SALT LAKE CITY – Mormon fans of Girl Scout cookies will soon have more reasons to open their wallets when the doorbell rings. The LDS Church announced that the Girl Scouts of America will now be part of the Young Women’s program.

Some members of the Church, especially girls, are welcoming the changes to broaden the experiences of the Young Women to include more outdoor activity and roles in community leadership.

“Young Men always get to do all the fun stuff like camping, hiking, and canoeing,” complained one young women. “We just sit around and are told how important we are and that we need to prepare ourselves for temple marriage. Why can’t we do cool stuff?”

Without further explanation from the Church regarding its announcement, many members are left confused about the sudden acceptance of Girl Scouts after a long history of disinterest. Many members are even adamantly against it.

One father of two sons and four daughters explained, “You have any idea how much time and money it took to get my boys through Boy Scouts? All the awards, award ceremonies, flag ceremonies, camps, and new US flags every time we burnt one after it touched the ground. Now I’m expected to make that same kind of effort with my girls as well?”

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” commented Bishop Todd Slader. “If Boy Scouts is the activity arm of the Priesthood, then Girl Scouts is the activity arm of what? Motherhood?”

Some local stake presidents have felt it necessary to hold special “firesides” to address the concerns of their members and discuss possible future implications of the changes to their stakes. “Church Leadership remains confident that the Young Men will continue to develop into their role of male spiritual dominance,” defended one stake president, surprisingly undisturbed by the Young Women’s increased exposure to the messages of empowerment, diversity and social activism.

Despite the different reactions within the Church, the Girl Scouts of America has welcomed in the LDS girls with open arms, commemorating the merging with a new shortbread cookie engraved with a woman in a long, flowing prairie dress: the Young Woman Medallion cookie.

The Young Woman Medallion in the LDS church is the award for girls, which has been equivalent to the Young Men’s Eagle Scout Award, given in the form of a necklace. The design was recently changed to feature a temple, but the Girl Scouts Cookie Committee chose to use the former design, a more universal symbol of womanhood.

Starting in October, boxes of the Young Woman Medallion cookies will be for sale. If anything can bring the two camps within the Church together, it may be this scrumptious little calorie bomb. Whether you are pro or anti Girl Scouting, come cookie season, be ready to support your local Young Women. Or at least your taste buds.