Virtual Sacrament Meeting

[priesthoodpower]

Today was the first and it was a hit - it is the future. I hope this becomes a permanent thing...not saying that physical attendance should stop but when it resumes the virtual option remain for those that dont/cant/wont attend in person. The presence of the holy spirit in this virtual setting was just as strong as if attending physically. 

I sat at my computer (in the living room) with head phones on because my inactive kids were not interested in joining me, one was playing xbox next to me, the other two eating breakfast. My screen was visible to everyone and they made comments as they saw Bishop and another speaker as well as the cameras/faces of old friends/members that were logged in from their own living rooms. One of the priesthood boys made a funny face on his camera and my kids were laughing. 

The scripture Matthew 18:12 comes to my mind - If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?

I feel that this virtual setting allowed Bishop to penetrate into places that he never could have and speak directly to me and my household while the 99 were at his side. 

[laronius]

Clearly the Lord is going to use the current circumstances to His advantage as He always does and I sincerely hope your family is blessed because if it. Though it is still not the ideal for most members so take advantage of it while it is here. But even when it ends do not lose hope that the Lord can reach them individually. He knows them better than anyone and knows what it will take to turn their hearts.

[priesthoodpower]

9 hours ago, laronius said:

Clearly the Lord is going to use the current circumstances to His advantage as He always does and I sincerely hope your family is blessed because if it. Though it is still not the ideal for most members so take advantage of it while it is here. But even when it ends do not lose hope that the Lord can reach them individually. He knows them better than anyone and knows what it will take to turn their hearts.

Thank you.

 

[priesthoodpower]

Week 2 of virtual sacrament was awesome, fast and testimony meeting and I was able to mute the second half of a sisters testimony when she felt the need to get too preachy, if there was a dislike button in zoom I probably would not have clicked it just for the sake of being respectful.
Bishop preachy = OK
Random member preachy = Sorry! you dont pay my bills or approve my temple recommend.

Virtual is the future in learning the behaviors of its members, with this data we can better teach, better retain and better convert. The church is a long way behind in gathering this data and the only way they can do it is through the technology. Currently the most important data the church talks about is 150 temples, 5000 stakes, 18 million members etc...that data does nothing.

You see google started way back in the 90's they knew the value in data. Gather data, understand how the masses think/behave, control the masses. Satan is at the forefront of all of this so where is God?

Oh, God is still and ONLY in the chapels. Well this pandemic hit because God needs us to put him in the homes sooner rather then later, in the same computers and devices that glorify violence and sex...yes the same devices that satan has been using for decades to divert the attention of our youth and members. God needs to be in there too.

Our LDS apps and websites are a great start but we cant only own apps and websites, we need to own whole industries. For example Tyler Perry is an african american actor/play writer who took his screen plays to Hollywood and they told him he has to change it up. He said, "Nope, Im going to create my own studios and own my own material." Tyler Perry studios in Atlanta Georgia is now a rival to Hollywood and has a big following.

Why boycott Netflix, just create our own. Why leave the boyscouts, create our own. Why attend public schools with questionable values, create our own.  

The church needs to stop using zoom and create their own video streaming platform so they can own the data of its viewership and know when members like me hit the mute button or minimize the screen, that is valuable data.

Satan is in business and politics, soon enough it will be a no brainer that God needs to be in there too.

 

 

[laronius]

20 hours ago, priesthoodpower said:

Week 2 of virtual sacrament was awesome, fast and testimony meeting and I was able to mute the second half of a sisters testimony when she felt the need to get too preachy, if there was a dislike button in zoom I probably would not have clicked it just for the sake of being respectful.
Bishop preachy = OK
Random member preachy = Sorry! you dont pay my bills or approve my temple recommend.

Virtual is the future in learning the behaviors of its members, with this data we can better teach, better retain and better convert. The church is a long way behind in gathering this data and the only way they can do it is through the technology. Currently the most important data the church talks about is 150 temples, 5000 stakes, 18 million members etc...that data does nothing.

You see google started way back in the 90's they knew the value in data. Gather data, understand how the masses think/behave, control the masses. Satan is at the forefront of all of this so where is God?

Oh, God is still and ONLY in the chapels. Well this pandemic hit because God needs us to put him in the homes sooner rather then later, in the same computers and devices that glorify violence and sex...yes the same devices that satan has been using for decades to divert the attention of our youth and members. God needs to be in there too.

Our LDS apps and websites are a great start but we cant only own apps and websites, we need to own whole industries. For example Tyler Perry is an african american actor/play writer who took his screen plays to Hollywood and they told him he has to change it up. He said, "Nope, Im going to create my own studios and own my own material." Tyler Perry studios in Atlanta Georgia is now a rival to Hollywood and has a big following.

Why boycott Netflix, just create our own. Why leave the boyscouts, create our own. Why attend public schools with questionable values, create our own.  

The church needs to stop using zoom and create their own video streaming platform so they can own the data of its viewership and know when members like me hit the mute button or minimize the screen, that is valuable data.

Satan is in business and politics, soon enough it will be a no brainer that God needs to be in there too.

