Oct

22

Slate magazine’s annual list of the nation’s most powerful people over 80 years old ranked the Mormon Prophet Thomas S. Monson as number 1.

“The top spot this year goes to 82-year-old Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the only person on the list to rule over millions of people as a prophet of God.” (See 80 Over 80)

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The placement of Thomas S. Monson at the top of the list is definitively a recognition of the importance and influence for good of a prophet of God. However, the article uses words that may mislead people into thinking that a true prophet of God “rules” over people or that he seeks for “power”.

This could not be farther from the truth. Thomas S. Monson served for many years in the Church before becoming its president, and differently from many politicians who get elected to public offices, he was not elected on the basis of a “new platform” or after a campaign in which he violently criticized is predecessor. On the contrary, he was chosen by God to continue what his predecessors did, in harmony with the will of God.

His power come from righteous influence and he does not “rule” over millions as a king or president, but he serves millions of people. He is not even the real head of the Church, because in spite of millions reverencing him as a prophet of God, he is the first to remember that the real head of the Church, and the real King, is the Saviour.

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Oct

6

According to an article in the Daily Herald, tweets (posts on Twitter) were “coming fast and furious” during the recent LDS general conference. In spite of thousands of members stuffing the LDS conference center in Salt Lake City and hundreds of thousands more watching the conference broadcast, other members were pushing the event to the forefront of social media. The search term “#ldsconf” remained among the most popular on Twitter over the weekend.

There were tweets almost about every topic, but Elder Jeffery R. Holland’s direct and emotional testimony about the veracity of the church’s Book of Mormon was followed by thousands of tweets about how powerful it was.

The article on the Daily Herald ends by stating that

even as the church’s members streamed, tweeted, IM’d, listened and watched conference on every piece of media at their disposal, Elder Russell M. Nelson said the best kind of communication doesn’t come with a cost. ‘Even more amazing that modern technology is our opportunity to access information directly from heaven, without hardware, software or monthly service fees,’ he said.

I recognize that it is a nice way of closing an article, but it may leave us with a false impression about using the Internet to spread the Gospel. Elder Nelson was trying to direct our attention to the importance of prayer, but if prayer is a great form of communication with God, it is someway limited when we try to talk to mortals. In fact, in spite of the fact that missionaries usually prepare themselves for their service through fervent prayer and fasting, and that prayer may open doors, missionaries still need to communicate directly with the people, if they want to make an effect. Angelic visitations as a consequence of prayers, such in the case of Alma praying for his son Alma the Younger, usually only come after the missionaries, or the parents, have done all they could to communicate with the people they were trying to reach.

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Oct

2

This is the introduction of a very good article on the last Ensign, October 2009, about sharing our beliefs online by Michelle Stocking of the Church Magazines (link to the full article).

After years of harboring bitterness and anger, Derick Fitch of Indiana felt as though he had hit a dead end. He decided he had enough and wanted to change. That decision led him to do something he had never done before: search for God.

So Derick did what he typically did when he wanted to find information: he went to the Internet. Not only would that give him quick, easy access to information, it would also allow him to conduct his search privately, without making any commitments. Derick decided to begin his Internet search by looking for information on “the Mormon Church” because of a television commercial he remembered from his teenage years.

“My search led me to an LDS-related site that had exactly what I was looking for—a message board where I could confidentially post questions about the Church,” Derick says. He took a deep breath and registered with the site.

Using the site’s message board, Derick received answers to his questions from Latter-day Saints and learned that he could read the Book of Mormon online by clicking on a link at www.mormon.org. “The words in 1 Nephi penetrated the cold, hard shell around my heart,” he says. “I started to think about my life and my relationship with God.”

Soon Derick obtained a printed copy of the Book of Mormon from the local missionaries and agreed to attend church services. Less than four months after Derick had decided to search online for information about religion, he was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I am so thankful that I was able to start reading the Book of Mormon online,” he says. “I am thankful that I was able to find LDS Web sites, ask questions about the Church, and receive wonderful answers.”

For Derick and many others who have questions about the Church, the natural place to turn is the Internet. There, Derick received answers to his questions from everyday Latter-day Saints—and those answers touched his heart.

