So LDS Inc came out with their big Hastening the Work program a few months back along where missionaries were supposed to devote a significant amount of their time ONLINE. Does anyone have any first hand accounts of how they are doing, what its like and any possible online interactions with mishies trying to recruit?

Are they just lurking on FB trying to strike up awkward conversations with members and non-members about taking the discussions? Any feedback from the members? non-members? It doesn't seem like they would have enough work to do just by bugging "friends" on FB? Does anyone have any better insight as to what EXACTLY they are doing on the internet? I guess I just don't get it and I don't understand how they could be occupying the bulk of their time with online networking.

I saw two of them chatting up a young guy they seem to have accosted on the sidewalk yesterday in the bitter cold and snowy afternoon in South Salt Lake. He looked like he couldn't wait to get away from them. I felt sorry for each of them.

This was a few or more years ago, and I don't know if it's still there.

I did it for the lulz. I got a whole lot of Hinkleyish responses before the missionary got someone else on the chat. It was still amusing.

Then I grew up. ;-)

Here in the UK they're blitzing areas with missionary cards with there own mobile (cellphone) numbers on them. Pushing them through letterboxes and waiting for the phone calls to come in.

My sister got one so I made a phone call to an Australian missionary serving in Tamworth. I said, "Since you say it's best to find out about mormonism by asking a mormon, why did Joseph Smith marry other men's wives? Said he didn't know and would try and find out if it's true. He sounded shocked. Hope I've owed a seed.

In Tamworth NSW?

I told him(?) that I'm mixed race and asked them about blood atonement and why my grandfather wouldn't have gone to heaven. I asked him why my brown skin was a curse and if being a Mormon would hurt my son's self-esteem.

I didn't get too many answers.

Oh fsck, thats my neck of the woods. Not had a card through the door yet

I saw them cycling down Fury's Ferry Road in Martinez, GA, the other day, bundled up in cold rain. Who wouldn't want to just hang out on-line?

See my post about Friday mishie visit. I saw to 2 mishies walking down a busy road at dusk Thursday. I almost wanted to stop and offer them a ride.

There's too many missions in our area, to many mishies, no one to teach, and they don't have anything to do.

Or so it seems... Epic fail!!!

My Cuz is currently on a Senior Mission, alone, in Carolina.

She called me last week. Discussion turned to FB. She has never been on FB. She said the MTC for Senior Mishies did not require them to have a FB account.

Her MP in Carolina is forcing her to have a FB page.


Sounds like a desperate move...

Missionary online work is about making "friends" and answering the questions that come up. It is not giving the discussions. they try to get people to that point to agree a meeting with the local mishies.
they're simply dooropeners.
They work with recommendations from other members - therefor they post in church related groups to ask for it. Also they should join other christian groups or even disease related groups (cancer etc) to post their testimonials, start up a post with disguised morgstuff and get in contact with people and then starting inboxing them.
They usually spent up to two or three hours a day on the Internet mostly around lunchtime, and there after.
They also were allowed to have Skypeconversation with onlineinvestigators. But only with their comp together. only once a week for about 30-45 minutes.
Actually Rules say that when they write with someone their comp should sit beside and watch his actions. And comp should know the password. (also their prez - changing it unauthorized brings trouble)

My Boyfriend was one of those. So reality was they checked in in library in the morning or using public free hotspots with their Ipads and usually spent their whole day online - but not proselytizing just lurking around, flirting with some girls, playing candy crush or poker and checking youtube.
My BF had about 800 "friends". 300 or so other missionaries, then the RM's, 200 members, friends/family (contacting them was officially not allowed they were in list to see the great joy and progress missionary works bring) Rest: contacts, who accepted the request. only corresponding regularly and actively with roundabout 5- 10. 2 were okay with meeting the local mishies, deleted and blocked him thereafter....smashing the door the virtual way.
He left the field three weeks ago. After 18 Months. And gave in his resign letter last Monday.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2014 10:44PM by newnameabigail.

Best punchline never.
Please get him to post here.

The missionaries that chat with people on mormon.org spend all day online. They're called as technology missionaries. I'm guessing this is only part of their mission though...like the temple square missionaries...

No they are regularly missionaries as well. They spent 2-3 hrs each day on social media and also on mormon.org. And there are special called missionaries. only a few, mostly elder or otherwise not "useable" ones. But most of them are doing this during their regular volunteer work.
I have regular contact with some sisters from London and of course Santa Rosa.

I really hope my BF will share of his experiences here. but now he needs some time to sort things out, recover a little. He is still very exhausted and sometimes even like a posttraumatic. but things will getting better. day by day.