 

 

The Church has come out with its own Meetinghouse Webcast that wards can use now so it looks like they are already heading in the same direction as what you are talking about. But I'm not convinced of the need to be tracking all the data like you say. Of course the Lord expects us to do our due diligence to a certain extent but it will never take the place of God's omniscience. 

[JohnsonJones]

3 hours ago, laronius said:

The Church has come out with its own Meetinghouse Webcast that wards can use now so it looks like they are already heading in the same direction as what you are talking about. But I'm not convinced of the need to be tracking all the data like you say. Of course the Lord expects us to do our due diligence to a certain extent but it will never take the place of God's omniscience. 

There is a Meetinghouse Webcast program?  Tell me more about it?

Is this for a replacement for Zoom (currently all our meetings when broadcast are done over Zoom), or is it thought to be utilized in that manner?

[laronius]

2 hours ago, JohnsonJones said:

There is a Meetinghouse Webcast program?  Tell me more about it?

Is this for a replacement for Zoom (currently all our meetings when broadcast are done over Zoom), or is it thought to be utilized in that manner?

It's an app available on Google Play and probably iphone too intended to be used for non-interactive meetings like sacrament meeting. It was in a Church letter last week.

[Connie]

On 9/29/2020 at 2:22 AM, priesthoodpower said:

Gather data, understand how the masses think/behave, control the masses.

I'm so glad the kingdom of God on Earth does not do this. "We teach correct principles, and they govern themselves."

Edited September 30, 2020 by Connie

[Jonah]

On 9/29/2020 at 4:22 AM, priesthoodpower said:

The church needs to stop using zoom and create their own video streaming platform so they can own the data of its viewership and know when members like me hit the mute button or minimize the screen, that is valuable data.

Video streaming works well for something like a General Conference but maybe Zoom is
better for the wards.  Google Hangouts is another option.  Hitting the mute button or minimizing
the screen is perfectly normal in some circumstances and should not be viewed as a negative
point against you.  For example, you can even hit the pause button on a General Conference talk
if you need to take a small break.

[mikbone]

My family and I have been so grateful for the Lord's inspired home-centered, church-supported Come, Follow Me program.

We live in Northern California and the limits on social interaction and gathering have become ridiculous.  Take for example Gavin Newsom's recommendations for Thanksgiving.  They really want us to wear our masks in-between bites during meals...

https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-california-gavin-newsom-new-rules-gatherings-thanksgiving-1541402

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Newsom-s-office-says-to-keep-masks-on-eating-15635093.php

We had a hiatus for a few weeks wherein we were allowed to go to Sacrament meeting at church at a reduced 25% capacity.  Spacing between families, every other row blocked, universal masking, etc.  I didn't like it.

Now our ward is trying to implement Zoom meetings and Social media gatherings for Sacrament and ancillary services like young men and women.  The local ward secretary has asked that we and some of our children give talks at Zoom church and I have declined.  Only 8-12 people are allowed in the chapel at this time in our County.  And because we have a large family (11 children), we would have to split up the family during these meetings.  

We have loved home-centered worship and will continue to follow the Come, Follow Me program, as well as providing the Sacrament for the family as we have received the OK to do so from the local Stake.  

We love to watch General Conference and have been supplementing our family meetings with re-runs of great conference talks from the past.  I have been a proponent of moving General Conference to a quarterly timescale for some time now.

D&C 20:61 The several elders composing this church of Christ are to meet in conference once in three months, or from time to time as said conferences shall direct or appoint;

We will return to the chapel as soon as the hysteria has resolved but based on the predictions of our political leaders, this may be the new normal (I personally highly doubt it).

The above graph is a prediction of daily California deaths by a prominent website www.worldometers.  But as explained below in the link. we should be careful about where we get our information.

https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2020/05/world/worldometer-coronavirus-mystery/

If you know anything about graphs, the asymptotic nature of that predictive curve is ludicrous. 

I know that many of the general authorities spoke on the importance of food supply and many have perhaps taken that as an indicator that things are only going to get worse.  But we also continue to build new temples, and I can't imagine that temples will only be used for living ordinances in the future.  

Edited October 25, 2020 by mikbone

[Vort]

Hate to tell you this, but Gavin Newsom is as big an idiot as Jay Inslee. And since he runs a state more than five times larger, he'll do more than five times the damage.

[NeuroTypical]

2 hours ago, mikbone said:

We live in Northern California and the limits on social interaction and gathering have become ridiculous.  Take for example Gavin Newsom's recommendations for Thanksgiving.  They really want us to wear our masks in-between bites during meals...

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/Newsom-s-office-says-to-keep-masks-on-eating-15635093.php

Dang - this thing screamed fake news, or at least something has been taken out of context.

Yet, here we are.  Yeah, Gov Newsom says it was a staffer's tweet, not his, but yeah, dang:

 

Edited October 25, 2020 by NeuroTypical

[mikbone]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-israel-mask-idUSKBN22U1ZO

Brilliant solution?  

Edited October 25, 2020 by mikbone

[Vort]

29 minutes ago, mikbone said:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-israel-mask-idUSKBN22U1ZO

Brilliant solution?  

Horrifying. @mirkwood's Halloween outfit.