Online Proselytizing: A Preliminary Report From Provo Missionaries

[smac97]

So the Church has deployed online missionary work in a few missions (four at present, I believe), one of which is the Utah Provo Mission. On Sunday our ward received a presentation from two missionaries about how this is working out. Here are a few snippets I thought might be of general interest:

1. None of the online missionary work being done by the missionaries in our mission is the cyber equivalent of tracting. That is, missionaries are not randomly contacting people online. Instead, they are talking to referrals from Church members, prior acquaintances of the missionaries, etc. Facebook is used quite a bit, and missionaries are encouraged to use their pre-existing Facebook accounts.

2. The two elders who spoke to us mentioned that two of their investigators who have baptism goals have been meeting with missionaries exclusively online. One is a young woman from New York City and the other lives in Hawai'i.

3. The elders said that one big impediment to online missionary work is . . . missionary guilt. That is, missionaries in the field today grew up online and using Facebook for fun. Having grown up hearing stories about missionaries facing adversity (you know the drill: "Why, I remember tracting ten hours a day for two weeks straight, and we only made three contacts..."), the missionaries are sort of resistant to the idea of spending time on Facebook. The specific counsel they have received from the trainer from the Church Missionary Department was: "Get over it."

4. The elders described how missionaries are now no longer bound by geographical boundaries, how they can teach anyone living anywhere, and how this may be a partial fulfillment of Matthew 24:14 ("And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.").

5. The elders said that the Utah Provo mission previously averaged about 800 lessons per month mission-wide. Since the advent of online missionary work, the number of lessons per month has increased to about 2,300 mission-wide.

It was an interesting and exciting presentation.

Thanks,

-Smac

[Rivers]

Very interesting. Do they access the internet from their apartment or somewhere else?

[smac97]

Very interesting. Do they access the internet from their apartment or somewhere else?

I do not believe they have Internet access at home. But there are many places they can go for such access (including any LDS Church building).

Thanks,

-Smac

[Senator]

2. The two elders who spoke to us mentioned that two of their investigators who have baptism goals have been meeting with missionaries exclusively online. One is a young woman from New York City and the other lives in Hawai'i.

 

 

One would assume that the investigators are in contact with members of the church in their respective areas? That they are attending meetings etc..

[strappinglad]

I am looking forward to a virtual church. I can sit in front of the computer in shirt and tie and...pj bottoms.

[Avatar4321]

That is an interesting report. I'd love to know more about the work they are doing.

[smac97]

One would assume that the investigators are in contact with members of the church in their respective areas? That they are attending meetings etc..

Yes. Inter-mission cooperation will be important. But even more than that, the local wards will be called upon to step up and work with fellowshipping investigators and new members.

Thanks,

-Smac

[Rivers]

I do not believe they have Internet access at home. But there are many places they can go for such access (including any LDS Church building).

Thanks,

-Smac

So no proselyting in pajamas.

[rockpond]

So the Church has deployed online missionary work in a few missions (four at present, I believe), one of which is the Utah Provo Mission. On Sunday our ward received a presentation from two missionaries about how this is working out. Here are a few snippets I thought might be of general interest:

1. None of the online missionary work being done by the missionaries in our mission is the cyber equivalent of tracting. That is, missionaries are not randomly contacting people online. Instead, they are talking to referrals from Church members, prior acquaintances of the missionaries, etc. Facebook is used quite a bit, and missionaries are encouraged to use their pre-existing Facebook accounts.

2. The two elders who spoke to us mentioned that two of their investigators who have baptism goals have been meeting with missionaries exclusively online. One is a young woman from New York City and the other lives in Hawai'i.

3. The elders said that one big impediment to online missionary work is . . . missionary guilt. That is, missionaries in the field today grew up online and using Facebook for fun. Having grown up hearing stories about missionaries facing adversity (you know the drill: "Why, I remember tracting ten hours a day for two weeks straight, and we only made three contacts..."), the missionaries are sort of resistant to the idea of spending time on Facebook. The specific counsel they have received from the trainer from the Church Missionary Department was: "Get over it."

