Should part-time missions be the norm? - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

Hazzard · 02-09-2008, 07:58 AM

Or at least part-time proselytizing?

Even in countries where converts flock to the Church (like the country where I served my mission), the only effective proselytizing hours are 5-9 pm. Of the dozens of people I baptized on my mission, only a few were found during the daytime hours and none had to be taught during the daytime hours. The daytime hours were, by and large, a complete waste of time in terms of finding, teaching and baptizing. Virtually all of the productivity generated from my mission came between the hours of 5 and 9 pm.

So why don't we put missionaries to good use during the daytime? They could use the first eight hours of the day to go to school, provide community service (build schools, serve in homeless shelters, etc.), learn another language, do family history research and genealogy ... anything other than wandering through the streets unsuccessfully looking for people to teach. If missionaries were put to better use during the daytime hours, particularly with community service, not only would their experience be more fulfilling, but convert baptisms would probably rise because of the huge uptick in goodwill for the Church.

I guess the main argument in favor of the current format is that it teaches hard work and perseverance, but there are many forms of hard work that would be more productive in advancing the cause of Zion and bringing in converts than tracting all day long.

02-09-2008, 07:58 AM	#1
Hazzard Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 158	Should part-time missions be the norm? Or at least part-time proselytizing? Even in countries where converts flock to the Church (like the country where I served my mission), the only effective proselytizing hours are 5-9 pm. Of the dozens of people I baptized on my mission, only a few were found during the daytime hours and none had to be taught during the daytime hours. The daytime hours were, by and large, a complete waste of time in terms of finding, teaching and baptizing. Virtually all of the productivity generated from my mission came between the hours of 5 and 9 pm. So why don't we put missionaries to good use during the daytime? They could use the first eight hours of the day to go to school, provide community service (build schools, serve in homeless shelters, etc.), learn another language, do family history research and genealogy ... anything other than wandering through the streets unsuccessfully looking for people to teach. If missionaries were put to better use during the daytime hours, particularly with community service, not only would their experience be more fulfilling, but convert baptisms would probably rise because of the huge uptick in goodwill for the Church. I guess the main argument in favor of the current format is that it teaches hard work and perseverance, but there are many forms of hard work that would be more productive in advancing the cause of Zion and bringing in converts than tracting all day long.