May

28

Similarly to the previous video, which was based on the testimonies of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this second amazing video includes the testimonies of the members of the First Presidency of the Mormon Church, President Monson, President Eyring, and president Ucthdorf. Enjoy it, it is great! I know that they are prophets of God.

May

22

I have found this interesting video with the testimonies of several members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church).

I know that they are indeed prophets and apostles of God. If you are a member of the Church you will enjoy it. If you are not, you should really listen to them!

May

18

Yesterday and today I have been attending our Stake Conference, Geneva Heights Stake in Orem, Utah. It has been a very inspiring Conference and I could mention many interesting topics.

For example, our stake president, President Thomas, talked about the positive influence of a friend of his who is blogging about his life and faith and that is touching the life of others by doing it, in spite of, or perhaps especially because of his difficult health condition.

The stake president also talked about missionary work and finding people for the missionaries to teach. There was no direct mention to online missionary work in that talk, but I believe that it will become always more evident to all that one of the best way to find people over time will be the Internet. Even shy people will not have excuses for not doing it!

However, there is another topic that I would like to comment about. In the Conference a story was told about a young woman who was inviting a friend to mutual (young women activities in the Mormon Church) and this friend was loving it. This friend’s mother, member of another faith, became concerned of this situation and scheduled a biblical study for her daughter in the same night. There is no problem about a mother of another faith being concerned and enrolling her daughter in a biblical study. What made me sad, but not surprised unfortunately, was the last part of the story. Some time later these two girls met again and the young woman from another faith told the young Mormon girl something like, “you Mormons are not even Christians”…

The young Mormon girl realized soon that the reason because her friend was saying that was because we believe in a different concept of Trinity. To all who accept and understand the Bible it should be clear that the concept of the Trinity as taught by many Christian denomination is not biblical and at best is confusing. (for a great explanation of Mormon beliefs about Trinity see The Only True God and Jesus Christ Whom He Hath Sent) But this is not the point here. Let everybody believe what they want and respect it.

My question is: “What do they mean and imply when they say that we are not even Christian?” or ” Are these statement something that help create friendship and foster mutual understanding or is a way to propagate confusion, division, and bias?”.

This is a time of equal rights and all around in our society people talk about avoiding discrimination and so on. However, when some good religious people teach their kids that Mormon are not even Christians, what do they exactly mean?

In fact, what does define a Christian? Is the specific belief in a certain “Trinity” or the principle of loving our neighbors, for example? I am afraid that when some people stress the fact that Mormons are not Christians, they are in fact conveying - willingly or unwillingly - the message that Mormons do not love their neighbors, and that they are bad people, that they are pagans, or any other disparaging thing people can think of. In our culture, unfortunately, to say that someone is not “even Christian” is a way to dismiss a person or a beliefs and not to engage in a serious discussion.

I obviously do not know who does it for ignorance and who does it on purpose, to create division and foster misunderstanding and confusion, but in a time in which we, as a society, try to focus on what we have in common, even with other religions, that clearly define themselves as not Christian, to insist and stress that Mormon are not Christians is clearly a sign of bigotry or ignorance that should have been left in the 19th century. We, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - the Mormons - should peacefully, but firmly, work to eliminate these vestiges of previous eras.

May

16

There is always a lot of confusion about who are the Mormons. A few years ago I noticed that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints started putting more emphasis on the official name of the Church by asking more clearly that members and not members use the full name of the Church, instead than saying “Mormon Church.”

However, in this video, Mormon spokesman Michael Otterson clearly says that the media should not call those little poligamyst sects “Mormons” because there is really almost nothing in common between those groups and the Church. I like the idea of defending the nickname “Mormons” since it is widely used and recognized, and there is nothing to be ashamed of.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not allow its members to practice poligamy since the end of the 19th century. Moreover, the way poligamy was practiced more than a century ago was very different from the way it is practiced today by these groups, and the social environment is completely different.  

Finally, many other aspects of the way these people live or believe are different from what is taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Watch the Video:


 

May

15

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Mormon Temples can be visited inside before they are dedicated. This is a good opportunity, since this video show images of the inside of the new Mormon Temple, built in Curitiba, state of Paraná, Brazil.

I used to live in Londrina, the second city in the same state, and I am glad that now members of the Mormon Church will not have to travel to S. Paolo, a long trip from Curitiba.

I currently live in an area where it is easy to go to a temple. I only need to travel 10-15 minutes and I know what a great blessing is to live close to one of these sacred buildings.

If you are not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church), I invite you to talk to the Mormon missionaries and ask them about our temples, where families can be sealed for eternity.

Watch the video:

Inside Mormon Temples: part 2.

May

9

There are many great people in all religions and churches. I really appreciate all the good things many religious people do, even if I may not share the same exact beliefs.

However, there is a marginal group of religious people that, instead of focusing on doing good things and in attracting people to their churches by the power of their teachings and actions, prefers to use a negative approach: they attack others.

Perhaps they think that by attacking others people will not notice their own shortcomings. Take a look at this picture, for example:

In any case, they are right. If people honestly and sincerely pray about the Book of Mormon, they will know that is true unless, and unfortunately this also happens, people do not want to know the truth, because they are scared of what changes they should make in their lives, after they know what they are supposed to do.

I did it a long time ago and this is really what happened with me.

May

7

There are many people who wonder what is so special, or secret, in the Mormon Temples. Why “normal” people cannot go inside? What mysterious things do Mormon do inside?

First of all, for those who would like to see the interior, I suggest to simply attend an open house. After a temple is constructed and before a temple is dedicated, the public is invited to enter and view the rooms. Hundreds of thousands of people usually attend these open houses. After the formal dedication, the temple is closed to tourists because the Latter-day Saints begin using the temple to perform sacred ordinances.

This is the first concept to understand: temple ceremony are sacred, not secret. I will elaborate on this idea in a future blog.

For now, if you did not have an opportunity to go to an open house, you may want to take a look at these pictures (a virtual tour):

For more information you can also visit MormonChurchTemples or LDSChurchTemples.com

May

5

Simon, my second son, yesterday received his Eagle Scout award. His older brother Luca received his Eagle Scout award a few years ago, and he is now on a mission for the Mormon Church in Boston.

Simon worked hard to obtain his award and I am sure he will keep moving forward and use that experience to prepare for a full time mission as a Mormon missionary. Scouting is really a great program, who helps young men to learn how to achieve worthy goals and prepare for life.

May

1

David G. Neeleman

On March 27, 2008 David Neeleman officially announced plans to launch a new airline, a domestic carrier in Brazil. The venture is currently named AirBrazil, but a contest has started to officially name the airline with the winner receiving a free pair of lifetime tickets. Neeleman has asked to step down as the Chairman of the Board from JetBlue Airways to spend time starting this new venture. He is currently looking for a CEO to run the airline and plans on opening a flight school. Currently, Neeleman plans on flying exclusively Embraer 195 jets but has yet to decide on the level of amenities and service which will be offered onboard.