Ugh, it's all just so fucking sketchy for a religion. Feels like a sales group. Going through sales training for a job brought back a lot of MTC and zone conference memories.

It is nothing more than this. $ale crap for gold. not only to potential victims of this fraud but also to this little boys and girls. One Mission, respectively some zones from it, hold recently a 3 day camping trip with mishs just to "encourage them" to work harder on their goals. (okay actually they rebrainwashed them and set them straight back on course - but who cares it was a camping trip - a little distraction from alldays business and slammed doors)
We feel so sorry for those kids. In so many ways....

both of my cousins, a brother and sister, are both on missions at the same time. They use face book. the male is posting everyday on facebook about trying to save people and lead them to God. Nobody makes any comments on his post. He only gets about 3 likes. I just think there is too many missionaries, and they are desperately trying to keep them busy..


It really makes the Mormons are trying to sell something. It is too corporate looking. I don't see any advertisements for other churches saying and "I'm Baptist"

I think it's giving the people the wrong idea about the Mormons and will be a negative impact.

Did he actually use the term "save people"? Seems to me that term was not used in the past among Mormons.

Oh God, I wish I had one of these phone numbers, so I could join in the fun.

I have so many questions for the Mormon missionaries, but they never seem to leave me with any contact information, whenever I talk with them on the street. It's almost as if they never want to see me again.

phonenumber?

simply go to Facebook and search for elder .... or sister/hermana they are all displayed with temple in background or book mormon in hand profilepics. and their "about me" usually says I am a representative of T$CC I am a happy jerk bla blah. sent them a friendsrequest and go for it.

I talked to a couple of them recently about being a transgender woman in a lesbian marriage. I wanted to know how to get excommunicated so they have to at least get their hands dirty with all this homophobia they preach.

They were befuddled.

The two sister mishies that visited me handed out cards with NO CONTACT INFO on them whatsoever, only www.lds.org.

Probably because I told them a few things they didn't know.

Maybe they write their phone numbers for those few actual investigators they encounter who are allowed to call them back.



Ana

Not sure if there's some sort of online program or what, but where we just moved from (a pretty rural area in the mid west), I would see literally 3 different sets of missionaries at library for a few hrs daily. I know this because we didn't have internet or TV right before we moved and I saw them in there a few days in a row around the same time. I was shocked there were 3 different sets for that area.

Missionaries should be warned their online presence will be checked out by future employers and legitimate universities. They are hurting themselves more than they know. TSCC doesn't care if your missionary efforts damage your professional reputation. Mormons pretend it enhances your professional image. Even as a TBM I thought it was a joke whenever someone put their mission on a resume and I block people out of my professional network who mention affiliation with TSCC at all (like a guy who put his calling as Bishop on his work experience). Maybe only a problem outside the morridor.

They chat with individuals that come to mormon.org. Then they ask if they can teach you the discussions via phone, skype, or Facebook. I doubt that they've had much success...they probably get more people just messing with the mishies than they get people that are actually interested. There was someone on RfM that said they were one of the very few "internet converts". They obviously quickly left the church after being baptized.

My nephew is on his mission and he has very little to do and apparently spends quite a bit of time alienating FB friends. He contacted a sister missionary and had her call my 19YO away at college daughter to test the waters. It went well according to the missionary who posted the results on her mission blog. The girl reports back to my nephew who thinks it's a "miracle" and then tells the entire family about it and then contacts the missionaries near where my daughter lives. The sister mish sends a friend request to my daughter, and she accepts. The family is so excited about the prospect of converting my daughter that they are doing the fasting a praying thing now.

So how do I know the backstory? My daughter reads her cousins mission blog, and in turn tracks down the sister mish who contacted her and reads about herself on that blog. Then she found the local missionaries and they, too are writing on their blog about the new prospect they have all because of the "miracle" of referrals or something. It's been going on now for several weeks and my daughter has been keeping a keen eye on the happenings and conniving all of the missionaries are doing. Needless to say, DD is totally creeped out over the whole thing and is mad that all these missionaries, plus cousins, uncles, aunts grandparents, etc., are all in on the stalking and creepiness. She has absolutely no intention of every having anything to do with TSCC but doesn't want to pop any bubbles, or at least yet. The missionaries have been by her apartment but she will avoid them for now but may soon confront them with the blogs and information she's gathered.

If the prospects and investigators had any index that all this crap was going on behind their backs, they would run like hell and tell everyone about the cultish behavior.

If this is what they have in mind by using social networks, then it's a total failure and it will backfire on them soon. Probably when some prospect takes the emails and messages to court to get a restraining order!