We wonder what we can share online, and how effective our voices will be in reaching others who may want to know more about what Mormons believe and how they live their lives.

It’s surprising how much of a difference we can make by simply inviting people to take a look over our shoulders as we talk about our Mormon lives online.  No fences. No gates. No barriers.

We think our everyday activities may not be of interest, or that we need to blog about strictly spiritual things.  Actually, people want to know what makes us tick all the way around–what we do with our time, our means, our professional lives, our families, our hobbies.  As they see those things, and as we share those activities that occupy our lives, we will naturally speak of what matters to us, our priorities will be visible, our desires to serve will naturally surface, our focus will become evident.

Are you still thinking that sounds too simplistic–why would anyone care?  Consider this comment from a Christian pastor, Chip Ingram.  Speaking of one of the greatest mentors of his life, he said:

He had only a high school education and wasn’t very ‘cool’ by my young college standards, but he loved me and knew the Bible better than I did and he still does. He came alongside me, . . . . and modeled how a Christian does marriage and family. I learned from him through heart-to-heart talks and watching how he lived. I was discipled simply by hanging out with him and catching his values and authenticity. He brought me in by modeling the message, inviting me to participate, and engaging me in genuine relationship.

Jesus’ method of discipleship was to live with his disciples. That’s it. They went where he went, heard what he said, saw what he did, ate what he ate, and talked with him about everyday matters. When we engage people like that, we bring them in.

I was discipled simply by hanging out with him and catching his values and authenticity. He brought me in by modeling the message, inviting me to participate and engaging me in genuine relationship”  (Chip Ingram)

In response to Elder Ballard’s recent counsel to use the New Media and participate in the gospel conversation online, ….

BYU students are taking the challenge issued by one of their professors, Richard Holzapfel, to blog what they are learning in their Bible study classes.  They’re creating their own blogs and sharing their family lives, their aspirations, hobbies, and spiritual insights online in a friendly fashion, opening doors to virtual neighbors who may bump into them on the Internet.
http://officepoetry.blogspot.com/2008/09/jewish-mormon-heritage.html

http://latterdaysaintlaurel.blogspot.com/

http://nettlesanddaisies.blogspot.com/2008/09/worth-identity-some-rambling-thoughts.html

Posted on September 19th, 2008 by Karen Merkley
Filed under: Meeting People at the Crossroads, Member Missionaries | No Comments »

Several years ago, a teenage girl backed into my car in a parking lot.  She hadn’t been driving for very long and was pretty nervous about her first fender-bender.  After talking about what had happened and exchanging information, I commented on her beautiful necklace.  It was a locket engraved with the words, “Daddy’s girl.”  She explained that her father had just passed away.  It was apparent that she was still sorely missing him.  She added that she had just lost two others of her teenage friends. She wondered about these events and why they were happening.

I had a copy of The Book of Mormon in the car which I retrieved.  We talked about God’s plan of salvation, and I opened to Alma 40, reassuring her of her father’s condition and the state of the soul in rest after death, and affirmed her feelings regarding the feelings she had that Her Dad’s spirit and presence were tangible at times. We talked about her friends and the continuation of life missions beyond this life. She accepted a copy of The Book of Mormon.

Clearly, Heavenly Father knew it would be worth having us “bump into” one another to help heal a soul and advance his plan of happiness for her.

It’s much easier now to magnify the likelihood of bumping into someone interested in the gospel, with easy online connections.

Why not visit start your own blog and share your perspectives about how your faith intersects your life as a member of the Church?

Visit moregoodfoundation.org for more information and helps in participating in the worldwide conversation on faith.

Posted on September 12th, 2008 by Karen Merkley
Filed under: Member Missionaries | No Comments »

In order to gear up for sharing the gospel, it sometimes helps to stand outside ourselves and remember what is rocking the world around us. We live in a time where humanism largely prevails–the notion that we can lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps and accomplish everything on our resources and to our own merit.

It’s true, we can do a lot. We are endowed with a great power to perform, think, create, and live out our lives.  But the key difference between thinking we can do it all, and recognizing that what we are ‘able’ to do is all a gift from a loving set of divine parents, is significant.  And the world needs to know the difference.

