Latter-day Saint Woman Promoted to Chaplain in Air Force Reserve

A female member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has become a military chaplain.

Sierra Larson, of Brandon, Florida, was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and chaplain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve on August 23.

Larson served in the Church’s Dominican Republic Santiago Mission, earned masters’ degrees in social work and divinity, and is a licensed clinical social worker specializing in trauma. She serves as stake Relief Society president in the Church’s Brandon Florida Stake. She is married to Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Larson of the U.S. Marine Corps and is the mother of three children.

Larson says it is an honor to serve as a female chaplain and represent the Church in the military, which she believes is no different than being a disciple of Jesus Christ and representing the Savior in all times, things and places.

“Being a chaplain gives me access to serve in ways I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise, but I am always representing the Church in everything that I do,” Larson said. “I think having female chaplains is important because of our ability to reach those who may not have felt comfortable going to a male chaplain for whatever reason. Women bring their own unique gifts and talents to the fight and that only makes the chaplain corps stronger.”

Larson is part of a growing field of Latter-day Saint female chaplains. U.S. Army Chaplain Dawn Dimick presented research on chaplaincy work of early Latter-day Saint women at the 2023 Chaplain Training Seminar.

Larson reflected on her journey to become a chaplain in a recent interview with the Church News.

Read more in this related Church News story 1st day of 2023 Chaplain Training Seminar celebrates history of female chaplains

Testimony and Conversion

Larson considers her testimony and gospel conversion to be two different things.

“My testimony is when I knew these things to be true, and my conversion was when I decided to do something about it,” she said.

A lifelong member, Larson’s testimony began to grow at a young age. She has always believed in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, but a significant turning-point came at age 14 when her Chicago, Illinois, ward youth group traveled to the Sacred Grove historic site near Palmyra, New York.

“I remember being there and feeling the Spirit and just knowing that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ,” she said. “I was like, ‘This is true. This is absolutely true.’”

Despite her understanding, Larson said she was not fully committed to the gospel until she experienced her “conversion” years later.

As a young single adult in her early 20s, Larson attended a meeting with Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the area of St. Louis, Missouri. At that point in her life, Larson knew she had a role to play in the Church but felt confused about how to start.

When attendees were invited to ask Elder Bednar questions during the meeting, Larson raised her hand and asked, “Our generation has been told that we are going to do this great work — amazing things — but where or how do we start?”

Elder Bednar’s response was something Larson felt she already knew — he told her she needed to “be a good girl” and blessings would come, among other things, she said.

“This was exactly what I needed to hear,” Larson said. “This was a chance for me to be in front of an Apostle and feel uncomfortable versus being in front of Jesus and feeling uncomfortable. I was like, ‘Oh, I have time, I can change.’ So that’s what I did. I am going to strive to be better.”

Years later in October 2022, Larson attended the Church’s Chaplain Training Seminar in Salt Lake City where she and hundreds of Church-endorsed chaplains listened to remarks by President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency.

After the meeting, Larson met and shook hands with President Eyring. This time she felt ready to be in the presence of a senior Church leader.

“I remember being able to look him in the eye and feel comfortable and confident, which was a stark difference from meeting Elder Bednar,” she said. “It was humbling to know I wasn’t the same person as I was before. I had the reassurance that Christ changes hearts and souls.”

Becoming a Chaplain

With a natural interest in counseling and therapy, Larson was led to chaplaincy in the Air Force after receiving the sad news that a high school friend serving in the Army had committed suicide. She had strong desires to help prevent veteran suicide.

When Larson first considered the idea of becoming a chaplain, she wasn’t sure women were permitted to hold the position, but felt compelled by the Holy Ghost to learn more. She learned it was possible, and was inspired by Latter-day Saint women like Chaplain Capt. Jenna Carson and Chaplain Dawn Dimick, who were already doing it.

“These amazing women paved the road for me,” Larson said.

She started the chaplain candidate program in 2022. Larson considers it a “miracle” that she was able to afford and earn her second master’s degree in divinity online through Amridge University. During that time she also juggled a family move to Florida, work, school, a pregnancy and a call to serve as the ward Relief Society president.

Additionally, Larson spent time at two military bases as part of her chaplaincy training, which provided her with “many rich and amazing experiences.” She ministered, participated in several funerals, assisted with end of life care and performed other chaplaincy duties.

“It was baptism by fire,” she said. “I learned a lot in a short amount of time.”

What she learned helped her serve as ward Relief Society president. “I wasn’t really sure how to be a Relief Society president, so I decided to be a chaplain for them, and it’s worked out just fine,” she said.

Looking back, Larson can see the Lord’s hand in her life.

“The Lord was with me and helped me bear those burdens and helped me through these like really hard things, one after another, that we were going through, and allowed me to serve and have this capacity that I have never had before on my own,” she said. “People would say, ‘Sierra, I don’t know how you do it.’ I’m like, ‘Neither do I.’ But it was glorious. It was absolutely a miracle.”

‘Armed’ for the Cause of Christ

Larson has not been afraid to defend the Church on social media.

In a Facebook post last March, she shared her views on serving as a woman in the Church.

“We as women in the Church haven’t even tapped into a fraction of what we are capable of doing,” Larson wrote. “My hope is that as we build our faith and utilize the gifts we already have, we will begin to realize that we have everything necessary to accomplish any work the Lord asks us to do.”

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Larson was recently inspired when reading Alma 54 in the Book of Mormon, where in verse 12 Nephite leader Captain Moroni writes to Lamanite king Ammoron that he will “arm my women and my children.”

“I love the symbolism of that,” she said. “In spiritual warfare, the enemy is trying to attack and hold captive women and children everywhere. ... Women are being called to take up arms in this spiritual war, and I am just blessed to be a part of it, one of those women that I feel He has truly armed with spiritual power to serve and fight for the cause of Christ and spiritual freedom and defend that.”