It is interesting how one thing led to another, but the Internet was a very important step in Derick’s research and conversion process. The message board he found was not an official website of the church, however, but a members’ initiative. It is an important thing for members to share their beliefs online and not be shy, to take the initiative and not to wait for some formal calling coming from the church.

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Sep

22

Did you Know 3 and 4

September 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment

I have found a link today to the video Did you Know, the official update to the original “Shift Happens” video. This completely new Fall 2009 version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology, and was developed in partnership with The Economist. However, I went back to take a look at the version 3.0 and I still prefer that one and I have included it below.

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Sep

7

Church Youth Site

September 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The Church is gathering feedback from some of the youth about what kind of web site they should  build that would bring them closer to the Savior and help them feel more connected to the Gospel and to the Church.

If you have Facebook, you can join this Facebook site and enter the discussion. They want your feedback.

The Church also created a web site where they link to some things they are thinking about. It’s called Labs. You can check out some prototypes on Labs.  Use the ID “youthtester” and the password “helaman2000.”

They are accepting a limited number of people to have a more personalized experience on Labs. To apply, sign up for an LDS Account. You’ll need your member number, which you can get from the ward clerk, and your birth date. Then send your LDS Account name to dehlinjp@ldschurch.org. They are accepting as many as they can until the servers get overloaded.

Once you send the email and they get back to you, you’ll be able to log into Labs with your own LDS Account and you’ll be able to view your own ward directory online and record your thoughts and feelings about General Conference and recall them later.

In addition, you’ll be able to use your LDS Acccount for other web sites the Church is currently working on that will come out this year.

It looks like a great initiative from the Church trying to use the Internet for good. Share it with others.

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Aug

28

This is not my idea, and it is not a reality yet, and it may never become a reality. However, for those who have some knowledge of a Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints it may seem like a possible complement, even if may never become a complete alternative. After all, as Elder Bednar recently remembered us, we are on this earth to experience life with a body, and we cannot substitute certain experiences with a complete virtual life.

On the other hand, however, if we really want to preach the gospel to every creature on earth, we need to find a fast track, Mormon missionaries are “only” 52,000 right now and with the current reduction in birth rate facing Utah 9and other areas of the world), I do not think we will see that number grow too much in the next years. And how many hours do missionaries spend (or waste) walking or driving from place to place, getting discouraged, to reach a few people who are interested in the Gospel?

Obviously, being tired and discouraged is part of mortal experience, so there is some good to it. If the purpose is to strenghten their character, it may be good, but if the purpose is to reach every creature under the sun, then we need to find better avenues.

Naturally, if we as member of the Church learn to use the Internet as suggested by Elder Ballard we will see a great improvement in positive and successfull member-missionary work, and more true seekers found by members and missionaries.

But why we cannot include, as part of this faster reaching out to the world, online missions to our current structure, organized more or less like a normal mission, with mission presidents and so on? I am sure there is a lot involved that I am not considering right now, to create something that works, and at the same time follows Church’s principles. But still, with Skype and all the rest, a lot more could be done to save trips and costs, by having at least a few online missions, staffed with missionaries that perhaps could not afford the cost, or the intensity of a “normal” mission.

As President Kimbal taught us many and many years ago,

When we’ve used the satellite and related discoveries to their greatest potential…then and not until then shall we approach the insistence of our Lord and Master to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

I think that online missions may become a reality in the future. As with everything in the Church, they will become a reality if this is what the Lord wants, and He will do it through his authorized servants, the prophets.

However, we are entitled to our opinions and to the prompting of the Spirit of God, and I think that in the future we may see something like online missions, or we may see more online activities in normal missions. We will see.

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Aug

20

Social networks are becoming always more part of the lives of many people around the world. This is particularly true for some countries. Recent data from comScore’s World Metrix audience measurement service show that Russia and Brazil had the most engaged social networking audiences in the world in May. In comparison, the U.S. only achieved the ninth place.

According to the data, the average Russian spent over 6.6 hours in May using online social networks, and viewed over 1,300 pages. The typical Brazilian networker dedicated slightly less time at 6.3 hours and viewed 1,220 pages.