Here’s an example of the prevalent worldview that suggests that we are the full shapers of history, ours or the world’s. You know the poem.  It’s recited and memorized in junior highs. It’s William Ernest Henley’s “Invictus,” a proud, self-sufficient expression that ends with these words:

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

[Echoes, 1888, No. 4, In Memoriam R. T. Hamilton Bruce ("Invictus"), stanza 4]

Some years ago an answer to “Invictus” was given.  Here it is:

Art thou in truth?

Then what of Him who bought thee with His blood?

Who plunged into devouring seas

And snatched thee from the flood?

Who bore for all our fallen race

What none but him could bear–

The God who died that man might live

And endless glory share.

Of what avail thy vaunted strength

Apart from His vast might?

Pray that His light may pierce the gloom

That thou mayest see aright.

Men are as bubbles on the wave,

As leaves upon the tree,

Thou, captain of thy soul! Forsooth,

Who gave that place to thee?

Free will is thine–free agency,

To wield for right or wrong;

But thou must answer unto Him

To whom all souls belong.

Bend to the dust that “head unbowed,”

Small part of life’s great whole,

And see in Him and Him alone,

The captain of thy soul.

["The Soul's Captain," Improvement Era, May 1926, opposite inside front cover]

The latter was written by Mormon apostle, Orson F. Whitney.

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone at least got the message from us, as members, that we ‘rely’ on the Lord’s help and grace in all we do?  First, they would know we are Christian, and secondly, they would know we have personal relationships with the Savior, and that we feel His Spirit.

Why not share with someone today something you’ve learned from depending on the Lord?  Why not blog about one way the Savior has helped you do something you were unable to do on your own?  You can do that on LDS.net or perhaps start your own blog. For more helps on starting your own blog, please visit our website at www.moregoodfoundation.org.

Posted on September 8th, 2008 by Karen Merkley
Filed under: Member Missionaries | No Comments »

A car with a low battery needs a jump-start.  Aren’t we much in need of the same continual renewal? It’s easy to get mission myopia, waiting for the call to come or forgetting that people are hungering for what we have. Here’s a story to help us remember.

Dr. Specht, a German scholar with three, not one or two, but three Ph.D.s, came face-to-face with Mormon missionaries as they knocked on her door and she invited them in to her office.  In inspired fashion, they chose to address the Book of Mormon, bore witness of its truthfulness and left a copy in her hands.  The elders didn’t see her again for over two months.

The next encounter with Gertrud Specht came as she was preparing to enter the waters of baptism. Between the first and second meeting, she had drunk from the spiritual well. Before her baptism, this theology professor at the University of Munich, stood up in front of the congregation, and said:

“Before I’m baptized I’d like to tell you my feelings.  In Amos chapter 8:11 it says there will be a famine of the work of God.  I’ve been in that famine for 76 years. Why do you think I have three PhD’s? I’ve been hungering for truth and have been unable to find it. Then eight and one-half weeks ago, two boys walked into my home. I want you to know these boys are very nice and wonderful young men, but they didn’t convert me. They couldn’t; they don’t know enough.”

She then asserted simply and sincerely, “I don’t think you members know what you have After those years of studying philosophy, I picked up the Doctrine and Covenants and read a few little verses that answered some of the greatest questions of Aristotle and Socrates! When I read those verse, I wept for four hours.” Again, she restated her thought in question form, “Don’t you understand the world is in a famine? Don’t you know we are starving for what you have? I am like a starving person being led to a feast. And over these eight and one-half weeks I have been able to feast in a way I have never known possible” (Gertrud Specht).

If you’re feeling the desire to share some of the feast you’ve enjoyed as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (”Mormon” Church), please take a minute and do something to jump-start your sharing experience.

You might sign up at LDS.net and visit a forum or gospel discussion, or visit www.mormonsbelieve.org and upload a video or text testimony.

If you are interested in contributing to Mormonchurch.com, you can answer a specific gospel question, such as “How has the gospel helped me overcome a weakness?,” or “What was it like to serve as a Mormon Missionary?”…

For assistance or further information, please contact us at www.moregoodfoundation.org.

Additional Resources

The full transcript of Elder Scott Anderson’s journal account of his experience with Sister Specht can be found here.

Posted on September 8th, 2008 by Karen Merkley
Filed under: Conversion Stories | No Comments »

I was 15-years-old and walking down the halls of my high school in a tiny Colorado town. Other than my family, and two others, we were the only Mormons in town. It was the 70′s, Donny and Marie ruled the airwaves, the hippy movement was in full force and life was a little odd.

