blogging missionaries

[bigfoot]

Hey, did you know that missionaries are now allowed to blog. they keep up to date, messages and posts on their everyday life. I know because i have been selected to be one of those missionaries. this is going to help the word of the lord spread to every nation, kindred tounge and people. I think this is a great Idea, and we need to support these missionaries, the more followers they recieve, the more there blog will appear on search engines. please the lord needs this gospel spread. come follow my blog and help this work move forward

follow my blog at: To bring the world its truth

[john doe]

Since you don't seem to have read your message inbox, I will post this here. We have deleted numerous posts from you because they are duplicates. We welcome you here, but you don't need to repost the same message in every section of the site.

[bigfoot]

so I can't even talk about the same subject more than twice. I am posting different things on different threads but it is all the same theme

[john doe]

Yes you can talk about the same thing twice. But when you post in one section of the site, you don't need to repost the same thing elsewhere because we all see the first post too. Multiple repeats of the same post is considered spamming the site.

[Maya]

so I can't even talk about the same subject more than twice. I am posting different things on different threads but it is all the same theme

They are a bit too alike. You can also go on the Learn about mormonisme part and just answer the questions there. A lot of nice blogss...

Here too you can make a blogg on fex about teachings of Jesus or you can write your testimony in testimonies on your profile.... Some testimonials that are written here may even help you on the misionary work.

[bigfoot]

thanks for the advice, I think I will do that. The most important thing I want to do is just get my blog out there so non-members can see it, and they lead them to mormon.org and get missionaries where they are at to teach them along with me. I just need the help of all who are willing to render, it doesn't take to long to become a follower and it will help a ton.

Please follow my blog: To bring the world His truth

[Wingnut]

Why not just get them to mormon.org in the first place?

[bigfoot]

because we want them to be in contact with a missionary who won't leave in 20 minutes out of a chat room. I want them to become my friend on facebook, a follower to my blog, and being taught by members in their area. Look, I just hope you all realize I am not just doing this because I feel like it, I have been called of god to do this, this idea has been proposed by an apostle of god, I am just trying to be obedient and magnify my calling. Please support this monumental shift in the lords work.

please follow my blog: To bring the world His truth

[alkymisten]

I like the idea of blogging missionaries. My son is on a mission in Greece (sent out from Denmark) and will not be on Facebook for 2 years. He has 463 facebook friends, many of them non-members, and I´m thinking it is wasted missionary opportunity, that he can´t stay in contact with them via the internet while he is serving.

We also have a young man from Greenland going on a mission, he is the only church member in his family. He has 633 facebook friends, many of them on Greenland where there is no church outreach. Here could also be a great missionary opportunity.

Edited November 2, 2010 by alkymisten

[skippy740]

I have a differing opinion (sorry).

I don't think missionaries should have blogs. Why? Too much attachment to the writer of the blog and not necessarily in the fellowship of the local saints. It can also lead to the image of more missionaries in front of computers instead of tarrying in the Lord's vineyard.

Blogs and other websites can disseminate information very well. However, they cannot take the place of a live missionary discussion, with the Sprit present and commitments are extended and made.

I think MEMBERS should have blogs... and those blogs should reference mormon.org who would then refer to their local missionaries for further discussion. Ward Mission Leaders can/should inspire such with faithful members of the ward.

Just my opinion.

[Dravin]

I think the key is that this is a trial program. Which means to me it isn't "Thus sayeth the Lord get thee a bloggin'!"* I support the brothern in their foray into this concept but keep in mind that they may conclude that this ultimately is a good and effective idea or as others conclude that the pitfalls outweigh any benefits.

* This is not to say the brothern aren't inspired. The idea could be good but the execution horrible, or the Lord may be letting them experiment (answer to prayer: See how it goes and report back to me) so they can learn from the experience.

Edited November 3, 2010 by Dravin

[TL10]

Are you also serving a mission elsewhere in the world, and not just on the internet, because in my opinion, it's not really a mission if you do it at home.

[Just_A_Guy]

* This is not to say the brothern aren't inspired. The idea could be good but the execution horrible, or the Lord may be letting them experiment (answer to prayer: See how it goes and report back to me) so they can learn from the experience.

I hope it goes better than I suspect it will. Thinking back on my own mission, and looking at the missionaries we're turning out now: most of 'em would get eaten alive in nine out of ten Mormon-oriented online discussions I've seen.

