Voice to the Prophet
The Church hand-picked me--one of only 400 world-wide--to answer some questions in a survey over the phone. The surveyor clearly didn't have much information on me--save my name and ward and birth date--as they asked a lot of questions that are easily accessible to church membership people. She also noted that only the highest ranking general authorities would have access to the data.
Most of the questions were trying to gauge how much I use the various resources The Church makes available (e.g., web sites, distribution services, social services) and what kinds of technology do I use to access information, while few (if any) were on my personal beliefs or perceptions about The Church and its history. But the most interesting one asked what I thought The Church could do to encourage more young people to serve missions. My first impression was to make it financially rewarding (i.e., award scholarships to a church-funded school after you finish, or completely subsidize the two years), but I quickly realized that this would be counter-productive. So I asked that they update the video Called to Serve--a classic, nonetheless--to make it more relevant to today's kids. Don't put your popcorn in the microwave yet, but look for the new release soon, because I know they will ask that I, a well-known, published author (I haven't plugged my book for a while, so no complaints), write the screen play. So if you have any parts that you would like to play, drop me a line.
I wonder if the timing of this survey has anything to do with the well-publicized documentary to air on PBS this coming week . . .
Most of the questions were trying to gauge how much I use the various resources The Church makes available (e.g., web sites, distribution services, social services) and what kinds of technology do I use to access information, while few (if any) were on my personal beliefs or perceptions about The Church and its history. But the most interesting one asked what I thought The Church could do to encourage more young people to serve missions. My first impression was to make it financially rewarding (i.e., award scholarships to a church-funded school after you finish, or completely subsidize the two years), but I quickly realized that this would be counter-productive. So I asked that they update the video Called to Serve--a classic, nonetheless--to make it more relevant to today's kids. Don't put your popcorn in the microwave yet, but look for the new release soon, because I know they will ask that I, a well-known, published author (I haven't plugged my book for a while, so no complaints), write the screen play. So if you have any parts that you would like to play, drop me a line.
I wonder if the timing of this survey has anything to do with the well-publicized documentary to air on PBS this coming week . . .
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