The one thing which kept me firmly grounded and was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Church, early morning seminary, church sponsored activities and school rounded out my life. I loved the Gospel and shared it at every turn. I invited my school friends to church dances, dinners, shows and other activities. It was a lot of fun and eventually some of them joined the Church.

Read more…

Posted on September 1st, 2008 by Candace Salima
Filed under: Conventional Missionary Work, Meeting People at the Crossroads, Member Missionaries, Missionary Work | No Comments »

Joseph Smith, Jr. said:

“A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus.” (History of the Church 3:381)

Sharing the Gospel is a wonderful thing when it is received with interest and joy, and rather painful when rejected. But I think the wonder far outweighs the pain. At least, I have found that to be the case in my own life.

Read more…

Posted on September 1st, 2008 by Candace Salima
Filed under: Conventional Missionary Work, Meeting People at the Crossroads, Member Missionaries, Missionary Work | No Comments »

Sometimes we just need to remember–remember to put what we desire to do in the front of our minds. Like sharing the gospel. At the end of the day, what really matters? That we were nice, honest, good to our children, friends and co-workers, and that we opened our mouth and shared our beliefs in the Savior’s goodness with someone. It matters that we served by sharing what we know and have with the world who desperately needs it.

You and I can do this. It take missionaries an average of over 10 visits to obtain one member referral. As Elder Bednar has reminded us, it’s our job to find them. The future of finding is on the Internet.

I think of the apostles of old, leaving their nets behind, to become disciples and fishers of men. Today, I believe the equivalent of the gospel net is the Internet. It is the tool for the gathering of the Lord’s people from all over the globe. Read more…

Posted on August 29th, 2008 by Karen Merkley
Filed under: Member Missionaries, Missionary Work, Online Missionary Work | No Comments »

For ways to share your faith and experiences online and answer gospel questions asked by friends of other faiths, see “Ways to Share the Gospel” on the www.moregoodfoundation.org homepage. We’ve found that those around us who are curious about our faith want to know what we believe and how we live, but want to hear it from ordinary members of the Church first. Many are intimidated by the thought of going to the missionaries, or have perceptions of the “official” representatives of the Church that cause them to hesitate or hold back in asking what they might comfortably ask you or I. After a time or an introduction, they may be ready for the missionaries and to benefit even more from the official Church sites.

• If you’d like to post your own conversion story, please visit mormonbeliefs.org and follow the instructions there.
• If you’d like to add a scripture to your Facebook page, download the LDS Facebook application.

We need your voice! Read more…

Posted on August 29th, 2008 by Candace Salima
Filed under: Blogging, Member Missionaries, Missionary Work, Online Missionary Work, The Words of Prophets & Apostles | No Comments »

All of us recall President Benson’s challenge to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon. I remember living in Florida and buying a couple of cases of softbacks. I wondered where the Lord wanted them to go.

One day, as I was driving on the freeway with my EZ-Pass, a thought arose:

“Take your Books of Mormon in the car, drive through the lanes where the attendants are present. Don’t use your Pass. Offer them a Book of Mormon.”

I thought the idea was an interesting one, but wondered how I’d do that in such a short amount of time. The next time I drove on the freeway, I did as I felt inclined to do. I drove through the slower lane, and as I reached over to hand my change to the attendant, I asked if he or she might be interested in receiving a free copy of the Book of Mormon, a book that changed my life and that I thought they might enjoy. I was amazed at the responses. Almost everyone cheerfully accepted. My testimony was recorded within the cover of the book. I felt that the Lord had literally placed those people in my path. Read more…

Posted on August 29th, 2008 by Candace Salima
Filed under: Conventional Missionary Work, Meeting People at the Crossroads, Member Missionaries, Missionary Work, Online Missionary Work | 1 Comment »

I need my sleep but I have to remind myself that the Lord doesn’t. He cares about our salvation, our thoughts, our hearts 24/7; He is constantly working behind the scenes and sometimes stage-front with everyone. I love the metaphor of the almond tree in Jeremiah, though it’s not often talked about. The scripture records:

The Lord assures us that He is watchful and is aware of the first fruits of the almond tree, which He is responsible for bringing forth and which He notices, and which He can hasten. He is similarly aware of each of His children, and where they are on the path, and of the exact second needed to do the ministering He needs to do. I love that feeling of security in God’s sovereign knowledge of us. Read more…

Posted on August 29th, 2008 by Candace Salima
Filed under: Member Missionaries | No Comments »