Music on mission.


SeanButler
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I leave in 13 days to go to the MTC and then to the Nevada Las Vegas West Mission. I've been told that music is allowed on the mission if it is Church appropriate.

What do I use to play the music? Am I allowed to bring headphones? An iPod? CDs?

I know the answer "It varies from mission to mission." This is the answer I usually receive from people when I ask this question. If you have another answer to this question, then that would also be helpful.

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The best answer is: It varies from mission to mission.

The next best answer is: Leave your iPod at home. Don't bring any such thing on your mission. Devote your time, energies, and thoughts to the work before you. Don't allow yourself any such distractions.

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Vort is right. Leave it home. For me, the MTC was VERY strict--no music unless the Mo Tab (I think we couldn't even listen to classical such as Beethoven or Mozart). The mission was more lenient (my mission president was VERY liberal on music).

I had another friend who couldn't listen to anything other than Mo Tab on her mission--not even the Primary songs by the Church.

So, save yourself the hassle and learn to live without music until you get to the mission and find out the "rules." Then your family or friends can send you something to listen to the music.

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Guest mormonmusic
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My mission president had a different perspective. He felt that if it lifted our spirits, and we could pray with it on, we could listen to it. In one area, we had little speakers in the back of our car, which we played at a reasonable volume as we travelled around on our various proselyting efforts. I listened to Bryce Neubert, Afterglow, Kenneth Cope, Lex De Azevedo, Motab, and it certainly helped me stay in a good, spiritual, uplifting mood as we faced various challenges. (No, we didn't hang fuzzy dice from the rear-view mirror!)

Some people took it too far, though, but I was VERY grateful for that mission president who recognized the benefits of music to the soul -- even modern spiritual music.

In spite of this, If I was you, I'd leave your iPod at home. If it turns out it's a viable thing according to your mission president, then you could have your family send it to you depending where you are serving. I only acquired a portable music player when I was on my mission, arriving with only the basics. It's not like you're going camping in the wild -- if you're in North America or other parts of the world there are stores and things you can also buy stuff from.

So, I would go and see what the culture of your mission is, and then make a decision consistent with that mission's rules after you arrive.

Edited by mormonmusic
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I liked EFY-type music on my mission. A little beat to it and still great messages.

I recommend devices that do not require headphones.

What I would probably do, is have an SD card of the kind of music you wouldn't mind playing in front of the Mission President. SD cards are (of course) very small, easily hidden (and lost)... so you can keep a ton of music with you.

If/when you know your rules, you can easily move files to an mp3 player &/or CDs to play in your car (if you get a car) and delete the files that aren't so appropriate.

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Guest FixingTheWrongs

I didn't bring any misic on my mission but others had EFY here to on my mission that I really like to this day, but it is up to the mission president's discretion. Leave the iPod home but bring a few burned CDs if you like. Stuff gets lost easily with all the moves on a mission.

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Last mission call I read, my son's, said that there were to be no headphones. Restricts communication between companions. Small CD player and mission approved music. No IPods, no laptops, no smartphones, etc.

You will love the West Las Vegas Mission. I lived there for seven years. Great Saints live in Las Vegas,

Ben Raines

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This is up the each mission president. I think a lot of mission presidents start out with the "anything that helps you feel the Spirit" guideline for music. If all missionaries used their heads, this would probably work fine everywhere. Unfortunately there are often enough missionaries who abuse this freedom ("I can feel the Spirit listening to rap, hard rock, etc.") that some mission presidents tighten up the requirements to Hymns only, or some other tightly limited selection.

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I leave in 13 days to go to the MTC and then to the Nevada Las Vegas West Mission. I've been told that music is allowed on the mission if it is Church appropriate.

What do I use to play the music? Am I allowed to bring headphones? An iPod? CDs?

I know the answer "It varies from mission to mission." This is the answer I usually receive from people when I ask this question. If you have another answer to this question, then that would also be helpful.

Wait till you get out there, your mission president generally will have some sort of standard of what sort of music you can have.

Our mission president was pretty good about it- it was "You missionaries should already know what music is appropriate. If it does not invite the spirit, it is not appropriate."

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I send LDS music to my elder all the time. Now that he is in a more rural assignment, he plays it in the car. I understand that here in town, they had a CD player in the apartment, so there might be something already there for you. Some of the elders have also had copies of Conference talks on CD.

