Blogging: From the Voice of the Prophets

Because I was working I missed the Priesthood Session of General Conference, so now I am going back and watching the recording online in my own personal "makeup session." I was very surprised to hear in the very first talk by Elder Russel M. Nelson very specific divine direction to us as Latter-Day Saints in the Blogging Community. I'm not a terribly active or involved member of this community, nevertheless I thought it important that I include such instruction in my humble journal. I probalby included a little more than is actually necessary, but it's all just too good and I highlighted the section I'm referring to:



"Scripture tells us that “there are many yet on the earth … who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.” Isn’t that your opportunity? You can become their own disciple of discovery!

Now in this day of the Internet, there are new and exciting ways you can do missionary work. You can invite friends and neighbors to visit the new mormon.org Web site. If you have blogs and online social networks, you could link your sites to mormon.org. And there you can create your own personal profile. Each profile includes an expression of belief, an experience, and a testimony. Because this is a new feature, most of these profiles are available in English. Profiles in other languages will follow.

These profiles can have a profound influence for good. Two months ago a young man named Zac—a freshman in college—saw an ad for mormon.org on television in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He connected with the Web site and was intrigued by the profiles of Church members. At our Web site he found the link that informed him where he could attend church. The next Sunday, dressed in a white shirt and tie, he attended church, was introduced to members of the ward, and enjoyed all three hours of meetings. He was invited to a member’s home for dinner, followed by his first missionary lesson. In less than two weeks, he was baptized and confirmed as a member of the Church. Welcome, Zac! (He is listening.)

Each exemplary follower of Jesus Christ can become an effective member missionary. Members and full-time missionaries may walk arm in arm in bringing the blessings of the gospel to cherished friends and neighbors. Many of them are of Israel, now being gathered as promised. This is all part of the preparation for the Second Coming of the Lord. He wants each of us truly to be an example of the believers.

I know that God lives. Jesus is the Christ. This is His Church. The Book of Mormon is true. Joseph Smith is its translator and the prophet of this last dispensation. President Thomas S. Monson is God’s prophet today. I so testify in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen."

I'm still not very well attuned to the operations of this site, but I think I've linked mormon.org to the title of this post, and I will see if I can make it a more obvious part of my page. I did a little poking around myself on the mormon.org site and checked out the section including member profiles. It's awesome! There are personal experiences, conversion stories, and all kinds of encouraging testimonies and information just sitting there user-friendly with photos attached. I'm going to have to start to put my own profile together and encourage others to do so. There is so much evil out there on the web and I'm glad to find a little of what is holy as well. So to all you bloggers out there: Remember You Are A Missionary!

Justin David

Brambles

"Throughout the world and among the membership of the church, there is great joy and great pain. Both are part of the plan. Without one, we cannot know the other. 'Men are that they might have joy' (2 Nephi 2:25)and 'for it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things' (2 Nephi 2:11) are not contradictory; they are complementary. In describing how he felt when he turned to the Lord, Alma the Younger said, 'My soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain.' (Alma 36:20)." (Elder Donald L. Hallstrom, Turn to the Lord Ensign May 2010)


I ran into this quote during my studies and felt that it eloquently summed the need we have for tribulation in our lives. It is so hard to see when we go through hard times how much those had times contribute to the growth of our character and our abilities.

When I juggle, I would not appreciate the ease with which I catch the balls, or the thrill of initiating a faster or altered clawing sequence if i hadn't been for all the hours I remember of dropping ball after ball watching as they roll mischeviously under chairs, couches, shopping carts, parked cars, and various thorny brambles-- then crawling over, around, and through each obstacle so that I could drop the ball again.

Similarly, when I sit in testimony meeting and cry quietly as a child stands to bear pure testimonty of my Savior Jesus Christ, I would not appreciate the overwhelming sense of peace and joy brought by the Comforter quite as much had I not all the terrible memories of loneliness and perceived despair brought on by sin, confusion, and frustration.

By walking among struggling members of the church and looking back on the stepping stones in my life, I know that the Lord lets us experience adversity for a reason-- if it's not for us to learn a lesson, then it is to give someone else the opportunity to serve. I try my best to be tankful for the trials that I'm given and perhaps more greatful for the ones that I'm not. Bearing testimony of my Savior, His Atonement, and the presence of the Gospel and a living prophet upon the earth I leave this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

President Packer

Okay, I know that I've been at it for two hours now and I promised myself I would stop, but I was reading the archives again and instantly stumbled into one of my favorite quotes of all time by President Boyd k. Packer: "My message is to our young people. We have great concern for young people who grow up without values on which to base their conduct. I have long believed that the study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than talking about behavior will improve behavior." That's it! That is the reason why I have not become a sociologist or a philosopher or, when taking those classes, had much concern for all of the moral dilemmas and paradoxes thrust at me in volumes. It's not that I don't have respect for what Kant and Hume and all of them were trying to do, but really, when you get right down to it we have all the answers we need in the gospel and if we ever come to something where we don't have the answer, the answer is pray about it and ask the prophet if what you're thinking is right. Then Pray about it again. Then Act on it, and Pray about it Again. Repeat, etc. I love President Packer for being so to the point. And me, for being not so to the point.

On General Conference...

General Conference is only a few short weeks away, and already I am impatient to hear the news of the coming year. I just started going through the online archives of the previous general conferences beginning at 1997, where the farthest back I can go on the list. After reading the opening remarks by President Hinckley I was amazed at the changes that have gone on in just the few short years that I've been alive. In his introduction in 1997, President Hinckley announced the groundbreaking of the Conference Center at Temple Square. I almost laughed when I read his description: "It will be used for general conference and for other purposes that are in harmony with the reasons for which it is being built. The stage will be such that it can accommodate a large pageant. We may not fill it initially, but we are building for the long term."

I thought it interesting that he was concerned that initially it would not be filled to capacity. Today, at least as I understand it since I've never actually been there, the church has to restrict the number of people permitted to attend. People from all over the world gather there. Also, I was impressed that in that same meeting President Hinckley announced the formation of the Area Authority Seventies, a really revolutionary organizational change that would allow the church to grow indefinitely. To think that all this happened when I was 7, and I didn't even realize it! It makes me wonder what kind of new revelation and changes are going to take place this year. I'll definitely be sitting there with my pen and pad ready to jump on anything President Monson and all the others have to say. I failed this time to get up to Salt Lake and watch the conference in person, but maybe next time.

Hope you'll all be listening.
Beloved J