What sort of personal information do Mormon missionaries keep in their Investigator Records? Wondering specifically what kind of information - aside from name, address etc. Likes? Dislikes? Personality? Doubts about the church?
by 
Anonymous
ANSWERS: 8
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I can't speak for anyone else, but when I was a missionary, the only records that we kept on an investigator was their contact information and information about the end result of the time we spent with them. Were they baptized? If not, then why not? The reason for not baptizing a person was important because it gave in indication as to whether it would be productive or counterproductive to try to contact that person again at a later date. Most other information about an investigator was simply passed on by word of mouth as needed when a new missionary transfered into an area.
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I am sure they keep everything. Why do they even have these records? How dare they "investigate" anyone?
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Glenn, as you are (from my recollection of other topics) a returned missionary, would you mind fielding this question? What kind of personal records on investigators are typically held?
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Well I thought I would answer this question since I just recently arrived back form my mission. I avoid religious questions because people flame and argue to much. - Glenn Blaylock said pretty much everything. I will just add that it has changed a little from 2004. Now we keep a record of each lesson what we taught and when. This is to help us figure out if its been a long time since they heard it. Maybe requiring us to reteach that lesson if they did not understand it well or its just been to long and they forgot. We teach to help people understand thats why we keep records. - Let me just add this as LDS(mormons) we don't force our religion on any one. We ask if they would like to hear what we have to say, its very simple a yes or no would work just fine.
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Missionaries only spend a brief period of time in each "area" (3 months was the norm in my mission). In order to maintain some sort of continuum, each are has an "area book". The area book has a list of "investigators" (people that have received / are currently receiving visits), leadership directory for the ward / branch, emergency numbers, etc. Most even contain addresses with notes indicating the current residents don't want visits. Records for investigators obviously contain names and addresses. My area book (1995-97) also had a spot for each of the discussions (date, who attended, if they accepted that discussion's main challenge) and a spot for any notes you think would help future missionaries. Most common were things to be sensitive about -- "Beth is a single mom."
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Good question. And they do keep information on everyone including all of the above and who they socialize with. They are really nosey people.
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Typically contact information and a summary of lessons or topics that have been addressed. Typically most of the recordkeeping is in people's memory.
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I have an LDS friend who got divorced from her husband, and the missionaries that came to see her knew an awful lot about the circumstances surrounding her divorce. They told her that the mission president had shared the info with them. They later told her that they were no longer allowed to see her because she might be a temptation to them! I am currently trying to find out if this is legal or if it is permissable behavior. Does anyone know if the privacy of your church records is in any way protected? She is very upset and wants to seek recourse for the mishandling of her personal info. Any help would be appreciated.
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