I don't think you can expect people to be 'on call' 24/7. Everyone needs some downtime so they can rest mentally and physically in order to do the work they have to do. I don't see anything wrong with having appropriate music to listen to 'at home' while they read or attend to personal business before the next day.

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Hi my name is mirkwood, I am a musicaholic.

We had an approved list of music. I thought the list sucked with the exception of one movie soundtrack. I made my music selection on my mission a matter of prayer. HF and I came to an agreement on what was right for me. My mission president and I had a discussion about it one zone conference. His question in an effort to dissuade me from my music choice was to ask, "Elder, do you have any uplifting music?" I asked him uplifting to who? We discussed music some more and he finally came to the same conclusion that I had. Because my choices were not on the "approved" list, he asked that I use headphones so my companions did not have to listen. I told him that I already did for that same reason. What I chose to listen to had been approved for me, nobody else, and I left my companions their agency to choose what they would, without imposing my choice on them.

I made this choice a matter of prayer and made an agreement with HF about some things. I offered dedicated service in exchange for his okay for a broader musical selection (I am a musicaholic). I received personal revelation that this was accepted. I also quickly learned that some of the music I like was not fitting for a mission. I eliminated a number of my favorite bands for two years. I am not sure how I would have made it that long without music. BUT THAT WAS MY EXPERIENCE. Each individual must make their own choices, seek confirmation of the spirit, and then follow it. Had I received a "no" response to my prayers, I would have somehow gotten through those 2 years, but been miserable.

With judgementalism being what it is, I will conclude with this. I worked my butt off, had great success in sharing the gospel and frequently felt the spirit as I worked. I was blessed to be used as a tool by HF and see a number of people grow in the gospel.

Your mission will be what you make of it. Please Heavenly Father, please yourself and be happy.

Edited by mirkwood
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Hi my name is mirkwood, I am a musicaholic.

We had an approved list of music. I thought the list sucked with the exception of one movie soundtrack. I made my music selection on my mission a matter of prayer. HF and I came to an agreement on what was right for me. My mission president and I had a discussion about it one zone conference. His question in an effort to dissuade me from my music choice was to ask, "Elder, do you have any uplifting music?" I asked him uplifting to who? We discussed music some more and he finally came to the same conclusion that I had. Because my choices were not on the "approved" list, he asked that I use headphones so my companions did not have to listen. I told him that I already did for that same reason. What I chose to listen to had been approved for me, nobody else, and I left my companions their agency to choose what they would, without imposing my choice on them.

I made this choice a matter of prayer and made an agreement with HF about some things. I offered dedicated service in exchange for his okay for a broader musical selection (I am a musicaholic). I received personal revelation that this was accepted. I also quickly learned that some of the music I like was not fitting for a mission. I eliminated a number of my favorite bands for two years. I am not sure how I would have made it that long without music. BUT THAT WAS MY EXPERIENCE. Each individual must make their own choices, seek confirmation of the spirit, and then follow it. Had I received a "no" response to my prayers, I would have somehow gotten through those 2 years, but been miserable.

With judgementalism being what it is, I will conclude with this. I worked my butt off, had great success in sharing the gospel and frequently felt the spirit as I worked. I was blessed to be used as a tool by HF and see a number of people grow in the gospel.

Your mission will be what you make of it. Please Heavenly Father, please yourself and be happy.

Ok, my stairway to heaven post was flippant, I admit it. But if you really want to know....what Mirkwood said!

Great post.

-RM

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We had an approved list of music. I thought the list sucked with the exception of one movie soundtrack. I made my music selection on my mission a matter of prayer. HF and I came to an agreement on what was right for me. [...]

I made this choice a matter of prayer and made an agreement with HF about some things. I offered dedicated service in exchange for his okay for a broader musical selection (I am a musicaholic). I received personal revelation that this was accepted.

It is my experience that God never works this way. To approach instruction with a rebellious heart and then to have a bargaining session with God is contrary to my understanding of the order of heaven and of heavenly things.

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It is my experience that God never works this way. To approach instruction with a rebellious heart and then to have a bargaining session with God is contrary to my understanding of the order of heaven and of heavenly things.

In matters of doctrine. Music rules for missionaires are not doctrine.

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In matters of doctrine. Music rules for missionaires are not doctrine.

The doctrine is to sustain the leaders. If they ask you not to listen to music, don't listen to music. If they ask you to wear a pink tie clip, wear a pink tie clip. If they ask you to cut your fingernails every week, cut your fingernails every week. We do not sustain our leaders by deciding we don't like what they ask.

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