In one of the rooms where we did missionary work online! Obviously we're all pretty stoked.
Our conversation in class the other day concerning the ability of digital media to connect us with others brought back a whole flood of memories from my mission. Without getting too sentimental and sappy, I hope to share my small perspective on how I saw digital media impact others in a very unique way while I served as a missionary at Temple Square, in particular, how it was able to affect one of my favorite people in the world----Joy.
One of my favorite aspects of my mission was Mormon.org chat. A few hours of our day were always set aside to get on Mormon.org chat and talk with people who came on with questions, concerns, and of course to deal with all the fun trollers. Towards the end of my mission, just before April conference my companion and I received a chat from a woman named Joy. Without going too in depth, Joy essentially was extremely interested in learning more about the church, and had stumbled upon Mormon.org. She was wary of talking with missionaries face to face, and had heard some incorrect information about the practices of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We were able to talk with her for a bit, and while we were chatting we sent her links to some various Mormon messages to answer some of her questions. We arranged to chat with her again in a few days, and asked if she would watch General Conference that weekend. She agreed and we emailed Joy a link to where she could watch conference along with some other short videos we thought would be of interest to her. To make a long story short she had an amazing experience watching conference and she eventually felt comfortable enough to meet with missionaries in person and was later baptized. Joy is just one of the many people I saw affected by the use of digital media in missionary work. It was amazing to see how videos, music, Mormon.org chat and other digital media was (and is) able to touch people in a powerful and unique way!
That is such a great story! My little brother is serving as a missionary right now and it is always interesting to hear his stories about how he uses technology to spread the gospel.
ReplyDeleteI guess your experience with Joy illustrates the point that certain types of communication are appropriate in different settings. Teaching the gospel is never easy, and you have to make sure your investigators are with you every step of the way, and sometimes that can be as simple as making sure they're comfortable. Great story!
ReplyDeleteI think your story illustrates a great point about how aspects of technology can be positive and negative. For example, a lot of people say that the anonymity of the internet facilitates rude behavior and uncivilized conversation. In general, I agree with this. The fact that there is a troll culture is disturbing in and of itself. But you've made me see the positive side to anonymity over the internet. Investigators may feel more comfortable asking questions and being open and honest about concerns than they would in a face-to-face setting. I do like that technology can help people be more open with one another.
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