The following video give an interesting persective on the explosive growth and increasing impact of social media.

A few Stats from Video (sources listed below by corresponding #)

  1. By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network
  2. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
  3. 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
  4. Years to Reach 50 millions Users:  Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
  5. If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia
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Aug

18

I moved from Brazil to the US in 2000. Before that time, I had used the Internet, but not as extensively as I started using it in the US, during the MBA program. Before 2000 I had heard something about Internet pornography but I had not paid too much attention, because it wasn’t a problem for me neither I knew anybody personally who had issues with that (or who had someone in his family with that kind of problems).

However, after moving in the US, I started noticing that more and more talks were given in General Conferences about that subject. I particularly remember one talk given at a priesthood meeting by President Hinckley. It was shocking, but eyes opening. Since that day I have met several people that had to face such problem personally or who have someone in their family who is struggling with it.

The best solution to this problem is to never get involved in the first place.  Larry Richman wrote recently

Imagine creating the perfect sin: one that would tear apart relationships, crush marriages, and destroy the spiritual strength of men. Such a devastating sin would need to be secret, easy to get, and so alluring it could become part of a secret life. This secret could draw a man away from his wife, his children, his job, and God. Then, why not make it free and even protected by the United States Constitution. Internet pornography is all of these. (LdsMediaTalk)

It is an interesting concept that of a “perfect sin”. It is particularly sad to see groups in the US and around the world who want to “protect” this evil. In other words, they want to make sure that families are destroyed without anything opposing it. It is easy to understand who is the real source of these plans, and how foolish are the men and women who follow him.

So, what can we do to protect our families? According again to Larry Richman, this is a possibility: Covenant Eyes Accountability Software.  Escape the temptation by removing the secrecy of the Internet. Accountability software develops integrity by monitoring and reporting all Web activity to an Accountability Partner of your choice. I am not here to promote their sales, but it seems like a good idea.

Another good idea is to use the Internet for spreading light, so that we will not have time or attraction to look for pornography. I work for the More Good Foundation, and our goal is to spread light in the Internet. Light and darkness cannot occupy the same place at the same time. When I am working spreading the gospel online, I do not feel any temptation to search for things that are not good.

Perhaps, we should not only talk about and protect ourselves and our families from the evils that can be found on the Internet. Perhaps we should be anxiously engaged in good works on the Internet, so that we will not have time or interest left for being involved with what can only destroy us. Perhaps, one solution is to funnel the attraction that people has for the Internet toward a good cause, so that the light will diplace darkness.

Perhaps this is the “perfect solution” for the “perfect sin”.

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Aug

11

I was hoping that the talk Sharing the Gospel Using the Internet by Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had been translated in other languages, but I could not find most of them on the Liahonas. Fortunatelly, Larry Richman, who works for the LDS Church and knows how to find this kind of information, has made available on a pdf format the translations of that talk in many languages. Enjoy!

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May

1

I have discovered Twitter not long ago (as many others) and I have been tracking a few hashtags such as Mormon. Today I noticed that someone posted the following:

Mormon leader of NOM appears to advocate overthrow of US government “by whatever means necessary”.

Then several others repeated the same over and over again. I tried to post something explaining the position of the Mormon Church, but it is a useless endeavor. There are several people out there who simply repeat over and over again anything they can find to attack the Mormon Church. I wonder why they do not talk about something positive and uplifting instead.

In any case, it is obvious that Twitter is not a good place to have a serious discussion about Mormonism  because it is based on short messages that can easily become slogan thrown out there to attack Mormons.

Other attacks-slogans sound like this:

These Mormon girls are so east to manipulate!

or

Does a “Well Behaved Mormon Woman” keep trying to impose Mormon dogma on the rest of the country, and use our laws to do so?

and so on…

I wonder if Twitter is here to stay, and probably it is. I can see the positive side of it, but at the same time it is obvious that it can easily become an instrument to spread rumors and attacks against people and organizations.  However, the problem, as usual, is not the new medium, but some of the people who use it.

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