Tech Forum

I recently had a sister from my ward receive her call to a mission in the United States. In the paperwork from the mission, it asked that they bring with them an Android tablet device.

Our missionaries currently have the Ipad mini's provided by the Church and I had not heard of missions requiring Android tablets be brought. Has anyone heard about this or if the Church is shifting away from providing Ipad mini's that are locked down and asking missionaries to bring their own? Seems odd, but I just wanted to see if this was a new direction the missions were heading.

Thanks!

Out of curiosity, where will she be serving her mission? I'd imagine that in some parts of the world, an Apple device would either face a high import duty or be highly coveted - posing a danger to missionaries. So I could see some missions "breaking away" and going for a less expensive device.

I remember an article from not too long ago that in China, Apple beat out other name brands like Chanel, Louis Vuitton or Hermes as a "status" brand. In that situation, I could see a iPad becoming a real distraction when dealing with people.

Make the mission provide the device for her if they want her to have it so bad. Good grief, what do these missions presidents think, that every member has that kind of money laying around or within easy reach/earning to be able to purchase such devices!? I sure hope that it was a misread somewhere and that they are not expecting the kids to come to the missions with these things. We got by just fine without them on our missions of the past, the new missionaries can do the same.

RyanGard1977 wrote:I sure hope that it was a misread somewhere and that they are not expecting the kids to come to the missions with these things.

Actually, they are. Since they keep the tablet after they leave the mission, that's why they're being asked to pay for them.

I know when the program first came out, it was said there were units for those who couldn't afford it (to stay with the mission after they were released). I haven't heard too much about it since then.

As I recall, many missionaries also had to buy their own bicycles - frequently buying them off a missionary that was going home.

Well the Lord's will be done, but sometimes I am left wondering, ya know.

The purpose of technology is to hasten the work of the Lord. "We should take advantage of all these great discoveries ... and give to our children the benefit of every branch of useful knowledge, to prepare them to step forward and efficiently do their part in the great work" (Brigham Young). Yes, a lot of work can get done without tablets, but it's about efficiency – moving more quickly, adding to our toolset, and extending our reach.

I was surprised when it was announced that missionaries would have tablets and use the internet in their proselyting – but, by now, these tools have moved beyond the testing, piloting, and refining phases and have proven themselves to be effective and inspired – for how they affect the work during the mission, and also for how they continue to move the work forward after these missionaries – now trained to use technology in inspired, positive ways – return home.

There are also these things called the Ward Mission Fund and the General Mission Fund, and there are people out there who will gladly help pay for this kind of thing. The church has always provided ways for those who cannot afford the whole cost of a mission to be aided, so why would the need for a tablet change that?

With all due respect, statements similar to "we didn't need them 20 years ago, so nobody needs them today either" are pretty dangerous. If that is universally true, a whole lot of missionary work wouldn't currently be taking place, there would be no lds.org, and this forum wouldn't even need to exist.

I currently serve in a state side mission office and I can tell you we are moving to Android tablets very soon

silus99 wrote:I recently had a sister from my ward receive her call to a mission in the United States. In the paperwork from the mission, it asked that they bring with them an Android tablet device.

Our missionaries currently have the Ipad mini's provided by the Church and I had not heard of missions requiring Android tablets be brought. Has anyone heard about this or if the Church is shifting away from providing Ipad mini's that are locked down and asking missionaries to bring their own?

Some missions are approved to use specially configured tablets. Here are two links to additional information that may be helpful. Please note that some details have evolved since these articles were published.

http://www.lds.org/church/news/more-mis ... l?lang=eng

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=30563256&nid=1284

Until recently, all authorized missionary tablets have been Apple iPads. The Church is constantly evaluating new technology in conjunction with evolving needs and has begun using Android tablets with some new missionaries. Missionaries should not bring or use mobile devices on their missions unless instructed to do so as part of their mission call or by their mission office. Additional information is provided at that time.

Paul Scherbel
Product Manager, Missionary Mobile Devices