justamere10

I can relate to that. Sometimes when I'm doing what I call "cyber missionary" work the Spirit will help put words together that I think will have quite an impact and I may feel pride settling in upon me. At times like those I've learned to just smile at the appearance of an old acquaintance, mentally set the thoughts aside, not denying them, just classifying them as part of the human experience. And I keep on DOING what I can to build up Zion without allowing the down and doubting myself temptation to interfere. One of the most important tools we have when experiencing temptation is captured in a single word: IGNORE!

Another sometimes not thought of value of having food storage and other items is that it can become the new currency. E.g. it takes very little room to store a few hundred sewing needles and spools of thread. When stores are shut down those little items could be traded for many other things you might need. Think of what to store for pioneer day times: shovels, hoes, ammunition, seeds - the new currency. Prophecies are that we may need to also take care of thousands of non-members who flee to our mountain refuges because that's the only place of order and safety in the entire nation. I store not only for my own family, but as preparation for others too.

I visited Jerusalem earlier this year and was taken to a different Garden of Gethsemane than the one most tourists are taken to. My guide told me that is where the Twelve ask to be taken when they visit. The guide himself has witnessed miraculous things happen there. A BYU Education Week instructor last week said that the Senior Brethren have a humorous time together about their assignments when two of them visit Jerusalem together. It is thought that the two prophets who will hold off the Armageddon armies for 3 1/2 years will be LDS Apostles. These are wondrous times to have been reserved to live in. Looking down upon the valley of Armageddon from upper Nazareth can come close to raising the hair on one's head...

Knocking on doors may not be glamorous but I and a growing number of my family for generations to come will be forever grateful for the two young missionaries who knocked on my door and taught me the Gospel. When missionaries are living right they are guided by the Spirit. That includes I'm sure being inspired to knock on the right doors. I think it also builds great skills in our young men. After returning from a mission, one of my sons knocked on doors as a salesman each summer and put himself through university. I don't think we should knock knocking on doors....

Possibly but we do what we can and we can knock on thousands of doors in one afternoon without wearing out a single sole!

I see it as a rich environment in which to calmly teach gospel principles. Rants are the fireworks that bring in the crowd, LDS Cyber Missionaries are the main speakers. We're only after those who will hear their Master's voice when it's spoken by Him or by His servants. If they are lurking there you may encourage them to go to Mormon.org and the lost shall be found.

Fair comment Erik, I can't fault that. Probably the best attitude for individuals who care is to try to think of everyone as a brother or sister because we are all (in the LDS view) literally spirit children of the same Heavenly Parent. Or try to think of everyone from God's point of view, a son or daughter whom He loves dearly and wants to bring Home to Him. He is no respecter of persons, we are commanded to love everyone as ourselves. Tough task though admittedly because it sometimes seems so darned hard to even like some people. :-)

The technical problems are taking care of, www.lds1.org loads fine now, thanks for your comments.

Craig H. Miller, an engineer who is currently employed by the Church as Director, Membership Needs reported today at BYU Education Week some pretty astonishing things that are being worked on to add to FamilySearch.org - Family History and Genealogy Records. Among other things, there is about 18 times more data stored in the granite mountain vaults than is contained in the entire Library of Congress. (Doesn't that libary contain every book published in the USA?) Anyway at the rate it is happening right now, ALL of the data in the granite mountain will be available online in about eight years! And that is in addition to "terabytes" of new data that comes in every week from "an army of volunteers" who are digitizing records all over the world. At present it takes 16 steps for members in Utah to get a name ready for temple work. In some stakes outside of Utah that has been reduced to four steps, and it can all be done from one's own computer at home, then straight to the temple. The intermountain states will be added when scaling is done and even larger computers are online to handle the huge number of members in those states. But have a look for yourself what's coming up: FamilySearch Labs You might be able to also access http://new.familysearch.org

I suppose the common thread in every religion would be a belief in God, an invisible supreme Creator. For Christians that would expand to a belief in Jesus Christ as well. Can we feel united in those beliefs and celebrate them rather than focus on differences in doctrine and understanding?

