised the teenagers in her ward by going to their Mutual pool party—in her 80s—and doing a perfect jackknife off the diving board. Granted, she had been on the swim team in college, but they hadn’t known that.

I am turning thirty this week. Really. Finally. And I haven’t dreaded it at all. I don’t fear wrinkles. I’m not scared of being older than I have been. I like to think I am the type of person to embrace it. I like myself ever so much more at thirty than I did at fifteen, nineteen or twenty-three. And I am beginning to realize why. I know myself better now than I did then. At one point I dreaded aging because I was afraid of being unsatisfied with myself. I feared that I would reach a milestone and only see what I hadn’t done, what I wished I would have done, and felt miserable at the waste of time. How I should’ve taken those art and guitar classes I have always wanted to. I could’ve gone to graduate school, learned to crochet, and gotten over the asthmatic anxiety that snorkeling gives me. I didn’t do any of those things.