Week of Mar 4, #2 The high-tech mission!!

How things have changed in the 40 years since I was a young missionary in Canada!

Cell phones, the internet, and texting hadn't even been though of back then. How did we ever manage? I remember that my apartments in some of my areas didn't even have telephones - so we had to find and use a local phone booth. Try waiting by a phone booth for inbound calls from your elders in the middle of a Canadian winter!!

Now, every set of missionaries has a mission cell phone (the Church has a contract with Sprint for this mission). No land lines. The Church can also monitor the calls to make sure there aren't any going to girlfriends back home. Texting is used very frequently for reporting. The President uses texting to blast messages to all the missionaries, and we usually get several per week. The young missionaries don't have internet access, except in the public libraries, where they can go once on Preparation Day (Monday) to email home. No surfing, just a weekly email.

The cell phones are also used for Mission or Zone conference calls. There is a toll-free number that everyone calls, then a 4-digit call for each conference. These are always fun, and are very effective in getting information to all the missionaries quickly. We have also had devotionals andteaching/training meetings via conference call.

The young missionaries have credit and debit cards that they use for gas for the cars, and food. Each month, each missionary gets a specific amount (about $150) debited to their cards for food for the month. They must use those funds wisely, because when the money is spent, there is no more until the 1st of the next month. They can also monitor expenditures - another Elder Johnson used his card at Pizza Hut, and I got a call asking for an explanation.

Since the senior missionaries pay all of our own expenses, we don't get any of these cards - we use our own funds. I have a couple of personal cards designated for these expenses. We had the chance to use a mission phone, but I didn't want to pack around another phone and have another number, so I turned it in and am using my personal phone (801/557-1178 for anyone who would like to call me). ATT service is pretty poor here, especially in our apartment, so I got a Vonage phone that is VOIP on our internet (801/447-5060 for those of you who would like to call us).  Diesel for the Jeep Liberty is our biggest single expense - we put on 4200 - 5100 miles per month.


We have internet (but no TV, we could if we wanted, but decided against it) - Sis Johnson and I each have our own laptops, and I have an iPad. Not only can we stay in touch with the world, but we have access to the Church's websites (lds.org and mormon.org), and can get teaching materials and videos, and download profiles and other materials. 40 years ago, I could not even imagine carrying a device no bigger than a notebook that I could show videos on, and get real-time resources downline - all I had then was a flannel board and a filmstrip projector!

There are really very few "rules" for senior missionaries. The thinking is that if we haven't learned diligence and obedience by this time, there isn't must hope for us anyway. We have very little supervision, so we make our own plans and set our own schedule. This does provide the flexibility we need to help out in 3 congregations, as well as the community service we are doing. It's nice to know that the Church takes advantage of the latest technology to assist in this great work.