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BYU Students Talk with South Pacific Millennials About Sharing Their Faith Online

“The world is in our hands—we can shape it in faithful, exciting ways for the benefit of those around us”

Brigham Young University students, Emily-Jane Proudfoot and Mallory Mortensen, met with groups of young Fijians and French Polynesians in Suva and Papeete recently.  

       

The BYU students are currently doing internships with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ public affairs offices in Auckland and Melbourne.  

Mallory is from California and is studying public relations at BYU. She served as a missionary in New Jersey for 18 months before resuming her studies at BYU.

Originally from England, Emily-Jane now calls the United States home. She served as a Mormon missionary in France from 2014 to 2016.

While traveling to Fiji and French Polynesia this month (Mallory to Fiji; Emily-Jane to French Polynesia), they caught up with some local fellow millennials.

They talked with them about ways to use YouTube and other social media platforms to share their experiences growing up in the South Pacific, responding to challenges such as finding good friends, getting an education and a job, marrying and raising a strong family, and contributing in positive ways to their communities throughout their lives.

Emily-Jane and Mallory invited the young adults to be true to what they feel and know is right, and to share their journeys with others as they feel inclined to do so. They showed them some easy ways to do this including making and posting short videos on their phones of events that matter to them, adding their explanations and insights in the process. 

"A point I emphasized," Mallory said, "is that, as millennials, we allow ourselves to waste hours scrolling through social media! Why not make more effective use of our time spent on social media by sharing our beliefs with the hope of uplifting our own small audience in the digital world."

       

She added, "Fijian members present have since uploaded various faith promoting posts on their social media pages with the hashtags #SweeptheEarth. They left feeling united in their responsibility to share the gospel."

Emily-Jane added, “The world is in our hands—we can shape it in faithful, exciting ways for the benefit of those around us. As young, savvy, dynamic Latter-day Saints we have a rich opportunity ahead of us to grow in faith in God and Jesus Christ, ourselves, and also to help others to learn about God’s eternal plan for our happiness and joy. And all this is within our power, in our hands, as we strive to follow Christ and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in all we do.”

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