LDS church missionaries to receive assignments electronically instead of via snail mail

September 4, 2018 Utah Channel 3

ST. GEORGE — Prospective missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will no longer need to wait for the their assignments or “mission calls” to be delivered via regular postal mail, as the church is now switching to an online method of delivery.

Excited family and friends react after 17-year-old Billy Elliott opens his online mission assignment for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve at the Peru Chiclayo Mission. The church is rolling out a new initiative where missionary candidates receive their call online rather than in the mail. | Photo copyright and courtesy of Intellectual Reserve, Inc., St. George News

According to a statement posted on the church’s newsroom site Tuesday, the process has been tested in various parts of the world over the past several months and will now be expanded to all of Utah and Idaho.

Despite the change in notification, friends and family will still be able to gather in anticipation when the missionary first opens the electronic “letter” and finds out where he or she will be sent to serve among the church’s 407 missions in more than 150 countries worldwide.

See video in media player above, courtesy of the LDS church’s Mormon Newsroom YouTube channel

By the end of 2018, it is anticipated that nearly all missionaries around the world with reliable internet access will receive their calls online, the church statement said, adding that the change is expected to drastically cut the wait time for missionaries to receive their calls. Instead of taking several days or even weeks to arrive via regular mail, the calls can now be received and opened in a matter of minutes.

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