Missionaries send/receive emails from friends

I'm not sure where else to put this. But I have been hearing from several people that the Church is now allowing missionaries to email friends not just family. The most recent version of the Missionary Handbook just said family and mission president.

Would this be a mission specific change or a general church change?

More likely its the missionary not following the rules.

neverssw wrote:Would this be a mission specific change or a general church change?

The exact rules tends to be mission-specific.

Gary_Miller wrote:More likely its the missionary not following the rules.

I have heard from four different missions that there has been a change, but I have not been able to find anything specific as of yet.

I am still looking for an official source, but missionaries from four different missions around the world have told their parents about this.

If you want a definitive answer, my suggestion would be to have your stake president contact his area authority or the local mission president (he meets with both in a coordinating council). One of them should have the answer.

Still unofficial, but I have heard from two more missionaries who independently said their mission presidents have raised their allotment of email time each week to allow for emails to friends in addition to their weekly email home to family. Both are outside the country on different continents.

I do not know if this is a new policy or just a trial policy to see how it works. The latest two missionaries have reported restrictions (an elder is not allowed to email a woman who lives in the mission boundaries, for example). There are still time limits, but they have been extended so that friends do not compete with Mom. It seems to be coming as instruction from mission president to missionary. I am certain mission presidents are not doing this on their own initiative.

I wonder if this is seen as an opportunity for missionaries to share the gospel with many of their friends who are not yet members. That seems to me to be the best reason for a policy such as this one. But I still have so much yet to learn.

lajackson wrote:I wonder if this is seen as an opportunity for missionaries to share the gospel with many of their friends who are not yet members.

Or to encourage members to go on a mission.

...or moving away from a "Law of Moses" approach on this particular matter. (Teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves... or something like that.)

I'm disappointed that people automatically assume missionaries are disobedient and don't give them the benefit of the doubt.

Search this on Google and you'll find tons of missionaries blogs with the exact same wording.

Missionaries are to write to their families each week and are also authorized to communicate by email with friends, priesthood leaders, and new converts. Mission presidents should allow sufficient time on preparation day for missionaries to write emails and letters. While in the mission field, missionaries should receive authorization from the mission president before entering into communication, including via email, with converts and others of the opposite gender within the mission boundaries.

In case you want more proof... from a currently serving Mission President: http://lovellsinargentina.blogspot.co.u ... olicy.html

lincolncoe wrote:I'm disappointed that people automatically assume missionaries are disobedient and don't give them the benefit of the doubt.

I would note that there was exactly one post in this whole thread where one person assumed that missionaries might not be following the rules. Everyone else was helpful and/or supportive of the benefits of such a change. So I see no reason for disappointment. And even in that one case, let's follow your advice and give the author of that post the benefit of the doubt