I was in the audience when Elder Hales delivered that talk. As I recall he got quite emotional when he thought back to the time when Bishop Burton I think it was outlined to the Brethren what could be accomplished by the then just emerging concept of using computers for genealogical research. Some of you too may have been involved with some of those gentle (perhaps impatient) persuasions to Church leaders to get going with that... Another instructor at BYU Education Week last week stated that the granite vault storage facility holds (if I recall correctly) 18 times more data than does the entire Library of Congress. At today's pace in only 8 years ALL of the information from the granite vault will be digitized and online! (And in addition to that "terabytes" of new vital data is arriving in Salt Lake City every week from "an army" of volunteers who are digitizing records all over the world.) Today in Utah it takes 16 steps to get a name to the temple. In some other states it takes only 4 steps. Those four steps take place in your own home! When scaling is completed and even larger computers are online, Utah and other high LDS density states will also have access to the 4 step inhome clearing of names for the temple. Here's a link to what's about to happen in the exciting world of computers and family history: FamilySearch Labs Also try: http://new.familysearch.org

As I mentioned, it's actually exciting to have even mocking responses to your posts because that is what brings in sometimes hundreds of lurkers looking for entertainment. And that provides you with golden opportunities to teach gospel principles and link in your signature to Mormon.org. Who knows, the Spirit may guide even only ONE of those lurkers to mormon.org and reach and teach him or her, and you will have JOY IN HEAVEN! I find that if I ignore things like depression and fear they quickly fade away or are soon replaced by their opposite, which is of God. Depression is just an attitude, we have power to change it to love for our fellow brothers and sisters who share our turn on earth. This is OUR watch, we are the ones who have been blessed with a knowledge of the fulness of God's truths. It's up to us to pass at least portions of that knowledge along to those who haven't, and it's up to them to make their choices. I encourage you to do what you can. If you write for twenty years and it brings only one soul to Christ it will be worth it. But always keep your calm when you write so you do no harm. The Holy Spirit is in this cyber missionary work, I experience that daily...

I'm not including CARM where I think you have to accept the Trinity concept to even post, but if you have a verrrry thick skin and can calmly reply to caustic insulting comments with a message that teaches a gospel principle, you can eventually make some inroads on boards where you'd expect most members to be quite anti-LDS. I started an "Ask a Mormon" thread on such a site a couple of months ago and today it has had more than 10,000 views, far more than any other thread their religion forum has ever generated. There's a whole lot of interest in what Mormons believe. Harsh mocking opposition generates break out the popcorn interest, and opportunities to calmly teach gospel principles and promote Mormon.org to the lurkers. As my Ask a Mormon thread progressed I came to know that most of the critics were former or inactive members of the LDS Church! One thing to keep in mind is that you don't have to play within the boundaries of someone else's sandbox. If responders try to politicize the discussion for example and make it a conservative vs liberal topic, you can ignore that and calmly reply with posts that bring it back to God and our relationship with him. (Especially if it is a "Religion" forum.) I think I'm doing some good as an LDS Cyber Missionary even in the darker corners of CyberSpace. I'm sure others can do the same. It's not for everyone, it requires thick skin, a calm temperament, and an unshakeable testimony. If you have those qualities, why not start an "Ask a Mormon" thread somewhere today? You can learn more about LDS Cyber Missionary work at http://www.lds1.org

Thanks for contributing to this thread Abby.

I want to thank everyone who participated in this thread. Your comments and those of others have greatly assisted me in coming to a decision to change the focus of my own site, I did that today. Much appreciated.

Good counsel Carol, thank-you. I always enjoy reading your posts here Enjoy the day.

I think we are all children of the same God, and we ALL matter. But I understand that you are excluding yourself from scriptures other than perhaps the Bible. Enjoy the day.

