After a three-year hiatus, LDS missionaries and their families once again will be allowed to correspond by e-mail.
The LDS Church cited concerns about traditional mail reliability and security in some parts of the world in announcing the change Wednesday.
Under the new policy, the more than 60,000 missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints still will write home only once a week, on "preparation day" when they are not out proselytizing, said Dale Bills, LDS Church spokesman.
Missionaries typically do not have computers, he said, but may use computers in libraries or other public or commercial facilities. They will be expected to cover their own costs for using e-mail and "are asked not to impose on church members who may have computers."
Emily Watts, an editor at Deseret Book in Salt Lake City, welcomes the chance to communicate via e-mail with her two children on missions.
It will be a "huge" change for her daughter, Natalie, who is in the Harare, Zimbabwe, mission. The Watts received a letter this week from Natalie dated Dec. 17. By the time they got it, Natalie had already been transferred to a different town.
"The only way we knew [about the transfer] was because the missionary couple e-mailed us," Watts said. The church placed no e-mail restrictions on LDS retired couples serving missions.
With e-mail, Watts said, "you could feel way more in touch -- as if what you had to say was what they needed right then."
As for her son, Brandon, who is in the Raleigh, N. C., mission, it will be valuable but not as urgent, she said. "It's wonderful to know if there was a real concern, we could communicate immediately."
While playing basketball on his preparation day, Brandon Watts tore ligaments in his ankle. On another occasion, he got attacked by pit bulls.
By the time the family heard about it, the crisis was over, Watts said. While e-mail access will make corresponding easier, the once-a-week restriction will serve to slow exchanges and prevent missionaries from being distracted.
Another advantage is that Watts' missionary son "can send copies of his letters to all his friends and family, instead of having to write every one separately," she said.
Three years ago, the LDS Church prohibited missionaries from using electronic mail except in "areas of the world where serious postal service problems exist."
At the time, LDS spokesman Don LeFevre said the church was concerned that some missionaries were abusing the convenience of e-mail. These missionaries were writing more often than once a week and were tying up members' computers for too long, sending messages to family and friends, LeFevre said.
But the ban on e-mail caused hardships to some missionaries in far-flung regions.
While Lacy Fowles was working in Moldova (part of the Romania mission), she was allowed to send e-mails, but her friend, Heather Thornton, who was in Bristol, England, was not. So Fowles wrote every month, using the regular mail service.
"She didn't get even one of my letters," says Fowles, who returned from Romania this August. "She had no idea what was going on with me. Finally, her parents told her I was in Moldova."
Missing out on six months of correspondence was unfortunate, says Fowles, "We fed each other stories. We really strengthened and supported each other."