by Keith L. Brown | Dec 13, 2013 | About Mormons
The official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently referred to as the “Mormon” Church” by the media and others) is LDS.org which is “part of a digital communications ecosystem made up of web, mobile, social, and media platforms.” [1] The amount of internet traffic that the site receives each month ranges upwards of 25 million visitors. Jeff Isom, director of LDS.org, commented, “It is believed to be the largest religious website in the world in terms of traffic, design, and content.” [1] With the ever increasing advances in technology, The Church of Jesus Christ is anxiously engaged in developing a website that is informative, educational, and user-friendly, in order for everyone to learn more about the gospel.
Blessing Heavenly Father’s Children with the Gospel
The LDS.org website was launched almost two decades ago, in 1996. Since its inception, the Church has developed, improved, and enhanced the capabilities of the main website, enabling Heavenly Father’s children to partake of the blessings of the gospel. The website is expected to expand even more as the work continues to move forward. One of the greatest challenges in working with a website of this capacity is having all of the various entities of the Church such as welfare, temple work, Church history, and the priesthood become more unified so that members can accomplish the work that they need to do. Since the Church has a lay clergy, every member is serving in some capacity. Resources are available to them on LDS.org. (more…)
by Keith L. Brown | Jun 14, 2013 | About Mormons
Edward Dube was born on 12 May 1962 in Chirumanzu, Zimbabwe to Clement Dube and his wife, Rosemary.
He has been a General Authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 9inadvertently referred to as the Mormon Church by the media and others) since April 2013. He is the first Zimbabwean and the second Black African to serve as a General Authority.
The Influential Power of the Book of Mormon
Elder Dube was a young man working as a servant in the home of Leaster Heath when he was given a copy of the Book of Mormon. Two years passed before he gained an interest in reading the Book of Mormon, but once he did, it made a tremendous impact on his life.
I remember sitting in a railway station and reading the book. I read it for a very long time that day. To me, what was touching was the Prophet Joseph Smith’s testimony, when he related his experience with Moroni’s visitation to him. I would be reading in the middle of the book and go back to the introduction and just read that part. [1] (more…)
by Keith L. Brown | Jun 10, 2013 | About Mormons
Thomas S. Monson, President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called the Mormon Church by the media and others), once commented concerning missionary work, “When you’re on the Lord’s errand, you’re entitled to the Lord’s blessings.” Many missionary age young people of The Church of Jesus Christ have taken those words to heart, as many have made a decision to answer the call to serve after the announcement made at the beginning of the 182nd Semiannual General Conference by President Monson concerning the change in age requirements for serving a mission. Eligible and worthy young men may now serve a mission starting at 18 years of age, and young women may serve starting at 19 years of age.
The Church of Jesus Christ Witnesses Increase in Missionary Service
In an interview with the Deseret News on Wednesday, 29 May 2013, Church spokeswoman, Ruth Todd, stated, “We estimate more than 85,000 full-time missionaries serving by fall 2013.” [1]
At the time of President Monson’s monumental announcement in October 2012, The Church of Jesus Christ had 58,000 missionaries. Prior to the announcement, the number of missionaries serving full-time missions was increasing by an annual rate of 6%. In the wake of the announcement, The Church of Jesus Christ estimates that the number of missionaries serving throughout the world will have increased by an astounding 47% in the period of a year. (more…)
by Ben | May 14, 2013 | Meet Some Mormons
When Suzette Steward was nominated for the national “Top Teacher Award” in conjunction with the Live With Kelly and Michael morning show, it was obvious she made a big impact on those around her. The award the result of a nationwide search of public and private schools from Pre-K through 12th grade; the Top Teacher program aims to honor teachers who make a difference in and out of the classroom.
An Exemplary Teacher
Written by Lisa Clements and placed on the show’s website, the submission about Suzette is sincere and telling:
Suzette is a unique, awesome, amazing person, teacher and friend. She grew up in the Katy area and returned after college to interact and teach our “special” kids. She teaches Special Education Kids at the Junior High School during school hours, but it doesn’t stop there. (more…)
by byustudent | Apr 24, 2013 | About Mormons
This is part of an email I wrote to my brother who, as far as I know, has not read the scriptures in a pretty long time.
I have been taking a New Testament class, and today we read and talked about the book of James. As you probably know, this is the book that has the famous verses that Joseph Smith Jr. looked at which brought about the restoration of the gospel and the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When we talked about the book of James as a whole, my professor mentioned how many good little pieces of advice can be found there. And this is true; there are dozens and dozens.
However, after we talked about that, I thought about how all scripture can have just as many good bits of advice as the book of James has, even if it is not as obvious. We can all have experiences like Joseph Smith’s where we come across a piece of scripture, and it changes our lives. Of course, it probably will not be as dramatic as having Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ themselves come down to talk with us, as they did with Joseph Smith. Even in the war chapters of the Book of Mormon, or the really confusing verses of Isaiah, we can find ways to relate something to our lives and have it teach us something important. (more…)