I doubt one missionary in fifty is up to the task. (Not because they're dumber or anything; but because your average internet investigator will have seen stuff about the Mormons that most 20-year-olds just don't have enough experience or historical knowledge to refute; and your mission isn't the ideal time to be performing your first researches into--say--the finer points of the usage of a seer stone, or the emotional ups and downs of Joseph Smith's wives, or Brigham Young's alleged involvement in Mountain Meadows, or the intricacies of a corporation sole and the Church's asset management.)

[bigfoot]

well first off in answer to TL10 question. I am serving a full-time proselyting mission, I just take on hour out of the day to talk to people online.

and now to answer Just a Guys post. If you think that a successful teacher is one that knows the deep doctrine and can battle against the anti's you are mistaken. A good teacher is one that follows the inspiration of the spirit. You don't think we get hit with that stuff everyday, it only shakes those that don't have a testimony of the gospel. We are here to invite others to come unto christ and when I am following the spirit nothing anyone says can confound me, NOTHING!! The truth will always win there is nothing anyone can do to disrupt that. so don't think that age means anything, Joseph smith was just 14 when he saw god the father, and Jesus christ. Mormon was just 10 when he was called to serve and just 16 when he was in charge of the entire nephite army. Age doesn't matter, knowledge doesn't matter. it is faith and obedience that qualify us.

[skippy740]

bigfoot,

You're getting a little too proud about your humility. It may be the way I'm reading your posts, but your enthusiasm for the work is not really being portrayed well, imo.

The fact is, is that the MTC does NOT help you with some of those deeper and darker areas of our faith's past. Those who are online and doing research on "the mormons" are reading the endowment text, anti-mormon literature, blacks and the priesthood, etc.

I won't discourage you... but the LDS website itself has positive messages and Mormon.org has areas where investigators can ask questions. Having a "bond" with a certain missionary can interfere with that missionary's work (I know, I've seen it).

That said, please exemplify your office and execute this project to the best of your ability.

BTW, don't lecture the faithful. It doesn't help to garner trust, improve member-missionary relations and we members just begin to count the days until your next transfer.

[Wingnut]

Double thanks, skippy.

[Just_A_Guy]

it only shakes those that don't have a testimony of the gospel.

That would be everyone in your finding pool, almost everyone in your teaching pool, and (if you're lucky) about fifty percent of your baptism pool.

I'm not saying you should go trolling through apologetic sites in your off-hours. But when this kind of stuff comes up (as it will), please have the courage to say "I don't know" rather than making something up or (worse) simply browbeating your investigators with the old "this wouldn't be a problem if you just had more faith!" routine.

Missionaries can (and, in my experience, often do) blaze through their assigned areas burning bridges in a flurry of self-righteousness; but it's us lowly members (whom you seem to think are inferior in our calling, our faith, and our obedience) who will have to live in those areas and clean up the damage some missionaries have caused. Keep that in mind, will you?

Edited November 3, 2010 by Just_A_Guy

[Dravin]

BTW, don't lecture the faithful. It doesn't help to garner trust, improve member-missionary relations and we members just begin to count the days until your next transfer.

For what it's worth his last post sounded pompous (could just be the vagrancies of online communication) based on that if I had someone I wanted to introduce the missionaries to, Bigfoot would not be it, I'd wait for the next transfer.

Edited November 4, 2010 by Dravin

[bigfoot]

That would be everyone in your finding pool, almost everyone in your teaching pool, and (if you're lucky) about fifty percent of your baptism pool.

I'm not saying you should go trolling through apologetic sites in your off-hours. But when this kind of stuff comes up (as it will), please have the courage to say "I don't know" rather than making something up or (worse) simply browbeating your investigators with the old "this wouldn't be a problem if you just had more faith!" routine.

Missionaries can (and, in my experience, often do) blaze through their assigned areas burning bridges in a flurry of self-righteousness; but it's us lowly members (whom you seem to think are inferior in our calling, our faith, and our obedience) who will have to live in those areas and clean up the damage some missionaries have caused. Keep that in mind, will you?

well I would have you all know that I am out in the field right now, I am on the front lines of the lord. I run into people who have anti, I have investigators who look at anti, and I have baptized people who have overcome it. I will say this, I never bash, I never give timid answers and i don't beat around the bush. WE HAVE THE TRUTH, and nothing can disprove truth. The thing I do when faced with those questions is this "The book of Mormon is convincing evidence of what we have taught, if you read and pray sincerely you will recieve and answer, I know because it worked for me" that is all you have to do, there is no other way. So don't think I am just some, naive little boy. I am a servant of god, and my authority is above that of the kings of the earth. The spirit is my sword.

