 During an August mission conference in Haywood Valley, Chattooga County, Georgia, Standing, along with fellow missionary Matthias F. Cowley, were sustained as the 'traveling Elders' of the Southern States Mission.By April 1879 Standing was the presiding Elder of the Georgia Conference, responsible for overseeing all church affairs in the state.That same month, at a general conference of the church in Salt Lake City, 22-year-old Rudger Clawson was called with seven other men to serve in the Southern States Mission.