Elder Lanham: LDS Online Missionary



Elder Michael Lanham,
Montana Billings Mission



I about fell out of my seat when I heard Missionaries online? Really?

I thought we were just attending a standard missionary meeting to discuss issues and help refocus on the work. But when our mission president announced the new online missionary program, I was quite surprised. Since then, missionaries in eight missions have begun blogs, started up facebook accounts, and created personal profiles on mormon.org. I sign on to facebook and Blogger each day, and see in my chat box about thirty other missionaries at one time, all trying to spread the gospel. It's quite amazing.

I have really enjoyed working online. Through chatting on facebook, I have been able to connect with people in a new way. People tend to open up when they chat online. I have learned more about the people I'm working with in person by checking out their accounts online. My family back home can follow me more closely now than before as they read the blogs that I post each week.

People seem to be moving toward the internet. It's incredible how quickly we can connect together. In a few minutes, I can post an inspirational video, and someone miles away can watch it, feel the spirit of it, and decide to make a change for the better. It's working already.

Just a few weeks ago, a young family was struggling with some rather serious troubles. I couldn’t get them off of my mind. They were experiencing so much stress and frustration. I prayed to know what I could do to reach them. As I perused the videos on http://www.youtube.com/mormonmessages, I felt that I should send them a video on the Spirit of God. A few days later, the reply came. This woman explained that the video came at the perfect time in her life, as an answer to her prayers, and enabled her to move forward.

When Jesus Christ was on the earth, he sent Apostles to teach His gospel to the world. What a daunting task that would be, especially with such limited connections they had with the rest of humanity. In contrast, what a huge leap it is to have the internet as a medium to spread the gospel to the world instantly. God wants to speak to all of us, and He is using every available resource to do so.

With love,

Elder Lanham

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Elder Lanham has a blog Arrows Out where he posts his experiences as a missionary. He can also be found on facebook.  He is currently serving in the Billings Montana area and looking for more online friends.