The Church recently changed rules regarding correspondence for full-time Church missionaries.
For years, the Church's Missionary Handbook limited email correspondence for young single missionaries to weekly communication with their respective families and mission presidents. But Church spokesman Scott Trotter said this week that missionaries now "can also communicate by email with friends, priesthood leaders and new converts."
While in the mission field, Brother Trotter noted, "missionaries should get permission from the mission president before communicating with converts and others of the opposite gender within the mission."
Other handbook policies regarding missionaries and email remain in place, including:
"As your call letter states, you are 'expected to devote all your time and attention to serving the Lord, leaving behind all other personal affairs,' " the Missionary Handbook indicates. "Do not become preoccupied with communicating with family and friends."