4. The elders described how missionaries are now no longer bound by geographical boundaries, how they can teach anyone living anywhere, and how this may be a partial fulfillment of Matthew 24:14 ("And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.").

5. The elders said that the Utah Provo mission previously averaged about 800 lessons per month mission-wide. Since the advent of online missionary work, the number of lessons per month has increased to about 2,300 mission-wide.

It was an interesting and exciting presentation.

Thanks,

-Smac

 

Thanks for sharing that info.

 

I'm intrigued by #1 and #4.  Not too long ago I listened to a podcast interview with an RM sister who was part of the church's Facebook pilot program (in Northern California, I believe).  Wish I could remember where the podcast was...

 

But she said that in their pilot program the first step was to DEACTIVATE their previous personal Facebook account and create a new account as "Sister ______" or "Elder ______".  She even commented that by the end of her mission she had made so many good friends through her Facebook proselyting that she decided to drop the "Sister" title from her missionary Facebook account and keep it has her new personal account.

 

She also said that they were to confine their Facebook missionary work to the geographical area of their mission because that's where they were called to serve.

 

Anyway, I'm sure they could have changed things since the pilot (which was probably a year or so back) but I thought that distinctions there were interesting.

[Damien the Leper]

Thanks for the info, Smac. This is an interesting way of doing things. I hope it proves effective.

[Tacenda]

Yes. Inter-mission cooperation will be important. But even more than that, the local wards will be called upon to step up and work with fellowshipping investigators and new members.

Thanks,

-Smac

This might explain why my ward has called several people as WML's. Very unusual.

[Mola Ram Suda Ram]

4. The elders described how missionaries are now no longer bound by geographical boundaries, how they can teach anyone living anywhere, and how this may be a partial fulfillment of Matthew 24:14 ("And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.").

5. The elders said that the Utah Provo mission previously averaged about 800 lessons per month mission-wide. Since the advent of online missionary work, the number of lessons per month has increased to about 2,300 mission-wide.

It was an interesting and exciting presentation.

Thanks,

-Smac

I had never considered this. Truely the gospel is being spread to all the ends of the earth. Well if you have internet anyway and a government that doesn't regulate everything.

[cdowis]

1. I assume that some geographic areas are still restricted -- mainland China, Israel, Saudi Arabia, etc.

 

2. Give missionaries contact cards including their email and Facebook accounts that they can hand out when tracting.

 

3. Members can give referrals of their former business associates,or other contacts from their address book, as well as Facebook contacts.

 

4. How about Linked.

[Sleeper Cell]

I had never considered this. Truely the gospel is being spread to all the ends of the earth. Well if you have internet anyway and a government that doesn't regulate everything.

 

 

At the same time, the missionaries will be teaching a lot of NSA people

[smac97]

1. I assume that some geographic areas are still restricted -- mainland China, Israel, Saudi Arabia, etc.

Good point. Don't forget North Korea. However, I think it's hard to totally regulate Internet communications (I think only North Korea's incredibly repressive regime has substantively succeeded at such regulation).

2. Give missionaries contact cards including their email and Facebook accounts that they can hand out when tracting.

They are already doing this. There is also a square with a computer code (kind of like a barcode) on the contact cards which you can photograph and it will take you straight to their Facebook page.

Thanks,

-Smac

[smac97]

The elders also mentioned one other benefit to this: The Church has begun calling missionaries who are staffing call centers and online chat lines 24-7. Many (most? all?) of these missionaries have physical impairments or other issues which prevent them from serving a traditional mission. However, their work consists almost exclusively of teaching people the Restored Gospel.

In other words, online missionary efforts represent a significant new opportunity for church members who have previously been unable to serve missions.

Thanks,

-Smac

[rockpond]

The elders also mentioned one other benefit to this: The Church has begun calling missionaries who are staffing call centers and online chat lines 24-7. Many (most? all?) of these missionaries have physical impairments or other issues which prevent them from serving a traditional mission. However, their work consists almost exclusively of teaching people the Restored Gospel.

