A Change in Missionary Referral System

In order to achieve greater success in the missionary referral system and to encourage members to participate, the Church has modified existing policies and procedures for handling missionary referrals.

All new referral cards will now ask whether the nonmember has specifically expressed a desire or a willingness to be visited. If that question is not answered yes, the member will be asked to friendship the nonmember further (until the nonmember does agree to a visit) before submitting the referral. If the nonmember has not specifically agreed to a visit, the referral will not be sent to the missionaries.

Extensive research has shown that an important factor in the success of any referral is the nonmember’s acceptance of an invitation to have the missionaries visit. When the nonmember has not specifically expressed a willingness to be visited, the missionaries are rarely able to begin teaching the gospel, and the nonmember is sometimes offended. But if members prepare their friends for the missionaries and then ask in advance whether they would like to be visited, those friends are much more likely to eventually embrace the gospel.

To help members better understand the concept and process of friendshipping, the Church has prepared the filmstrip How Great Shall Be Your Joy (VVOF3357, $3.00), the new Sunday School member-missionary class, and the pamphlet I Need a Friend (PTMI2937).