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New Dress Guidelines for Missionaries


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Wow!

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New looks for some Latter-day Saint missionaries: A blue shirt and no tie

Under the updated guidelines, the standard missionary attire for men of white shirt and tie remains in place but decisions will be made by each area of the church

By Tad Walch@Tad_Walch  Jun 12, 2020, 10:03am MDT
missionary.7.jpg
 

SALT LAKE CITY — The familiar look of Latter-day Saint missionaries is changing.

In some areas of the world elders may begin wearing plain blue dress shirts instead of the iconic white shirts they are known for around the world. They may also go without a tie, according to new exceptions to the dress standards for men serving missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The updated guidelines, announced Friday, reemphasize wearing a white shirt and tie. Suit coats will remain a part of the wardrobe in some areas. But blue shirts and going tieless will be an option where Area Presidencies notify mission presidents that the exceptions apply.

“Missionary attire has regularly adapted over time according to location, style, and custom,” said Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and chairman of the Missionary Executive Council. “These exceptions are a continuation of that process.”

Why change the iconic image for some?

“In all our considerations, we keep top of mind the missionary’s calling to represent Jesus Christ, their health and safety and the cultural sensitivities of the places where they serve,” Elder Uchtdorf said in a news release.

The exceptions were approved by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Read the whole thing.

Thanks,

-Spencer

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12 minutes ago, alter idem said:

It's good they are continuing to make these changes to the dress guidelines, they should keep up with what works and what detracts in different areas of the world, and allow these things to be addressed.

I know the sisters in one area of my mission started to wear white t-shirts with their skits.  If they wore dressy blouses then they didn't get in doors because everyone thought they were social workers.  

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13 minutes ago, Rain said:

I know the sisters in one area of my mission started to wear white t-shirts with their skits.  If they wore dressy blouses then they didn't get in doors because everyone thought they were social workers.  

We had problems in certain areas of my mission with the elders being mistaken for FBI.  My husband, who served in England, had the same problem once in a sketchy area, where some guy chased them through the streets because he thought they were after him as law enforcement.  Different areas need different styles of dress.

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1 minute ago, bluebell said:

We had problems in certain areas of my mission with the elders being mistaken for FBI.  My husband, who served in England, had the same problem once in a sketchy area, where some guy chased them through the streets because he thought they were after him as law enforcement.  Different areas need different styles of dress.

Okay. You helped to convince me.  I'm now open to an exception allowing full-time missionaries to wear a blue shirt with no tie on their P day, like when they go to a laundromat to wash their clothes, and when they go out to eat, etc.

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1 hour ago, smac97 said:

Wow!

Read the whole thing.

Thanks,

-Spencer

This interesting in light of the advancements in communication/social media. When I was a missionary "way back when" some were instructed to wear jeans due to the rough terrain.Less due to cultural mores I imagine, but we seem to have appropriately (no pun unintended) interpreted "language" (as "all the language" in Mosiah 9:1; Mosiah 24:4-7; Alma 29:8; ) more broadly to include the cultural factors mentioned in the article.

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3 hours ago, CA Steve said:

I am totally against this. How we look is important! We need to be instantly recognizable, in fact I think that in addition to requiring white shirts for all missionaries we should also require black ties. In fact I am so concerned about this I will be out in front of the MTC this evening with my protest sign: 

#blacktiesmater

 

Who is with me?

Jokes intended to minimize and mock the outrage and emotional reaction over systematic murder are distasteful.

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5 hours ago, smac97 said:

“In all our considerations, we keep top of mind the missionary’s calling to represent Jesus Christ, their health and safety and the cultural sensitivities of the places where they serve,” Elder Uchtdorf said in a news release.

How is wearing a white shirt and tie insensitive to some cultures?

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4 hours ago, bluebell said:

We had problems in certain areas of my mission with the elders being mistaken for FBI.  My husband, who served in England, had the same problem once in a sketchy area, where some guy chased them through the streets because he thought they were after him as law enforcement.  Different areas need different styles of dress.

With the blue shirt they might be mistaken for lawyers. That might be worse than law enforcement. 😁

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15 hours ago, theplains said:

How is wearing a white shirt and tie insensitive to some cultures?

“…cultural sensitivities of the places where they serve”, and / or, in other words, more “down to earth”...

 

 I’ll never forget the scene of hundreds of people trying to help in the aftermath of one of those huge earth quakes in Chile, their clothes soiled by the rubble, and in the middle of that chaos, bingo, missionaries and one area ‘70, all very formally dressed in their suits, white shirt and tie… “Are you here to help or to watch us help…?” shouted one of the helpers.

It made me wonder, and I felt bad for the missionaries but not for the’ 70...

 

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14 hours ago, CA Steve said:
18 hours ago, The Nehor said:

Jokes intended to minimize and mock the outrage and emotional reaction over systematic murder are distasteful.

Says the king of distasteful jokes.

Yes, it is important that the "narrative" be maintained in the proper context.  

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22 hours ago, bluebell said:

We had problems in certain areas of my mission with the elders being mistaken for FBI.  My husband, who served in England, had the same problem once in a sketchy area, where some guy chased them through the streets because he thought they were after him as law enforcement.  Different areas need different styles of dress.

In Central America some thought we were CIA or FBI. In some ways that was good because they left us alone. Before I went there, dark suits and hats were required, the people called the missionaries “Los Zopilotes.” In the San Blas islands near Panama, elders wore jeans and t-shirts and often went shoeless.

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1 hour ago, theplains said:

Can you give an example why a white shirt and tie does not make sense in any one particular culture?

San Blas islands near Panama. Tiny islands inhabited by the Cuna people. Very hot and humid, grass huts, elders helped with fishing and banana crops, had to travel in canoes, no one on the islands dressed in white shirts and ties.

Edited by Bernard Gui
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