I also think it’s interesting how involved these sisters were in missionary work. We hear much about men’s involvement through the first century of the Church’s history, but not as much about the women.

You wrote: “In 1899, Mission President E.H. Snow concentrated on large cities where permanent branches could be established.” What sort of documentation supports your reading of President Snow’s intent?

I observe a similar pattern in the Central States Mission (some years later). So far, I’ve found a few mentions in missionary and mission president diaries of factors that support the rural-to-urban shift. These include, for example, running out of potential rural converts who haven’t alreay met and rejected missionaries, the difficulties of traveling, the decrease in organized hostility that kept Elders out of cities, and the decrease in emphasis on purse-less and scrip-less preaching. However, I have not found any record of explicitly “strategic” thinking wherein someone lays out the pros and cons of rural vs. urban work and concludes that efforts should focus on cities. If President Snow did so, it would move my research along.