A few stakes of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah County are hosting a Christmas campaign in which they need the help of all returned missionaries, young and old.
The campaign, My Mission Christmas, is a mission reunion of sorts, where all who have served are invited to take part. Robert Walz, head of the committee that developed the campaign, explained that participants are asked to share a Christmas memory from their mission on social media, hopefully with a picture, and tag the post with #MyMissionChristmas.
This idea developed after the committee discussed how some of their most memorable Christmases were while serving a mission for the Church. Creating a campaign where returned missionaries could post their positive Christmas experiences could help shed light on what the holiday season is all about.
“We wanted to tap into a unique Christmas experience that is fun to look back on, and easy to make a gospel connection with,” explained committee member, Adam Durfee. “When you post about Christmas past, if it’s a photo of a bad gift you once received, you might struggle to share with somebody a gospel connection. But, if you share a photo from your mission that starts a conversation with someone, it’s very easy to talk about the gospel.”
Durfee, who served in Tasmania, told LDS.net that the two Christmases he experienced on his mission are some of the most memorable. He said,
The holiday is supposed to be focused on the birth of the Savior, peace on Earth and goodwill towards men. …When my family was 8,000 miles away and no gifts were under the paper Christmas tree on our wall…I realized the true meaning of Christmas.
