Full-time LDS missionaries’ traditional way of knocking on doors to preach the gospel has evolved to include the use of Facebook and other social media in the mission field, reports LDS Church news.
The LDS Church declared on June 23 during a worldwide leadership broadcast in the Marriott Center at BYU a change in the use of technology to teach people about the church. In his talk at the broadcast entitled “Missionary Work in the Digital Age,” Elder L. Tom Perry, of the Quorum of the Twelve, said the Internet is the “new frontier of missionary work.”
“During less-productive times of the day—chiefly in the mornings—missionaries will use computers in meetinghouses and other Church facilities to contact investigators and members, work with local priesthood leaders and mission leaders, receive and contact referrals, follow up on commitments, confirm appointments, and teach principles from Preach My Gospel using mormon.org, Facebook, blogs, email, and text messages,” Elder Perry added.
Joyce Perez, who is serving in the Utah Provo Mission, updated her status last month saying she would be using her Facebook account throughout her mission. “Please understand that this is the Lord’s work. I will only use Facebook for gospel-related activities,” she said.
Some past and future missionaries shared their thoughts on the innovations made by the church leaders to make sharing the gospel more effective. Ashley Cox, a junior in biology from Arizona who is planning to serve a mission next year, said, “I think it is an amazing way to spread the gospel. More likely [people] will see something on Facebook that interests them. It can help missionaries keep up with how their investigators are doing.”
Cox said seeing scriptural messages from missionaries on Facebook uplifts her. “I know looking at Facebook and seeing those posts about quotes from scriptures always affect me. It is an age where technology is big and almost everyone has social media of some sort. It can help you connect to those you are teaching,” she said.
Yu Tzu Lin, a sophomore in social work from Taiwan, said she didn’t use Facebook during her mission but had tried mormon.org to share the gospel. “It is really amazing that a lot of people actually like the website. We shared the clips on the website and people loved it. We had quite a bit of investigators who got baptized or wanted to have lessons because of mormon.org.”
Both Cox and Lin said Facebook can also be distracting if not use properly by missionaries. “I think Facebook might be a good tool, but it also contains a lot of temptations to missionaries,” Lin said.
“As long as the missionaries have the right intentions and focus on their mission, it will be a great help in the work,” Cox added.
Church leaders reminded members that the use of digital methods by missionaries would only be allowed in some designated mission areas for the rest of this year said mormonnews.org.