And as far as this whole online missionary work thing, I would like to share, that there are many on this site supporting me, there are many who understand the work of the lord and my purpose on here, and they sustain the apostle which have created this program. On my blog, this website, LDS.net, has been my greatest success. I have 24 followers. I have over 554 views from this website alone, that seems pretty succesful and that the lords work is moving a little more forward because of it. I would love it if you would support me but if not, I will fulfill my calling anyway.

[john doe]

I don't think anyone here is saying they don't sustain those who created this new project. I believe what they are saying is that perhaps it could be done with a little less brashness and a little more tact than what they have seen so far. Most of the LDS here do a fine job of proclaiming the truthfulness of the Gospel, and do not deserve the whole 'me against you' mentality that seems to be emanating from this thread. We are not your enemies, we are trying to help you be more effective in your approach to the site and those who visit here.

[dahlia]

bigfoot,

The fact is, is that the MTC does NOT help you with some of those deeper and darker areas of our faith's past. Those who are online and doing research on "the Mormons" are reading the endowment text, anti-mormon literature, blacks and the priesthood, etc.

I only know a bit about the MTC, but I think you are right. I asked my missionaries about the Labanites turning dark, which as a black person, I found offensive. I guess I find it offensive because, so far, I'm taking the Book of Mormon as a cultural story presenting a belief system, not as words dictated by a divine being. You can yell at me for that later. Considering the time in which the BOM was written, the feelings about blacks at the time, I find that having a story in which people's skins turn dark because they were acting sinfully as both a product of its time and off-putting to me today.

I also know about the history of the black priesthood. I haven't told anyone I am investigating, partly because any knowledgeable black person I know is going to start in with the priesthood thing and how could I even think of being in such a church.

As an educated person who took the time to read anti-Mormon sites, books on Mormon history (not anti-Mormon, but fairly written in presenting some of the less savory events in church history), as well as the pro-Mormon sites, I think I know some things that the young missionaries do not, or that they have glossed over as it may shake their faith.

Maybe I will never be good enough for this church, but telling me about faith and to believe and that the spirit will guide you only goes so far. I am willing to take historical facts for what they are; I don't blame people living today for what people did in history, bound by the constraints of the events and culture surrounding them. There is a lot of darkness to the history of the Catholic Church, but most people don't blame you for the Inquisition if you are a Catholic today. However, if I announced that I was investigating the LDS, I can guarantee you that my family and colleagues are not going to ask about faith and the holy spirit, but will pull up past acts of the Church and ask how can I ignore all of that. I didn't leave my intellect at the door when I decided to investigate the Church and no one I know would expect me to. They would find it difficult to believe, knowing the 'facts' surrounding the LDS, that I could join this Church.

I wouldn't say that I struggle with these issues. I know about them and put them in the past and don't pay them much mind. Maybe I should. I am willing to accept much about the Church, I think it offers people a lot that is good, but acceptance doesn't mean belief. Why can't I just say I accept that this is the history of the organization, that some of it stretches the imagination, but I'm not worried about that, I'm worried about living my life now, how I best do that, and a willingness to accept that being LDS might be the best way to go about being a good person. I don't think I have to believe everything to be good Mormon, but I think Mormons probably want me to believe everything.

[skippy740]

BlacksInTheScriptures.com

Please contact Marvin Perkins directly at: (512) 827-0044 ext: 8160. (It's a voice-mail message, so leave a message as long as you want. I've left one as long as 8 minutes for him before.)

He has studied this issue EXTENSIVELY as a temple working, black LDS member. I know him. He's a good man and will take the time with you to explore these areas.

Edited November 4, 2010 by skippy740

[skippy740]

This is a good thread to review as well.

http://www.lds.net/forums/lds-gospel-discussion/22190-can-someone-please-honest-me.html

[dahlia]

Please contact Marvin Perkins

I don't know if I'll call him, but I did look at his site and a few other places he recommended. There is a black LDS site on FaceBook and a fun 'As Sistas in Zion' cite for black women. These folks have a whole 'nother perspective on the Church! "I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto?" was pretty funny. I didn't know that if people were in the Telestial or Terrestrial Kingdoms, they couldn't visit you in the Celestial Kingdom. The idea of being able to avoid in heaven the people you wanted to avoid here on earth is appealing.