Church allows missionaries to call home weekly

[Midwest LDS]

I'm really excited about this. Homesickness was the hardest part of my mission, and it would have been a lot easier for me if I could have called home regularly. What a great change!

https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2019-02-15/latter-day-saint-missionaries-can-now-call-text-home-weekly-first-presidency-announces-49001

[Guest MormonGator]

Just now, Midwest LDS said:

I'm really excited about this. Homesickness was the hardest part of my mission, and it would have been a lot easier for me if I could have called home regularly. What a great change!

https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2019-02-15/latter-day-saint-missionaries-can-now-call-text-home-weekly-first-presidency-announces-49001

Dude, I just saw that on Facebook and was going to post it. 

Agree 1000%. It's a welcome change, hopefully it'll help some who are struggling with homesickness. 

[Midwest LDS]

1 minute ago, MormonGator said:

Dude, I just saw that on Facebook and was going to post it. 

Agree 1000%. It's a welcome change, hopefully it'll help some who are struggling with homesickness. 

I definitely approve of the change, and it will make it a lot easier on parents as well. I know it was hard on my mom to not be able to talk to my brother and me more tyan twice a year.

[Guest MormonGator]

5 minutes ago, Midwest LDS said:

I definitely approve of the change, and it will make it a lot easier on parents as well. I know it was hard on my mom to not be able to talk to my brother and me more tyan twice a year.

Yup. I never served a mission but I can't imagine how tough it would be for many reasons. Reason #1 is being unable to talk to your parents on a regular basis. 

[MarginOfError]

5 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

Yup. I never served a mission but I can't imagine how tough it would be for many reasons. Reason #1 is being unable to talk to your parents on a regular basis. 

Some people see this as a perk.  

[Vort]

My son comes home in less than two weeks, so we will get to talk with him the week before he comes home, which we might have done anyway. This is our third son to serve a mission. Sister Vort is less than happy that this is happening only now. For myself, I sustain the Brethren in their decisions, but I think the not-calling-home business served an important function, which might be called cutting the umbilical.

[MarginOfError]

7 minutes ago, Vort said:

My son comes home in less than two weeks, so we will get to talk with him the week before he comes home, which we might have done anyway. This is our third son to serve a mission. Sister Vort is less than happy that this is happening only now. For myself, I sustain the Brethren in their decisions, but I think the not-calling-home business served an important function, which might be called cutting the umbilical.

I can sympathize with that. I personally can't imagine talking to my parents every week.  And doubt they can imagine talking to me that much. I'd have thought once a month would have been a compromise between more contact and cutting the cord.  

Part of me also thinks there's some wisdom in letting young missionaries get advice from their wiser parents.  But the larger part of me thinks over how many adults I've met in my life that I would consider wise, and that makes me want to cut out all of the phone calls altogether.

[Jane_Doe]

12 minutes ago, MarginOfError said:

I can sympathize with that. I personally can't imagine talking to my parents every week.  And doubt they can imagine talking to me that much. I'd have thought once a month would have been a compromise between more contact and cutting the cord.  

Part of me also thinks there's some wisdom in letting young missionaries get advice from their wiser parents.  But the larger part of me thinks over how many adults I've met in my life that I would consider wise, and that makes me want to cut out all of the phone calls altogether.

It doesn't say anywhere that a missionary *has* to call every week, or specify the time length.  It's a flexible system to accommodate different family situations / personality types.

[Midwest LDS]

1 hour ago, MarginOfError said:

I can sympathize with that. I personally can't imagine talking to my parents every week.  And doubt they can imagine talking to me that much. I'd have thought once a month would have been a compromise between more contact and cutting the cord.  

Part of me also thinks there's some wisdom in letting young missionaries get advice from their wiser parents.  But the larger part of me thinks over how many adults I've met in my life that I would consider wise, and that makes me want to cut out all of the phone calls altogether.

Oh yeah, everyone is different. I talk to my parents weekly, and personally I wpuld have liked communicating more freely with my family, but I know other people have different relationships with their loved ones. I'm just glad missionaries have the option to call home more regularly, I know my mission would have been exponentially easier on me if I could have been in close contact with my support system at home. But that's just me☺.

Edited February 15, 2019 by Midwest LDS

[Grunt]

I wonder what the effects of this will be or what caused this change?  

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

I LOVE it!  Love is not a strong enough word! Woo hoo!

[Vort]

42 minutes ago, MarginOfError said:

I'd have thought once a month would have been a compromise between more contact and cutting the cord.

To be candid, cutting the cord (or the apron strings) is an appropriate metaphor. My sons enjoy talking with me, and I with them, but talking with their mother is a much more emotional experience on both ends. Both sides suffered and, I think, grew stronger from the lack of constant contact. But that's only my opinion. I fully support this change.

