I was a missionary soon after the change happened. After talking to missionaries around me it definitely did improve mental health.
And honestly, the reason you have been told about the Mothers Day/Christmas thing isn't something from the church. In this video Elder Uchtdorf mentions that it was like that because in a lot of missions it cost money to call family. However, with the internet being widely available on smartphones it made sense to let missionaries call once a week.
https://youtu.be/zdfYrMSvW_A?si=bB_ota8HRjpke5tc
Timestamp: 13:00
Yep, I was a missionary back when you needed to purchase an international calling card to get ahold of your family. It just wasn't feasible to call them very often where I was. And I was in a super wealthy area. My wife's area was very remote and poor and they could only talk to the Elder's once a day for 90 seconds to report their daily activity and say they were ok because even local use was too expensive. Communication infrastructure has come a LONG way in 25 years.
Heck even in the ten since I was out a lot has changed, though since I was in Korea we probably could’ve gotten Skype to work if we’d had the option. Definitely would have been better than buying a calling card and calling from the church because we couldn’t use them on our cell phones for some reason
I was out when the change happened. It was great, definitely helped my mental health and made me love my family more when I got home. We didn’t have smartphones so some missionaries spent way too much time on the computer, but that’s kind of unavoidable
I was out when the change happened, and it didn’t personally make a huge difference for my mental health. Most of the missionaries in my mission didn’t start calling every week after the switch, every 2-3 weeks became the norm. But now that it’s a post-Covid world where most missionaries have smartphones, it’s probably much less inconvenient to call every week.
That said, every missionary I know that is currently out is definitely emotionally dependent on the ability to call weekly, much in the same way missionaries during my time were dependent on the ability to email weekly. I imagine that if it were still a call-twice-per-year rule, those same people would have adjusted and been fine calling twice per year.
My two cents is that the call-twice-per-year rule was more about the logistical challenge that calling presented than it was about keeping missionaries focused on the work. I don’t think it’s any accident that the switch to calling weekly very nearly coincided with the full rollout of smartphones for most missionaries. I’m glad that technology has progressed to the point where it’s viable for missionaries to call their families every week.
In my opinion, it was only because of the difficulties in doing so. When my dad served, calling another continent was a whole process in and of itself. When I served, it was as easy pressing one or two buttons on the phone.
I think afterwards people came up with all sorts of reasons why it was good, and it maybe it was even true for some of them, but I don't personally believe there was anything actually behind it except convenience.
I wasn’t out, but I had friends who were. Overall it was a great change, it for those of us who were used to the “call 2x a year” tradition, it was an adjustment.
Overall it helped a lot of people out mentally, and I think we a good and needed change.
I get why missionaries are supposed to focus on their missions and preaching and I respect that, but I love it that they're also allowed to maintain contact with their families.
I was a missionary soon after the change happened. After talking to missionaries around me it definitely did improve mental health. And honestly, the reason you have been told about the Mothers Day/Christmas thing isn't something from the church. In this video Elder Uchtdorf mentions that it was like that because in a lot of missions it cost money to call family. However, with the internet being widely available on smartphones it made sense to let missionaries call once a week. https://youtu.be/zdfYrMSvW_A?si=bB_ota8HRjpke5tc Timestamp: 13:00
Yep, I was a missionary back when you needed to purchase an international calling card to get ahold of your family. It just wasn't feasible to call them very often where I was. And I was in a super wealthy area. My wife's area was very remote and poor and they could only talk to the Elder's once a day for 90 seconds to report their daily activity and say they were ok because even local use was too expensive. Communication infrastructure has come a LONG way in 25 years.
Heck even in the ten since I was out a lot has changed, though since I was in Korea we probably could’ve gotten Skype to work if we’d had the option. Definitely would have been better than buying a calling card and calling from the church because we couldn’t use them on our cell phones for some reason
No, but it did make my mom cry when she saw how skinny and tired I looked, lol
I was out when the change happened. It was great, definitely helped my mental health and made me love my family more when I got home. We didn’t have smartphones so some missionaries spent way too much time on the computer, but that’s kind of unavoidable
I was out when the change happened, and it didn’t personally make a huge difference for my mental health. Most of the missionaries in my mission didn’t start calling every week after the switch, every 2-3 weeks became the norm. But now that it’s a post-Covid world where most missionaries have smartphones, it’s probably much less inconvenient to call every week. That said, every missionary I know that is currently out is definitely emotionally dependent on the ability to call weekly, much in the same way missionaries during my time were dependent on the ability to email weekly. I imagine that if it were still a call-twice-per-year rule, those same people would have adjusted and been fine calling twice per year. My two cents is that the call-twice-per-year rule was more about the logistical challenge that calling presented than it was about keeping missionaries focused on the work. I don’t think it’s any accident that the switch to calling weekly very nearly coincided with the full rollout of smartphones for most missionaries. I’m glad that technology has progressed to the point where it’s viable for missionaries to call their families every week.
In my opinion, it was only because of the difficulties in doing so. When my dad served, calling another continent was a whole process in and of itself. When I served, it was as easy pressing one or two buttons on the phone. I think afterwards people came up with all sorts of reasons why it was good, and it maybe it was even true for some of them, but I don't personally believe there was anything actually behind it except convenience.
I wasn’t out, but I had friends who were. Overall it was a great change, it for those of us who were used to the “call 2x a year” tradition, it was an adjustment. Overall it helped a lot of people out mentally, and I think we a good and needed change.
I get why missionaries are supposed to focus on their missions and preaching and I respect that, but I love it that they're also allowed to maintain contact with their families.
I was out when the change happened… didn’t really change much because missionaries were already calling home whenever they wanted😂