Is it your opinion then that we are not required to cry repentance to this generation?

Are we not called to cry repentance to all? Below is a link to 246 instances of the word "repent" or "repentance" appearing in the LDS canon. It must be important! Word Search: repentance Here are just a few: "Behold, the world is ripening in iniquity; and it must needs be that the children of men are stirred up unto repentance, both the Gentiles and also the house of Israel." D&C 18: 6 Doctrine and Covenants 18 "Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people. And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" D&C 18: 14,15 Doctrine and Covenants 18 "And now for this cause, that ye may not be destroyed, the Lord has sent his angel to visit many of his people, declaring unto them that they must go forth and cry mightily unto this people, saying: Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand;" Alma 9: 25 Alma 9 "And now I say unto you that this is the order after which I am called, yea, to preach unto my beloved brethren, yea, and every one that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both bond and free; yea, I say unto you the aged, and also the middle aged, and the rising generation; yea, to cry unto them that they must repent and be born again." Alma 5: 49 Alma 5 "Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;" D&C 19: 15 Doctrine and Covenants 19

Can we put an end to the war of words now?

I admit that I have been rushing from one to another of many things as I try to draw attention to two unique discussion boards about cyber missionary work that I think have a lot of potential to do some good. That is no excuse for demeaning anyone though and if I came across that way with ProspectMom, I apologize, thanks for speaking for the defense. I AM listening to the answers. This thread has already helped me a lot and hopefully has provided some value for those who read it and who wrote in it as well, including yourself. The thought of Latter-day Saints working hand in hand with members of other Christian denominations doing missionary work seems almost ludicrous at first and I really hesitated to even suggest the possibility. So I've been probing on a few LDS discussion boards to try to get some inkling if I may have crossed a line. This thread has helped me get some of that inkling. I think it is possible for Christians to take an ecumenical approach to cyber missionary work. Helping move people from a wicked Telestial lifestyle to a righteous Terrestrial lifestyle is pretty much what ALL Christians, including LDS do. LDS just add on the Celestial element, which when you think about it is a POST Millennium concern much more than the urgent need today to help get God's children on earth qualified for the Millennium. We can do both concurrently is my thinking. Am I making sense? A great place to discuss this would be at my site where it is the main feature of the board. What happens over the next few months at CTR1.org, perhaps especially in the Mormon forum, will pretty much determine if there is any viability to that notion, at least as as it may be applied in CyberSpace. It's very much an experiment, and it may very well fail to produce useful fruit, time will tell. If nothing else, it could help get Mormons interacting with non-Mormons of many denominations in a friendly atmosphere. I built the site, it's different than all others, the question is, will they come? I am doing what I can to attract Mormons to that board as well as other Christians. If nothing else, this thread may be helping do that...

Perhaps I have too many threads happening at the same time. But you would understand if you read at my site the "Sifting Time" discussion board for Christians of all denominations. Thanks for your interest.

Ok, I give up with you. If you would take the time to read a bit on my site you would know that it is entirely Christlike. Here's my suggestion for a possible ecumenical approach to cyber missionary work at the Terrestrial level: "We could all be part-time CYBER MISSIONARIES, independently on our own initiative crying repentance all over CyberSpace, and, without putting down the beliefs of others, valiantly teaching Jesus risen, His Atonement for us, and lifestyle principles from Matthew Chapter 5." .

Yes, that's what LDS missionaries do. I think you're missing the distinction I'm trying to make between LDS Cyber Missionaries whose focus is on Celestial, and Cyber Missionaries of other denominations who too can help prepare people for the Millennium, because the Millennium is a Terrestrial state. I guess I'm just not good at communicating that.

Any more Mormons willing to help out on the new board? Here's a recent unanswered post in the Mormon forum: "Any Mormons here? I have 3 questions posted. I am here to learn-I would love to hear from you." http://www.CTR1.org .