In other words, online missionary efforts represent a significant new opportunity for church members who have previously been unable to serve missions.

Thanks,

-Smac

 

That is a really great benefit of this!

[cinepro]

Thanks for sharing that info.

 

I'm intrigued by #1 and #4.  Not too long ago I listened to a podcast interview with an RM sister who was part of the church's Facebook pilot program (in Northern California, I believe).  Wish I could remember where the podcast was...

 

But she said that in their pilot program the first step was to DEACTIVATE their previous personal Facebook account and create a new account as "Sister ______" or "Elder ______".  She even commented that by the end of her mission she had made so many good friends through her Facebook proselyting that she decided to drop the "Sister" title from her missionary Facebook account and keep it has her new personal account.

 

She also said that they were to confine their Facebook missionary work to the geographical area of their mission because that's where they were called to serve.

 

Anyway, I'm sure they could have changed things since the pilot (which was probably a year or so back) but I thought that distinctions there were interesting.

 

 

Here's the podcast:

 

http://mormonmatters.org/2013/07/01/180-mormon-missions-take-to-facebook/

 

It goes into some great detail, and I have to say I didn't "get" the whole Facebook-missionary thing until I heard this podcast.  It's really good.

[Stargazer]

Good point. Don't forget North Korea. However, I think it's hard to totally regulate Internet communications (I think only North Korea's incredibly repressive regime has substantively succeeded at such regulation).

 

In North Korea's case, the poverty rate there is such that the only people with computers are the leadership, anyway.  And yes, even those folks have a hard time getting out of the country.

They are already doing this. There is also a square with a computer code (kind of like a barcode) on the contact cards which you can photograph and it will take you straight to their Facebook page.

 

The QR code!

Thanks,

-Smac

 

Just for fun, here's my QR code:

 

But it doesn't go to my Facebook page.  You can find a link to it there, though.

Edited September 24, 2013 by Stargazer

[rockpond]

Here's the podcast:

 

http://mormonmatters.org/2013/07/01/180-mormon-missions-take-to-facebook/

 

It goes into some great detail, and I have to say I didn't "get" the whole Facebook-missionary thing until I heard this podcast.  It's really good.

 

Yeah... my big take-away from the podcast was that their goal was really to engage in chat sessions with potential converts.  The real "work" gets done in the chat sessions which makes sense to me.

[The Nehor]

I can now bore missionaries about how good they have it and how I had to bike to go tracting uphill both ways with dinosaurs nipping at my heels. I sound like a grandpa in my 30s. Great.

[Duncan]

One elder here said if he knew he would be giving church tours, indexing and facebooking he would have stayed home and saved himself 10K!

[smac97]

One elder here said if he knew he would be giving church tours, indexing and facebooking he would have stayed home and saved himself 10K!

That's an unfortunate attitude. The missionaries who spoke to my ward said that online missionary efforts are only part of their daily schedule, and that they still do plenty of "traditional" missionary work.

I suspect the missionaries in my area - Provo - do not tract much. I don't begrudge them that. Tracting is a very inefficient use of missionary time. I'd much rather see missionaries sitting at a computer and talking to someone about the Gospel via text chat or Skype than to see them going door-to-door.

Thanks,

-Smac

[Duncan]

That's an unfortunate attitude. The missionaries who spoke to my ward said that online missionary efforts are only part of their daily schedule, and that they still do plenty of "traditional" missionary work.

I suspect the missionaries in my area - Provo - do not tract much. I don't begrudge them that. Tracting is a very inefficient use of missionary time. I'd much rather see missionaries sitting at a computer and talking to someone about the Gospel via text chat or Skype than to see them going door-to-door.

Thanks,

-Smac

 

 

that's the thing this mission sends home almost as many missionaries as they baptize, which is too bad

[changed]

fb? how many fb friends do they have - and don't all their friends already know the spiel?  interesting. 

 

Are they getting onto any forums? or chatting on youtube vids? patrolling wiki pages and news articles?