Missionary 'work'

I was speaking with a friend here who used to be teach at the University of Florida. In his "Religion and Politics" class he assigned his students to choose a religion and research how political it was, etc. Well, someone chose the "Church of Latter-Day Saints." The student wrote the following:

Young Mormon men spend two years abroad in the missionary position.

His next sentence:

Mormon women spend 18 months stateside in the same position.