When students return from missions or other experiences abroad, some may be anxious to use their foreign language skills productively. The Vineyard program, offered through the Y-Serve Center for Service and Learning, offers students such an experience.
The Vineyard is a program under the direction of the First Presidency of the Church, which gives students the opportunity to utilize their foreign language skills. Volunteers are needed to assist with Church translation materials, media, technology and tutoring. Vineyard meets every Wednesday and Thursday at 6:00 p.m. in room 2330 of the Wilkinson Student Center.
Collins Carrington is a program director for The Vineyard and said there are plenty of projects for students to work on, even if they are not fluent in a second language.
“We do a lot of translating materials, but there are quite a few other projects as well,” Carrington said. “You don’t have to speak a foreign language, and we have something for whatever you’re capable of. Everything goes through a professional Church translator, so we mainly do the base work.”
The Vineyard works on a wide variety of projects, including sharing the gospel online, translating church documents, adding image search words, FamilySearch indexing and LDSTech projects.
“We’re on the forefront of the Church’s image,” Carrington said. “We update the pictures in the Church’s manuals so they don’t look like they’re from the 70’s anymore. We really get the word out there with the Church’s social media outreach.”
Kylin Long is a program director and says students can do missionary work even when they’re not in the mission field.
“It’s really like serving a mission online,” Long said. “It’s a different form of missionary work because we are growing the Church through the internet.”
Whether students can speak foreign languages or not, they are welcome to get involved with The Vineyard. Students can find new friends and a new service opportunity while helping expand the Church.
Jeff Powell is a program director for The Vineyard and says that participants can find happiness in the service opportunities the program brings.
“It has been a blessing to lose myself in this work,” Powell said. “I have made so many friends through (The Vineyard) and have found such great happiness serving in this program.”
More information can be found online at yserve.byu.edu/vineyard or by emailing .