[mikbone]

Guess Ill have to invest in an international phone service.

[Jane_Doe]

9 minutes ago, mikbone said:

Guess Ill have to invest in an international phone service.

Ok that video is awesome.

With modern tech, you don't need an international phone service-- you instead call through the internet (either video or audio).  For example, last week I had a phone chat with a friend in Germany for no charge at all.  

[Jane_Doe]

38 minutes ago, Grunt said:

I wonder what the effects of this will be or what caused this change?  

The cause: homesickness is traditionally a MAJOR problem with missionaries.  Now with kids raised in the constantly-connected-age, even more so.  It was also strange to be preaching "family is super critical to us" and then "I'm only allowed to call my mom every six months"-- it's just a mismatch all around.  And having parental support is not a bad thing (speaking in general here, don't get me started on the poison of helicopter-parenting).  

The effects: ... time will tell.  Right now I know a lot of parents that are dancing and so excited to talk to their kids come Monday.  

[Grunt]

21 minutes ago, Jane_Doe said:

The cause: homesickness is traditionally a MAJOR problem with missionaries.  Now with kids raised in the constantly-connected-age, even more so.  It was also strange to be preaching "family is super critical to us" and then "I'm only allowed to call my mom every six months"-- it's just a mismatch all around.  And having parental support is not a bad thing (speaking in general here, don't get me started on the poison of helicopter-parenting).  

The effects: ... time will tell.  Right now I know a lot of parents that are dancing and so excited to talk to their kids come Monday.  

I only ask because we play with these concepts in the military all the time.  I've seen both good and bad, but I'm not sure which way it's weighted.  I'm sure someone has the statistics, though.  I wonder if this was purely inspired, taking a stab at something, or the research shows a net positive.

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

I like that the calls will be initiated by the missionary. This is for the missionaries, not the parents so much.

 

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

On a side note: Are missionaries now being issued iPad mini's? If so, that is very cool. And, do they just leave them behind or do they get to keep them, like their bikes?

[Vort]

Gauging reactions on Facebook, sports discussion boards, and general LDS-oriented discussion boards, it appears that men are ambivalent about the policy change, with many expressing reservations, while women are uniformly excited about it.

Edited February 15, 2019 by Vort

[mikbone]

I’m not really excited about the phone calls.  My wife is though...

I actually had difficulty filling an hour of video phone call on Christmas.

But I will start sending texts, GIFs, spiritual thoughts, etc...   And I expect to be able to give advice and support in a timely manner.

This should take some of the load off of the mission presidents.  Or allow support for missionaries that have weak mission presidents.

[NeuroTypical]

24 minutes ago, Vort said:

Gauging reactions on Facebook, sports discussion boards, and general LDS-oriented discussion boards, it appears that men are ambivalent about the policy change, with many expressing reservations, while women are uniformly excited about it.

Dudes have issues with admitting they miss their Mommy in public.  This policy change will help.

Full disclosure: I'm having a 100% crotchety old man reaction to this news.  I'm chock full of "kids these days" and "mollycoddling" and "never learned how to work"  and "ain't got the maturity needed".  I've watched the culture change, and while 60 might be the new 40, I'm afraid mid-20's are the new 18.  It's just taking our U.S. humans longer to grow up and be ready for the challenges of adulthood.  I'm even less happy when I think about why this is happening.  But it's a reality with which the church must grapple.

Edited February 15, 2019 by NeuroTypical

[Grunt]

11 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

Full disclosure: I'm having a 100% crotchety old man reaction to this news.  I'm chock full of "kids these days" and "mollycoddling" and "never learned how to work"  and "ain't got the maturity needed".  I've watched the culture change, and while 60 might be the new 40, I'm afraid mid-20's are the new 18. 

1

I believe this is entirely accurate.  I've seen the military shift to accommodate these changes as well.  I suppose it's necessary if the "mission" is the main concern.  

[Guest MormonGator]

16 minutes ago, NeuroTypical said:

I'm chock full of "kids these days" and "mollycoddling" and "never learned how to work"  and "ain't got the maturity needed".  

I'm 39 and I'm still not at that stage. Maybe in a few years. Maybe never. 

[Guest MormonGator]

And remember @NeuroTypical that people from your parents/grandparents generation also said the same thing about you when you were younger. It's sort of a cliche to complain about how easy young people have it, isn't it? It's been happening since the dawn of time, yet no one who does it seems to understand that. 

[Midwest LDS]

3 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

And remember @NeuroTypical that people from your parents/grandparents generation also said the same thing about you when you were younger. It's sort of a cliche to complain about how easy young people have it, isn't it? It's been happening since the dawn of time, yet no one who does it seems to understand that. 

Socrates 469-399 BC

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room."